If you’re anything like me, you probably spent the last week staring at a countdown clock. We finally got there. The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 Ep 4 has landed, and honestly, my heart is kind of a mess. Jenny Han promised us a faithful adaptation of We’ll Always Have Summer, but seeing it play out on screen feels so much more visceral than reading it on a plane ride back in 2011. This episode is where the "Belly gets her happily ever after" dream starts to look a lot more like a complicated, messy reality.
It’s weird.
Watching Belly and Jeremiah try to play house while the shadow of Conrad Fisher looms over literally everything is exhausting. But that’s the point. This episode doesn't just give us romance; it gives us the uncomfortable realization that being "team" anyone might be the wrong way to look at it.
Why The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 Ep 4 Changes Everything for Team Jeremiah
Let’s be real for a second. The vibe at the start of this season was very "Jelly" centric. They’re at Finch. They’re happy. They’re living their best lives away from the Cousins Beach drama. But episode 4 is where the cracks become impossible to ignore.
Jeremiah is trying. He really is. But there’s this specific scene in The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 Ep 4—you know the one, involving the fraternity party fallout—where you can see the insecurity just radiating off him. He knows he’s not the first choice in the back of Belly’s mind, even if he’s the one she’s holding hands with right now. It’s painful to watch because Gavin Casalegno plays that "happy mask slipping" look way too well.
The narrative shift here is huge.
In the books, this is roughly where the engagement plot starts to bubble up. If you haven't read the third book, the show is taking some liberties with the timeline, but the emotional beats are identical. Jeremiah thinks a bigger commitment will fix the fundamental instability of their relationship. It’s a classic 19-year-old mistake.
The Conrad Problem Isn't Going Away
Conrad is barely in this episode physically, yet he’s the loudest person in the room. That’s the magic of how Chris Briney plays him. He’s the ghost in the machine.
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When Belly finds that old sweatshirt or remembers a specific moment from the boardwalk, the show uses these sharp, quick cuts that mimic how grief actually feels. It’s not just grief for Susannah anymore; it’s grief for the version of herself that belonged to Conrad.
I’ve noticed a lot of fans on TikTok arguing that Belly is "leading Jere on." I don't think it's that simple. Belly is genuinely trying to love the person who stayed. But The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 Ep 4 shows us that staying isn't the same thing as being the right fit. The chemistry with Jeremiah feels like a warm blanket, while the chemistry with Conrad feels like a thunderstorm. You can’t live in a thunderstorm, but you never forget how it felt.
That One Scene Everyone Is Texting About
We have to talk about the letters.
The showrunners have been teasing the importance of the letters since Season 1, but the way they are referenced in this episode is a total gut punch. It’s subtle. It’s tucked away in a conversation about "moving on," but if you listen closely to the dialogue, the foreshadowing for the finale is laid on thick.
People think the love triangle is about who Belly chooses.
It’s not.
It’s about who Belly becomes because of each brother. With Jeremiah, she’s the fun, easy-going version of herself. With Conrad, she’s the person who has to grow up. Episode 4 forces her to decide which version she actually likes better.
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What the Critics Are Missing About the Finch Storyline
Most reviews of The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 Ep 4 are focusing on the romance, but the real story is Belly’s independence—or lack thereof. She’s struggling in her classes. She’s feeling disconnected from Taylor.
Taylor, by the way, remains the MVP of this show. Rain Spencer brings a level of groundedness that the Fisher boys completely lack. When she tells Belly to "stop acting like your life is a movie and start living it," she’s speaking for the entire audience.
The pacing of this season has been criticized for being slow, but I’d argue this episode proves why the slow burn matters. If they rushed into the Cabo drama (if you know, you know), we wouldn’t feel the weight of what’s about to break. We need to see them happy at Finch to understand why the inevitable betrayal hurts so much.
The Music Supervision is Still Elite
You can’t talk about this show without talking about the soundtrack.
Music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas deserves an Emmy. The use of certain Taylor Swift tracks—which I won't spoil if you haven't watched yet—is surgically precise. There’s a moment toward the end of the episode where a specific bridge kicks in, and it perfectly mirrors the internal monologue Belly has in the novels.
It’s basically a requirement at this point that every major emotional beat is backed by a "Taylor’s Version" track. It’s part of the brand. But it works because the lyrics often fill in the gaps where the characters are too scared to speak their minds.
Navigating the Comparison to "We'll Always Have Summer"
If you’re a book purist, The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 Ep 4 might frustrate you. There are changes. Big ones. The way the conflict with the parents is handled feels much more modern than it did in the source material.
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Lacy’s role is also being teased out differently.
In the book, the "Lacategate" scandal feels like a sudden explosion. In the show, they’re planting seeds of doubt much earlier. It makes Jeremiah look a bit more sympathetic, honestly. He’s not just a "villain" for what happens; he’s a kid who is deeply, desperately lonely even when he’s standing right next to the girl he loves.
- The Finch setting: Adds a layer of "real world" pressure that the beach house lacks.
- The Laurel subplot: Finally gives us a look at how the adults are coping with the void Susannah left.
- The Steven/Taylor dynamic: Provides the much-needed levity when the main triangle gets too heavy.
Practical Steps for Fans Moving Forward
Don't just binge the episode and move on. To really get the most out of where the story is heading, you should keep a few things in mind for the rest of the season:
Rewatch Season 2, Episode 1. There are parallel shots in this episode that show how much Belly’s body language has changed. She’s more guarded now. She leans away from Jeremiah in ways she didn't a year ago.
Read the letters in Book 3. If you want to know what the show is hinting at with the "invisible string" references, the answers are in the epilogue of the final book. The show is definitely building toward those specific reveals.
Pay attention to the color palette. The directors use a lot of blue and silver when Conrad is the focus, and warm oranges and yellows for Jeremiah. In this episode, the colors start to bleed together, symbolizing Belly’s confusion.
Watch the background characters. The show is doing a lot of world-building with the secondary cast this season. What happens at the frat party isn't just about Belly and Jere; it sets up the social stakes for the rest of their time at college.
This episode isn't just a filler. It's the bridge between the childhood they had and the adulthood they aren't quite ready for yet. It’s messy, it’s frustrating, and it’s exactly why we keep coming back to Cousins Beach—even when we’re miles away.