After a year’s wait, viewers return to Cousins Beach, where the trials and tribulations of a teenage love triangle continue in the second season of “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” Following the same indulgent romance with newfound depth, season two lives up to and improves upon its predecessor. The eight-episode season’s first three episodes arrived on July 14 on Amazon Prime; the rest will release weekly on Fridays.
Season two introduces a stark dynamic change between characters Belly (Lola Tung), Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), who find themselves at odds after the events of the previous year. A new addition to “The Summer I Turned Pretty” world, Aunt Julia (Kyra Sedgwick) plans to sell the beach house, and her child Skye (Elsie Fisher) has come along to help. Despite their strained relationships, the trio, Steven (Sean Kaufman) and Taylor (Rain Spencer) band together to save the beach house. These new obstacles give season two an intriguing introduction.
After the somewhat trivial qualms of a debutante ball in season one, the new season brings a refreshing level of maturity as the characters deal with more intense life changes. The show quickly moved on from its early days, with Nicole (Summer Madison) and Belly being the only remaining debutants. The episodes now focus on the transition from high school to college and feelings of powerlessness and grief with a new intensity that adds to the characters’ relatability. Though the characters grow older and the themes gain magnitude, the teen aspect of this teen drama remains intact. Characters maintain their youth and avoid becoming mini-adults, as in other teen dramas. Any viewer looking for non-stop romance, however, may be disappointed. With its newfound depth, the frequency of loving glances and stolen kisses has taken a hit. However, with only three episodes so far, a rise in romance remains possible.
Just as in season one, the creators did not skimp on the soundtrack, filling it with well-known artists like Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, One Direction and more. The music heightens and intensifies details, transferring a song’s nuances to the scene. The nostalgic and sprightly anthems enhance the show’s charm and youthful glow.
Though the first three episodes mark a largely successful return, they sometimes feel slow — the present timeline drones on without substantively driving the plot. Flashbacks to the prior year offer painfully short but extremely necessary relief from the drudgery. And despite more depth in themes and subject matter, some characters’ relationships remain underdeveloped. The show does not adequately explore its sibling relationships, especially the brotherly bond between Conrad and Jeremiah or the connection between Belly and Steven.
Ultimately, “The Summer I Turned Pretty’s” second season makes for easy viewing. With the right balance of drama and fun, the Amazon series made a strong return and introduced deeper plotlines to keep fans invested for the rest of the summer.
3 slices of blueberry pie out of 5
