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‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’s Final Season Was Doomed From the Start Thanks to One Obvious Mistake

October 9, 2025

The Summer I Turned PrettySeason 3, based on Jenny Han’s third book in the series, We’ll Always Have Summer, was meant to be a satisfying conclusion to the show’s central love triangle. After two seasons of yearning and heartbreak, this final chapter was set up to give Belly (Lola Tung), Conrad (Christopher Briney), and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) the emotional closure the story had been building toward. While the season stayed true to the books and ultimately delivered a Bonrad endgame, it still felt rushed, leaving little room for the characters to grow as individuals. That lingering disappointment comes down to one core issue: the way the show’s final season was structured.

‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Season 3 Didn’t Have Enough Room To Breathe

Most of The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 revolved around Belly and Jeremiah’s relationship, especially their wedding planning, complete with awkward dance sequences and arguments over cake. Now this was a far cry from the final book that dove deep into Belly and Conrad’s slow-burning love story as the two realized how much they still wanted each other after Christmas 2.0. Despite the wedding storyline having the potential to serve as compelling background tension, especially if it had been used to fully explore Belly’s lingering doubts and unresolved feelings for Conrad, the third installment’s limited screen time kept this from truly resonating.

The show tried to condense the entire resolution of Jenny Han’s trilogy into just 11 episodes, and it showed. The limited episode count forced the story to rush through major turning points, particularly Belly’s choice between Conrad and Jeremiah. The season never gave her arc room to develop by speeding through her shifting emotions. As a result, her final decision came across as abrupt, not because the story lacked weight, but because the structure didn’t allow for the slow burn that the book built so carefully. Not to mention that the writers decided to get rid of Belly’s monologue this season, which made a lot of her moments with Conrad seem flat or one-sided.

Did ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Really Need a Feature-Length Film?

Image via Prime Video

This might be a controversial take, but the show didn’t actually need a movie to give fans the ending they were hoping for. That’s not to say longtime viewers won’t tune in for the rest of Belly’s story. The point is, if making a feature film came at the cost of poor pacing in Season 3, then perhaps that’s not how it was supposed to be done. A three-season arc had the potential to feel complete on its own. Instead, the finale landed more like a setup and left the audience with the sense that the real conclusion had been deliberately held back for the feature-length follow-up. It was disappointing to see that the finale didn’t include beloved moments from the books, including Bonrad Valentine’s Day flashback, or the happy couple running into the water at Cousin’s beach after getting married.

The 11-episode season was clearly not enough time for the show to fully play out its storylines. If Season 3 had been expanded to 13 or even 15 episodes, a movie wouldn’t be needed to patch the gaps. This doesn’t just apply to the show’s central love triangle, because several other meaningful subplots were left hanging at the end of the finale. For example, the show left Laurel’s(Jackie Chung) and John’s (Colin Ferguson) complicated relationship unresolved. Not just that, but Jeremiah’s passion for cooking felt like it came out of nowhere, and all of a sudden, he was hosting an entire pop-up dinner. Even smaller plots like Steven’s (Sean Kaufman) and Denise’s (Isabella Briggs)business just felt rushed and underdeveloped. All of this shows that the problem wasn’t a lack of stories to tell; it was the lack of space to tell them well. Plus, with more episodes, the content could have fit naturally, and the arcs could have developed at a better pace. Instead, the season had only 11 episodes, and even that limited space wasn’t utilized effectively.

Stretching ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’s Ending Into a Movie Undermines the Story

Christopher Briney as Conrad holding himself and struggling in The Summer I Turned Pretty — Christopher Briney as Conrad in The Summer I Turned Pretty

Even if one assumes that the true ending of The Summer I Turned Pretty was held back, the bigger problem is that there simply isn’t enough story left to fill an entire movie. Season 3 has definitely left some threads unresolved, but most of them are small, personal arcs that could have easily been tied up in the length of the show. Sure, the film can hone in on how Belly and Conrad’s relationship changes now that they are adults and pursuing their own careers. It could also show the rest of the characters settling into their lives and finally reuniting after letting go of all the baggage from the past. However, none of that is actually substantial enough to justify an entire film.

The bigger concern here is that the writers might invent new drama to raise the stakes and add a sense of conflict to the film. In an interview with TODAY, Han, for instance, teased that the movie revolves around a “big milestone” in Belly’s life, which hints at a possible Bonrad wedding. Now, since The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 has already spent countless hours on a wedding that never happened, revisiting that same setup could feel redundant. So instead of delivering closure, the show now hands off its final act to a movie that risks repeating ground it has already covered. Having the show’s last episodes feel like a long trailer leading up to the movie made for an incredibly frustrating viewing experience. Since the film’s premiere date is still not announced, fans are left in this weird limbo when all they wanted was for Belly and Conrad’s journey to receive more screen time and a fitting resolution.

The Summer I Turned Pretty is now streaming on Prime Video.