- "The Summer I Turned Pretty" season two finale aired on August 18.
- Season two made some changes from the book it's based on, "It's Not Summer Without You."
- Here's what happened in the season finale of the show based on Jenny Han's popular trilogy.
"The Summer I Turned Pretty" season two took its plot from "It's Not Summer Without You," the second book in Jenny Han's popular trilogy. But the season two finale's ending wasn't quite the same as what book readers may have expected.
The second season finds Belly Conklin (Lola Tung) and the Fisher brothers — Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) and Conrad (Christopher Briney) — on a quest to save their mom Susannah's (Rachel Blanchard) summer house after her death. Belly takes a trip to Cousins Beach with Jeremiah and learns through Conrad that Susannah's house is up for sale. Of course, the situation is more complicated than that, because Conrad is Belly's ex-boyfriend, and she is catching feelings for Jeremiah.
Viewers who also read the books know that the small-screen adaptation of the popular series took some liberties with the plot throughout season two. For example, in the book, Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah only have to convince Mr. Fisher (the boys' dad) not to sell the house. But on season two of the show, we meet Aunt Julia (Kyra Sedgwick), who owns the house after Susannah's death. Julia and her child, Skye (Elsie Fisher), bring family drama with them to Cousins Beach and initially hate the house.
In another big change, Belly loses her virginity to Conrad in the TV series, which doesn't happen in the books.
Considering all of these changes, you might be wondering if "The Summer I Turned Pretty" stayed true to its core story — the love triangle between Belly and the Fisher brothers. Well, the answer is slightly complicated.
How does 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' season 2 end?
Technically, the season two finale doesn't stay true to the ending of the second book in the trilogy, which has both an ending to the present-day timeline and a flash-forward "coda" after that. The actual ending of "It's Not Summer Without You" is a flash-forward to Belly on the beach in a white dress with a mystery man a couple of years after the present-day events the book covers.
"This wasn't how I pictured my future. Me, in a white dress in the pouring rain running for the car," Belly thinks in the book. "Him running ahead of me and opening the passenger door."
"Are you sure?" the man asks Belly. She tells him she's not, so the book ends with Belly stepping into an uncertain future.
The present-day story in "It's Not Summer Without You" ends the morning after Belly spends the night in a hotel room with Jeremiah and Conrad. Though Conrad still has feelings for Belly, he doesn't tell her, because he knows his brother has feelings for her too. Conrad leaves the hotel via a ride from a friend, while Jeremiah and Belly drive home from the hotel together, holding hands.
"The Summer I Turned Pretty" season two also ends with Belly and Jeremiah as a couple, but it's slightly different from the book's present-day ending. The finale ends with Belly playing a volleyball game with her team and Jeremiah watching her in the stands like the supportive boyfriend he's just become.
This final scene ties up a plot that's specific to the TV series. On the show, Belly's coach doesn't want to let her join her team's training camp in the summer because she was unfocused during the year due to Susannah's death and her breakup with Conrad. By contrast, sports don't play a role in the book.
"The Summer I Turned Pretty" season two finale is streaming now on Prime Video.
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