Summer Dress – As the second episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty begins, Belly (Lola Tung) rushes to the pier only to learn that she missed the boat and Cam. No matter how hard she tries, she keeps feeling like she is missing the boat. At home, Laurel (Jackie Chung) talks to Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) and Steven (Sean Kaufman) about their portraits. She wants to see them in person to capture their essence while they’re still young and full of hope. Jeremiah says Conrad (Christopher Briney) is hopeless although his hangover smoothie cures all. Laurel admits she hasn’t painted them since they were little so it might be nice to have the portraits for when they’re older. Conrad gets the smoothie while Laurel tells them to just sit for the portraits. Steven and Jeremiah must leave to make sure they’re not going to be late for their first day of work.

Steven jokes that the country club boomers are going to tip him so hard while grabbing his privates. Once Belly enters, her mom immediately asks where she has been before noticing the bruise. Susannah (Rachel Blanchard) interrupts to tell them that Belly is going to be a debutant. Laurel worries it is going to be expensive. She asks Belly if she really wants to go through with this since it doesn’t sound like her. Susannah wants to know which one is going to be Belly’s escort. Conrad says no because he went last year while Jeremiah swore off balls. Belly intends to find her own date. Laurel reveals Wikipedia says debutante balls require instruction in morals and social etiquette. She isn’t sure a country club is the best place to teach her daughter about morals.

While they talk, Belly watches Conrad by the pool. Then, Belly goes shopping with her mother and Susannah. As they leave one store, Susannah tells Laurel and Belly that all the girls are going to be wearing fascinators. While Belly tries on several dresses, she asks herself what she has done. They finally find one that works for everyone. Susannah believes everyone’s eyes will fall out of their heads when they see their girl. Clarissa (Nicole Marie Johnson) who is working at the store asks about a simpler dress. Laurel believes it fits Belly better, but Susannah says these girls go all out. Jeremiah talks to Gigi (Lilah Pate) while working as a lifeguard. She asks if he is going to save her. Steven gets a break and uses his time to show Jeremiah how much money he has received in tips. He doesn’t want to spend freshman year living with his mom.

Jeremiah tells him to take it all in because it is all theirs. When Conrad returns home, he tries to sneak past his mother, but she catches him and asks him to meet her out back. She wants to paint his portrait first because everyone else has stuff to do. He eventually agrees as she tells him to put on something nice. Jeremiah tells Steven about the girls he has hooked up with. He says he likes to kiss and be cozy with people. Jeremiah admits he hasn’t kissed Shayla (Minnie Mills). Once Steven tells him to keep it that way, Jeremiah warns him not to get sucked in. He explains that girls in sundresses are his kryptonite, but he has never let one talk him into being an escort. If she asks and Steven says yes, it is going to blow up his entire summer.

Steven has to leave when his boss comes for him. Laurel drops Belly off and tells her that she can leave if she hates it or the girls are mean. Belly humors her by promising to tell her “lemon jelly belly” if she wants to leave. She runs into Jeremiah and immediately asks whether she looks like a fool, but he promises that she looks good. Jeremiah walks her to the meeting. They surprise the other girls when Belly enters with a shirtless and shoeless Jeremiah. Paige (Sarah Hudson) asks about his shirt. He introduces her to Isabel Conklin who he jokes is his future wife. Isabel apologizes for being late before she is told to go to table two. He steals a sandwich and leaves. Isabel realizes she is going to be sitting next to Nicole (Summer Madison) who was kissing Conrad at the bonfire.

She also sees Shayla. She sits down and says hello. Shayla covers up her bruise and receives her thanks. While working on the portrait, Susannah tries to get Conrad to talk about Nicole. He doesn’t want to turn this into a bonding experience even though she’d like to connect with her son before he leaves for a year. Susannah says Belly looked very nice in her new dress. She can’t stop him if he wants to spend the summer mopping, but she doesn’t want him sleeping until two or day drinking. Instead, she recommends doing something productive. He agrees to get a job. Marisa (Jocelyn Shelfo) told her mom she would only do this if she could bring her girlfriend. She thought it’d be a deal killer, but the club has been chill about the whole thing. Nicole says Cousins likes to pretend to be woke.

Steven pours drinks as Shayla whispers something to him. They discuss colleges before Nicole mentions that Belly is only a sophomore. Gigi worries that she is going to take Jeremiah to the ball, but Nicole says they’re basically related. Belly is asked about Conrad who is mysterious. Paige interrupts before she can answer. Laurel tries to begin writing her book, but she struggles. Paige knows some of the girls might think this is outdated, but the Cousins Debutante Ball is a part of history. As she tells them more about the ball, Shayla passes alcohol around the table. Each table has a big sister who will guide them through the season. Nicole says hello to her little sister, Belly. Then, she reveals her parents made her do it last year because all the women in the family have done it.

She actually ended up having a lot of fun. Belly turns down the alcohol and runs out of the room when she sees Cam (David Iacono) walk by. When he learns that she missed the boat, he asks whether going to a drive-in movie tonight would help with her wistfulness. She gives Cam her number. Later, Susannah tells Belly that she looks great and will have so much fun tonight. Laurel just learns that her daughter has a date and Susannah knows Cam’s mom. She asks whether they need to talk about consent before she goes. Once Belly leaves, Laurel admits she wishes she wasn’t going to the party either. She wonders if she has said everything although Susannah believes she’ll get inspired again. She encourages her to get out there and replenish the well after her divorce. Belly goes down to tell the guys goodbye. Jeremiah stops playing video games to tell her she looks hot.

Conrad seems surprised that she is going out with someone else. Once she joins Cam, she learns they’re going to see some old movie called Sabrina. As they watch the movie together, Belly considers holding Cam’s hand. At the party, Conrad gets drunk while Cleveland (Alfredo Narciso) tells Laurel that he liked the book. He found it interesting how she made Iris an unreliable narrator. He doesn’t think her story about the marriage was the real story. She doesn’t agree before learning Cleveland’s next book is about sailing. Laurel is surprised since she thought he was a Brooklyn hipster. Cleveland confesses that he doesn’t sail although he likes to write about things he doesn’t know anything about. Laurel yells at Conrad because he is a great sailor and came in second in the regatta last year.

After Cleveland asks whether Conrad teaches, Conrad wonders if his mom put Laurel up to this. He takes Cleveland’s card and leaves. Conrad joins the others and asks about leaving. They contemplate going to the drive-in where Belly is at. Meanwhile, Belly asks Cam why he is interested in marine biology. She feels like it is a phase that everyone goes through when they’re little although he stuck with it. He tells her about a jellyfish that has Benjamin Button disease. Scientists think it is immortal. Nobody knows why though. It could be the cure for cancer, but you’ll have to find out how to harness jellyfish cells. The fact that eels exist is an anomaly since nobody knows how they reproduce. Cam would like to explain some of the unknown things about the ocean.

Before last night, she had only kissed boys while playing spin the bottle. Not because they both wanted to. The way she feels right now is what everyone talks about. They almost kiss, but her brother and the others interrupt. Belly asks Cam to grab her a drink. She confronts her brother and threatens to send everyone his Dramione fanfic if he doesn’t leave. When Conrad says they should go, Steven and Jeremiah are surprised since he is the one who wanted to come. Once they leave, Cam returns with a Cherry Coke for her. As Steven returns home, his mom asks what he is doing while he texts Shayla asking to meet on the beach. He says he is just playing video games and won’t stay up too late. Cam tells Belly he had a really good time and she says the same. Belly admits she doesn’t want the night to be over.

Cam gets permission to kiss her and does. Laurel reads Cleveland’s book while relaxing in bed. Steven and Shayla make out on the beach. She asks whether he’ll be her date to the deb ball since they’ll have fun together. Once he says yes, Shayla exposes her breasts. Belly says goodbye to Cam before heading inside. Conrad asks her about her hot date and tells her to relax because they were just having a little fun. She claims they’re a-holes who ruined it, but Conrad doesn’t think them showing up for two minutes ruined it. She asks why he couldn’t let her have this one thing and believes he knew what he was doing. Belly says he was reminding her that he existed, but Conrad claims not to know what she is talking about. They continue arguing as Belly reminds him he spent his Saturday night crashing her first date for fun. She tells him to go smoke some more pot. Conrad tells her to look in the mirror some more.

She wonders if this is the way all crushes die. With a whimper slowly, and then just gone.

 

The Summer I Turned Pretty Review

The Summer I Turned Pretty requires a unique taste to truly enjoy and to overlook many of the character flaws. The dialogue and soundtrack give me the impression that this is for teens, but it might be a bit too raw for younger teens. The parental relationships are odd since the children seem to have a lot of freedom for their respective ages. While I am personally not a fan of the soundtrack, it works well for the show and will likely resonate with the intended viewer.

Many viewers will likely be disappointed with the modern takes on certain aspects of the story and characters that weren’t in the books. Aspects have been tweaked to make it politically correct for the modern politically correct entertainment industry and some viewers will hate it for that reason. It will take a few more episodes for viewers to build a deeper rapport with the characters although some are already more compelling than others.

It frequently feels like this could transform into a heartfelt roller coaster so that is likely a sign of things to come. The second episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of The Summer I Turned Pretty can be found on Reel Mockery here. Want to support our work? Find out how to do so here.