I have a love-hate relationship with “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” Jenny Han’s 2009-2011 trilogy turned Prime Video hit show. There were so many things I adored about the first season: the idyllic setting of (fake) Cousins Beach, the adult friendship between Belly’s mother, Laurel, and her college bestie Susannah Fisher, the Taylor Swift-heavy soundtrack.

But, as Claire and I discussed last year, there are things about the central love triangle between Belly and Susannah’s two sons, Conrad and Jeremiah — two boys who may as well be Belly’s family members — that make it kind of a bummer if you think too hard about it. The show (and the young actors inhabiting these characters) sell these connections well, and yet, I’m never quite sure how to feel about it all.

I expressed these mixed emotions to my friend, author Alison Greenberg, during one of our impromptu late-night phone calls (side note: how cool is it that as an adult you can just stay up talking at odd hours to your friend and no one can stop you?), and she offered a framework for understanding “The Summer I Turned Pretty” that softened me to it. She argued that TSITP should be considered among the ranks of late ‘90s / early aughts WB channel teen soap classics: “Dawson’s Creek,” “Felicity,” “Popular,” “One Tree Hill,” “Young Americans” etc.

These shows gave teenagers of a certain (millennial) generation an outlet for seeing the Giant Emotions we felt bursting out of us expressed in a compelling package. If Joey Potter could be angsty as fuck, so could we. If Felicity Porter could upend her life to chase a cute boy to New York City, unbelievably embarrass herself, and end up on a journey of self-discovery anyway, then our small moments of humiliation really weren’t so bad.

When I think of TSITP as 2023’s “Dawson’s Creek,” the terrible decisions these kids make feel more reasonable; the overwrought emotions more palatable. And then I can just let myself slip into Team Belly mode, and wonder along with her who she should end up with.

In this episode of Rich Text, Alison joins me to break down TSITP season 2, #TeamJeremiah vs. #TeamConrad, and where we hope the show goes (and doesn’t go) in season 3. Hope you enjoy! Xo

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