The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 3 Review: I’m Having Difficulty Understanding Belly’s Choices As She Dives In Head-First With Jeremiah

Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3, episode 3.

The Summer I Turned Prettyseason 3, episode 3, “Last Supper,” is all about one moment, and one moment only: how will the Fisher-Conklin family react when Belly (Lola Tung) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) break the news of their surprise engagement?

Conrad in The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 episode 3

The Summer I Turned Pretty’s third and final season was off to an explosive, emotional start last week, with Steven (Sean Kaufman) getting into a car accident and Belly discovering that Jeremiah slept with someone else. After those bombshells, it’s understandable thatepisode 3 is a calmer one, focusing more on introspection and character reactions than setting up future plots.

While this works in the episode’s favor, as it makesConrad’s (Christopher Briney) under-the-radar returnto the East Coast feel suitably earth-shattering without being overshadowed by another tragedy, something was missing from the YA romance drama’s latest installment. Why does it suddenly seem as though Belly’s forgotten about Jeremiah’s indiscretion?

Belly’s Renewed Faith In Jeremiah Is Frustrating In The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 3

Has She Forgotten What He Did?

Belly was righteously furious when she discovered Jeremiah’s darkest secret inThe Summer I Turned Pretty’s two-episode premiere. Tung’s acting in these scenes was by far her strongest yet; I could feel her heart breaking, and my heart was breaking for her.Jeremiah’s Ross Geller-inspired"we were on a break"excusedidn’t matter. In Belly’s mind, he cheated on her.

Belly’s disgust and grief, combined with her terror over Steven’s accident, made for a heady emotional cocktail, one that, I’m still convinced, pushed her to say yes to Jeremiah’s sudden, hospital-adjacent proposal. InThe Summer I Turned Prettyseason 3, episode 3, however, there isn’t a single trace of Belly’s anger. Even when Taylor (Rain Spencer) reminds her of his cheating, Belly’s face is eerily neutral.

It was unsettling to see Belly so loving and physical with Jeremiah so soon.

I couldn’t tell if this was Belly completely repressing what happened or if she truly decided to move on from such a cataclysmic event so quickly. Either way, it was unsettling to see her so loving and physical with Jeremiah so soon.There’s not a hint of hesitation in Tung’s body language. Belly even jumps to Jeremiah’s defense during the most awkward family lunch of all time.

I’m not convinced Jeremiah deserves that kind of grace just yet, if he ever will. I was expecting more of a fallout between him and Belly, which made this episode feel detached from the previous two. Thankfully, though, the big family announcement blew up exactly the way I thought it would.

The Narrative Details In The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 3 Are Immaculate

So Much Can Be Said And Shown Without Dialogue

One of the things I loved most in “Last Supper” is the attention to detail. you’re able to tell that creator Jenny Han began her career as a novelist; even the smallest choices mean something. Two, in particular, stood out to me in this episode.

The song choices inThe Summer I Turned Prettyhave always been meaningful, thoughone needle-drop moment inThe Summer I Turned Prettyseason 3, episode 3, was a delightfully subversive surprise.As Belly prepares herself for Susannah’s dedication ceremony (and her and Jeremiah’s life-altering announcement), Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please Please Please” plays over Belly’s getting-ready montage.

The song is about falling in love with someone not everyone in your life approves of, and the desire to protect that relationship, and more importantly, your pride, should the relationship go sideways. Carpenter sings,“I know I have good judgment, I know I have good taste/It’s funny and it’s ironic that only I feel that way.”

To play that particular song, in the lead-up to what we all know will be a massive family blow-up when Belly and Jeremiah reveal their plan to get married, was honestly an incredible choice. Does that mean that, deep down, Belly already knows she’s headed down the wrong path?Will she ever be able to be honest with herself about her relationship with Jeremiah?

Another minor detail that stood out to me appeared just a few minutes later, in the restaurant. Belly’s mom, Laurel (Jackie Chung), offers to pay for lunch, and Jeremiah and his dad, Adam (Tom Everett Scott), immediately order the most expensive thing on the menu, priced at $75.

Belly rightfully side-eyes Adam and Jeremiah and proceeds to order a simple bowl of soup, while at the other end of the table, Conrad orders something much simpler, priced at only $40. Side note: Yes, you have to pause the show when Belly looks at the menu to see the prices.

These are the kinds of details you need to look out for in this series, however. It’s fantastically subtle psychological storytelling. I’m excited to see more moments like that and how they build up in Belly’s mind as the season continues.

Has The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 Already Picked A Team?

Why Should We Be Rooting For Jeremiah?

Full disclosure, I haven’t read the books. If the show wants us to consider Jeremiah as a viable option for Belly, though (which is to be expected in a love triangle story), it hasn’t worked for me so far inThe Summer I Turned Prettyseason 3.

Belly’s lack of any negative emotion towards Jeremiah in episode 3, save that menu moment, makes it feel like there’s been a major time skip between this week and last week’s episodes, even though we know it’s only been a few days at most.

The problem is, this episode doesn’t give us any reason to root for him, either. Because of this season’s four-year time jump, we haven’t truly seen them together. I don’t understand why Belly is so insistent on making this work, and episode 3 should have given me some clues. It didn’t, though.

All in all, this was a compelling, if somewhat unsatisfying, installment.Laurel’s genuine anger and take-charge attitude made up for a lot, but I do need to see Belly struggle more with trusting Jeremiah in the coming weeks. It feels like she’s lost a bit of her agency inThe Summer I Turned Prettyseason 3, episode 3, and if nothing else, Belly has always made her own choices.

New episodes ofThe Summer I Turned Prettyseason 3 premiere Wednesdays exclusively on Prime Video.