The end of Prime Video’s massive blockbuster hit show, The Summer I Turned Pretty, is rapidly approaching. That means it's finally over. For good.
And with it, comes the question that people will no doubt be breathlessly tuning in to find out: who will Belly (Lola Tung) end up with?
Will it be Jere (Gavin Casalegno) – I mean, no, not after the pair spectacularly broke off their engagement and Belly fled to Paris to live out her dreams of losing her bag and getting messy in the club. The pair’s reconciliatory phone call last episode seemed to wrap things up rather than leave the door open for a rekindled romance.
Will it be Benito, her brand new love interest, whom she kisses as she celebrates New Year’s with her new friends? Or will it be Conrad (Christopher Briney) – the other Fisher brother, who has been pining for her for years, and who ends up writing her copious letters and sending over random sweets, while the two are living on separate continents? Even more tantalisingly, author Jenny Han has teased that the ending of the show is set to be different from the books she wrote, which means it really is anybody’s guess what happens.
This is the point where I put down my pen and massage my temples, hard. Sorry, but why does it have to be any of these boys? People talk about Team Conrad and Team Jeremiah – I think I’m probably on Team Neither at this point. Or more accurately, Team Belly.
It’s not a secret that our girl is maybe not the best at making decisions about her love life. After finding out that Jeremiah cheated on her, Belly’s solution was to try and make it work and jump headfirst into a rushed engagement that spectacularly imploded.
At the same time, she’s been trying (not very hard, arguably) to avoid the kind of steamy almost-kiss moments with Conrad that are making female viewers swoon the world over. All this, and she’s not even hit her mid-twenties yet.
What was I doing at 21? Certainly not planning a wedding, or deciding who my life partner would be. Definitely not agonising about who to date out of the same two boys I grew up with. Plus, the fact that we’re still buying into the myth that a happy ever after is only a happy ever after if the leads end up together feels dated and boring.
It would be a radical act of self-love on Belly’s part to realise she needs neither Fisher – added to which, neither of them are a good match for her. First of all, Jere is manipulative and possessive – and we all know how that turned out. Secondly, Conrad needs to go away and do some serious soul searching.
The man has spent the last three seasons being bullied by people simply for existing, and often by his family; he needs to go be a barista in Australia, do a meditation course or two and figure out who he is. That’s not a great place to start a relationship, and that’s without the fact that Belly has a strong track record of sacrificing her life choices for a man. The last thing she needs is to finish a long-term relationship with Jere and then rebound straight for another guy.
A far better ending, for instance, would be Belly realising she doesn’t need either man (or indeed, any man) to make her feel happy and completed. She needs a few years of freedom, minus either Fisher, and figure out what it is she truly wants. A good first step was asking to be called Isabel rather than the slightly grim ‘Belly’ – a glimmer of what the future could be as an independent adult. Then she cut her hair, after years of Jere telling her not to. She’s spent the last few episodes choosing herself, so why stop now?
I mean, it’s not going to happen. But a girl can dream. Let’s embrace personal growth (and girl power); let Belly end the series single, free and ready to do things her way.
The Summer I Turned Pretty is streaming now on Prime Video
