If you haven’t watched The Summer I Turned Pretty and suddenly feel like the only one not crying, swooning, or rage-posting about Belly and the Fisher brothers—don’t panic. Consider this your official crash course for dummies. Think of it as the SparkNotes of Cousins Beach, minus the volleyball tan lines. Whether you’re here because your friends won’t stop debating “Team Conrad vs. Team Jeremiah” or you just don’t want to scroll through TikTok confused, we’ve got you. By the end of this, you’ll know all the messy love triangles, heartbreaks, and beach-house drama well enough to fake your way through any conversation—without bingeing three seasons overnight.
Season 1 Recap
Season 1 begins with the Conklin family — Belly, her mom Laurel, and older brother Steven — heading back to Cousins Beach, their annual summer getaway. It’s tradition: every year, they stay at the Fisher family’s house, where Laurel’s best friend Susannah and her two sons, Conrad and Jeremiah, welcome them like family. Belly tells us she’s been in love with Conrad forever, but this summer feels different. She’s grown out of her braces and glasses, and for the first time, the boys actually notice her.
At first, Jeremiah greets her with his usual warmth, while Conrad seems strangely distant and moody. Belly brushes it off, too excited to be back. Things heat up quickly when she sneaks off to a bonfire party, where she meets Cam, a sweet, nerdy whale enthusiast she vaguely remembers from middle school. They click instantly and even share a kiss, giving Belly her first real taste of young romance. For a while, she and Cam date — ice cream runs, drive-in movies, easy laughter — but deep down, Belly knows she can’t force herself to feel something she doesn’t. She breaks things off gently, admitting she’s not all in.
While Belly’s navigating crushes, the adults have their own stories. Laurel and Susannah’s friendship is the emotional backbone of the show. They’ve been through heartbreak, divorces, and disappointments, but always find their way back to each other. Laurel, freshly divorced, starts opening herself up to romance again when she meets Cleveland, a fellow writer. Susannah, who hides her cancer from Belly at this point, has moments of recklessness and joy, savoring what time she has left. Their bond carries so much warmth and stability that it grounds all the chaos happening with the kids.
Steven, meanwhile, gets his own subplot. He starts dating Shayla, a glamorous, confident girl who invites him to be her partner at the debutante ball. Their relationship looks promising until Steven slips up, kissing Belly’s best friend Taylor at a party. Shayla eventually forgives him, but it plants doubt in their relationship. By the end of the season, Steven and Shayla are still together, though fans already know it won’t last into Season 2.
Back to the love triangle that defines the series: Belly and Jeremiah cross into new territory when he finally admits his feelings for her. They share a kiss by the pool, later heat up at a boat party, and even become each other’s dates for the debutante ball. For once, Jeremiah seems like the obvious choice — fun, caring, and emotionally available. But everything shifts when Jeremiah learns about Susannah’s cancer and can’t bring himself to dance with Belly at the ball.
That’s when Conrad steps in. His brooding and distance suddenly make sense: he’s been carrying the weight of his mom’s illness alone, trying to protect Jeremiah from the truth. At the ball, Conrad replaces his brother, dancing with Belly in a scene that feels like her childhood dream finally coming true. Nicole, Conrad’s girlfriend, sees the writing on the wall and gracefully steps aside, noting that you never really forget your first love.
The season closes with the truth about Susannah’s illness finally out. Both boys beg her to try chemo, and Conrad finally lets his walls down. In the last, wistful moments, Conrad and Belly end up on the beach together, where he confesses his feelings at last. They kiss, cementing Belly’s long-time crush into reality — but leaving the messy love triangle wide open.
Season 2 Recap
Season 2 opens on a darker note than the dreamy glow of Season 1. Susannah’s cancer has worsened, and the idyllic summers at Cousins Beach are no longer carefree. The Fisher boys — Conrad and Jeremiah — struggle to accept their mother’s decline, while Laurel channels her grief into writing a book about her lifelong friendship with Susannah. Belly, determined to support them, returns to Cousins Beach, but her presence only intensifies the emotional storm brewing between the brothers.
When Susannah dies, the heart of the friend group is torn apart. Everyone grieves differently: Conrad vanishes, needing space to mourn alone, while Laurel takes her book on a publishing tour in New York. Steven, freshly graduated and preparing for college, wrestles with his future while trying to keep his complicated relationship with Taylor alive. Belly, caught between her own grief and her messy romantic history with both Conrad and Jeremiah, is left trying to hold everything together.
The house at Cousins Beach — their sacred summer refuge — suddenly becomes a target. Susannah’s estranged sister Julia inherits the property and plans to sell it to developers. While the kids try to distract themselves with boardwalk games and summer rituals, Julia empties the house, stripping away the physical memories of their childhood. The devastation leaves the group in a vulnerable state, and emotions spill over. Jeremiah admits he’s always been jealous of Conrad, particularly when it comes to Belly, while Belly and Taylor admit they’ll never love anyone else the way they loved these boys they grew up with.
Conrad himself has been unraveling. In an early episode, he learns he’s been accepted to transfer to Stanford — a moment that should have been triumphant but instead sends him spiraling into a panic attack. His inner turmoil bleeds into his relationship with Belly. She had stood by him through Susannah’s ups and downs, but he repeatedly pulled away, forgetting small but significant moments like her prom corsage. When he finally tried to confess that he couldn’t be the partner she needed, Belly beat him to it — ending things with him once and for all. Steven, ever the protective brother, was there to console her in that gutting moment.
As her relationship with Conrad crumbles, Belly begins to see Jeremiah in a new light. He has always been her best friend, always steady in the background, and now she starts realizing that maybe the love she’s been searching for has been right beside her. Midseason, they share a playful but charged moment when she pushes him into the pool, soundtracked by Taylor Swift’s “Delicate (Taylor’s Version).” From there, their connection deepens, culminating in a messy but undeniable kiss — on Conrad’s car, no less — right as Conrad walks back into the picture after his biology exam.
The tension between the brothers explodes during a stormy road trip. Belly, Jeremiah, and Conrad end up stranded at a motel after the highway floods. Conrad lets his walls down long enough to confess his love for Belly, but by morning, he backtracks, leaving her confused and hurt all over again. Jeremiah, on the other hand, stays true, driving her to volleyball camp and cheering her on as she begs her coach for another chance to prove herself.
The season ends with Belly reclaiming a piece of herself. On the court, alongside Taylor and her teammates, she plays with fire and determination, reminding herself — and the audience — that her future is still hers, even if her love life is a tangled mess. Meanwhile, Conrad’s acceptance into Stanford lingers in the background, a symbol of a life he might pursue far from Cousins Beach, and far from Belly.
By the close of Season 2, the dream of endless summers has been shattered. The Fisher house is saved thanks to Laurel stepping in, but nothing will ever be the same. Belly has broken up with Conrad, is opening her heart to Jeremiah, and is learning that growing up means letting go of the versions of love — and family — she thought would last forever.
Season 3 Recap
Season 3 is where the series grows up. The carefree beach romances of Cousins give way to messy adulthood, heartbreak, and a brutal look at what it means to love someone without losing yourself in the process.
When the season begins, Belly and Jeremiah are four years into their relationship. On paper, it looks stable, but in reality, it’s codependency dressed up as romance. Both of them are still broken by the loss of Susannah, and Belly has never really healed from losing Conrad. Instead of finding themselves, they’ve latched onto each other. Belly sacrifices her individuality, putting her own dreams and choices aside, while Jeremiah soaks up her nurturing presence, leaning on her like she’s a stand-in for the mother he lost. Their love is survival, not growth — and deep down, Belly feels she’s forgotten who she is.
That uneasy balance crumbles when Belly learns that Jeremiah hooked up with another girl in Cabo during a brief breakup period. While Jeremiah insists it wasn’t cheating, Belly feels betrayed because he never told her and because it underscored just how fragile their bond really was. For her, the secrecy hurt more than the act itself.
But instead of stepping back to reassess their relationship, Jeremiah doubles down. After Belly’s brother, Steven, gets into a serious accident while juggling his own complicated love story with Taylor, Jeremiah uses the vulnerable moment to propose to Belly. Scared, exhausted, and desperate for stability, she says yes.
The response is immediate: everyone is against the engagement. Laurel, Belly’s mother, refuses to support it. Taylor isn’t buying it. And Conrad, though heartbroken, tries to be selfless. He convinces Laurel to help with the pre-wedding activities, telling himself Belly’s happiness matters more than his own feelings.
That illusion shatters at the bachelor party. Conrad learns the truth about Jeremiah’s Cabo hookup and rushes to Belly, furious that his brother had been hiding it. He can’t stand watching Belly force herself into a future she doesn’t really want, so he lays his heart bare: he has always loved her. From their childhood summers to their teenage romance and the years apart — his love has been constant. Belly, overwhelmed, tells him it’s too late. But the wedding still collapses under the weight of too many lies and too much unresolved history.
In the aftermath, Belly makes her boldest choice yet. Instead of ping-ponging between the Fisher brothers, she leaves — heading to Paris to rediscover herself. For the first time, she isn’t defining her life by which boy she’s with. There, she and Conrad begin writing letters, reconnecting in a way that feels more thoughtful, more honest. By the penultimate episode, Conrad flies across the ocean to see her.
Season 3 closes with Belly at the edge of adulthood — no longer the girl suspended between two brothers, but a young woman who has chosen to reclaim her identity. The Fisher house is safe, the brothers are beginning to heal their fractured bond, and Belly’s future is finally in her hands. But whether that future includes Conrad or not — that’s the question the finale sets up with aching anticipation.
You’ve survived the crash course, you know the drama, and now there’s only one thing left to ask: when the credits roll tomorrow, whose team will be celebrating—Conrad’s or Jeremiah’s?
