TSITP Season 3 Cut An Important Belly Moment From The Book

The Summer I Turned Pretty fans knew the show’s final season would be an emotional rollercoaster, but an unexpected omission in the third episode has hit book readers especially hard. A very telling piece of dialogue beloved by fans of Jenny Han’s novels was not included in the episode. And this choice could be foretelling even bigger changes in the upcoming finale.

In Episode 3, Belly and Jeremiah reveal to their families that they are engaged during a disastrous lunch at an event honoring Jeremiah’s late mother Susannah. Everybody takes the news poorly, especially Jeremiah’s older brother Conrad, who still has feelings for Belly.

As fans who’ve read the books know, Belly also has intense romantic feelings for Conrad in this moment, too. But... that’s not really spelled out in how the scene translated to the screen. Notably, the episode removed an important piece of narration that emphasized Belly’s persistent attraction to Conrad despite getting engaged to his brother.

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.

The 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, even though he had previously said he wouldn’t be there:

“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.”

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

Since the main impact of removing this dialogue is downplaying Belly’s feelings for Conrad, 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.

The Bonrad endgame isn’t feeling as sure as it once did.