Summary
At times terribly clichéd and corny, the finale is actually surprisingly enjoyable and emotional as the debutante ball brings about plenty of tears and twists in this concluding chapter.
This recap of Amazon’s The Summer I Turned Pretty season 1, episode 7, “Summer Love” — the ending explained — contains spoilers.
The Summer I Turned Pretty comes to an end with the highly-anticipated debutante ball, which provides an onslaught of drama and an abundance of tears. Episode seven, “Summer Love” brings an emotive conclusion to Belly’s summer tale, where tensions are high and she finally decides who her heart belongs to.
The Summer I Turned Pretty season 1, episode 7 recap – the ending explained
It’s the morning of the ball and everyone is eagerly preparing for the event of the summer. Belly is nervous about tonight’s ceremony, but over the moon with her final gift from the mothers – the white dress she had always wanted. She’s allowed to drive herself to the country club, where the girls are getting dolled up for the main event. On her way out, there’s just time for Conrad to wish her luck and for Jeremiah to sneak in one last kiss. Unfortunately, Steven spies this forbidden kiss and goes ballistic, arguing with his little sister. He was unaware of this romance and finds the idea of his best friend and sister kissing to be gross. Steven is quite the immature older brother, sometimes leaning fully into the frat boy stereotype. Belly tells him she can date whoever she wants and drives off.
Steven’s anger may be fuelled by an earlier scene though, where he confessed to Shayla that he had lost all his savings in a poker game and couldn’t afford a tuxedo for the ball. Why has he left it this late to buy a tux in the first place you may ask? Who knows, but Shayla is livid. She offers to pay for his new suit. Proud Steven won’t accept any money, but does agree to wear Shayla’s fathers’ old tux instead. After witnessing Belly and Jeremiah kiss, he decides to berate his friend next. Jeremiah states that he would never hurt Belly and Steven seems reasonably reassured by this exchange.
The night of the ball fast approaches and Susannah is beaming with pride and beset with emotions. This is a bitter sweet night for the mother after all, who is battling cancer and a tirade of feelings. It will be the last summer with everyone together and possibly one of her last summer’s full stop. She tries to hold back the tears and live in the moment. The gang are all dressed up and ready for a wonderful night. Cleveland is introduced to Steven and they all discuss his prospects at Princeton. Laurel tells Steven that they will make it work so he can go. Conrad is also off to College, it feels like finality all round.
Whilst Belly dons her make-up and steps into her dress, she narrates over the proceedings. In the first signs from the show that there is a moral to all this image obsession, Belly says that ‘we’re all beautiful in our own ways’. I mean, calling this too little too late is a slight understatement to say the least. The series has had some rather messy and misleading morals throughout, especially considering this is a teen program aimed at a teenage audience, but this really does take the biscuit.
The debutante ball is thoroughly underway and the debutantes are announced to the audience. Belly steps out with Jeremiah and they have their photographs taken. Conrad smiles from the audience and everyone is in awe of the perfect couple. Laurel gets rather emotional and walks out, with ex-husband John chasing after her. They talk about Susannah’s deteriorating health, which is effecting all of them immensely. Then comes the escort dance and the final waltz with the partners, but Jeremiah is missing.
Poor Jeremiah has just found out about Susannah’s cancer and is an emotional wreck. Conrad seizes this opportunity though and takes Jeremiah’s spot, dancing with Belly. The drama only heightens after the dance, with Jeremiah questioning Conrad about their mother’s health. Conrad reveals that he already knew and the two fight on the dance floor. Susannah splits them up and discovers that nearly everyone is aware of her cancer diagnosis.
The ending
The tears continue to flow back at the summer house, with Belly upset that she’s been so selfish all summer, worrying about boys whilst Susannah is battling a deadly disease. Laurel cries and so does Steven, the whole family fearing the worse. Susannah talks candidly with her boys. They’re desperate for her to take the trial treatment and fight back, but the mother is apprehensive. The boys manage to talk her around and she decides to take on the cancer one last time. It’s an emotional sequence of events. Susannah really is the heart of this summer setup and all the family and friends are heartbroken at the news.
In the final scene, Belly and Conrad sit on the beach the morning after. Conrad is happy his mother is going ahead with the trial and he apologizes to Belly about not informing her sooner. He says he needs Belly, but she wants him to want her instead. He says he does and the two kiss. It would appear Belly has chosen to stick with her first love over Jeremiah in the end.
What did you think of the Amazon original series The Summer I Turned Pretty season 1, episode 7, and the ending? Comment below.
