The Summer I Turned Pretty recap: The summer Jere turned bitter

Sara Netzley
·9 min read
The Summer I Turned Pretty recap: The summer Jere turned bitter
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) takes the narrative wheel in "Love Fool," an aptly named episode that details just how much he's been swallowing his own pain over the past year.

Long story short, the kid's not all right.

We pick up exactly where we left off last week, with Susannah's (Rachel Blanchard) absence looming even larger now that every trace of her has been stripped from the beach house.

Julia (Kyra Sedgwick) briskly tells the teens that she's hurting too and also, their mother could've given them a heads-up that this was going to happen. She's absolutely correct, by the way; Susannah could've and should've warned her sons that the house would go to Julia, who doesn't have vacation-house money.

Conrad's (Christopher Briney) still not ready to hear any criticism of his mother and sneers that he understands why Julia's father loved Susannah more. He storms out to leave more angry voicemails for their dad and to accuse Skye (Elsie Fisher) of being in on the painstakingly-move-the-furniture-to-be-safely-stored plan. Skye wasn't, of course, and they're upset with Julia over it too.

Skye also warns the brothers that Julia's expecting multiple cash offers above the asking price. Multiple cash offers? Above the asking price? In this economy? Maybe it's still early 2021 at Cousins Beach.

With no actual beds to sleep in, Jeremiah leads the group to the country club, where Cam Cameron (David Iacono) lets them in with his mom's key code, which will be fine as long as nobody makes a mess. Solid plan; teenagers are notoriously tidy and eager to clean up after themselves.

Inside, they split up, with Steven (Sean Kaufman) luring Taylor (Rain Spencer) into setting off with him and Conrad joining a flirty Cameron and Skye on snack patrol. Jeremiah tries to explore alone, but Belly (Lola Tung) insists on joining him because "adventure is worthwhile in itself."

And here we experience Jeremiah's take on the events of the past year. Brace yourself for a sad lil' puppy.

The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2 Gavin Casalegno
The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2 Gavin Casalegno

Prime Video Gavin Casalegno on 'The Summer I Turned Pretty'

Remember when Conrad turned up on Belly's doorstep at Halloween? He swung by his house first. And sure, Jeremiah took a date to homecoming — his coronation as king was preordained since freshman year, he says with zero modesty — but it's clearly awful for him to listen as Conrad describes the physical pain he's in at not being able to tell Belly he's in love with her.

What choice does Jere have but to tell his big brother to go for it? And in the present, Jeremiah reminds himself that it's always going to be Conrad for Belly.

Still, he and Belly goof around in the club's projection room, making shadow puppets and sharing a can of soda with Twizzlers as straws, the way Susannah used to. The spark between them starts to catch fire until Jeremiah remembers the heartbreak that Belly brings, and he forces himself to text an invitation to Conrad and Steven to join them.

Team Snacks responds swiftly, arriving in the screening room with provisions. In an attempt to impress Skye, Cam Cameron brought up a guy he knows who bought a Mazarati after a judge gave him access to his trust fund, which means the hamster powering the wheel inside of Conrad's brain is awake and sprinting.

He grabs his brother to go find Steven and Taylor, taking the chance to suggest they sue to access their trust funds. Jeremiah agrees that it's nice having everyone together at the house again, and clueless Conrad tells him how much Belly's missed his friendship. C'mon, my guy. You can't be that insensitive, can you?

Here we jump back to Thanksgiving, where Jeremiah has to watch miserably as Belly and Conrad hold hands during what should've been a cherished holiday meal with a laughing, happy Susannah. Afterward, Jere tells Conrad that he can't be around when he and Belly are coupled up like that.

In the present, Jere and Conrad stumble across Taylor and Steven, who've been on a blanket hunt. First they hit the lost and found, where Taylor snaps a selfie in a ridiculously cool leather jacket to send to Milo. UGH, WHY'D YOU HAVE TO REMIND US ABOUT THAT GUY. She also finds a baggie of weed in the pocket and muses out loud about how different the rich are from you and me. (Preach.)

Then she and Steven hit the ballroom, which is full of the remains of the debutante ball. Taylor scoffs at the whole antiquated "show off your marriageable virgins" dog-and-pony show, and Steven ignores the text from Jeremiah in order to cue up Frank Ocean's "Moon River."

Rolling his eyes at the idea that Milo would be her perfect deb date, Steven pulls on a jacket, pretends Taylor's there in a gorgeous dress, and earnestly, almost nervously, asks her to dance. She agrees and slowly wraps herself around him.

So yeah, that's how the Fishers end up interrupting them as they're about to kiss on a dark, empty dance floor. Taylor leaps away like a scalded cat, Steven claims he didn't get their texts, and Milo really should've been more concerned about his girlfriend heading out of town with Mr. Steal-Your-Girl.

In the formerly pristine screening room, everyone settles in to watch The Apartment while Cam Cameron nervously observes the group behaving like feral hogs. Thankfully for his mother's continued employment, they move the party outside, making it as far as the golf cart battery will take them onto the green. They spread blankets on the ground for the night.

When Belly brings it up, Taylor denies vibing with Steven, who hurt her so badly last year. Belly understands, sighing that she'll never love anyone the way she loved Conrad. (Wow does this show nail the certainty of a 17-year-old's heart.)

They agree to put their first loves behind them, leaving Belly to turn her eyes to Jere. She's apparently forgetting that she was his first love and the one who did the hurting. Take care, Jere-bear.

From there, it's inevitable that the group moves on to truth or dare, where we learn that you should never eat the apple bong (noted!) and Cam Cameron talks about losing his sister 10 years ago. He says the scab eventually becomes a scar, but small reminders can make the pain feel fresh. For him, it's the yellow tree air fresheners she hung in her car. Don't mind Skye; they're just over here melting over Cam's vulnerable honesty.

Taylor, of course, wants the game to steer into Euphoria terroritory (thankfully, she doesn't mean L.A. traffic Frogger), so Skye — kind, thoughtful, unaware-of-the-complicated-history-here Skye — dares Belly to kiss Jeremiah.

And here we flash back to the moment Jeremiah saw Belly last summer — you know, the summer she turned pretty. But Conrad saw her then too, and a year later, Jeremiah now knows he never stood a chance. And that's why he now refuses to kiss Belly on a dare.

When the game breaks up and everyone settles in for the night, Taylor quietly assures Steven that dancing with him wasn't weird while Conrad googles how to sue for access to his trust.

Meanwhile, Belly gets some bad news. Earlier, Taylor had sent a text on her behalf to their volleyball coach, announcing Belly's plans to attend camp in a few days. But coach replies that Belly's not welcome back on the team. I'm no expert in high school pedagogy, but daaaaaamn.

Belly decides to double-down on the bad feelings and confronts Jeremiah about why he declined her kissing dare.

He's brutally honest with her: if he starts kissing her, he'll never stop. Oh, Jere. And here we jump to the Fisher house to see what was happening on the other end of the prom-night video call.

When Jeremiah hears Conrad mumbling that he forgot Belly's corsage, he isn't able to hide his disgust and disappointment, telling Susannah that he'd have given Belly the perfect night. And you know what? I'm sure he would have. After all, he's doing a bang-up job caretaking for a clearly ill Susannah.

His mother recognizes that he's still hurting and says he doesn't have to pretend to be fine around her. She also makes him promise that he and Conrad will always put each other first. Seems like she's asking that of the wrong son; Jere's been pushing aside his feelings for Conrad's sake for a while now.

Susannah also shares her graduation quote with him: "Adventure is worthwhile in itself." That sentiment stuck with Jeremiah so much that he put it on his own graduation cap.

In the present, we learn that's how Belly knew to quote it earlier in the episode. Although she wasn't at his graduation ceremony, she watched Laurel's video afterward and took note of the quote Jeremiah chose.

As they fall asleep side by side, Jeremiah voice-over says that even though it's always been Conrad and Belly, he hopes there's a chance it could be him moving forward.

The next morning, Cam Cameron's mom finds them all asleep on what I have to assume is expensively maintained grass, and they promise to clean everything. Lord only knows what the early morning golf set would think of the remains of the apple bong.

Also, Steven and Taylor wake up spooning, and even though she yells at him about it, Milo better start packing for his trip to Dumpsville.

Conrad's all business in the light of day, having gotten a text from Mazarati trust-fund guy with contact info for his lawyer. The brothers plan to move fast so they can get the cash to Julia ASAP.

But they're already too late. When they arrive back at the house, Julia informs them that she's accepted an offer. "The house is sold."

Kissin' Cousins corner

  • Let's not despair quite yet; the beach house still has to pass an inspection. What's the mold situation like? Is there radon? Knob and tube wiring? Or… oh God, do you think the buyers agreed to as-is?

  • If their wealth wasn't already obvious from the beach house (I'm still not over the Smeg!), please note that the Fishers give out full-size Snickers for Halloween.

  • Taylor's TikTok being 70 percent mental health content is so real and so accurate to her character this season.

  • Gotta love the moms wanting Belly to try on their '90s baby tees, which are apparently all plaid and Oasis. Fingers crossed they hung on to their chokers and Steve Madden platform slides too!

  • Please discuss: Random weed really is different from lost-and-found rich people weed.

Related content: