The Summer I Turned Pretty finale review: At Last, this love is out of the woods!

The finale episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty is out and we’ve got the eagerly awaited verdict to which team finally wins!

The Summer I Turned Pretty finale: In the previous episode, we saw Conrad(Christopher Brighney) on his flight to Paris while Belly(Lola Tung) was enjoying her summer fling with Benito. The tensions were high for team Conrad once again but the truth is that we’ve never had it easy to begin with. The much anticipated episode of this entire series starts with Conrad waiting for Belly outside her Paris apartment. A new version of Belly acts all non-chalant when she sees him when in reality she has an ocean of emotions stirring inside of her. After playing tourist, the two set off for Belly’s pre-birthday dinner hosted by her french amies. 

As expected there were sparks flying all over but, more than anything, this was the only episode where we see Conrad genuinely smile and be happy after a long time. He was with the love of his life and she had a little piece of Cousins right next to her. Season 3 has been a parallel to season 1 all along and this episode was no different. In season 1, Belly tells us that every birthday she wished for Conrad and this birthday not only did he fly miles away from home to be with her, he is still her biggest dream come true. 

Also Read: The Summer I Turned Pretty is coming to an end but Bonrad edits are forever; here’s why!

Like Conrad loved picturing Belly having a happy life in Paris, I loved picturing them slow dancing and Jenny Han brought that to life in this episode. As the two slow danced next to a river in Paris that glistened because of the golden street lights, they re-called memories like Prom or Sussanah’s funeral where grief and heartbreak got the better of them both. But what followed was no longer a flashback or something Conrad imagined, them making love was as real as it could get. As one of the eagle eyed fans pointed out, we always used to see Belly and Jeremiah after the act was done, whereas we always saw her making love with Conrad. Rightfully so because their chemistry in these intimate scenes is hot af! No seriously, it's 'eyes fixated on the screen, jaws dropped, no longer wanting to eat my lunch, making love to Taylor Swift’s Dress' kind of hot! The season finale definitely topped the love sequence from episode 7 and gave me more than what I was expecting!

Belly was unsure of her feelings right up till the end and as frustrating as that was to watch, it also made me realize how crucial that scene was. It highlighted that this is Belly’s story at the end of the day. She came between two brothers and the world will never forget that, but the rest of them were equally responsible for breaking the family. I’m glad she chose Conrad not because she was told to love him at an early age, but because she actually chooses to be with him in every universe. I love that for once, she chased him and made a dramatic love confession. And just like that, she was with the only boy she ever truly loved. It was the kind of ending that would have one’s emotions running high even after the credits rolled. The kind that would become your comfort re-watch and re-instill your faith in love. 

As much of a red flag Jeremiah(Gavin Casalegno) was this entire season, he somehow just made up for it all in one episode. How he miraculously fixed every toxic trait of his without any therapy is something only Jenny Han can tell us! From realizing how he stopped Belly from choosing better to being the perfect man for Denise(Isabella Briggs), this has to be the fastest a character has developed in a series overnight. I almost don’t know if I should be happy that he and Denise are a thing now or be worried that yet another independent woman is going to be mothering him? Maybe that could be another show of its own but them being the endgame would never be on my bingo card at the beginning of this season! Steven(Sean Kauffman) and Taylor(Rain Spencer), on the other hand, balanced the episode with their humour, light heartedness and by starting a new chapter together and I love that for them!

Having said all of this, there’s still so many questions left unanswered. For starters, is nobody ever going to reprimand Adam for cheating on Susannah? How does Laurel and John’s arc come to an end? How does Laurel and the rest of them feel about Conrad and Belly finally being together? And most importantly, why were we robbed of a Bonrad wedding scene? According to the books, Belly and Conrad had a rather dreamy wedding but the show ends with them back at the beach house. I wouldn’t say this was an abrupt ending, but as usual a meticulously planned move on Jenny Han’s part. With her note at the end of the episode saying “Maybe we’ll meet again one summer in Cousins” - maybe there’s a Belly-Conrad movie that we don’t know about and for now we’ll leave it at the fact that there could be room for more, and if not, then I’m fully blaming those two filler episodes that did nothing for the story!

The Summer I Turned Pretty became an obsession for women around the world every Wednesday. To me, it was nothing that Bollywood hadn’t already brought me up with. Hindi cinema has always had love triangles, yearning and dramatic flashbacks. But with Bollywood romances being at an all time low this year, the series was exactly what I needed to fill that void. So for that, I’d say, take a bow Jenny Han, you gave us yet another iconic love story and I’ll miss the world being united over one man every week henceforth!

The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 is currently streaming on Prime Video!

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