‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Season 2 Episode 2 Recap: “Love Scene”

At its heart, The Summer I Turned Pretty is a love story and more specifically a love triangle, and the premiere episode lacked the Jeremiah corner of that triangle until the very end. He called Belly frantically looking for his brother Conrad, one of the other corners, whom he hadn’t been able to contact for a few days. “Love Scene” (Season 2 Episode 2) finally reunites the trio, even if the results are immediately ugly.

Following last week, it doesn’t take long for Jere and Belly to set out on a quest to find Conrad. Belly lies to her mom saying she’s helping Taylor deal with a breakup and then takes the train all the way to Brown University to initiate the Conrad search party. The estranged friends arrive separately at his dorm where his roommate (who is just as much of a 5G conspiracy theorist as Conrad told Belly on the phone in the first episode) reveals that he hasn’t seen Conrad since Thursday, but that he texted him this morning saying he was at the beach house. The roommate is a pot stirrer who goes on to announce to the entire room that breaking up with Belly put Conrad into a deep depression. Awkward. 

It’s only a few more hours to Cousins and this time they set off together for a chilly carpool. But the initially unpleasant car ride quickly becomes a moment of reconnection for these lifelong friends. Jere’s Jeep hits something on the road that causes a flat tire and when he pulls over,  the heightened circumstances allow him and Belly to finally get to say everything they’ve held in for almost a full year. Jeremiah admits that he fell hard for her and then felt abandoned, and Belly owns up to not being there for Jeremiah in the aftermath of Susannah’s death. The two hug — I was nervous they would kiss, but they don’t — and are more or less friends again for now.

Back home, Belly’s lie about Taylor is being unraveled not by Laurel, but by her brother Steven. It was clear that he still harbored some feelings for Taylor at the party in the premiere episode, and when Laurel mentions that Taylor and Milo broke up (a lie by Belly), a faint smile can be seen on his face. Steven later runs into Taylor at the mall, and while she covers for her best friend initially, the truth about where Belly is eventually comes out. Taylor begs Steven to let her fix the mess she made and he reluctantly agrees not to meddle, but demands that Taylor keep him in the loop. It’s breadcrumbing a potential reconciliation between Steven and Taylor, even though he’ll be off to college in the fall. 

Laurel, meanwhile, has no idea that her daughter is hundreds of miles away. She finally decides to participate in a book event in New York City, though she’s also nervous about being too distant from her kids, and goes shopping for a new dress. The shopping attendant recognizes her and asks about the new book — it’s aptly named “It’s Not Summer Without You” — and talking about Susannah causes Laurel to break down in the dressing room. Laurel’s storyline about standing strong for those around you is minor so far but is packing a punch for me early on.

The trip to Cousins Beach triggers memories for Belly — most notably, last Christmas when she and Conrad snuck out to spend the night there together and were intimate for the first time, a sequence that is partly soundtracked by Taylor Swift’s “invisible string.” Driving towards the house for the first time since that fateful night brings back a slew of emotions for her and she mentions to Jeremiah that she and Conrad haven’t spoken since the funeral. 

Arriving at the house is just as awkward as one would have imagined. Belly stands near the door walking gingerly through the triggering house while Conrad and Jeremiah argue in the background. Conrad reveals that the house is going up for sale and he’s trying to save it when he’s stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Belly. “What is she doing here?” he asks his brother, clearly hurt to see his ex-girlfriend during this emotional state.

The build-up to the funeral where everything went awry is immense and puts a lot of narrative pressure on that storytelling decision. It’s an eight episode season so we likely won’t see the big blowout for a few episodes but it will be the hinge upon which the entire season balances. 

Radhika Menon (@menonrad) is a TV-obsessed writer based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared on Vulture, Teen Vogue, Paste Magazine, and more. At any given moment, she can ruminate at length over Friday Night Lights, the University of Michigan, and the perfect slice of pizza. You may call her Rad.