TSITP Fans Are Comparing Conrad To Gilmore Girls' Jess Mariano
Black cat boyfriends for the win.
Spoiler warning: This post contains spoilers for Episode 7 of The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3. Conrad Fisher and Jess Mariano are two of the internet’s favorite black cat boyfriends, known for their moody and mysterious ways. In Episode 7 of The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, the resemblance between the two characters became impossible to ignore. When Conrad and Belly have a confrontation on the beach, fans noticed it was similar to a disagreement between Rory Gilmore and Jess Mariano in Gilmore Girls Season 6.
A little reminder: At Jeremiah’s bachelor party, Conrad learned that Jeremiah slept with Lacie over spring break. Later that night, he told Belly what he discovered — of course, Belly was not surprised. She told Conrad that she already knew and that it was a “mistake,” prompting a disagreement.
Conrad questioned why they got engaged if Belly already knew about Jeremiah’s infidelity. “That was a few months ago, Belly. What the f*ck?” Conrad asked her. As Belly continued to defend her decision to marry Jeremiah, Conrad eventually questioned the entire wedding: “Belly, your wedding’s at a f*cking country club! Who are you?”
Jess asked Rory a similar question when they reconnected in the sixth season of Gilmore Girls. “I know you better than anyone. This isn’t you,” he told her. “What are you doing? Living at your grandparents’ place, being in the D.A.R., no Yale — why did you drop out of Yale?”
Audiences quickly picked up on the parallel between the two scenes. On TikTok, one fan shared clips of both disagreements, writing, “different show same scene.” Another TikToker posted an edit, juxtaposing the two moments. “been waiting for conrad to have his jess mariano moment,” they captioned the video. As of publication, the latter has over 1.7 million views.
“WELCOME BACK JESS MARIANO A.K.A. CONRAD FISHER A.K.A. KINGS AMONGST MEN,” one fan wrote on X, alongside the viral TikTok edit. After the episode aired, another fan tweeted, “if you were a jess mariano girlie you are now a conrad fisher girlie, i don’t make the rules.”
This character parallel could mean good things for fans shipping Belly and Conrad. Jenny Han (who wrote the books and created the show) and Lola Tung (who stars in the series) are both proudly on Team Jess, according to a July 2025 interview with Brit & Co.
