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While Love Island <\/em>was dominating this summer\u2019s reality TV discourse<\/a>, a scripted show sought to dominate the entirety of our dog days this year. That show? The Summer I Turned Pretty<\/em>, Prime Video\u2019s megapopular YA romance that follows a young woman named Belly (Lola Tung) as she navigates a love triangle between her childhood best friends<\/a>, the brothers Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) Fisher. The numbers don\u2019t lie: When the third and final season of the hit series premiered on July 16, it garnered 25 million viewers globally<\/a> in its first week, triple <\/em>the viewership of to its premiere season. The premiere ratings for Season 3 reportedly made it the most-watched season of television among women ages 18 to 34 and Prime Video\u2019s fifth most-watched returning season of a series. The evidence that the show has continued to grow into a phenomenon since then is hard to miss. There have been megaviral memes<\/a>, public watch parties in bars<\/a>, op-eds dubbing this summer \u201cBrother-Fucker Summer<\/a>,\u201d and even an emerging trend of professional sports social media pages asking their athletes<\/a> whether they\u2019re #TeamConrad or #TeamJeremiah. (Most of the time the answer is: \u201cWho?\u201d) The Summer I Turned Pretty <\/em>has the masses in such a chokehold that the production team even felt it necessary to issue a statement<\/a> cautioning viewers against engaging in hate speech and cyberbullying (suggesting that some fervent fans were<\/em> engaging in these things). But just how did this third season of a saccharine YA romance captivate the world so readily that it has inspired anti-bullying PSAs and has become the talk du jour on NFL press accounts? The answer is simple, and one we\u2019ve heard before.<\/p>\n The Summer I Turned Pretty<\/em>, an adaptation of a novel series by To All the Boys I\u2019ve Loved Before <\/em>author Jenny Han, has followed its source material to a T up until now. Like the first installment of the books, the first season takes place during the titular summer during which the Fisher brothers start to see Belly as more than just the awkward kid they grew up with. Belly, who has always had a massive crush on Conrad, the eldest brother, finds herself in a push and pull between the Fishers, before a romance with Conrad eventually begins to blossom. Fans\u2014adult ones at that<\/a>\u2014have been swept up by the nostalgic lens of this dramatic odyssey of Belly\u2019s young love since the series premiered in 2022. The show was easy to become enamored with, as the year\u2019s hottest season is imbued in every ounce of its creation, from the honeyed hues of the color grading to the signature voiceovers of characters\u2019 inner monologues set over beach landscapes. The show had a dial on the feeling of nostalgia, crafting a picture of the type of young love that can only bloom in the summertime. Of course, this dial wouldn\u2019t be complete without the uber-sentimental music of Taylor Swift, whose tunes have become a part of the show\u2019s identity and <\/em>a boon for the pop star, driving some of her songs back up the charts<\/a> long after their initial release. This all set the groundwork for 2023\u2019s Season 2 (based on the follow-up book It\u2019s Not Summer Without You<\/em>), which explores the devolvement of Belly and Conrad\u2019s relationship after a devastating loss changes everyone\u2019s lives, leading to the beginning of Belly\u2019s subsequent coupling with Jeremiah.<\/p>\n Season 3 has boasted the same summery tint and commitment to Swift\u2019s discography. (Some might say overcommitment\u2014how many needle drops do we need?) But this season has somehow gotten even bigger, surpassing its predecessors to become a cultural property so ubiquitous that references to it are even popping up in places you\u2019d least expect. Why, though? For all intents and purposes, it is the same show. It\u2019s not like there\u2019s been a drastic change or something to spur more fans during the show\u2019s break.<\/p>\n What it comes down to is momentum. Han\u2019s TV adaptation of her own novels, like the books themselves, has been building to a crest the way that all love-triangle plots eventually do. There\u2019s one question that trumps all else in these narratives: Who will our main character end up with? This being the final season of the show portends a possible final answer to this question for Belly. And, as it happens with successful love-triangle plots, fans of The Summer I Turned Pretty<\/em> have become increasingly invested in drawing their lines in the sand in favor of either Fisher brother as the story comes to a close. The two teams\u2014#TeamJeremiah (or #Jelly) and #TeamConrad (or #Bonrad)\u2014have rallied their troops and stepped onto the battlefield to face each other in the story\u2019s final hour. This kind of phenomenon isn\u2019t new, of course, and it owes its strength in part to the success of Twilight <\/em>and #TeamEdward versus #TeamJacob. After so many years of seesawing between the two sides, of teasing one way or another, fans are foaming at the mouth to find out the final outcome. (Yes, even when both the dating options the lead character entertains suck<\/a>.) Additional intrigue has only mounted in light of Han\u2019s coy hints that<\/a> the show ending could deviate from the source text.<\/p>\n And then, in addition to the culmination of everything the show has teased for years, there are the practical matters that go into creating a hit series. Han\u2019s work was already popular enough to give her her own cinematic universe over at Netflix, where the popular adaptations of her other hit novel series, To All the Boys I\u2019ve Loved Before<\/em>, have led to Han\u2019s own spinoff show XO, Kitty<\/em><\/a>. In fact, Han has proven to be such a reliably successful creator that she\u2019s been given damn near carte blanche to make whatever she wants<\/a>. Additionally, it would be remiss of me not to mention the resources Prime Video has thrown toward promotion for this show which, by Season 3, has developed into a luxury brand deal with Coach<\/a>, which collaborated with the series this season. Big marketing, plus big showrunner, plus having Swifties on lock are surefire boosters for a show like this.<\/p>\n As we approach the end of this saga on Wednesday, the date of the series\u2019 grand finale, let\u2019s take a moment to appreciate all that The Summer I Turned Pretty <\/em>has given us in its final stretch: a tiny engagement ring<\/a> to laugh at; a running gag about Conrad being deeply morose<\/a>; Belly being canonically poor but still, somehow, wearing designer clothing<\/a> in her massive Parisian apartment<\/a>. But, I have to say, I\u2019ll be thankful for something else, too, as we finally find out who gets the girl: Personally, I can\u2019t wait for Brother-Fucker Summer to be over so we can move on to Collegiate Superhero-Fucker Fall<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n