Honestly, it’s easy to get lost in the "Team Conrad" vs. "Team Jeremiah" war. We spend so much time debating which brother is better for Belly that we almost miss the guy responsible for most of their therapy bills. Adam Fisher.
He’s the patriarch of the Fisher family. A venture capitalist. A guy who probably drinks his whiskey neat while staring at a stock ticker. But if you look closely at The Summer I Turned Pretty, Adam isn't just a background character who shows up for a few weekends in Cousins Beach. He’s the architect of the emotional mess everyone else is trying to clean up.
Whether you've read Jenny Han’s books or you’re obsessed with the Prime Video show, you’ve probably felt that "ick" whenever he’s on screen. There’s a reason for that.
Who Exactly is Adam Fisher?
In the series, Adam is played by Tom Everett Scott. It’s actually pretty brilliant casting because Scott usually plays the "nice guy" (think That Thing You Do!), but here, he uses that charm to mask something much colder.
Adam Fisher is the high-powered finance dad who thinks love is a performance review. He’s a man who lives for optics. To the outside world, he’s a success. He has the beautiful wife, the athletic sons, and the wealth to buy a beach house back on a whim. But inside the house? He’s a ghost at best and a bully at worst.
He didn't grow up with the same "old money" ease that Susannah did. He’s a self-made guy, and he carries that chip on his shoulder like a badge of honor. He expects his sons to be winners because their success is basically just a reflection of his own ego.
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The Favorite Son Trap
The way Adam treats Conrad and Jeremiah is a textbook case of how to mess up your kids.
He put Conrad on a pedestal. From the time Conrad was a kid, Adam treated him like an extension of himself. If Conrad won the football game or got the straight As, Adam was happy. If Conrad showed any sign of "weakness" or—god forbid—emotion, Adam checked out. This is why Conrad is so repressed. He’s been trained to believe that his only value is in being perfect.
Then there’s Jeremiah.
To Adam, Jere is the "spare." He’s the easygoing one, the "sunny" one, which Adam basically translates to "unimportant." He underestimates Jeremiah at every turn. In the third season, we see this get even more toxic. He belittles Jere’s career prospects and then has the audacity to act shocked when Jeremiah wants to make his own path.
The Susannah Factor
We have to talk about the cheating.
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In the show, it’s revealed that Adam had an affair while Susannah was going through her first round of cancer treatment. Let that sink in. Your wife is fighting for her life, and you’re looking for a distraction? It’s arguably the most unforgivable thing a character has done in the entire series.
Susannah, being the "Good Girl" archetype, tried to keep the family together. She wanted the "perfect summer" to stay perfect for the kids. But the boys knew. Conrad knew. That secret is what turned Conrad from a happy kid into the moody, cigarette-smoking version we meet in Season 1.
Adam didn't just betray Susannah; he destroyed the foundation of trust his sons had in him.
Book vs. Show: Is He Worse on Page?
Kinda, yeah. In the books, Adam is even more of a "finance bro" archetype.
- The Sale of the House: In the book It’s Not Summer Without You, Adam’s first instinct after Susannah dies is to sell the beach house. He says it’s because it’s too painful to be there, but it feels more like he’s just trying to "liquidate" a memory.
- The Confrontation: It takes Laurel—Belly’s mom—calling him out and basically shaming him into keeping the house for the boys to actually change his mind.
- The Relationship with Laurel: Fun fact for the book fans—Laurel and Adam actually dated first in college. Laurel "handed him over" to Susannah because she thought they were a better match. Talk about dodging a massive bullet.
In the show, they’ve tried to give him a slight redemption arc by having him be the one to pay for the house, but it’s hard to cheer for a guy who only does the right thing after his kids have to beg for it.
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Why He’s the Real Villain
A villain doesn't always have to be a guy in a cape or a literal murderer. In a coming-of-age story, the villain is often the person who stunts everyone else's growth.
Think about it.
Conrad’s anxiety? That’s Adam.
Jeremiah’s deep-seated insecurity and "second-best" complex? That’s Adam.
Susannah’s need to pretend everything is fine even when she’s dying? That’s a reaction to Adam’s inability to handle real, messy emotions.
He’s the reason the "love triangle" is so high-stakes. The boys are desperate for a sense of belonging and love that they never got from their father. They cling to Belly because she represents the warmth and the "home" that Adam never provided.
What You Can Learn from the Fisher Family Mess
If you’re watching the show or reading the books, Adam Fisher is a great "what not to do" guide for life.
- Don't equate worth with performance. Your kids (or your friends, or your partners) aren't trophies.
- Show up when it’s hard. Anyone can be a "good dad" when things are easy. Being a good partner means showing up when things are ugly, like during chemo or a failing grade.
- Stop the comparison game. Pitting siblings against each other doesn't make them work harder; it just makes them resent each other for the rest of their lives.
Next time you’re screaming at the TV because Conrad is being "too much" or Jeremiah is being "too sensitive," take a look at the guy in the expensive suit standing in the background. Adam Fisher is the one pulling the strings of their trauma.
To really understand the Fisher boys, you have to look at the man who raised them. Pay attention to the way he orders for everyone at dinner or the way he ignores Jeremiah’s questions about the business. It tells you everything you need to know about why this family is so broken.
Your Next Steps for Following the Story
To get the full picture of the Fisher family dynamic, you should revisit the "Christmas at Cousins" flashbacks in Season 2. Watch Adam's body language specifically. Then, if you're really feeling brave, read the third book, We'll Always Have Summer, to see how his influence continues to mess with the boys' adult lives. Observing how he interacts with Laurel in later scenes also provides a massive clue into how much he truly respects—or doesn't respect—the women in his life.