Jenny Han Says TSITP Season 3 Will Have “Surprises”

The Summer I Turned Pretty is coming back for one last season this July. On March 7, Prime Video share the announcement on Instagram: “Summer is just a season away. The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 premieres this July on Prime Video.” The post included the promotional poster for the new season, featuring Lola Tung (who plays Belly Conklin) standing alone in front of a hydrangea bush. And although that might not sound too controversial, the photo choice prompted a viral theory that TSITP Season 3 will change the book’s ending — and Jenny Han has not denied the rumors. Spoiler warning: This post contains spoilers about the end of The Summer I Turned Pretty book series.

Reminder: For Seasons 1 and 2 of the show, the poster featured Tung, alongside Christopher Briney (who plays Conrad Fisher) and Gavin Casalegno (who plays Jeremiah Fisher) — a reference to the series’ central love triangle. According to fans, the change-up for Season 3 could mean that Belly is leaving the romantic drama behind. “Calling it now belly isn’t ending up with anyone in the show based off the poster just released,” one fan guessed on TikTok. (As of publication, the video has over 2 million views.

The fan theory quickly gained traction, but people have mixed thoughts on the possibility of an alternate ending. One wrote, “me if belly even thinks of saying ‘i choose me,’” alongside a video of her side-eyeing the camera and playing eerie music. Another posted a video, writing, “i will RIOT if belly chooses herself this season.”

But some fans were open to the idea. “belly choosing herself and ditching both of those losers would be the best outcome we could get,” one fan wrote on X (formerly called Twitter), in response to a tweet comparing each TSITP poster. Another tweeted, “this poster screams belly choosing herself in the end and I’m all here for it!”

During a March 31 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jenny Han teased that Season 3 of the show will, in fact, have some twists. “There are going to be surprises,” she said. “There are the things that they know and then there are things they think they know, and then there's going to be, hopefully, things that surprise them.”

Despite the “surprises” coming, Tung said that any changes will only “make sense” for the trilogy’s conclusion. “The one thing I've always admired about Jenny is that every season and every decision about what's coming next is purely to serve the story,” she told EW. “She's never going to do anything that doesn't make sense for the story. It's all about this beautiful world she's created and giving the fans something really, really special and giving us something really special to work with.”

So far, the show’s plot has stayed true to the books with some slight changes and character additions. If Season 3 continues to mimic the trilogy, it will end with Belly choosing Conrad — a plotline that Team Conrad fans want to see play out, hence the upset about the possibility of Belly opting for independence over a relationship. However, the show might not make Belly choose one over the other.

In the third book, We’ll Always Have Summer, Belly does prioritize freedom for a while, studying abroad in Spain after ending her relationship with Jeremiah. It’s while she’s away, “choosing herself,” that she and Conrad reconnect... and yes, they eventually get their happily-ever-after.

TL;DR, there’s a possibility that everyone will get what they want from TSITP Season 3, whether they’re rooting for Belly to spend some time alone or for her to reunite with Conrad.