“Nothing stays the same forever. Not even summer.”

Season two of the live adaption of Jenny Han’s famous trilogy books, The Summer I Turned Pretty, has left fans either sobbing in dismay, or cheering in celebration. It was fairly good, but had its ups and downs.

The show carried emotional baggage since the end of the first season, when Susannah Fisher, played by Rachel Blanchard, announced her cancer diagnosis to the family. This was also the point where Belly Conklin, played by Lola Tung, and Conrad Fisher, played by Christopher Briney, made their debut as an official couple. 

Season two begins with the grief and loss of Susannah Fisher. Belly and her brother, Steven Conklin, played by Sean Kufman, are tasked with helping the Fisher brothers, Conrad and Jeremiah, played by Gavin Casalegno, get the iconic summer house back from two new characters. This new cast includes Susannah’s half sister Julia, played by Kyra Sedgwick, and Julia’s child Skye, played by Elsie Fisher.

Throughout the season, the viewers follow Belly as she makes her choices between the two Fisher brothers. Tung gave a strong performance, with every scene she had being filled with emotion, whether it’s with her co-stars or not. 

Tung and Briney’s portrayal of the relationship between Belly and Conrad is outstanding. The chemistry between the two were very important to the tense, emotional scenes they did. They allowed the audience to laugh, cry, grieve, and more. 

In the first season, Belly chose Conrad. After telling that to Jeremiah, he gets angry. Casalegno perfectly radiated the jealousy and anger he felt towards Belly and his older brother. In every scene between Belly and Conrad, Jeremiah could be seen staring at them from a distance with closed fists and a clenched jaw. Casalegno made it extremely hard for the viewer to side with anyone other than Jeremiah. 

Besides the popular love triangle, there was another thrilling ship: Staylor. Staylor consists of Belly’s brother, Steven Conklin, and her best friend, Taylor Jewel, played by Rain Spencer. 

Steven and Taylor are one of the more heartfelt ships. They had their ups and downs when they were first caught kissing at Belly’s party in season one. Ever since then, fans have awaited their moment. 

The soundtrack of The Summer I Turned Pretty season two was a lot. Zachary Dawes, composer of The Summer I Turned Pretty soundtrack knew what he was doing with each song. 

Famous songwriters such as Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Lizzo, Tyler the Creator, and many more; all had songs of their own at the right moments. 

In the first episode, Driver’s License by Olivia Rodrigo plays as Belly drives down the street, reminiscing about her times with Conrad. The song choices throughout the series were too accurate and had fans screaming the lyrics at their screens. 

The second season had four directors in total: Zoe R. Cassavetes, Megan Griffiths, Isabel Sandoval, Sophia Takal; each had two episodes. 

Viewers may try to argue that the show is bad, in which they aren’t entirely wrong. There have been scenes that fans may call “cringey”. Though there are some cringe scenes in the show, it’d be wrong to assume that the entire film is bad. 

All in all, Jenny Han, author of the original books, is a mastermind. Her work led to an excellent season two of the show. Even though this season was for team Jeremiah fans, crumbs of Bonrad were sprinkled all throughout, preparing for the third season.