TSITP Cut 2 Romantic Belly & Conrad Moments In Episode 3

The Summer I Turned Pretty fans knew the show’s final season would be an emotional rollercoaster, but some unexpected omissions in the third episode have hit book readers especially hard. Two very telling pieces of text beloved by fans of Jenny Han’s novels were not included in the episode. And the choice to exclude these moments could be foretelling even bigger changes in the upcoming finale.

In Episode 3, the Fisher and Conklin families attend a memorial for Susannah. Following the celebration, Belly and Jeremiah tell their families that they are engaged during a disastrous lunch. Everybody takes the news poorly, especially Jeremiah’s older brother Conrad, who still has feelings for Belly.

For Team Jeremiah, it’s an important episode. But fans of the books know that it’s a critical moment for Belly and Conrad, too. However, the episode removed two important pieces of narration that emphasized Belly and Conrad’s persistent connection despite her engagement to Jeremiah.

The series did show Belly nervously getting ready for the lunch, and cutting her leg while shaving in the shower. But the scene was not accompanied by her iconic inner monologue from the book, in which she specifies that she’s going extra lengths to make herself look beautiful specifically for Conrad.

One piece of narration that’s not included in the show, but is well-known to readers, has Belly confessing that she knew Conrad would attend the luncheon:

“Because I really did believe he was coming. If I didn’t, would I have taken extra care with my hair that morning? In the shower, would I have shaved my legs not once but twice, just to be safe? Would I have put on that new dress and worn those heels that make my feet hurt if I truly didn’t believe he was coming? No. Deep down I more than believed it, I knew it.”

The show also cut an important scene from Conrad’s perspective: his internal dialogue the first time he sees Belly at the memorial event:

“I saw her before she saw me. In the front row, I saw her sitting with my dad and Laurel and Steven. She had her hair pulled back, pinned up on the sides. I’d never seen her wear her hair like that before. She had on a light purple dress. She looked grown up. It occurred to me that she had grown up while I wasn’t looking, that there was every likelihood she had changed and I didn’t know her anymore. But when she stood up to clap, I saw the Band-Aid on her ankle and I recognized her again. She was Belly.”

Fans of the series (particularly those who ship Belly and Conrad) loudly criticized the show for excluding these lines from Episode 3, and even created their own TikTok edits putting the narration over clips that were shown of Belly’s lunch prep and Conrad’s first glimpse at her.

Since the main impact of removing this dialogue is downplaying their feelings for one another, the editing choice seems to be fueling a theory that the show is going to change the ending from the books (which end with Belly and Conrad marrying each other). Author Jenny Han has been hinting at a different ending, and Gavin Casalegno has described Jeremiah’s conclusion as “happy,” which also sounds like a deviation from the page.

While fans in the comments section of these Team Conrad edits are hopeful that future episodes could give them these romantic moments, the Bonrad endgame isn’t feeling as sure as it once did.