‘It Feels Like The End Of The World’: The Summer I Turned Pretty‘s All-Consuming Love Is As Relatable As It Is Cringe

Angsty love triangles and all-consuming heartache are somewhat expected and tired tropes in teen rom-coms. But The Summer I Turned Pretty effortlessly pulls them off with charm. In fact, as initially infuriating as it may be to watch a group of high schoolers obsessively pining over one another, it's this over the top drama that makes the Prime Video show the addictive guilty pleasure that it is.

Season 2 of The Summer I Turned Pretty revisits protagonist Isabel 'Belly' Conklin's love triangle with Conrad Fisher and Jeremiah Fisher. It's hard enough when you're head over heels for one person, but when two are involved and they happen to be brothers, things can get very messy. As you do when you're young and hopelessly in love, you make excuses for the other person, you hypothesise about what life will be like in 10 years' time, and more than anything, you decide you'll do everything you can for that person. Endless hours of tears, secret kisses and bounds of teen horniness can warp your reality. But, haven't we all been there at some point or another?

Lola Tung reprises her role as Belly in the second season, and says the constant pining and all-consuming love that we see the characters harbour for one another is the ultimate charm of the show — because it's actually very relatable.

"I feel like it teaches us that it's kind of a universal experience, and that those feelings are valid," the 20-year-old tells Refinery29 Australia.

Co-star Sean Kaufman, who plays Belly's brother Steven, echoes this, saying the show reinforces that these feelings of overpowering love, and a sense of helplessness when it all comes crashing down, are very "normal".

"I think the show does a great job of trying to normalise it," he says. "If you're 14 and you just got your heart broken, it feels like the end of the world... I'm 100% sure it does feel like that." But on the other hand, says Kaufman, the show also teaches us that despite these strong emotions, "you are going to be OK".

Tung can personally relate to the giddiness that comes with young love, and likes that the show encourages you to "indulge in that".

"I wasn't experiencing heartbreak in high school but even [I remember] just having a crush and it feeling like the biggest thing ever," she says.

The actor reflects on how normal it is to obsess over every little gesture your crush makes from across the room. Receiving a subtle smile can have you floating on your feet, but being left on 'seen' in your DMs can leave you overanalysing for hours.

"Little things that happen in your interactions with your crush make it a really good day when it happens. Like a shoulder touch or whatever it is," she laughs.

Kaufman's reminds us of the impact Conrad had on Belly from the get go in Season 1. He became her sole focus just by existing in her realm, and viewers see the slow-motion zoom-in on Conrad when Belly sees her.

"When you have a crush on somebody, and they're in the same class as you, all your attention is on that person," he laughs as he reflects on that scene.

As layers of grief and loyalty pile onto the complexities of the love triangle in Season 2, we still ask ourselves: Will Belly choose Conrad or Jeremiah in the end?

Despite how the ending pans out (and no spoilers here), Tung and Kaufman are personally Team Belly.

"We're so in support of her following her heart, how can you not be?" Tung giggles.

Season 1 may have been about Belly's glow-up, but this time, we hold the mirror to ourselves as well. While some of her snap decisions are frustrating to watch, Belly's vulnerability, desperation and gradual personal growth resonate with many of us who thought our teen love was 'the one'. Buckle up for another serve of OTT beach fling drama, because after all, the ridiculousness of it all is closer to home than you might think.