'The Summer I Turned Pretty' Season 3 Finale Theories: Will Belly End Up With Conrad?

The Summer I Turned Pretty’s ending has been the talk of the town ever since the third season of the show started airing. Given that Jenny Han has released each episode painstakingly far apart (you know, even one week feels like too much), everyone is reeling about what will happen in the finale. I suppose nobody ever thought that a Y/A romance drama could take up so much space on the internet, but she proved the haters wrong and gave us something to yearn for. Having said that, though, there’s only one outcome that most people watching the show will prefer, and that is for Belly to end up with Conrad. But here’s the big problem: we haven’t really seen them together this entire season. It’s really been a dry spell for the Bonrad fans. 

A lot of fans have found the final season frustrating, because not only do we not get any Bonrad moments, but we also go from Jeremiah to Benito in episode 10, which feels like an extra step back to some. But in my opinion, it’s the perfect thing for Belly to have done, a rebound before she goes from one brother to the other (I know, it sounds terrible). I can understand the frustration of waiting, though, because we’ve watched 10 episodes of Conrad yearning and Belly just being done, but this is what might just make the reunion feel extra special. But with that said, let’s just get straight into our theories for the ending of The Summer I Turned Pretty.

Spoiler Alert

The summer has returned in The Summer I Turned Pretty, and it feels like this is the first time Belly hasn’t been in Cousins for the summer. But this also means it’s her first birthday totally away from friends and family, but is it? At the end of episode 10, Belly got a new birthday haircut. Of course, we haven’t seen what it looks like, but she looks entirely different already with her bold red lipstick. There’s something fresher about her already, and I feel like this might be the Benito effect. Yes, I’m still trying to say that was a necessary step for Belly’s growth, but being with Benito also probably helped her realize how much she enjoys her independence. She looks less conscious, less stressed, and way prettier. I really think the Paris air helped, because she loves the place so much. 

But having a new haircut in a typical rom-com scenario often means a breakup. I could be wrong, but the fact that Benito wanted Belly to go to Mexico with him and she didn’t want to go was probably the thing that broke them up. Despite letting Benito know that she wasn’t interested in something long-term (the whole thing was supposed to be casual),  he fell hard, as Gemma pointed out last episode, so Belly must’ve put an end to it before it got out of hand (and she’d have to walk out of another wedding). Just kidding, but I’m sure she didn’t go to Mexico. 

Now, this means the haircut is very specifically for her summer birthday, so it makes sense why Conrad paid half a fortune to get on the flight to Paris instead of just taking a train. He wants to see her on her birthday! Will Belly be okay with this? This is the part I’m not sure about, because a transformational haircut means Belly is trying to let go of the past, not rekindle it (oops). But considering Conrad has come so far, and Belly is doing much better (her French improving so much is a clear indication that time has passed), she might spend some time with him. It’ll be a great birthday, everyone will be happy, and Conrad will’ve had a word with Belly. But that’ll be the end of it, for a bit at least. 

We already know that Belly had her eyes on a psych course from a prestigious university in Paris. She’s likely to start that course soon, which means no matter how she feels about Conrad now, she’s not going to leave Paris, which is honestly wonderful for her. This break is going to help her grow as a person; it’ll help her get a good job and be financially stable, so she’ll be truly independent, which in turn will make her feel like she’s missing something, because she’s the kind of girlie who would love to share this. So after a year of studying, Belly will have become a more confident person and feel more in control of her life. This will be the perfect time to visit home and be with family again. 

It looks like the general consensus is that people want Belly to yearn for Conrad, too, because he’s the only one who’s been doing the yearning so far. This is fair, so after their meeting in Paris, we can imagine that Belly will remember how much she misses Conrad and find herself looking forward to meeting him again. This is very different from how she feels about him now. If things go according to the book, in which there is apparently just an epilogue for the Bonrad girlies, the duo will get married in the end, after a time jump. But we’ve all heard that the show’s ending is going to be different, so maybe we’ll get a bit more of the two of them being together before they get married right at the end of the show. Alternatively, we might just see them getting back together before the show closes on a somewhat ambiguous note. Doubt that’ll happen after this much hype, though. Maybe we’ll see a Taylor and Steven wedding, and Jeremiah and Denise might become a thing, though a lot of us were expecting it to be Redbird. Oh! And is John going to have a stroke or something? If that’s the case, the whole last act will be focused on her being sad and Conrad looking after her this time, maybe? That wouldn’t be the happy ending we’ve been waiting for though. 

How do you think The Summer I Turned Pretty is going to end? What do you think will be the best result? Let us know in the comments down below. Also, do you think Jeremiah will really be okay with the other two together again?!