Romance and Yearning in 'The Summer I Turned Pretty,' Episode 5
By Maleah Puente
How can an episode feel so perfect and romantic, yet bring so much pain and despair? One word: yearning.
Still from The Summer I Turned Pretty
While I eagerly wait for next Wednesday to arrive (it can’t come soon enough), I’ve already watched Episode 5 of The Summer I Turned Pretty three times. With each rewatch, I noticed layers of symbolism and mise-en-scène that left me in awe.
Still from The Summer I Turned Pretty
Let’s start from the beginning. The episode opens with Conrad replaying the moment where Belly realized he baked her favorite muffins for her. In this slow motion montage, with the sun shining through the windows and These Arms of Mine by Otis Redding playing in the background, Belly is wearing a dress with cherries on it. Later in the episode, Cherry by Harry Styles plays while they’re in the car, symbolizing Conrad’s jealousy in Belly being with Jeremiah: “Don’t you call him baby. Don’t you call him what you used to call me”.
Still from The Summer I Turned Pretty
Conrad wakes up from his daydream and he’s fixing the roof of the house in Cousins (mind you, he’s doing house work for Belly and Jeremiah’s wedding, what a good man). I immediately recognized the homage to Nick Cassavetes', The Notebook, where Noah is rebuilding the house that he promised to restore for Allie, even though she’s with another man now.
Still from The Summer I Turned Pretty
The next scene shows Belly searching for something to eat in the kitchen. She passes on all the healthy snacks that Conrad laid out for her and looks for something else. She finally finds strawberry Pop-Tarts. She avoids all the healthy snacks that are good for her, symbolizing Conrad, and indulges in Pop-Tarts, which are bad for her, symbolizing Jeremiah. The reason I think the strawberry Pop-Tarts could represent Jeremiah is because at the end of the episode, Belly brings home peaches for him, and he immediately asks, “Do you have any strawberries?”
Still from The Summer I Turned Pretty
The first flashback of this episode is of the four Fisher and Conklin kids riding their bikes through the street. Belly is falling behind, and Conrad stops to let her use his bike to catch up. Jeremiah and Steven insist that Conrad leave her, but he, of course, stays and helps her.
Belly asks, “Promise you won’t let go?”
“Promise,” Conrad says.
I truly believe every flashback in this show symbolizes the foundation the relationships were built on between these characters. He is proving that he will always be there for her. In this specific scene, you can see the joy and pride in young Conrad’s stare as helps Belly. I Want You Back by The Jackson 5 sings “Give back what I lost” as the scene transitions to the present. His stare is now filled with guilt as she rides her bike into town after he refused to help her. He tries to call out her name, but it’s too late. He let go. He broke his promise, and now he wants back what he lost.
Still from The Summer I Turned Pretty
THE MICHAEL’S SCENE.
It starts with Belly asking Conrad which vases she should get for the wedding. Conrad narrates, “For a second, I forgot it’s not me who’s marrying her.” He turns cold and asks her how much longer it will take. She immediately shuts down and is willing to leave because she notices Conrad’s agitation. She is so used to doing this in her relationship with Jeremiah, willing to do whatever it takes to satisfy him. But unlike Jeremiah, Conrad is willing to do whatever it takes to make her happy, even if it brings him extreme discomfort. The scene flips to a slow-motion close-up of what he sees. The sun is perfectly beaming through the windows, and the shot seems almost magical. Belly looks like an angel surrounded by a frame of flowers as she turns around and smiles at him. Through his discomfort, the scene still captures Belly’s beauty through Conrad’s eyes and displays how in love with her he really is, all while the chorus of Linger sung by Royel Otis plays, “I’m in so deep. You know I'm such a fool for you. You've got me wrapped around your finger. Do you have to let it linger?” His love for Belly lingers still; meanwhile, Jeremiah couldn't set aside work for something very important to her, yet he was quick to throw a fit over not getting the cake he wanted. This contrast makes clear the difference in how much each of them truly prioritizes her.
Still from The Summer I Turned Pretty
On their drive home, Conrad admits that he was fired from his job. He goes on to say that maybe he’s not cut out to be a doctor. Belly gives him a pep talk and tells him, “There’s a world where getting fired was the best thing to happen to you… You are right where you’re supposed to be.” She spells out for him that getting fired was meant to happen because now he gets to spend this week alone with her in Cousins. Hopefully, this is foreshadowing that this time together is necessary in rebuilding their relationship to eventually be endgame.
Still from The Summer I Turned Pretty
THE PEACH SCENE.
Belly mentions that she’s hungry, and shortly after, they see a peach stand on the side of the road. Conrad notices that she looks interested and asks her if she wants to stop. She tells him, “No, it’s fine. We already passed it.” He turns the car around, symbolizing that it’s not too late. It will never be too late for Conrad. He will never just move past it. We then find out that Conrad can’t even eat peaches because he’s allergic. He turned around just for her. Belly eats a peach and describes it as “the perfect peach.” This first peach symbolizes Belly and Conrad’s relationship the first time around. “I don’t want to eat another one, ‘cause there’s no way that it can be this good,” she says, indicating she would not want to start a relationship with Conrad again because there’s no way it would be as “perfect” as the first time. “Let’s test that,” Conrad says. He hands her a second peach, representing a second chance at a relationship between the two of them. “Was it as good?” “Yea. It was.”
Still from The Summer I Turned Pretty
Jenny Han included not one, but two homages to The Notebook in this episode. The scene of Conrad and Belly eating the dinner they prepared at the table is a perfect allusion to the scene of Noah and Allie having dinner together all those years later. Allie comes to Noah's house for dinner, knowing she’s engaged to Lon but is still drawn to Noah after their recent reunion. They sit at a dinner table and converse over years of unspoken feelings. The air is thick with longing, their shared glances linger too long, and it’s clear that the connection hasn’t faded. This can be said about both scenes. The scene between Conrad and Belly is playful, and Conrad sits there infatuated with Belly as the conversation stirs up old feelings and memories. Conrad internally questions what could have been if he hadn’t pushed her away all those years ago.
There are countless more details I could pick apart from this episode alone, but I will leave you with these. To say the least, I very much appreciated and respected this episode. Thank you, Jenny Han.
