Wait, did Adam just show signs of maturity? All this time, I thought he was the bad guy, but it looks like this story has none. The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3, so far, has been quite disappointing in how long it stretched out the wedding conversation. This is the final season we’re talking about, and nothing really happened in the first several episodes, but episode 9 has proven to me that there’s a strategy here, and boy, has it worked fantastically. Episode 9 is by far the best episode of the show this season, and Belly’s nowhere near the Fishers. Honestly, we all thought this episode would be her self-discovery episode, but we got so much more about the other characters. I had honestly forgotten how many other plot points need to be addressed, and a lot of it is done in this episode, in a lovely way. But with that said, I think it’s time to jump straight into everything that happens in this episode (do y’all think she’s going to announce a movie at the end of episode 11?).
Spoiler Alert
Does Belly Talk To Conrad At The Airport?
Episode 9 takes off right at the end of episode 8, where Belly sees Conrad at the airport and tries to step away to see him. But, fortunately, she decides to stay in the queue she’s in and not miss her flight to Paris. Right after, Conrad gets a call from Adam, who asks him to look out for Jeremiah because the wedding’s been called off. I totally forgot he didn’t know! Conrad rushes back to Cousins while Steven and Taylor are trying to make sure Redbird and the gang don’t turn Jeremiah’s sorrow into a stripper party while trying to figure out their own thing at the same time. Just as they’re about to start the conversation, though, Conrad shows up, and they rush out to get him as far away from Jere as possible. Can I just say, this look on Taylor is killer! While Jere rushes back into the bar, Taylor has a word with Conrad. While she might agree that the wedding situation wasn’t entirely his fault (she did say 50% Belly and Jere’s), she still worries that if Conrad shows up in front of Jere, the latter will turn into an untamable beast, which, frankly, yeah.
On the other hand, we have an interesting interaction between Adam and Laurel, who are often at each other’s throats. Laurel reminds him that they have to clean up this whole mess, specifically because he was so quick to say yes to the wedding. Adam reminds her that he took up the mammoth task because she was against the wedding, and Belly cut contact with her for weeks. But it all ends with both of them having a laugh when Laurel asks Adam if he wants her to admit that she’s got no idea what she’s doing either, and he says yes. At the same time, at the bar, Jere tries to give away his mother’s ring to a random waitress, and Taylor puts it in his pocket instead. I feel like this is a detail to remember because he might end up losing it still? We’ll find out, I guess.
Steven and Taylor bring Jere back to the hotel, where he finds the card from the hotel that was meant for him and Belly, and obviously, it makes him unhappy. He decides to call her immediately, but Tay and Steven steal his phone from him so he doesn’t do something stupid. He claims he doesn’t need babysitters, but he obviously does, and the duo falls asleep on the couch. Meanwhile, Belly’s on her way to Paris and puts her ring in a pouch. Suddenly, she’s in Paris, having left everything behind, and she doesn’t even have a student visa. She’s a mess at immigration, but you know, she’s American, with easy tourist access.
Does Belly Leave Paris?
When Belly gets to the university, she gets a rude awakening, because the person who told her that there was a spot for her in the program was looking at the previous month’s list. Unfortunately, her spot has been given to someone else, because she missed the deadline, and there’s nothing to be done now. This scene was quite entertaining despite the situation, not going to lie. Belly breaks down as soon as she’s out, and she calls her mom. Laurel tells her she’ll come pick her up immediately, but Belly tells her she’s in Paris, and she was told on the phone that there was a spot for her, but it was all a misunderstanding. Laurel tells her to book a flight right back, no matter the cost. She reminds Belly that she loves her.
At a cafe, Belly finds herself backpack-less after she leaves it at the table when she goes to pay. Ah, naive young American. The thing she’s most worried about is the ring, but fortunately for her, she’s got an AirTag on it, so she’s got a map to help her out. Meanwhile, back in Cousins, Conrad is a prick to Laurel because he’s sulking and sad, even though it was basically his decision to break off the wedding. At the house, Steven reminds Conrad that this is all his fault, and just because he’s getting some red Gatorade for his brother, it doesn’t mean all’s well. He can’t solve this, because he’s the reason they’re in this mess in the first place (Dang, Mr. Steven). Taylor, looking pretty as heck, might I add, brings some breakfast and the Gatorade for Jere, the only thing he gladly accepts until she admits it’s from Conrad. Jere’s on the second stage of grief, which involves getting mad at everybody, though he was wholly part of the decision that was made. Taylor tries to console Jere, though, because she’s just a lovely person, while he talks about Belly being his whole life. The conversation then shifts to Taylor and Steven, and she says they could “maybe” be a thing, and Jere tells her that he hopes things work out better for her than they did for him.
Back in Paris, Belly meets a girl named Gemma (well, hello Tara, fancy seeing you here) who has the password to go into some sort of underground party, where her backpack is. Belly sees a man carrying her backpack, and he isn’t bothered by her presence at all until she kicks him and takes it back. When he claims it’s his own, she pulls out the wedding dress and asks him if it’s his. Suddenly, she’s sitting at a table with 4 strangers, well, Gemma included, and telling them her life story. They tell her it’s not so bad, but that this is the perfect opportunity for her to stay back in Paris. It looks like it works, because Belly decides to stay back, and she calls Jere. When he learns that she’s going to stay back there and that she thinks that things can’t go back to how they were before, he acts like a prick (yet again) and tells her not to call him again.
What Happens With Steven And Taylor?
Yes, Steven and Taylor are back together. Knew they were endgame, but also this was very sweet (I think Rain killed it in this scene!). Also, can I just say Steven calling Taylor Jewel (yes, I know that’s her surname) is too cute! Anyway, Taylor tells Steven about Christmas and Cabo, and he goes berserk knowing he’s been cleaning up Jere’s tears when he cheated on his sister?! But it quickly changes into an “Oh, we’re doing much better than them” situation, and suddenly they’re trying to get back together again. Steven tells Taylor that he specifically likes how she’s always there for the people she cares about, but why can’t she be there for him? She says she’s just never been that way with boys, but she’ll try. She’s still worried things might not work out, but Steven reminds her that that’s the case for everybody else too, and it shouldn’t stop them. She tells him that what he said at the hospital really broke her, but they cleared that misunderstanding up, so they’re back, baby! Oh yeah, they say, “I love you.”
What Does Adam Say to Conrad?
Meanwhile, Jere goes to the house and finds the package Conrad got delivered for Belly and him as a wedding gift. It’s one of Susannah’s paintings, but Jere is completely out of it and is too sarcastic to have a normal conversation with Conrad. He basically tells Conrad to leave and never come back because he ruined everything.
At the end of The Summer I Turned Pretty episode 9, Adam comes to the rescue by telling Conrad that the only thing he can do right now is give Jere the space he needs. This is the only way for him to help him, even if it makes him the bad guy. He uses the example of how Conrad didn’t want Adam anywhere near him when Susannah died. Adam says he knew that Conrad would rely on other people and get better, and he did. Also, Adam asking Conrad who he said “I love you” to was funny. But ultimately, Conrad decides to leave, and Adam goes to Jere, finally giving him a much-needed hug. Meanwhile, back in Paris, Belly realizes that she can rebuild herself in a new city with new people and find herself in a crowd of strangers. Without Cousins, her mom, Steven, Taylor, and of course, the brothers, she has to pick herself back up, and that’s the only thing she can do right now.
