Episode 81: The Summer I Turned Pretty S2E3-4
We're back at Cousins Beach where apparently nobody understands basic estate planning, Junior Mint plushies carry the weight of metaphorical significance, and Aunt Julia has access to the world's most efficient moving crew.
What You're Getting Into: The beach house is up for sale because Susanna's half-sister Julia inherited it (somehow), leading to the most convoluted property ownership explanation since someone tried to explain timeshares. Meanwhile, Belly ping-pongs between flashbacks to her disastrous prom with Conrad and present-day bonding moments with Jeremiah that involve way too much awkward touching.
Peak Dumpster Moments:
The Great Deviation Discussion: Our resident book expert breaks down how the show has gone completely off the rails from the source material, introducing whole new characters and plotlines that don't exist in Jenny Han's books. Spoiler: Aunt Julia and Skye are 100% made-up TV drama.
Questionable Physics Corner: We dive deep into the aerodynamics of tandem go-karts, and why Skye is apparently day-trading Bitcoin as a minor. Because nothing says teenage summer drama like cryptocurrency speculation.
The Junior Mint Metaphor: Belly chooses a giraffe over Junior Mint at the arcade prize wall, which one of our hosts insists is a deep metaphor for the love triangle. The other host remains unconvinced that stuffed animals carry this much symbolic weight.
Coming Up: We escape to 1991 for some Danielle Steel melodrama with Patrick Duffy, because sometimes you need a shirtless Bobby Ewing holding a baby to cleanse the palate from teenage beach angst.
The Verdict: These episodes mark the turn toward peak cringe territory, featuring timeline inconsistencies, impossible logistics, and enough flashbacks to make your head spin. At least the Smashing Pumpkins song choice was solid.