‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Season 2 Episode 4 Recap: “Love Game”

For the characters on The Summer I Turned Pretty, the Cousins Beach house is more than just a place. It’s their childhood, the location of all of their fondest memories together, and a symbolic embodiment of their own chosen family headed up by Susannah and Laurel’s friendship. 

With the fate of the beach house on the line, it makes sense that Conrad is skipping finals and Jeremiah, Belly, Steven, and even Taylor have all traveled hours and miles to save it from their Aunt Julia’s impersonal “for sale” sign. Without the house, there’s no headquarters for their summers — even as they’ve grown up and become adults in the wake of Susannah’s death. 

Aunt Julia’s wrath comes to a head in “Love Game” (Season 2 Episode 4), as she tries to get the house ready for an open house. The smell of freshly baked muffins awakens the house but they’re quickly ushered out when the air conditioning conspicuously stops working. With the whole day suddenly open, the kids head to the boardwalk to relive some childhood memories and try to get their minds off of the house that’s slipping through their hands. 

Steven and Belly continue lying to Laurel about being up at Cousins Beach, and Laurel in turn is having trouble admitting how much Susannah’s death has affected her. At her book event she runs into her fellow author and season one love interest Cleveland Castillo who not only admits to coming to the event just to see her, but also encourages her to speak openly with her children. Laurel can’t do it yet, typing and backspacing an admission about missing Susannah deeply; instead, she just tells Belly that she’s busy and will call later. 

There’s a lot to unpack here especially as it pertains to race stereotypes: Asian women often self-regulate and suppress their emotions and I’m here for Laurel’s journey toward processing her emotions and acceptance of them. She does take one step forward by asking Cleveland out to dinner and he feels like just the companion she needs right now. 

Belly invites cousin Skye — who notes they’re non-binary — along for the trip to the boardwalk as a way for Jeremiah and Conrad to get closer to their cousin and maybe gain insight into what Aunt Julia’s motives are for rushing the sale of the house. Skye drops a few tidbits about a feud between Susannah and what seems to be her estranged sister Julie, including an anecdote about the last time Skye saw their cousins. It was Christmas after their grandpa died and Susannah wanted to have a picture perfect holiday, but Julia wanted to use the reunion as an opportunity to “clear the air about the past.” Skye also reveals that according to Aunt Julia, Susannah “wasn’t a saint” and there’s a lot more to be revealed regarding the two sisters who clearly had some animosity towards each other. 

But the kids quickly forget which “side” they’re on when they’re all together — except of course when it comes to the boys vs. girls arcade game battle that commences. The group plays laser tag, shoots hoops, rock climbs and more throughout the boardwalk’s arcade, and Belly’s fling Cam from season one is inexplicably there to help the proceedings. The entire day is another callback to the summers of yore, and it gives way to Belly’s internal musings and memories about her relationship with both Conrad and Jeremiah growing up: Conrad always saw her as a child (and she feels like he still does, as evidenced when she snaps at him about not being a 13 year-old anymore) and Jeremiah was always a reliable companion ready to give up a week of socializing to stay with her while she’s sick. 

The juxtaposition endures the entire episode and culminates when Belly’s team loses and she’s forced to ride a vomit-inducing ride called The Tower of Terror. Jeremiah tells her she doesn’t have to do it alone and gets onboard next to her, and the two squeeze each other’s hands as the ride slowly creeps upwards and then jarringly drops. The love triangle? It’s alive and well. Taylor is quick to notice their moment on the ride (“interesting,” she notes to a skirmish Belly), and even though Belly shrugs it off immediately, it would be a fun twist for season two to end with her dating the other brother and making this love triangle extra pointy. 

But not if Conrad has anything to say about it. He’s pitted against Belly in a one-on-one mini hoops game (which he loses) and still later admits to Steven that this is the most fun he’s had in a long time. In return, Belly’s brother says that he noticed that there was a vibe between the two of them. At the start of the episode, Conrad confides in Steven about his acceptance to Stanford — a school, or at least coast, that his mom always saw him relocating to — and if things end poorly with Belly, I could see Conrad running 3,000 miles away from all of his feelings. 

For now, none of that matters because when they all get back from one of the happiest days they’ve collectively had recently, Susannah’s house is completely gutted. Not a single thing remains inside of the house (honestly, an impressively swift turnaround by Aunt Julia’s movers) and everyone — including Skye — seems both surprised and saddened by the sudden pulling of the metaphorical (and I guess, literal) rug. 

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.