The following contains spoilers from The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 1, now streaming on Prime Video.
The Summer I Turned Pretty is Belly Conklin’s story of falling in love with herself and falling into a love triangle with two brothers, but it’s also a story about the power of female friendships. The friendships contain all the same complex elements, if not more, of the romantic love stories because the Prime Video series never questions their value. Belly and Taylor’s dynamic is a realistically complicated depiction of high school friendship, but the plot never undermines their connection because of that inherent naivete It also views the friendship between Belly’s mother Laurel and Susannah Fisher as an epic love story of its own.
Belly and her mother spend another summer with the Fishers at Cousins Beach during Season 1. Belly’s best friend Taylor visits her twice during the summer, but she’s always present in Belly’s life through FaceTime calls, texts and the occasional fashion inspiration. Belly stays at Susannah’s beach house with Laurel and her brother Steven. The Summer I Turned Pretty establishes that Susannah and Laurel have been best friends for decades, thanks to the actresses’ chemistry and well-written storytelling. Friendships are seen as equally important as any relationships.
Teen dramas often establish female friendships that unravel because of overly exaggerated issues that lack authentic resolutions. Look no further than One Tree Hill‘s Brooke Davis, Lucas Scott and Peyton Sawyer. Thankfully, The Summer I Turned Pretty expresses awareness of those pitfalls because it handles the conflict between multiple characters after Steven and Taylor hook up in Season 1, Episode 3, “Summer Nights.” It’s refreshing for Steven to communicate his feelings to his other love interest Shayla maturely afterward.
Furthermore, The Summer I Turned Pretty examines the situation from Belly and Taylor’s perspectives because the subplot becomes more about their friendship and less about Steven. High school best friends will encounter conflict, and the show takes it further by unveiling what lies underneath the surface, like Belly and Taylor’s insecurities about how they’re changing during this very different summer. There’s a rift for nearly two episodes, but they both wholeheartedly apologize for hurting the other. Belly and Taylor are firmly in each other’s corner, especially when they’re stranded after skinny-dipping.
By the season finale “Summer Love,” the show gives Belly, Nicole and Shayla time to repair their friendships. None of the female characters are ever left on the sidelines. Laurel and Susannah’s evergreen bond keeps the theme of friendship in focus. Laurel’s ex-husband John even mentions that he always accepted three people in their marriage because he knew how much Laurel loved Susannah. Susannah describes the two of them as “immovable objects” in Season 1, Episode 1, “Summer House.” That permanence makes the impermanence of Susannah’s life even harder to grasp.
Subsequently, Laurel fills the fleeting days of “one last perfect summer at Cousins” with as many memories as she can to make Susannah happy, like agreeing to let Belly be a debutante so that Susannah can see her in a white dress. But it’s never one-sided; Susannah spearheads a book-signing party for Laurel and even reads her book, which Susannah rarely does. Plus, she encourages her friend to find love again — or at least a good time — with Cleveland. Then there’s Laurel and Susannah’s joyous night out at the Fat Pelican in Season 1, Episode 5, “Summer Catch,” filled with lots of drinks and even more dancing. In between, they bicker and make up because their friendship remains intractable.
Laurel sees the seeds of a bond as profound as theirs between Belly and Taylor. During Belly and Taylor’s rift, Laurel tells her daughter, “Boys might come and go, but a best friend is once in a lifetime.” She goes on to express the necessity of holding on to those friendships because the future is uncertain. That declaration comes before The Summer I Turned Pretty reveals much about Susannah’s cancer diagnosis, so it hits even harder when Laurel suggests more therapies to Susannah, whose fate is left uncertain going into Season 2. Underneath its very prominent soundtrack and romantic drama, the show unashamedly refuses to budge on the significance of the magical, immovable female friendships in a woman’s life.
The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 1 is now streaming on Prime Video.