I have a love-hate relationship with “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” Jenny Han’s 2009-2011 trilogy turned Prime Video hit show. There were so many things I adored about the first season: the idyllic setting of (fake) Cousins Beach, the adult friendship between Belly’s mother, Laurel, and her college bestie Susannah Fisher, the Taylor Swift-heavy soundtrack.
But, as Claire and I discussed last year, there are things about the central love triangle between Belly and Susannah’s two sons, Conrad and Jeremiah — two boys who may as well be Belly’s family members — that make it kind of a bummer if you think too hard about it. The show (and the young actors inhabiting these characters) sell these connections well, and yet, I’m never quite sure how to feel about it all.
