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The Summer I Turned Pretty: Episode 3 Recap

Scene from The Summer I Turned Pretty Episode 3 to illustrate recap

In the previous episode, Belly went on a drive in date with Cam. Steven, Jeremiah and Conrad showed up to make fun of her. Therefore, when she got back, Belly got into an argument with Conrad.

The Summer I Turned Pretty is a series adaptation of the novel of the same name by Jenny Han. It follows the story of Isabel “Belly” Conklin (Lola Tung), a 15 year old girl who is going to spend her summer at her mother’s friend’s beach house as she frequently did as a child. There, she reunites with Conrad Fisher (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno).

Streaming on Amazon Prime Video

The Summer I Turned Pretty- Episode 3 Summary & Recap

16th birthday

Every year, Belly celebrates her birthday at Cousins’ Beach. Once, when she was younger, Conrad drew an infinity on her birthday pancake and thought her the meaning. This time, Belly’s birthday arrives again. The whole family take turn giving Belly her gift. When Conrad sees Susannah giving Belly a pearl necklace, he pretends to forget Belly’s birthday. Belly’s best friend, Taylor is also coming by for the weekend to celebrate Belly’s birthday. Belly and Jeremiah pick her up from the station but before that, Belly confided in Jeremiah that she worries Taylor is going to make everything about her.

After picking up Taylor, the three of them stop for ice cream and Taylor tells Belly that she likes the fact that Cam is distracting her crush from “that person”. Belly shuts her down, but Jeremiah seems to get the gist that Belly has a crush on Conrad. Meanwhile, Steven feels pressured when Shayla wants to get a New York designer dress for the debutante.

Scene from The Summer I Turned Pretty to illustrate recap
Shayla wants to coordinate outfits, but the designer pieces are expensive.

First meeting

After settling down, Taylor joins Steven, Jeremiah and Belly in the swimming pool. Soon after, Nicole arrives but sits by the pool talking to Conrad. Unfortunately, while playing volleyball, Taylor accidentally hit the ball onto Nicole’s face. Belly apologizes and Conrad brings Nicole in to take care of her. This makes Conrad late to Cleveland’s interview session where he’s supposed to help him. 

At dinner, Belly invites Cam over. Steven and Jeremiah give him a hard time by teasing him about Belly and his vegetarianism, but Cam handles the situation well and even kisses Belly in front of everyone. In the end of dinner, Belly decides to go to Nicole’s party with everyone.

Another party

At the party, Belly ditches Taylor to hang out with the debutante girls. During the girl chat, the girls seem to indicate that Conrad and Nicole are not officially a couple. Then, the topic changes and the girls cheer Belly on to invite Cam to the debutante ball. Belly tells them that she will ask Cam, but she ends up stealing glances at Conrad.

Scene from The Summer I Turned Pretty to illustrate recap
The debutante girls prepare a birthday cake for Belly.

Jeremiah also starts being nicer to Cam as the two start karaoke-ing at the party. Belly feels left out and tries to look for Taylor, but ends up finding Taylor making out with Steven. Embarrassed, Steven runs away and Belly confronts Taylor, telling her that Steven is seeing someone he really likes (Shayla). This frustrates Taylor as she feels like Belly is changing and suddenly prioritizes all these debutante girls instead of her. Taylor admits that she had a crush on Steven for years and accuses Belly of being self-absorbed and caring about herself and Conrad more than she does Taylor. After the whole fiasco, Belly is not able to ask Cam to the debutante although Cam is in fact waiting to be asked.

Taylor's goodbye

The next morning, Belly finds out that Conrad spent the night at Nicole’s. When trying to look for a pair of keys in Conrad’s room, she find the gift Conrad initially planned on giving her- an infinity necklace. Later, she takes a drive with Jeremiah but could not stop mentioning Conrad, even when Jeremiah is talking about Cam. Jeremiah tells Belly that he finds it weird that Belly changed her focus from Cam to Conrad within one night.

Later in the afternoon, Belly sends Taylor away at the bus station. Taylor assures Belly what happened with Steven will not happen again. Steven told her it was a mistake. Belly can feel her friend’s heartbreak and tells Taylor she just needs time to process the whole thing. Then, she goes to Steven and tells him that Taylor’s feelings are real. Unfortunately for Taylor, Steven wants to keep the whole thing a secret because he doesn’t want Shayla to find out. Steven admits that he’s insecure about Shayla because Shayla is used to guys treating her like a queen. But, Belly seems mildly frustrated that he made out with her friend due to his own insecurities.

Scene from The Summer I Turned Pretty Episode 3 to illustrate recap
Heartbroken, Taylor tells Belly that Steven does not feel the same way

At the end of the episode, it is revealed that Susannah has cancer and has limited time left.

Additional Observations From Episode 3

  • Cleveland is bi. Laurel saw Cleveland at a bookstore where he was interviewed and found him good looking.
  • Laurel tried to talk to Conrad about not letting his first heartbreak affect him. However, Conrad realizes that Laurel was talking about Aubrey, which he did not seem to be actually affected by.
  • Cam confronted Belly about Jeremiah, thinking the two had something going on. Belly clarified that Jeremiah flirts with everyone.

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