S1.E07: Summer Love

[Whimsy]

Quote

The debutante ball is here, but Belly’s big night is almost ruined when Jeremiah learns the secret his mother has been keeping all summer. When Belly’s left alone on the dance floor, someone else steps in to save the day. With Susannah and Laurel’s secret out in the open, the season ends with a promise from Susannah and the confession from Conrad that Belly has been waiting for all summer.

Original airdate 6/17/22

[Maurina]

Well, I slogged through the entire season and I have to say it's just.... sort of okay.  Not terrible, not great, just blah.  What I liked:

• Acting:  All the actors were pretty good.  Great casting with the moms especially.  The teens manage to portray adolescent angst without overdoing it.
• Location: Beautiful location wherever they shot it, but really, you can't go wrong with beach locales.
• Subplot development:  Again, the mom got some good stuff - middle age women are rarely shown as anything other than their roles as mothers or wives and although obviously that was part of the overall story, the two moms get some screen time to show more rounded characters.

What I didn't like:

• Writing:  Despite the occasional clever line, the writing was just bland.
• Story: I feel like something - a lot - must have fallen through the cracks during the adaptation process (I haven't read the novel but I plan to). Because the story as it is, is dull.  Even over 7 episodes it never manages to truly engage or surprise.
• Acting: Like I said, everyone did a pretty good job, but there is only so much even the best actor can do with sub-par writing.  

I'm disappointed, I usually enjoy a good teen melodrama, and I thought "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" was tremendous fun.  I hope they do better with season 2 of this one but I'm not holding my breath.
 

[munchiewoman]

Yet another show where I dislike the main character the most (Ginny and Georgia comes to mind.)  Belly is just so ...  amazingly self-centered. I get it, she's young, with this new "pretty" power, but playing with the feelings of not one, not two, but three good guys annoyed the shit out of me.  All three deserved better and I didn't like any of them being jerked around.  And being so hard on Conrad because he didn't give her what she wanted exactly as she wanted?  Wow.  Kissing one boy, then kissing the other ?  So not a good idea.  Especially when they are brothers.  Steven was right - she's messing with their family.

Like Joey Potter and Bella Swan (BLECH!), all the boys want this girl and I don't get it.  Not at all.

Saw the one brother stepping in for the other brother at a fancy dance on the Vampire Diaries, and it meant more to me because I already had picked a favorite brother there.  Here, not so much, though Jeremiah was my early favorite and has a slight edge because he seems fun.  I love boys who will sing and dance! I want these brothers both to be happy and I'm afraid that's not going to happen.

Laurel's "Ok, Karen" about Susannah's saying the caterer is going to hear from her about the bad shrimp Jeremiah supposedly ate was perfect.

The kids finding out about Susannah was the most invested I felt in this entire show.  I don't think all of these kids realize how lucky they are to have two amazing moms really.

And really, all the underage drinking throughout this serious bothered me on so many levels.  That everyone just accepts that you drink and have sex at 16, that the kids talked about drinking in front of their parents, being hungover at 17 was nothing to the parents, that the ONLY parental dismay about drinking was Laurel's over Belly...seriously? Conrad "pounding the chardonnay" at a business function?  Could get taht business in big trouble, I don't care how rich his family is. Plus, there are kids who actually go through high school without drinking.  OH, right, not the cool kids. 

But hey, I stuck with it and now I want to find out what happens with Susannah.

[racked]

I so agree about the blatant teenage drinking. Do kids these days not even try to hide it from their parents? 

In the end, I found the moms most interesting and would love a flashback show about their Beaches-esque meeting and becoming best friends. 

[AntFTW]

Well this was an interesting little show.

[AntFTW]

4 hours ago, munchiewoman said:

And really, all the underage drinking throughout this serious bothered me on so many levels.  That everyone just accepts that you drink and have sex at 16, that the kids talked about drinking in front of their parents, being hungover at 17 was nothing to the parents, that the ONLY parental dismay about drinking was Laurel's over Belly...seriously? Conrad "pounding the chardonnay" at a business function?  Could get taht business in big trouble, I don't care how rich his family is. Plus, there are kids who actually go through high school without drinking.  OH, right, not the cool kids. 

...and smoking (just Conrad really). These high school kids freely drinking and smoking, and no adult seems to really care. Interesting...

[norcalgal]

8 hours ago, munchiewoman said:

Yet another show where I dislike the main character the most (Ginny and Georgia comes to mind.)  Belly is just so ...  amazingly self-centered. I get it, she's young, with this new "pretty" power, but playing with the feelings of not one, not two, but three good guys annoyed the shit out of me.  All three deserved better and I didn't like any of them being jerked around.  And being so hard on Conrad because he didn't give her what she wanted exactly as she wanted?  Wow.  Kissing one boy, then kissing the other ?  So not a good idea.  Especially when they are brothers.  Steven was right - she's messing with their family.

Don’t shit where you eat. Oh dear, not just brothers, but brothers who are essentially her step brothers sorta, kinda….

Saw the one brother stepping in for the other brother at a fancy dance on the Vampire Diaries, and it meant more to me because I already had picked a favorite brother there.  Here, not so much, though Jeremiah was my early favorite and has a slight edge because he seems fun.  I love boys who will sing and dance! I want these brothers both to be happy and I'm afraid that's not going to happen.

ok, so it wasn’t just me who saw the Vampire Diaries plot point coming from a mile away.  When I saw that Conrad was also at the ball, I would have absolutely bet huge money on a brother dance swap a la Stefan/Damon. As for which brother I prefer, I wish Belly (and I hate this nickname too - more on that later), could have a guy who is a blend of Conrad and Jeremiah. Each brother has flaws that makes him unrootable to me. 

Laurel's "Ok, Karen" about Susannah's saying the caterer is going to hear from her about the bad shrimp Jeremiah supposedly ate was perfect.

 I literally lol’d out loud at the Karen line. 

And really, all the underage drinking throughout this serious bothered me on so many levels.  That everyone just accepts that you drink and have sex at 16, that the kids talked about drinking in front of their parents, being hungover at 17 was nothing to the parents, that the ONLY parental dismay about drinking was Laurel's over Belly...seriously? Conrad "pounding the chardonnay" at a business function?  Could get taht business in big trouble, I don't care how rich his family is. Plus, there are kids who actually go through high school without drinking.  OH, right, not the cool kids. 

cosigned. Would parents of *any* socioeconomic level be cool with their kids engaging in all this illegal underage behavior?!

But hey, I stuck with it and now I want to find out what happens with Susannah.

the finer details escape me as I read the books years ago…but It will be interesting how or if the show deviates from the books w/r/t Susannah.

As I wrote above, I hate the nickname Belly because I have a daughter named Isabel, and her nickname is Izzy.  More sweet and way less silly than Belly!  

[Snazzy Daisy]

Binge-watched this show out of curiosity because of the hype on twitter. It's meh.

The Good:

• Nice location.
• Friendships are portrayed realistically.
• Interesting soundtracks.

The Bad:

• Protagonists have silly names (Belly? Connie?). WTF!
• Off-braces and off-glasses don't make you pretty, 3 boys are into you at the same time. It's ridiculous. It's like the writer is living her teenage dream thru her major character.
• All younger characters are shallow, selfish, moody and pay more attention to self-image than a good heart. Except for Cam Cameron, he's a nice boy.
• Lack of chemistry between all the ships. Don't understand why many are going all gaga over Team Conrad vs Team Jeremiah.
• Many draggy scenes - the debs, the volleyball tournament, the poker games, the flashbacks.
• It's okay to kiss 2 brothers and cause friction within the family because hey, it's young love, it's so pure!

[norcalgal]

3 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Except for Cam Cameron, he's a nice boy.

This is the 'ship I root for....but oh well, we gotta have the love triangle with the brothers!

And I posted previously in this forum that I read the books years ago, but can't recall details.  Even with that, I think Cameron never existed in the books.  (someone correct me if wrong)  He was created just for this series  (which improved the series to me, but we know he's not Endgame so I don't expect he'll return in S2).  ☹️

[Snazzy Daisy]

21 hours ago, norcalgal said:

This is the 'ship I root for....but oh well, we gotta have the love triangle with the brothers!

And I posted previously in this forum that I read the books years ago, but can't recall details.  Even with that, I think Cameron never existed in the books.  (someone correct me if wrong)  He was created just for this series  (which improved the series to me, but we know he's not Endgame so I don't expect he'll return in S2).  ☹️

Cam Cameron dodged a bullet!

Edited June 22, 2022 by SnazzyDaisy

[Whimsy]

Hey guys.  As a reminder, no book talk.  There is a thread to compare and contrast the book vs the show.  This includes that addition or subtraction of plot points. Thanks!

[SonofaBiscuit]

I'm on like episode four and I don't think I want to finish this series, blah. Belly's acting like a drunken moron, knocking Susannah over and outing that her brother had hooked up with her best friend, Conrad is a moody asshole, I don't care about Steven and his debutante date (or the debutante stuff in general), and I hate that Susannah is concealing from her children that she's dying! I am mildly interested in the relationship between the other writer and Belly's mom, so I may check out those scenes, or something. Since I don't plan on continuing, could someone tell me WHY Conrad is acting like such a dick?  Thank you!

[Snazzy Daisy]

2 hours ago, SonofaBiscuit said:

Since I don't plan on continuing, could someone tell me WHY Conrad is acting like such a dick?  Thank you!

Conrad knew his mom is dying, I can’t remember how and since when.

He is known as someone who "always keeps everything locked inside".

[absnow54]

Between the soundtrack and the aesthetic, they certainly captured the Dawson's Creek vibe. The show was even filmed in Wilmington! Because nothing says Cape Cod like Wilmington, NC! The triangle was poorly done. I thought Belly and Conrad had decent chemistry, but mostly because their dullness was complimentary. Belly and Jeremiah did not have any chemistry at all though.  It really felt like the only reason they were hooking up was because the plot told them to.

I must be getting old, because the best part of the show was definitely the moms. 

[Vivigirl10]

Soooo....this is basically Sabrina??

I was 50/50 on this one.  I probably liked it better by the end than I did at the beginning.  Belly was annoying and self-centered but that's a big part of what made me like it (and her).  That's the realistic and unfortunate way a lot of teen girls act.  It's a tough time and not everyone navigates it in such a polished and confident way as her fellow debs seemed to be.  She was caught in that transition between being a little girl and who you end up as by the time your teen years end.  She was still 100% "herself", saying what was on her mind and in her heart, and acting uncensored too.  I think this is what appealed to the guys.  She wasn't like the other girls.  I saw a lot of myself in her (minus the multiple suitors - ha!!).  Unfortunately, in High School, the need to conform censors a lot of young women's true self behavior.  You learn what works with your peers and what doesn't, and that changes you.  And that's a little sad.

So ultimately, I really liked the actress who played her and I think she did a fantastic job.  I also think Belly had a big lightbulb moment by the end and realized how self-centered she had acted all summer.

That being said, playing two brothers was absolutely the stupidest thing ever.  

I guess I'm in the minority but I thought the actress who played Laurel was almost cringey at times. 

Jeremiah as a love interest was out of left field and not believable.  He's going to be living his best gay life in New York in a few years.  He totally reminded me of George Michael; I couldn't unsee it.  So handsome.  

Conrad being an asshole all summer never fully made sense.  He was going to beat up his Mom and make her feel terrible because he knew she was dying of cancer?  Nice kid.  Kind of think it would have gone the other way.  And how did that explain how much he hated his Dad and why he quit football?  Big plot hole.  

Agree with everyone on the casual approach to all the drinking.  I routinely kept forgetting they weren't in college.  

I'll watch a second season.

[twoods]

Of course the only boy I liked for Belly (blech with her nickname) is Cam who gets thrown away for a stupid triangle with the brothers. So stupid, but I guess he deserves better than her self centered ass. 
The moms were so much fun and had such a great friendship, and it definitely shows how old I am when I relate more to them than the self centered and angsty teens. I usually don’t mind some teen shows (loved Never Have I Ever and Legacies and All American used to be good), but they made Belly, her stupid best friend, and Conrad so unlikable at times that I was dreading their scenes.

[snarts]

I binged this yesterday. Like someone mentioned above, I must be old because I found myself far more interested in adults storyline than in the teens. 

While I did appreciate the openness between the parents/kids about drinking, sex, etc. two things made me clutch my pearls: when Belly told one of the boys that she thought her mom had just got "railed" and when the mom told Belly not only that she hooked up the night before but that they'd had sex in her car.  I just can't see a child using that terminology for their mom and I don't understand why her mom felt to the need to share the details, couldn't she have just left it at hooked up?

[norcalgal]

2 hours ago, snarts said:

I binged this yesterday. Like someone mentioned above, I must be old because I found myself far more interested in adults storyline than in the teens. 

While I did appreciate the openness between the parents/kids about drinking, sex, etc. two things made me clutch my pearls: when Belly told one of the boys that she thought her mom had just got "railed" and when the mom told Belly not only that she hooked up the night before but that they'd had sex in her car.  I just can't see a child using that terminology for their mom and I don't understand why her mom felt to the need to share the details, couldn't she have just left it at hooked up?

I've got teens (one being basically the same age as Belly - 16) and no way, no how would I talk to my teen daughter in the way Laurel talks to Belly.  Another irony?  My "Belly" (Isabel) is nicknamed Izzy, which is more fun loving and cute than ugh - "Belly"!

[mansonlamps]

On 6/20/2022 at 1:30 PM, racked said:

I so agree about the blatant teenage drinking. Do kids these days not even try to hide it from their parents? 

Not in my experience.  Drinking seems to be aok with with the current generation of parents. 

On 7/3/2022 at 6:21 PM, Kiki620 said:

Soooo....this is basically Sabrina??

I guess I'm in the minority but I thought the actress who played Laurel was almost cringey at times. 

It's Sabrina without any of the charm or great writing.  And I also found the Laurel actress cringy.

On 7/5/2022 at 9:38 AM, norcalgal said:

I've got teens (one being basically the same age as Belly - 16) and no way, no how would I talk to my teen daughter in the way Laurel talks to Belly.  Another irony?  My "Belly" (Isabel) is nicknamed Izzy, which is more fun loving and cute than ugh - "Belly"!

I'm a little older than these moms,  but no one I know would talk to their kids about their hookups, I found that not very believable.   The one constant in every generation is kids being grossed out by the thought of their parents having sex. 

Maybe it's just me, but I find it hard to believe Belly would even have girlfriends since every guy on the planet wants only her.   Who'd want that type of competition at that age?

[SeanC]

On 6/20/2022 at 3:21 PM, munchiewoman said:

Yet another show where I dislike the main character the most (Ginny and Georgia comes to mind.)  Belly is just so ...  amazingly self-centered. I get it, she's young, with this new "pretty" power, but playing with the feelings of not one, not two, but three good guys annoyed the shit out of me.  All three deserved better and I didn't like any of them being jerked around. 

I really don't see how played with anyone's feelings, let alone jerked anyone around.

Especially in the case of the brothers, both of whom are completely aware of her interest in the other and are actively the ones making moves on her.

On 6/21/2022 at 4:36 PM, SnazzyDaisy said:

Protagonists have silly names (Belly? Connie?). WTF!

"Belly" feels like a nickname that would have been discarded by Grade 1, but "Connie" as a shortened form of Conrad is a longstanding usage.  See, e.g., the hotelier Conrad Hilton. It is also a common shortening of Cornelius, as with Connie Mack I through V.

[Steph Sometimes]

I liked this at first (the scenery and the characters), but then at the end when both of the brothers were after her seemed a little improbable to me. Especially Jeremiah.

Also, Belly you're no Lara Jean.

[twoods]

Yeah, the show should be called “The Summer I Turned Shitty” because Belly stringing both brothers around is not a good look. Like her brother predicted, it’s likely going to screw up their family and they have enough to deal with already with their mom dying. 

[Aryanna]

I've got a lotta thoughts...

I get that the coming out party at the deb ball is supposed to be analogous to Belly's coming out of a dorky childhood to a pretty young adult so I expected her to be the belly of the ball, so to speak. I mean...it is the summer she turned purdy. But it ended up being more about everyone finding out about the cancer. That seemed an odd choice. 

But this show seems to be filled with odd choices. It feels exactly like what it is, a coming of age story written by people much older and it's written from their perspective now rather than as it really is when you're young. They've either forgotten what young adulthood is like or it's a fantasy of what they wanted it to be like.

The underage drinking is one thing that shows it's written from an older person's perspective. I agree with what others have said on here about that. Underage drinking happens but not like on these shows where the parents know about it and are okay with it. And getting alcohol was much more difficult for me and my underage friends when I was a teen.

And as others have said on this thread, the smoking was handled poorly as well. Which I know sounds odd coming from me, a smoker (trying to quit). But when I was young you'd still get in trouble for smoking. Especially smoking weed. I know it doesn't have the same stigma now as it used to but I still find it odd that teens can smoke weed when they want and their parents don't mind or don't do anything about it.

Some of this show feels like a middle aged woman's fantasy. Susannah making out heavily with a dude at a bar. Laurel having sex in a car. And then for her daughter to say "I think my mom got railed tonight." Eww. Who says that? And about their mom. I know my parents had to have sex for me to be here but I didn't even want to give that a seconds thought. 

And then Belly turning pretty and toying with three different guys feels like a middle aged woman's fantasy of what her teen years would've been like if she had just taken her glassed off and gotten her braces off and been pretty. At first I got a Kissing Booth vibe from it with her growing up with these brothers and crushing on one of them for years. And the beach setting reminded me of the last Kissing Booth movie. But this seemed to deal more in melodrama. 

Conrad being all moody didn't work for me. Yeah I get why he was but it came across as teen girl angst of "I'm obviously upset but I'm not gonna tell you why because I want you to notice and ask me" rather than being heartbroken bc his mom is dying. 

I liked the location but I feel it should've been used more and better. Like on Breaking Bad how the desert was used as a character itself. This should've used the locale as a character. Idk maybe the production didn't have the money to do that.

As it went on I found myself having this show on in the background while I folded laundry or scrolled Insta rather than paying attention to it. I didn't love any of the characters. The storyline wasn't great. I don't think I'll be back for season 2.

[norcalgal]

5 hours ago, Aryanna said:

The storyline wasn't great. I don't think I'll be back for season 2.

I’ll be back for season two if I can get access to Prime.  I mostly want to see how the show depicts Jeremiah and see what’s changed (or not) from the books, especially book three. 

[festivus]

I actually really liked Belly, I very much bought into her story. Of course she was self-centered, she's 16. I liked that she didn't really beat around the bush and would say what she thought. I liked how close she was to her friend and how important the friendship was to her.

Which ties into my favorite thing about this show; the friendship between the moms. I loved the importance put on it. It's not something you usually get with these teen type of shows.

As for the boys: They grew on me. Jeremiah was my favorite and Conrad (which is totally the name of a man born in 1892) grew on me some by the end. I really felt for them begging their mom to do the trial while totally understanding her position. FTR I'm team Belly should probably move on. Which I know will never happen, lol.

I was a teen in the 80s and I went from couldn't get the time of day at 14 to summer birthday turning 15, going into 10th grade and getting hit on constantly. I actually found it a little strange & uncomfortable to get used to so I can see why it would be a confusing thing. Sadly did not have a summer home on the beach with two hot brothers both wanting me though 😅. We were able to easily get booze, somebody always had an older sister or brother that would do it. Never would you be drinking in front of the parents though, but it was a different time.

All in all I enjoyed it mostly due to the friendships and the actress playing Belly.