This article, “who is Steven,” contains spoilers regarding the Amazon original series The Summer I Turned Pretty season 1.
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Belly’s brother Steven has quite a large role in The Summer I Turned Pretty, with his character facing a few particularly different challenges than the others, although he still has his own summer fling to deal with. Steven’s misadventures in employment provide a unique angle for the show, when most teen dramas only skim the surface of workplace drama. But who exactly is Steven Conklin?
Who is Steven in The Summer I Turned Pretty season 1?
Steven Conklin is played by Sean Kaufman, which is the actor’s first major role. He is Belly’s older brother, a frat boy stereotype, who is actually quite smart, but comes across as oafish and immature most of the time. He likes to joke around with the boys, especially best friend Jeremiah. They both decide to get summer jobs at Cousins Beach’s country club. Jeremiah is a life guard and Steven works at the snack shack. Steven is obsessed with money and status. He hopes to attain a handsome amount of money from tips, saving up for his future College social life.
The job starts off lucratively for Steven who shows off his well-earned tips to Jeremiah. He’s then promoted to a waiter at the card room inside the clubhouse. Here, high-rollers play in poker games, betting large sums of money. Steven is in his element, giving advice on the poker hands and receiving large tips again. One player even hands him a poker chip as a thank you. Unfortunately, the poker players turn out to be racists, saying some hurtful things, which Steven overhears. He tells his boss about the racism and is told to ignore it, to think only about the money. This again, is terrible morals from the show, which squanders its opportunity to enlighten its teen audience.
Steven’s poker nightmare continues when he enters a match with some snobbish rich kids. He continually loses and blows all his savings. This means he won’t have any money to buy a tuxedo for the debutante ball. Steven was invited to the ball by his girlfriend Shayla. His relationship with Shayla is also up and down, just like his employment. Things start off well, but he cheats on her and kisses Belly’s best friend Taylor. Once Shayla finds out, they decide to keep things casual, but Steven eventually fights for their relationship and makes them official.
The teen worries he doesn’t fit in with the others, because the Conklin family aren’t as wealthy as the other families at the country club. This obsession over money and status continues when he sees Shayla shopping on her phone for the debutante ball. He can’t afford to dress in complementary, expensive clothing and then blows what little savings he had on poker. The cheeky-chappie ends up borrowing Shayla’s father’s ill-fitted suit for the ball.
Steven may make crude jokes and try his upmost to embarrass others, but he is a smart kid, hoping to go to Princeton next year. His obsession with appearances does blindside him for most of the season and he does make some rather foolish decisions, but overall he is a likeable rogue. Hopefully he learns from his mistakes and can mature over subsequent seasons.
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