‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Season 3, Episode 1 Recap and Review: “Stop…You’re Losing Me!”

After an almost two-year hiatus, we’re back in Cousins for one final season! The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 is here, with new episodes airing on Prime Video every Wednesday. With Belly (Lola Tung), Conrad (Christopher Briney), Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), and the rest of the gang finally back on viewers’ screens once again, all seems well in the world.

Spoiler alert: Nothing is well in the Cousins world right now. Let’s dive into the first episode, aptly titled ‘Last Season,’ and discuss where it could be headed next. Check out all the details from The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 1 below!

The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 1 Features a Shocking Time-Jump

Belly is in college! As discussed at the end of Season 2, she’s attending Finch University with her boyfriend, Jeremiah Fisher and best friend, Taylor Jewel (Rain Spencer). The episode begins with the Conklin family dropping off Belly at her dorm, all set to Dreams by The Cranberries. Our very first needle drop!

As Belly settles into her new home, her mom, Laurel (Jackie Chung), gives her a picture of herself and her late best friend, Susannah (Rachel Blanchard). After Belly pins it up on her dorm room wall, a collage of new pictures taken throughout Belly’s college years appears for viewers to dissect. Surprise! We’ve skipped three years, and Belly is now about to end her junior year. Yup, The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 1 takes place four whole years after Season 2. She’s still with Jeremiah, who’s about to graduate, and things couldn’t be going better…for now.

It’s time for the Finals Freakout, a University-sanctioned event where all the fraternities and sororities celebrate the end of the year by playing field games and drinking alcohol in their Greek letters (an oxymoron to those familiar with U.S. Greek life). They play a variety of different field games all set to Chappell Roan’s HOT-TO-GO!. As Belly holds onto Jeremiah’s phone while he plays a game of Twister, Jeremiah gets a call. GASP! It’s from Conrad!

Conrad’s Californication in TSITP

So, what has Connie been up to in the four years leading up to The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3? He’s been at Stanford, studying to be a doctor. He’s made friends with Agnes (Zoé De Grand Maison), an enthusiastic friend who gets Conrad talking about the topics he tends to avoid (*cough* Belly *cough*). The most notable Conrad-related revelation, however, is that the boy is attending therapy!

Cousins Beach is dedicating a garden in memory of his mother, and the whole squad is reuniting for the first time in four years to attend the dedication ceremony. It’s got Conrad worked up though, since A) him and Jere are responsible for writing a speech together, and B) this will be the first time he’ll be seeing Belly coupled up with his brother since their Fourth of July celebration four years ago (which, as we see in a montage, did not go well for him). The therapy was necessary a while ago, but hey, better late than never.

Conrad may not be attending the ceremony, though, as he and Agnes are both admitted into Dr. Namazy’s (Nayab Hussain) clinical program. Dr. Namazy is notoriously strict, so Agnes discourages Conrad from taking time off to attend the ceremony in The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 1. Time to lock in, Connie!

‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Season 3 Epiosde 1’s Shocking Reveal

Back at Finch, Belly discovers she’s been taken off the waitlist and accepted for her dream study abroad program in Paris. As she tries to deliver the good news to Jere, she discovers him sulking on his bed. It turns out that when Jeremiah switched his major, some credits didn’t transfer, making him ineligible to graduate on time. Now, he’s not only required to stay an extra semester, but he owes his Dad (Tom Everett Scott) $20,000. The reason why Jere is in this situation in the first place? According to Steven, it’s because he didn’t check his emails. Welcome to the real world, Jere!

Last Season also introduces us to what I’m dubbing “The Staylor Side-Plot.” Taylor and Belly’s brother Steven (Sean Kaufman) have been upgraded to series regulars for The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, and their screen time reflects it. We learn that the pair have been on and off for the last four years. When we first see them, we also discover that they have reconnected, despite both of them being in existing relationships. Yeesh.

The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 1 ends at Jeremiah’s fraternity party, where Belly discovers a shocking truth. While in the bathroom, she overhears sorority girl Lacie Barone (Lily Donoghue) outside talking about her steamy hookup with Jeremiah in Cabo over spring break. Jeremiah cheated on Belly! She immediately confronts Jeremiah, who pulls a classic Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) and uses the “We were on a break!” technicality to absolve himself of his actions. Just as it didn’t end well for Ross, this doesn’t end well for Jere. After a slap to the face and the first Taylor Swift needle drop of The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 with You’re Losing Me, we cut to black.

The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3: Last Season Review

While this season’s source material, Jenny Han‘s We’ll Always Have Summer, is translated to the screen with pinpoint accuracy, the show’s greatest character, Cousins Beach itself, is notably absent. This is also how the book is, so avid readers will be accustomed to the setting change, as the characters aren’t in Cousins until about 20 chapters in. However, I imagine the portion of the 25 million viewers that have solely tuned into the show were a little disappointed with the lack of Cousins.

While Lola Tung is one of my favorite young talents working today, it’s glaringly apparent that she and Gavin Casalegno share very little chemistry together. It’s increasingly obvious in the moment where Belly confronts Jeremiah about his infidelity.

She’s talking as if she’s crying, yet no tears leave her face. In comparison to her emotional scenes with Christopher Briney, it’s a night-and-day difference. If Belly is to spend as much time as she does with Conrad on the show as she does in the book in the next few episodes, those questioning Tung’s acting chops based on this scene alone will instantly go quiet. Don’t underestimate the power of a good co-star!

Best Moment: The slap heard ’round the world. You reap what you sew, Jerebear.

Worst Moment: Finding out Steven and Taylor are each other’s side pieces. What an odd choice!

Best Needle Drop: Can’t Stop by The Red Hot Chili Peppers for Conrad’s entrance—pure cinema.

Episode MVP: Conrad’s therapist. He’s got his work cut out for him!

Quote of the Episode: “What happens in Cabo, stays in Cabo.”

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