Spoilers for Season 3, Episode 3 of The Summer I Turned Pretty are ahead! You can stream it with an Amazon Prime subscription, and catch new episodes every Wednesday.
I’ve been on Team Jeremiah since day one. To quote Taylor, I’m a “founding member of team Jellyfish.” However, the scales are tipping in Conrad’s direction, and after everything that happened in Season 3, Episode 3, I can officially say I’m on the older brother’s team. However, the detail that solidified that for me might surprise you.
Now, I've read We’ll Always Have Summer, and my opinions about Jeremiah and Conrad didn’t waver then. I was still staunchly Team Jeremiah, despite his major mess-up and bad choice at the start of the book. To be blunt, Conrad just didn’t do anything that showed his growth, and I didn’t believe he was in a place to love Belly well. However, watching the book-to-screen adaptation, my feelings have been slowly but surely changing.
Then, when the Fishers and the Conklins got together for dinner, and right before Belly and Jeremiah broke their engagement news, Conrad made a small decision while ordering his meal that made a huge impact. Unlike Jeremiah, he ordered the cheaper option on the menu. I clocked it, and so did @jolangfrds, who posted:
Conrad ordering the least expensive thing on the menu to save Laurel money vs Jeremiah ordering the most expensive because once again he didn’t read the room (and is just like his father). It’s the little things about Conrad that are so endearing to me 🫶and also showing how well he can read Belly with her ordering something small and feeling uncomfortable, he clocked that so quickly yet her finance was none the wiser hmmm
As you can see in the screenshot from the episode that just aired on the 2025 TV schedule, the Surf n’ Turf, which is what Jeremiah and his dad ordered, cost $75, while the Seared Salmon Fillet cost $40, and that’s what Conrad ordered. He did that right after Belly looked clearly uncomfortable about her fiancé ordering the most expensive item on the menu and she ordered tomato bisque.
It was obvious in the scene that even though Laural offered to pay, Mr. Fisher ordering the most expensive items on the menu stressed Belly and her family out. Conrad seemingly understood that, and demonstrated an awareness of the situation that his younger brother straight up didn’t have.
As someone who has read the book, Jeremiah being inconsiderate and unaware is canon. So, this kind of action was expected, even though I hate to see it. I know he means well, but unlike his brother, he acted in a way here that rubbed Belly and me the wrong way. And we haven’t even talked about how they addressed their engagement.
Overall, Conrad is more thoughtful than his brother in this moment, and that’s been the case throughout the first three episodes of the season. So, really, for lack of a better saying, this was like the final nail in the coffin. It reaffirmed the thought Christopher Briney’s character seemingly puts into his actions, and it showed that he was thinking about Belly and Laurel in this situation.
By showing the menu with the prices in the show, it feels like this kind of choice was intentional, and it highlighted growth for Conrad to me. I had already started to tip his way when he helped Steven, admitted that he was in therapy, and openly addressed his feelings for Belly with his friend. This small gesture was the cherry on top.
So, yeah, because of this one moment, I finally transitioned to Team Conrad, and everything that happened after further confirmed that. It proved once again that he has what it takes, clearly, to be a good and caring boyfriend and brother, and it’s those qualities that make me like him more than Jeremiah right now.
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