Throughout the summer of 2025, people all over the world gathered on their couches every Wednesday to watch the final season of the global sensation tv show, “The Summer I Turned Pretty.”
Finally, after a long three years of watching the main character Belly going back and forth between two brothers, Jeremiah and Conrad, the show came to a dramatic end on Wednesday, Sept. 17. Along with the ending, fans also found out there would be more to come with the release of a movie sometime in 2026.
Kent State students shared their thoughts and opinions on the finale and movie. Many of the students had differing thoughts and opinions on the finale as well as predictions for the upcoming movie.
In the finale, we see fans finally get what they want. After watching Jeremiah cheat on Belly, and Belly still wanting to marry him, Belly finally gets with Conrad. This comes after Conrad yearned for her all summer, trying his hardest to show he’s exactly what she needs.
Kendall Taylor, freshman architecture major, had a few things to say about this ending.
“I’m actually pissed off that it took the whole three seasons to get to the last episode, and they finally get together, and then they almost don’t get together, and then she finally makes up her mind,” Taylor says.
The “Jeremiah hate train” was definitely something fans hopped on during this season, after he admitted to cheating on Belly during his spring break trip to Cabo. “Team Conrad” or “team Jeremiah” was a big debate during the other seasons, but this season it seemed to just be “team Conrad” and fans seemed to want nothing to do with Jeremiah by the last episode.
Kennedy Brophy, freshman speech pathology major, hopped onto the Jeremiah hate train.
“Definitely [Conrad] over Jeremiah, who cheated in Cabo,” Brophy says.
During this finale, fans saw Jeremiah find himself through cooking. This included watching him cook a dinner that Belly’s best friend Taylor organized in order to establish Jeremiah as a rising chef. But after his recent actions, fans didn’t seem to care at all if Jeremiah lived happily.
Audrey Noll, freshman interior design major, made her stance on Jeremiah very clear.
“I also did not like how we saw so much of Jeremiah, I don’t care,” Noll says.
One iconic scene in this episode was definitely the steamy “dress” scene between Conrad and Belly, after they had spent a romantic day strolling around the streets of Paris, and later celebrating Belly’s 22nd birthday.
When Conrad first showed up at Belly’s apartment in Paris, she really didn’t know what to think and seemed a bit annoyed. At first, she thought it would just be two old friends reconnecting, but once nighttime hit, things took a turn as Belly realized the feelings she once had for Conrad were still there.
After their night ended once again in a fight, Conrad leaves and Belly goes chasing after him, confessing her love on the train.
Hailey Mowery, freshman marketing major, shared her opinion on the scene.
“She had to run after him, which I’m glad that she had to run after him because he made her work for it a little bit, because she was pulling him the whole season,” Mowery says.
We then saw a fast forward moment to Belly and Conrad once again in Cousins Beach, but this time happily in love and not fighting. The one thing missing at the end was the family coming together, which fans wanted.
“I wish it would have ended with the whole family being there together. I feel like the whole show was family coming together,” Mowery says.
Though students may have not completely got what they wanted, there is still more to be continued with the movie coming next year. Some things students wanted to see were Conrad and Belly’s wedding, Sussanah’s letter to Belly and what their future families will be like.
Taylor Moss, a freshman public relations major, shared her prediction of a holiday-focused movie.
“A Christmas in Cousins, because in the credits there were all these pictures with them at Christmas, but none of the presents were open,” Moss says.
The finale of the show was definitely something fans had opinions on, but we will see how these opinions change when the movie comes out.
Ava Drozd is a writer. Contact her at [email protected].
