‘Summer I Turned Pretty’ Creator Jenny Han Says Season 2 Was About How “Nothing Lasts Forever, Including Summer Love”

[This story includes spoilers from the season two finale of The Summer I Turned Pretty.]

Season two of The Summer I Turned Pretty brought tears, laughter, heartbreak and a whirlwind year for Belly, Conrad, Jeremiah and the rest of the gang. Amid Susannah’s (Rachel Blanchard) death, a complicated love triangle and strained family relationships, this summer was an emotional rollercoaster not only for the characters, but also for the audience watching.

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Creator Jenny Han recently told The Hollywood Reporter that while season one was a “sort of fantasy of summer love,” season two was about learning that “nothing lasts forever” — a harsh reality for all.

In the Prime Video series, based on Han’s book trilogy of the same name, Belly (Lola Tung) is navigating life as a teenager, and young love. But relationships are never easy, especially when she’s caught in the middle between two brothers, Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), who she’s not only grown up with but also now found romantic connections with.

And while fans were excited to return to Cousins Beach for another summer of love, they were met with something a little more somber. Following Susannah’s recent death from cancer, everyone is grieving differently, causing a tense dynamic. They’re used to meeting at the beach house in Cousins every year, prior to Conrad and Jeremiah’s mom’s death. But things only get messier when they learn that Susannah’s sister is planning to sell the beloved home.

Now, they must all put their feelings aside to work together to save the once-magical place. Along the way, they also face the past to be able to move forward, including Belly and Conrad’s breakup and Belly and Jeremiah’s lingering feelings for one another. And another new relationship, that Han said she would have loved to include in the books, helps bring some lightness to an already heavy season — Belly’s brother Steven (Sean Kaufman) and her best friend Taylor (Rain Spencer).

By the end of the season, after many ups and downs, Belly finally makes her decision, for now, on who gets to hold the key to her heart: Jeremiah. Though, it’s very much a debate across social media on who fans think she should be with. Fortunately, Belly’s journey is far from over as The Summer I Turned Pretty has already been renewed for a third season.

While the ongoing actors and writers strikes have production for the next season at a halt, Han is nothing short of excited for what’s next for Belly. And she’s looking forward to bringing the third book to life as soon as the guilds can reach an agreement with studios and streamers on a contract that reflects the current state of Hollywood. “The industry has changed so much and I think that the contract should really reflect that,” she says.

As summer comes to an end for Belly and the gang, Han spoke with THR about why it was important for her to satisfy book fans with the TV adaptation and make viewers feel seen by displaying grief accurately, what she hopes audiences take away from season two and what fans can expect from Belly in the third season.

What went into writing and creating season two, given that it’s a completely different tone from season one?

The first season really was about the sort of fantasy of summer love and the fantasy of the big ball, and having those really dreamy moments. And it was about Belly’s first steps into young adulthood. It’s where we see the beginning of her coming of age. But I think season two is really about learning that nothing lasts forever, including summer love. It’s just this lesson that all of our characters have to learn. But I think we still have some moments of joy and fun too because I think that one of the themes of the season is that two things can be happening at the same time: You can be really in deep grief, mourning someone that you love, but you could also be having a day at the beach and finding moments where you can be happy as well.

You could be really sad about a loved one passing away, but you can also be sad that a first love is ending, and it doesn’t take away from either of those feelings. They’re both valid emotions to be going through.

What did you think after seeing everyone’s reactions after the first few episodes dropped?

I think the fans kind of knew what to expect because of the books (laughs). I think maybe people weren’t expecting to be quite as sad, although I think people cried a lot in season one, too. I think we have to see the characters going through those hard times in order to come through and see their growth.

Coming off of a successful first season, did you feel any pressure going into season two?

I honestly didn’t, because I think that we’re just at the middle part of the story. With any story, a trilogy of books or TV, it’s just the story is continuing. So in my mind, they aren’t really bifurcated.

What was the creative process like when it came to bringing the most anticipated scenes from the book to the screen?

I always want to really satisfy those OG book fans, because I know they’ve been waiting for such a long time to see the story come to life in this way. They’re always at the front of my mind as I’m making these decisions and really wanting to give them a gift. And I know what scenes are important to them, so even when there are changes or tweaks from the books or expansions, I’m always really careful about the things I know matter the most to the fans.

Why did you choose to develop Steven and Taylor’s relationship more this season, since it’s not really in the books?

That was always my plan for Steven and Taylor going into doing the TV show. So that was really seeded from the very start. And when I was casting the part of Taylor, I told Rain [Spencer] that even though she’s not in the full season the first season, her story was really going to expand moving forward. It’s a story that I would have loved to have written if I had more space in the books, because I love those characters and I love to see their growth and to be able to really take my time in showing that character development.

It’s a really heavy season in many ways, and I think that Taylor and Steven are able to offer a bit of lightness and fun in the midst of all of the drama around Susannah’s death and around the love triangle. It’s a little bit of a respite from that heaviness. But I think that for those characters, in the way they grew from season one to two, that was definitely a part of the plan as well because both of them were affected in their own ways by Susannah’s death, like all of our main characters were affected. And I think Steven was grieving in his own way, and Susannah was a second mom to him and he loved her as well. I think for Taylor, she really stepped up and was a friend to Belly when she saw her friend really suffering. I think it helped her grow in a lot of ways; it caused her to think about what kind of person she wanted to be.

How important was it for you to display grief, anxiety and depression in an accurate way?

For me, in all my storytelling, I just want the readers or the audience to feel seen and to feel like they’re connecting to the characters. I do think that people process grief differently, and there’s no right or wrong way to experience loss. And so it was important to show sort of a spectrum of what that can look like and different ways that people experience grief.

One of the preview clips released on social media ahead of the season premiere was the one of Jeremiah getting upset with Belly for kissing Conrad, and he then proceeds to bring up Susannah’s cancer battle. When I spoke with Gavin last month about his response to people criticizing his character for “gaslighting” Belly, he suggested that I should ask you what your response would be.

I think that people may have forgotten what this timeline looked like, which is that the day before, he thought he and Belly were a thing. They were kissing in the driveway, he was taking her to the ball. And so, I think for him, it was a real shock to wake up the next morning, and you just found out that your mom has cancer again, and then you find out that the girl that you are in love with actually is taking your brother over you, and it all happened so quickly and he hasn’t really had time to process in that way. To me, his feelings are valid and he’s just reacting in the moment. And it really has been less than 24 hours where all this stuff happened. It’s a lot. Conrad has been holding this in and has had a longer time to process his mom being sick. But for Jeremiah, it all happened so fast and he hasn’t really had time to sit with it.

Laurel (Jackie Chung) and Belly’s relationship is really at an impasse for most of this season before they finally open up to each other about what they’re going through. What do you hope mothers and daughters take away from their dynamic?

Different people process grief differently. I think Conrad and Laurel are very alike in the way they go inward, and I think Laurel thought she was being the best mom she could be by being strong and not showing weakness. But if we look back to season one, when Cleveland [Alfredo Narciso] is giving Conrad advice and he talks about being at the bottom of the well and sometimes you need somebody to come down in there with you, Laurel wasn’t really able to do that for Belly, I think because she thought she wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

I would say that as a child it can be hard to see your parent suffering or hurting because then you’re seeing them as a real person and not just as your parent. I think that’s sometimes a hard thing to witness. But I do think you can come out closer if you allow yourself to be vulnerable in front of each other.

Jeremiah’s maturity was very apparent this season, even though he is the younger brother. Why was that so important to show?

Conrad went to college. Jeremiah was at home and he was with his mom every day, and that’s really hard. It’s always hard to adjust when one sibling goes away to college and then suddenly the other one is like an only child and it’s a new family dynamic. He has to step up because he’s used to his brother being the one taking care of things, and then it was just him. So he had to grow up in a lot of ways, and with his dad not even living there anymore either. He was used to Conrad taking care of things and he needed to be that person when their mom needed somebody, and that was really important for his growth.

There is a lot to unpack from the season finale. From Conrad going through all the emotions after seeing Jeremiah and Belly kiss, to the emotional motel scene. Do you believe Conrad thinks that letting Belly go is best for her or him?

I think Conrad thinks he’s doing the right thing. … I want to leave it there.

What do you hope viewers take away from season two?

For me, one of the biggest themes of the season is forgiveness. And it’s about Belly learning how to forgive herself because she feels so much shame about so many of her decisions. I think when she’s able to sort of let that go and forgive herself is when she can move forward. I think that would be my takeaway for the audience.

Amid the double strike, streaming transparency and residuals are major issues on the table. What does Prime Video share with you when it comes to the series’ viewership?

I saw them [Prime Video] post that [viewership data] because I’m on strike right now, so I’m not in conversations with them about what the show is doing or anything like that. So I saw what people saw [online].

You have previously been open about your support for the strikers. What are your feelings on promoting your show and wanting it to do well, while you have comrades on the picket lines?

It’s really complicated. I had another show coming out too, XO, Kitty, and at that time, the [Writers Guild] guidelines were different for us where we were asked not to do any press at all. And then they loosened that after like three weeks into the strike, and so I was able to do press for XO, Kitty and for The Summer I Turned Pretty. And I’m glad, especially since the actors can’t speak at the moment, to be able to share all their hard work, and to really lift up the cast and the crew and what we spent the past year working on.

What would you like to see resolved in contract negotiations; what are your hopes?

First of all, I hope that the studios will come back and negotiate with WGA, because I think we’re at a standstill at the moment. For me, there’s a lot of different issues on the table — AI being one of them — but I guess the main thing is really the fact that the industry has changed so much and I think that the contract should really reflect that.

With so much currently on hold, what are you focusing on … writing your next trilogy?

It’s hard for me to really think about being creative when there’s so many stressful things going on with the strike. I was hoping to think about a new book, but I haven’t really been able to focus in that way. So what am I doing? I mean, it’s weird because I’ve been working nonstop for the past three years and have not had any break at all — just two weeks at Christmas that the town takes off. Other than that, I’ve been nonstop, and hadn’t taken any kind of vacation or a moment to stop and reflect on everything. So I think I’m just taking a breath.

What can viewers expect for season three?

I think they can expect to see Belly really coming into her own and growing in many ways.

***

Interview edited for length and clarity.

Season two of The Summer I Turned Pretty is currently streaming on Prime Video.

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