Love Affair – The episode begins with Laurel Park (Jackie Chung) arriving at the beach and waking Belly Conklin (Lola Tung). Belly has no memory of the frantic voice message she left Laurel. They begin arguing because Laurel wants to go home, but Belly says she isn’t leaving.

Laurel confesses Belly embarrassed her by making Susannah Fisher’s funeral all about her. Belly argues that Susannah would never forgive her for abandoning the boys. Laurel ends up slapping her. Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno) have witnessed everything that just happened.

The Beach – Jeremiah finds Belly and apologizes for what happened with Laurel. Belly wants to discuss Conrad beginning him for his blessing to date her, but Jeremiah doesn’t want to talk about it. Jeremiah confesses that she isn’t the only reason he is at odds with Conrad. Belly believes it may be time to return home.

Beach House – Laurel discovers Conrad and Steven Conklin (Sean Kaufman) in the kitchen. She demands they clean the house while warning them that Susannah’s belongings better not be damaged. Steven and Conrad inform her that it was Julia (Kyra Sedgwick) who moved Susannah’s things so she could sell the house.

When she asks if Adam Fisher (Tom Everett Scott) knows about the sale, Conrad says he knows but hasn’t done anything to help.  Steven explains that Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah came here in an attempt to work something out with Julia themselves.

On their way back to the beach house, Jeremiah and Belly run into Laurel. Jeremiah goes inside to start cleaning before Laurel apologizes to Belly. She contributes her actions to being so angry over Susannah’s death. Laurel knows that burying those emotions prevented her from being there for Belly. They begin crying and asking for forgiveness.

Kitchen – Laurel promises to do whatever she can to convince Julia to change her mind. Skye Fisher (Elsie Fisher) reminds them there is still a lot of cleaning to do before Julia arrives.

Steven and Belly (Rain Spencer) try to convince Taylor to stay but she refuses. When Steven leaves to retrieve his car keys, Taylor pleads with Belly to attend volleyball camp. She assures her that Coach Shaw (Heather Magee) won’t force her to leave. Belly says there is still a lot of work to do there. Steven sees Taylor off with a kiss before she speeds away in his car.

At the dock, Laurel pleads with Julia to back out of the sale. She claims Susannah intended to discuss it with her. Julia suggests Susannah should’ve called before describing the beach house as a collection of bad memories. She says it is worse to think that they never reconciled their differences. Laurel assures her that it is never too late.

Beach House – Julia announces that she backing out of the sale. Laurel urges everyone to convince Adam to buy the beach house. Outside, Conrad thanks Belly for calling Laurel before apologizing for how things ended. She admits to loving him but understood he was having a difficult time. They promise to never hurt each other again before agreeing to be friends.

Julia says she is proud of Skye for standing up for what they believed in. She asks for more details of Skye’s first kiss.

When Adam arrives he tells Laurel how difficult the kids have made it for him. He gets upset when he learns she is siding with the kids. She informs him that Julia is no longer selling the beach house. He asks her if she is going to dissolve the trust and give the boys the house. The argument continues until he tells her to shut up because she doesn’t own the beach house. Conrad accuses Adam of selling the house to make things easier for him. Adam admits to believing it would be easier for everyone. Laurel assures him that Susannah loved him. He suggests selling the Boston house may make it work.

The Beach – Jeremiah says he should have been more open with his feelings. Conrad says he should have paid more attention. They vow to be more open with each other. Conrad informs him of his acceptance letter to Stanford but he won’t be going.

Beach House – Adam apologizes to Conrad and Jeremiah for not being there for them. He informs them that he will sell the Boston property when he returns home. Once alone, Jeremiah vows to not let Conrad miss out on Stanford. Conrad worries that his acceptance letter will be pulled when he misses his final. Jeremiah offers to help him study all night.

Jeremiah pleads with Laurel to let Belly and Steven to help Conrad prep for his exam. Laurel accepts Julia’s offer of her hotel room. Since Jeremiah and Conrad are tired, Belly agrees to let them sleep for an hour. She feeds them cheeseburgers while they study.

The Pool – Looking up at the stars, Conrad says Venus gives him hope. Belly says he should be hopeful. He complains about everything he messed up. She assures him that he is lucky to have another chance when she sees he is asleep.

Flashback – When Laurel looks at the dock, it triggers a flashback. Susannah jokingly urges her to finish her book before she passes. Susannah assures her that delaying the book won’t delay her death.

Back in the present, Laurel snaps a photo of the kids from the dock with the beach house in the background. Steven urges Conrad to tell Belly how he feels.  Laurel tells Belly that she can ride with Jeremiah and Conrad to Brown, although, she is still in trouble. Everyone agrees to return to the beach house for a July 4th holiday.

Finch University – Belly admits to missing volleyball while admiring all the championship banners. She says volleyball was her own special thing. Jeremiah has a personal interest in her attending Finch. She vows to speak with Coach Shaw and could see herself at Finch.

Brown University – Belly joins Jeremiah outside the Range Rover while they wait for Conrad and asks him if he’s ever going to give her a second chance. When he says he couldn’t take a repeat of last time, she claims things have changed. She says she spent so much of her life dreaming about being with Conrad, but dreams aren’t real. She claims to want him. An intense make-out session follows and ends with Conrad’s arrival.

 

The Summer I Turned Pretty Review

What a longwinded, anti-climactic complete waste of an hour. Maybe calling the show a complete waste is a bit way because it was surprisingly enjoyable. The emotions, the scenes, and everything about the show could be so much more poignant if they cut back on the excessive needless content.

Along with all the fluff, the decision to not sell the beach house came off incredibly too easy. The entire season the group has been fretting over the sale of the home and it merely took just one conversation with Julia and Adam to get them to change their minds.

I personally find it incredibly hard at times to get behind the characters. I understand family problems and how what Julia went through messed her up, but there is a time when you have to move on. Death is incredibly hard and so final but the same can be said about Laurel’s character. Belly is perhaps the worst of all, with the skewed signals she sends out. Pick a guy and stick with him.

The episode deserves a 5. Get more Summer I Turned Pretty recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by donating. Our onsite advertising builds brand awareness, click the link to learn more.