‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Season 2 Episode 5 Recap: “Love Fool”

In the world of The Summer I Turned Pretty (now streaming on Prime Video), Jeremiah is always kind of an afterthought. He’s the third spoke on the wheel, the best friend but not the boyfriend, and the one that gets his heart broken by Belly. And halfway through season two, we’re finally treated to hearing his point of view on the situation. “Love Fool” (TSITP Season 2 Episode 5) swaps Belly’s voiceover for Jeremiah’s as the gang finds a new place to stay for the night after Aunt Julia gutted Susannah’s house at the end of the fourth episode. 

With all of the hotels in the area booked for the summer, Jeremiah suggests they crash at his former job: the swanky country club where Belly spent much of her previous summer getting ready for the debutante ball. But his key card is denied access and Cam (who is inexplicably still hanging out with the childhood friend group) uses his mom’s employee entry code to get them in under the condition that they leave the place spic and span. 

Just like last week’s boardwalk adventure, this week divvies the group up throughout the grounds to find supplies for the overnight stay. Belly, who has a brief tender moment with Conrad, catches up with Jeremiah to find somewhere for them to sleep. Despite him observing “an invisible force” between his brother and his crush, he’s elated to spend time with Belly one on one, and their flirtation is palpable. They find a projector room and make shadow puppets in the glaring light, playfully shoving each other to find any reason to touch the other person. Belly is often quick to reference Susannah as a bonding mechanism, and she reminisces about watching old Billy Wilder movies and drinking soda out of a Twizzler straw — a moment she immediately recreates with Jeremiah.

A lot of Belly’s behavior seems to be trying to have it both ways. She’s obviously still pining over Conrad while flirting with Jeremiah in a way that feels like she’s leading him on. Case and point: later in the episode the group gathers on the golf course for a quick game of Truth or Dare before their outdoor sleepover. Skye, stirring the pot and possibly slightly high from some rich people’s weed that Taylor found in a coat pocket, dares Belly and Jeremiah to kiss. Sensing the awkwardness of the moment, Jeremiah deflects and says they’re too old for things like this but Belly doesn’t let it go — when they have a minute of alone time, she asks him why he wouldn’t kiss her. “If I kissed you, I’d never be able to stop,” he admits in a cringey bit of dialogue. 

Belly seems satisfied to know that Jeremiah still has feelings for her, and even admits to Taylor that while Conrad was probably the biggest and truest love of her life, she could potentially see something with Jeremiah too. To me, that isn’t exactly a cute development; it’s clear that if and when Conrad rises out of his grief fog and wants to start things up with Belly again, she’ll run back into his arms and hurt Jeremiah all over again. 

Romance is also in the air for Steven and Taylor, who pair up to look for linens when Steven begs her to accompany him. He’s been putting the moves on her for a few episodes now and when they find themselves in an empty ballroom, he takes his chances. Playing Frank Ocean’s version of “Moon River” (the second Frank Ocean needle drop in the episode), he offers her a lesson in ballroom dancing under the guise of helping her with a potential debutante event, which almost immediately becomes more intimate between them. Her hand shifts from his hand and onto his neck and they’re about to kiss when Jeremiah and Conrad bust in looking for Steven. 

Still, in this moment, the two are on a high and wind up sleeping next to each other in their sleeping bags. Belly tells him that she watched his entire graduation video as a signal that she never stopped caring for him, which is likely true but still doesn’t necessarily indicate that she sees him romantically. His voiceover at the end of the episode solidifies that he does, though. “My whole life it’s always been Conrad for Belly. But maybe for the rest of the story it could be me,” he muses.

Romance is also in the air for Steven and Taylor, who pair up to look for linens when Steven begs her to accompany him. He’s been putting the moves on her for a few episodes now and when they find themselves in an empty ballroom, he takes his chances. Playing Frank Ocean’s version of “Moon River” (the second Frank Ocean needle drop in the episode), he offers her a lesson in ballroom dancing under the guise of helping her with a potential debutante event, which almost immediately becomes more intimate between them. Her hand shifts from his hand and onto his neck and they’re about to kiss when Jeremiah and Conrad bust in looking for Steven. 

Taylor later reveals to Belly that Steven really hurt her last summer and it’s “not the type of hurt that just goes away.” But still, I’m rooting for these two — especially because the writers have added dimension to Taylor who was very one-note in season one, allowing her to be wise and funny and a good friend at the same time — but I wouldn’t be mad if she wanted to protect her peace and keep things going with her rocker boyfriend back home. 

On the house front, Conrad is hellbent on accessing his trust fund to buy the house before Aunt Julia can sell it and reaches out to some lawyers to help aid his cause, but he’s too late. When they all get back the next morning, Julia reveals that she’s already accepted an offer. There’s still so much more to uncover about Susannah and Julia’s past and I have to believe some sort of flashback episode is slated for the last few episodes of the season — maybe one that covers the events of “Shitmas,” as Skye refers to it — especially given the caliber of talent that were enlisted to play these relatives. But for now, the Cousins Beach house has officially slipped through their hands. 

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.