This article, “why is Conrad depressed,” contains spoilers regarding the Amazon original series The Summer I Turned Pretty season 1.
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The whole premise of The Summer I Turned Pretty is a teenager growing up and finding the confidence to chase her crush. Belly’s crush is none other than Conrad, the love of her life. Her summer wish is to kiss this mysterious teenager, but when she arrives at Cousins Beach that summer, things are completely different. Conrad has changed and appears to be depressed, but what has caused this altered mood?
The Summer I Turned Pretty season 1 – why is Conrad depressed?
From the get go, there is something different about Conrad. He’s ditched the dorky glasses, he acts all distant and moody, he smokes marijuana and he’s dating a debutante girl. All these changes make Belly question her infatuation, causing her to even call him a hypocrite. To Belly Conrad is a hypocrite. He always hated the idea of smoking and found the whole debutante scene to be superficial and dated. But now, Conrad has turned into the one thing he hated.
On top of all this, Conrad has quit College football and is unsure of his future prospects. Whilst Jeremiah and Steven acquire jobs for the summer, Conrad is left moping about the house, uninspired. He does manage to get himself a voluntary job however, where he teaches writer Cleveland about sailing and the two bond, discussing relationships on numerous occasions. Cleveland tries to help Conrad control his anger problems and steer him in the right direction. Conrad even admits to Cleveland that he knows about his mother’s cancer.
This is more than likely the main trigger for Conrad. He found out that his mother had cancer, but she wanted to keep it a secret. It was killing him that he couldn’t tell his brother and kept everything inside. At the end, Belly says he should have shared the problem with her, instead of burying it deep down, and he now realizes the damage that did. He may also be aware of Adam’s affair, as he is extremely cold to his father when he arrives for the Fourth of July celebrations. Their relationship is an odd one, and he seems to never be able to live up to his father’s expectations.
Conrad’s moody behavior comes down to his mother’s cancer diagnosis and her struggles with treatment. He keeps the news deep inside and finds it hard to communicate his emotions to others. He dates rich debutante Nicole for an easy life. Conrad smokes drugs to forget about his worries and to relieve his anxieties. His long term friendship with Belly develops into something more over the course of the season, but it takes him a while to realize what is at play. Conrad is a complex character who has many issues, but the series allows him time to work out most of these problems.
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