The first three episodes of The Summer I Turned Pretty, Season 2, were released on July 14. They decided to take a unique approach by releasing the rest of the eight episodes one by one every Friday so that the show could be there with the viewers for the entirety of the summer. But in my opinion, it was to drag along our excitement and anticipation towards what was to occur in the next episodes.

The show focuses on Belly (Isabelle) Conklin and the love triangle she’s in with the two Fisher brothers, Conrad and Jeremiah.

The last two summers we have heard nothing but Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah. 

When I think about Jeremiah, I see a reliable and safe option.

Many view stability as a healthy and safe relationship, and if you’re older and have had more experience with relationships, then you can see why people want Jeremiah to be the choice for Belly.

Throughout the entirety of the show, you can see that Jeremiah is the symbol of stability in Belly’s love life, but although stability is great, it isn’t exciting in the end.

We even see Belly’s mom, Laurel, explain how she just fell out of love with their dad (John) because he was the safe option. She had felt fireworks for someone previously in her life and wanted to feel that again, leading her to start dating again.

In the show, Jeremiah is presented as Belly’s best friend—and her best friend only. In Season 2, he tries to be there and support Belly while trying to fight for the summer house. Even with the weird tension with Conrad, Jeremiah tries to distract her by showing her the future she could have at Finch College with him.

On the other hand, Conrad has all the signs of unpredictability.

He is known as the brooding, mysterious older brother who has had Belly’s heart for as long as everyone can remember. 

The viewers aren’t blind to all his mistakes and faults. For example, Conrad’s actions of leaving Belly at prom and not being emotionally available towards the end of their relationship are times that he didn’t treat her well. But deep down, everyone can see that he’s the one who truly loves her.

Even when they were kids, Belly’s brother (Steven), Jeremiah and Conrad would hang out and exclude Belly, but Conrad would stop what he was doing and try to include her or help her out. When Belly was learning how to do the shag, she needed a partner so she asked Steven to help her, but he ignored her so Conrad stopped to join her.

Conrad has always known the little things that make Belly the way she is. In Season 2, Episode 8, we see Conrad and Jeremiah competing to get Belly’s favorite candy from the gas station. Conrad explains to Jeremiah that she likes Sour Patch more than Swedish Fish because it tastes like candles, but Jeremiah ends up responding that it doesn’t matter. 

Jeremiah’s love for Belly never derived from true love, but rather competitiveness. In Season 1, Belly had her first relationship with Cam Cameron, and Jeremiah was indifferent towards it, but the minute Belly started forming a relationship with Conrad, Jeremiah tried any possible way to get between them. In Season 2, we also find out that Jeremiah had only started liking Belly when she turned pretty last summer versus Conrad who is unsure of when he started liking Belly, but rather it was something that was always there.

Conrad has never shown any jealousy towards Belly liking Jeremiah. He cares for both of them very much and wants what’s best for them and if that is Belly being in a relationship with Jeremiah versus him then so be it. On the other hand, when Belly told Jeremiah that she and Conrad had kissed, he took the opportunity to tell her how he was going to break her heart.

After all, this is just a TV show with characters the viewers can relate with and maybe even bring us back to experience some fun and heart wrenching teenage romance.