‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Season 3, Episode 2 Recap and Review: “Lacie, Oh Lacie…”

After an action-packed first episode, The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 2 follows up with a second installment that keeps the drama flowing. With Belly (Lola Tung) on the heels of her discovery about Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), the chaos has never been more rampant.

It’s time to go over how all the chaos shakes out in The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 2: “Last Christmas”. Of course, spoilers ahead!

Jeremiah Addresses the Lacie-Sized Elephant in the Room in TSITP Season 3

“Last Christmas” opens with one of the most requested needle drops yet: “Lacy” by Olivia Rodrigo. The song plays as Belly lies on her bed, completely drained, the morning after the party. A flashback kicks in, and it’s the day Belly and Jeremiah “break up.” Unfortunately, it turns out Jere never told her he was going to Cabo for spring break with his fraternity and sister sorority. Belly finds out days before the flight via an email notification on his computer. Jere can keep his email notifications on for his Cabo trip, but conveniently misses the one about not having the credits to graduate. Priorities, right?

Belly is understandably hurt and unable to figure out why Jere didn’t trust her enough to tell her about the trip sooner. Jere weaponizes his insecurities as justification, claiming that she doesn’t like that he’s in a frat. He also, as Belly puts it, places his inferiority complex onto Belly. “Sorry, I’m not some straight-A overachiever going to med school like Conrad (Christopher Briney)”, he whines.

Prior to moving forward in the present, there’s another Belly and Jere flashback, but this time, it’s after the trip. After not speaking the entire week, the pair eventually reconciled their differences. Just when Jeremiah is about to admit that he slept with Lacie (Lily Donoghue), he chickens out and gifts her a “cheap-ass puka shell bracelet”, as Taylor (Rain Spencer) so wonderfully describes it.

Most of The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 2 consists of Belly sluggishly walking around campus, receiving solid advice from her college bestie Annika (Sofia Bryant), and reminiscing about all the good times she shared with Jeremiah. As if it couldn’t get any worse, Belly and Jeremiah run into each other on campus, and Jere admits that he slept with Lacie not once, but twice.

The Staylor Side-Plot Takes An Unexpected Twist in “Last Christmas”

The Staylor side-plot is not only still here, but it’s kicked into high gear. After some choice words from Belly in the last episode, Steven (Sean Kaufman) officially ends things with his ex to fully pursue Taylor. Taylor refuses to answer his calls on the matter, so Steven drives from New York City to Rhode Island to deliver the news to her. He’s taking precious time away from his swanky new job to win the heart of his little sister’s best friend. Don’t tell his career-focused colleague Denise (Isabella Briggs) this; she’d be stunned. 

When Steven drops the news in The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 2, Taylor immediately brushes him off, saying she hopes he didn’t do it for her. Although he obviously did, Taylor implies it was a bad idea, suggesting the couple worked better as a fling than a real relationship.

Steven claims she’s the only person he wants to be with, barely spitting out the words “I love you” before Taylor demands him to pull over and drop her back off at home. Steven honors her wishes, but takes a horribly timed U-turn and collides with a truck. Belly rushes to meet him at the hospital, but finds her brother in a coma in the ICU.

Conrad’s Californication Continues in The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 2

Back in the Golden State, Conrad and Agnes (Zoé De Grand Maison) start their first day at the clinic. But it doesn’t take long for the Conklin/Fisher madness to pull Conrad back in, as he hears of Steven’s car accident while at the clinic. Conrad is offered the chance to leave, but he stays, afraid to disappoint on his first day. Classic Connie.

The plan completely backfires, as Conrad gets fired on day one for mislabeling a test tube. Before he’s let go, he still manages to pull some strings and gets Dr. Jun Kwaan (Jennifer Yun), the head of Providence General’s neurology department, attached to Steven’s case. Bye-bye, boring doctor!

‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Season 3 Presents: Christmas 2.0!

As Belly texts Conrad, thanking him for his help, her attention shifts to the last time they exchanged texts. It was after their brief hangout over the previous Christmas break. You thought Jeremiah, Steven, and Taylor were the only TSITP Season 3 secret keepers? Nope! Belly’s got a secret of her own. No, Belly doesn’t hook up with Conrad behind his brother’s back. She may as well have, though, since she stares at Conrad with so much love and adoration in her eyes that she (and the audience) instantly forgets she’s spent the last four years with his brother. 

Instead, Belly and Conrad’s circumstances find them spending Christmas in the Cousins house once again. This is one of the most iconic moments in “We’ll Always Have Summer“, and was one of the few scenes between Conrad and Belly that was teased before the release of The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3.

While they aren’t getting cozy by the fireplace like they were in Season 2, they are playfully bantering with each other, watching Christmas movies, helping each other solve crossword puzzles, and arguing over the Casablanca love triangle. You know, the type of stuff that is so scandalous, Belly just can’t tell her boyfriend that it happened. Their day is set to the dreamy “Mystery of Love” by Sufjan Stevens, one of the most jaw-dropping TSITP needle drops since Phoebe Bridgers‘ “Funeral” in the Season 1 finale.

Steven Cheats Death in The ‘Summer I Turned Pretty’ Season 3 Episode 2

As Belly spends her evening reminiscing about her time with Conrad, Taylor pours her heart out to a comatose Steven. To no one’s surprise, Taylor actually does love Steven, but is afraid of confronting her emotions, so she has been pushing him away. Taylor and Conrad should have a joint therapy session, while Belly and Steven should be having one themselves to discuss why they’re attracted to the same personality. Must be in the genes.

Speaking of genes, Laurel (Jackie Chung) and John Conklin (Colin Ferguson) are no-shows while Steven is in the hospital, even with Belly’s frantic calls. What have they been up to? Stealing bottles of wine from the academic conference they’re attending and getting drunk in the hotel gym. They end up sleeping together and only catch wind of Steven’s accident the morning after, a real “parents of the year” moment. It’s so easy to forget these two are supposed to be divorced.

Thankfully, due to Dr. Kwaan’s care, Steven’s okay! He wakes up to a big hug from Belly, but then tells Taylor that he doesn’t actually think he and Taylor will work as a couple. Meanwhile, Taylor spends the entire night deciding she truly does love him back and intends to break up with Davis so they can be together. I haven’t seen such miscommunication since Belly and Conrad on this little indie show called The Summer I Turned Pretty! Wait a minute…

‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Season 3, Episode 2’s Shocking Proposal

So, let’s answer the question that’s been on no one’s mind up to this point: What has Jeremiah been up to? Sleeping in the lobby in case Belly “needs him.” It’s time for Jere to make his case for why Belly should stay with him! Sadly, in typical Jeremiah fashion, he’s chosen to do so at a time when Belly is most vulnerable. What ensues is one of the wildest moments in all of The Summer I Turned Pretty.

At the hospital garden, Belly forgives him way too quickly than anyone would’ve liked, and Jeremiah has the gall to propose to Belly. Yes, you read that right. Propose! There is no ring and no going down on one knee, just a Benson Boone needle drop and a dream. And to top it all off? Belly enthusiastically says yes. This is neither mystical nor magical; it just sucks.

‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Season 3 Episode 2 Review: “Last Christmas”

This episode is a massive step up from the first of the season. If my strong #TeamConrad bias hasn’t shown itself yet, it’s bound to creep out now. Lola Tung and Gavin Casalegno’s performances improve significantly throughout the episode, despite Jeremiah’s limited screen time. Watching Casalegno play a desperate, pleading Jeremiah is always exciting, and it’s made even better with Tung responding with such stoicism. It’s so fun to watch.

Steven and Taylor are at their best when they’re both wholly focused on navigating their obvious feelings towards each other, and their chemistry was a major improvement in The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 2. It explains their endearing arc in Season 2, where they spend the entire season finding their way towards each other. While they were ships passing through the night in this episode, the Staylor side-plot shows no signs of slowing down.

The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 Episode 2 continues the trend of being a well-made adaptation of We’ll Always Have Summer. Christmas 2.0 is an excellent example of a show that truly understands its source material, as well as those who love it. Fans have been anxiously awaiting this moment’s translation from book to screen, and the scene is handled with the utmost care by the entire creative team. While most authors will ship their work off to screenwriters and directors to handle the adaptation, Jenny Han closely oversees the onscreen translation of her books. It’s a book lover’s dream.

Best Moment: “Mystery of Love” becoming diegetic. Conrad was listening to the song on his headphones the whole time!

Worst Moment: The hospital proposal is really something else. The Benson Boone inclusion just brings it all home. What are they doing?

Best Needle Drop: You already know. “Oh, to see without my eyes…” CHILLS!

MVP: Connie Baby. He may have been fired from his clinical, but he still might have indirectly saved Steven’s life that day. My king.

Quote of the Episode: “Look, if he really thought you were broken up, technically it’s not cheating. But to keep it a secret, that tells me he knew what he did was wrong. That’s the part I can’t get over.”

Follow the Agents of Fandom podcast and on socials for all the latest entertainment news and reviews.