In a day and age where media consumes our everyday lives, TV shows and movies that display characters with real emotions that reflect our own emotions become more and more desired. Now more than ever, people (especially Gen Zs) want to see characters on their screens that they can relate to. Nothing is worse than watching a show with cringey humor that Millennials think teenagers will like. TV shows with inexperienced young adult protagonists coming of age are often a hit with younger audiences; they see something in those characters that they can also see in themselves. A great example of a television series that has characters a broad spectrum of people can connect with is The Summer I Turned Pretty. A series that has been all the rage this summer, its final episode releasing just last Wednesday, September 17th, The Summer I Turned Pretty is a show with flawed characters who eventually learn to find themselves. And who doesn’t want that?

Based on the book by Jenny Han, of the same name, The Summer I Turned Pretty stars Lola Tung, Chris Briney, and Gavin Casalegno, who portray 3 teenagers tangled in a love triangle. While these characters try to deal with the messiness of teenage love, they also deal with grief and the trials of growing older. Conrad (Chris Briney) and Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Caselegno) are brothers who both find themselves falling for a girl they’ve known all their lives, Isabel “Belly” Conklin (Lola Tung). Belly, our protagonist, has conflicting feelings about the brothers as she has not only been in love with Conrad since she was a kid, but she is also experiencing for the first time what it’s like to be sought after by any boy; as it is the summer she “turned pretty.” Eventually, by the end of the first season, she is smitten with Conrad, but by the end of the second season, after a rollercoaster of emotions, she’s with Jeremiah. 

Young adults all across America and even the world became obsessed with this show, picking teams (Team Conrad!), creating edits, and writing their own version of how the show should end. But I believe that the real reason why people are so infatuated with this show is because teenage girls can see a part of themselves in the inexperienced, indecisive Belly, and others can relate to Conrad’s depression or Jeremiah’s insecurities. There’s a character for everyone to identify with because, at the end of the day, what makes this show so good is its characters and how they are written to reflect the real thoughts and feelings of every young adult watching at home.

Belly Conklin: The Naive, Impulsive Lover Girl

Though the majority of us cannot say that we have found ourselves entangled in a love triangle between two brothers, I’m sure we can say that we relate to other experiences of a typical teenage girl like Belly. 

Every year, Belly visits a beach house on the East Coast with her mom, brother, and her family friends: Susannah (Belly’s mother’s best friend) and her two sons, Conrad and Jeremiah. But the year that she turns 16, everything seems to have changed; boys look at her differently, her friends look at her differently, and even society sees her as all grown up. This jumpstarts a summer of firsts for Belly that I’m sure many teenage girls (or boys) have endured. Belly gets her first boyfriend, Cam, who is sweet and treats her well. She ends up dumping him, possibly because he’s too nice, and moves on from him quickly, as many do from their first boyfriends. This summer of firsts also damages Belly’s long-term relationship with her best friend, Taylor, and of course, Conrad and Jeremiah, whom she’s known all her life. 

As a sixteen-year-old girl in the first season, Belly is naive and often sees the best in people who might not always have a good side. She has dreamed of having the perfect boyfriend for years, whether it was Conrad or somebody else, and she is willing to do anything to prove she is all grown up. Belly often lets her emotions overtake her actions and ends up making impulsive decisions that she could regret; i.e., becoming a debutante, choosing one brother over another, getting drunk, and keeping secrets. But who here hasn’t done that? 

Belly falls for Conrad at the end of season one, but by season two, they have broken up. This could have been due to Conrad’s grief after the death of his mom, but also due to Belly’s self-absorption and the thought that someone is always out to get her. Conrad, whom we’ll discuss later, is often labeled as someone who struggles with deep emotions and communication, which may have been why Belly ends up being more drawn to his brother, Jeremiah, by the end of season two. Jeremiah is not afraid to express how he feels and loves Belly in a way that Conrad does not, which is a reason why Belly ultimately chose him over his brother. No matter who you are, I think we can all agree that someone open with their feelings is much more attractive than someone who isn’t.

Throughout the series, Belly often does things using her heart instead of her head. It is obvious that Belly is an empath, as many of us are, and chooses to help others instead of helping herself or out of fear of hurting people’s feelings. We see this when she is hesitant to be with Conrad (the first time) because she wants to spare Jeremiah’s feelings. As she matures, however, especially in season two, Belly does begin to think about what is best for herself and her feelings, because at the end of the day, who really wants to be hurt? I can see a lot of myself in Belly, and so can many other teenage girls who love the show, because we go through situations exactly like the ones she finds herself in, and it can be difficult to decide when it's time to spare your feelings and not somebody else's.

By the end of the third season, however, when things are sorted out and many years have passed, Belly has become a flourishing woman, living in Paris, experiencing things she’s never experienced before, and learning that it’s okay to make mistakes. Belly’s growth throughout the show (and the books) is astounding, and I think we all aspire to go from the inexperienced, clumsy teenagers we are now to poised young adults ready to take new chances, and even fall in love again. 

Conrad Fisher: The Typical Angsty yet Thoughtful Teenage Boy

Whether you’re team Conrad or Jeremiah (there’s only one right answer), you have to admit that both characters are flawed yet relatable in their own ways. Conrad is in a broody, introverted way. 

Conrad, the older of the Fisher brothers, is known as the protective one over his younger brother and, of course, over Belly. This savior complex remains within Conrad throughout the show, even into the final season, always choosing to put others above himself, even if he does it in a discourteous but understated way. Season one begins with Conrad holding a big secret inside that no one else knows about. He doesn’t tell anyone about this secret because he doesn’t want to be a burden (i.e. his savior complex). The big secret: his mom’s cancer is back, worse, and may be terminal. The entire first season, Conrad has to live with this undeniable pressure while everyone around him is acting like nothing is wrong, because they don’t know that anything is wrong. This not only makes Conrad come off as kind of a jerk because he’s agitated all of the time, but it also creates an anxiety within him that causes panic attacks, which he doesn’t learn to control until years later in the final season. 

As teenagers, I think we can all say we’ve experienced spots of anxiety and pressure from school, our parents, and other outside sources. This anxiety can sometimes be uncontrollable and will often make our troubles on the inside reflect in our day-to-day actions. Conrad’s internal conflict and insecurity does not leave him as he grows and changes through life, and it honestly makes his interactions with others, especially Belly, worse. 

After the two of them begin to date, at the end of season one and beginning of season two, the relationship goes downhill pretty quickly. There are a few discernible reasons for this. Number one: they don’t begin to date right away, to spare Jeremiah’s feelings from events at the end of the summer. So their time together was already interrupted in order for them to remain sympathetic to Jeremiah. Number two: after they get together and the school year goes on, Conrad falls into a deeper depression because of the situation with his mom.. A final conflict we see between the two of them together is at prom. Conrad is deeply unhappy at this point, as his mother is dying, and Belly sees this as him not wanting to be with her anymore, when in reality, he needs time to collect his thoughts somewhere that is not at a high school dance. Their relationship comes to a close mostly because of this miscommunication, which was really both of their faults. 

We can all admit that expressing our feelings, especially ones of discontent, can be difficult and not always something we want to do. Similarly to Conrad, however, this can harm our relationships with others, especially if we’re not sure if they’d be willing to listen and help us. Miscommunication during arguments and conflict in our daily lives can often cause things to end, even if that’s not what we want or need. 

Nonetheless, just as Belly did, Conrad matures by season three, finding himself in therapy and doing what makes him happy, which means he has to communicate what he feels. In the last few episodes, Conrad admits how he feels a lot, which causes the drama we know and love from this TV series, and creates a happy ending for those on Team Conrad.

Jeremiah Fisher: The Confident yet Insecure Life of the Party

Do you know that friend who, on the outside, is labeled as the funny friend, always joking, always loud, and super outgoing? Well, if there was one character in The Summer I Turned Pretty that we could designate that title to, it would be Jeremiah Fisher. 

Compared to Conrad, Jeremiah can be seen as the polar opposite of his brother. Often called a “golden retriever,” Jeremiah is high energy all the time, which is a stark contrast to both Conrad and Belly at times. Season one Jeremiah begins as Belly’s best friend, the key word here being “friend,” and nothing more. As the season progresses, however, Jeremiah begins to see this girl he’s known all his life in a new light. Maybe it’s because she has turned “pretty,” or maybe it’s simply because he has grown up. Jeremiah makes his move on Belly at the end of season one, kissing her in the pool, but she eventually lets him know that she kissed his brother (she’s a homewrecker, we know) and wants to be with Conrad, although they wait to get together to spare his feelings. Jeremiah’s reaction to this is not one that you’d expect from someone so bubbly and happy-go-lucky; he actually gets quite upset with her, even using his mom’s cancer as an excuse to make her feel bad. Now, I don’t think this reaction came from a place of hate, exactly, but more from a place of insecurity. Throughout season one and even into season two, we see that Jeremiah has been competing with Conrad his whole life, constantly trying to one-up him, and even sabotaging both of their relationships with Belly in the process. This news, coming from Belly, confirmed the thought already racing around in Jeremiah’s head: he isn’t good enough and his brother will always beat him out for the prize. We all know that Belly isn’t an object and neither boy can really “own” her (for lack of a better term) but it seems obvious that Jeremiah is constantly in a battle with Conrad for Belly’s love that doesn’t end until the end of season three. 

Although it may seem like Jeremiah shouldn’t let his insecurities overtake him, it’s not like we all haven’t been insecure about one thing or another. Whether it be our looks, our social statuses, or our grades, our insecurities can sometimes make us act out in ways that we don’t mean to. Obviously, we shouldn’t let these insecurities take over our day-to-day lives, and we should learn to live with them, which Jeremiah has a hard time doing. 

When Jeremiah finally “gets the girl” at the end of season two, he feels as if he finally has something that he can hold over Conrad’s head, although it may have simply been a one-sided battle all along. Belly and Jeremiah stay together for a long time after the end of season two- 4 years actually- and Belly becomes a constant reassurance in Jeremiah’s life, calming his insecurities down. When Conrad comes back mid-season three, Jeremiah’s jealousy is back in full swing, which makes sense because he is reminded of a past that wasn’t the happiest. Reminders of feelings or trauma from our past can often reestablish unwanted self-doubt and project feelings of jealousy or insecurity outward. 

As both Belly and Conrad do, Jeremiah eventually learns to give up his jealousy of his brother and the need to keep Belly as his prize. When he and Belly end things (not in the best way), at the end of season three, he must learn to find himself without her, and that could be by finding new passions and forming new relationships. Something we can all learn to do. 

Finding a TV series that is relatable yet also full of drama, suspense, and lovable characters is a difficult feat, but The Summer I Turned Pretty does just that. Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah have feelings and experiences that we can all relate to and face growth and improvement that we can all aspire to. With the season coming to an end and a new movie on the horizon, it’s nice to stop and think about the effects that fictional characters can have on our lives and how we view our experiences, as well as give us something fun to look forward to with each episode release. Hopefully, if you’ve finished this article, you’ve also finished the show because I have one last question to ask you. Are you Team Conrad (the right team) or Team Jeremiah? There’s only one right answer.