Author: Tanvi Jain
This summer was a thriving one for cheesy romance. The Summer I Turned Pretty brought out its second installment this July. I’ll be talking about all the things that carried the show, despite the highly predictable, lackluster love triangle between Belly, Conrad and Jeremiah. It’s my duty to give you a spoiler alert, but honestly if you haven’t seen the show yet, you will probably not see it ever. It is the quintessential summer romance that only looks appealing in the holidays.
Onto the actual heroes of TSITP!
1. Steven and Taylor
Steven, who is Belly’s older brother and Taylor, Belly’s best friend were the IT couple this season. The pair’s flirty conversations and playful bickering formed the basis of their extremely cute dynamic. The show cleanly swerved another love triangle by strategically placing Milo, Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, as a conflict point for the plot rather than a character taking part in the storyline. Taylor and Steven have a genuine relationship with very real dilemmas like Steven going to college in a month. Their relationship felt real, and not a fabricated fairytale that only has a place on the celluloid screen. Now I just need me a Steven in my life — who tells me I’m smart, does an embarrassing dance choreography with me and gives me the keys to his fancy car 🙂
2. Laurel
Like every mother, Laurel is a superwoman. She is a multitasking maestro. Laurel sweeps in to save the day after the Cousins beach-house fiasco, where she is able to convince Julia and Adam to not sell the house, and buy out Julia respectively. What the show spent almost four to five episodes building, Laurel is able to resolve in half an hour. She is also shown to process her grief throughout the show, showing a very vulnerable side of her usually strict personna. Side note, but I personally loved the last episode, where Laurel gets a much needed confidence boost about her writing (it made me feel things).
3. The Cousins Beach House
Season one almost entirely took place in the beach house, so I was devastated to see season two revolve around it being sold. The house is shown as the settings for multiple flagship events in Belly’s life (which are majorly love confessions and heartbreaks but okay). The party episode was a great touch, a tip in the hat to Sussanah’s wild side, a celebration fitting to her approach in life. I audibly gasped when Julia had the house emptied of furniture and furnishings, because it truly felt the house lost its magic. I appreciated how the season finale showed us a glimpse of the house in its full glory and ended with a promise to see the house again in season three.
