Watch parties eagerly gathered to screen the Season 3 finale of Jenny Han’s The Summer I Turned Pretty earlier this month.

The Amazon Prime television series engaged 25 million viewers to see who protagonist Belly Conklin (Lola Tung) would choose from the Fisher brothers: Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) or Conrad (Christopher Briney).

The young adult romantic series began airing in 2022 and has since ignited long overdue love for Han’s book trilogy.

Monash University law honours and journalism student Demi Papaemmanouil shared how the show’s summer vibe and light-hearted story make watching the show an enjoyable experience.

“It’s just something that we can all kind of just relate to and get excited about,” she said.

After the premiere of the first two episodes of the new season, leading up to the finale, the release of Season 3's 11 episodes was paced out, with one episode released each Wednesday.

The anticipation for the finale galvanised online fandom discourse, with fans drawing cinematic parallels with classic films like Sabrina (1954) and The Notebook (2004), and theories circulating about how the romantic drama will resolve.

In the end, feelings were bittersweet.

“I was happy that Belly and Conrad finally got together, but I feel like I was kind of disappointed with the ending,” Papaemmanouil said.

She shared that the conclusion felt too rushed and left a lot open about the paths of the other characters.

The finale is not the last we’ll see of Cousins Beach.  

After the finale screening, Han announced from Paris that she will direct a feature film to wrap up the story.

Fans are already speculating what the film will entail, such as Belly and Conrad’s wedding that was not included in the series finale but featured in the third novel.

“I feel we’re kind of still in … uncharted territories with this,” Papaemmanouil said.

From Mr Darcy to Conrad Fisher

Han’s character and main love interest, Conrad Fisher, has also sparked online discourse about 'bringing back men who yearn’.

The trope is in its renaissance, with figures like Romeo from Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice (2005) being grouped in the category of fictional male characters who romantically long for someone even if it is unrequited.

Self-proclaimed ‘Team Conrad’ fan Papaemmanouil shared why he is so adored by fans.

“Conrad actually has his life together. He’s going to be a doctor. He kind of has stuff going for him … It just seems like Conrad’s the proper choice,” she said.

Jeremiah’s character has been criticised as immature, but there is satisfying development by the series finale. He discovers a passion for cooking, becoming a chef. With his relationship with Denise, a new character added for the final season.

The Summer I Turned Pretty continues decades-old debates about relationships between men and women in the contemporary dating scene.

“I guess thinking about today’s society, I feel like a lot of guys are kind of scared to ask women out … or talk to women,” Papaemmanouil said.

The show has become a symbol of girlhood and self-discovery, with its themes of adolescence, trauma and friendship, especially between Taylor Jewel (Rain Spencer) and Belly.  

“A lot of us girls, we just want that romance — like, eventually, hopefully.”

Beyond romance, the show explores familial dynamics, between siblings especially but most prevalently between mother and child.

Belly’s mum, Laurel (Jackie Chung), was resistant to the idea of Belly getting married so young, and the tensions between mother and daughter became frayed from her disapproval.

Yet Han shows how the connection is never lost, as in the end Laurel supports her daughter’s decisions and allows her to choose her own path in life by moving to Paris and living independently.

Laurel also became a maternal figure for Conrad and Jeremiah, with the loss of their own mum, Susannah (Rachel Blanchard).

The ways in which Han navigates platonic, familial and romantic relationships make the show universal, for audiences of all ages to connect.

To all the hopeless romantics, Han is not only writing healthy and positive representations, but she is also empowering the joy and independence of girls and women, while setting new standards for the 21st-century gentleman.