TV Romance
The Invisible String Connecting TV Love Triangles With Brothers, From ‘Summer I Turned Pretty’ to ‘One Tree Hill’
Since the dawn of time, there have been love triangles: The epic romance trope where two people are fighting for the affections of the same person. While love triangles are found in many different settings among many different people, one of the most common love triangles is the battle between two brothers fighting over the same girl in a teen drama.
Whether you think that Nathan (James Lafferty) and Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray) walked so that Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno) could run, or you attribute the millennial love for The Summer I Turned Pretty to The Vampire Diaries nostalgia, you have to admit that when it comes to a brother-brother-other love triangle, we’ve seen this film before. In fact, four beloved teen dramas that have come out since the 2000s have featured a heroine caught between two brothers: The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Vampire Diaries, My Life With the Walter Boys, and One Tree Hill.
However, the shell of a classic love story is not all these television shows have in common. Here at Swooon, we’ve done some digging and we’ve discovered that every major American TV love triangle featuring brothers can be connected. Yes, that means that all your favorite romances are within six degrees of Swooon-peration.
Check out our brother-centric love triangles connection map below, and scroll to read how all of these shows are connected.
Illustration: Swooon / Photo Credit: Prime Video, HBO Max, Everett Collection, Disney Plus
The Summer I Turned Pretty to The Vampire Diaries: Gavin Casalegno
By now, we’re sure you know that Gavin Casalegno plays Jeremiah in The Summer I Turned Pretty, one of the two Fisher boys vying for the heart of Belly Conklin, portrayed by Lola Tung. What you may not remember is that Casalegno appeared in The Vampire Diaries playing none other than Damon Salvatore. Before you question everything, you’re not misremembering; Ian Somerhalder played Damon Salvatore. However, Casalegno was featured in a single episode of the hit vampire drama, portraying young Damon in a flashback, connecting the two shows.
The Vampire Diaries to Suits: Gina Torres
We know what you’re thinking: Suits?! That’s not a teen drama featuring brothers who fall for the same girl! (Boy, that’s a mouthful.) Remember, this is six degrees of separation between four shows, so we have a little wiggle room. When it comes to connecting The Vampire Diaries and our next love triangle, we have to take a quick pit stop in Suitsland, where one actress from The Vampire Diaries became costars with a future teen drama star. On The Vampire Diaries side, we have none other than Gina Torres, who portrayed Bree in Season 1.
Suits to My Life with the Walter Boys: Sarah Rafferty
Torres played Jessica Pearson on Suits, who worked at the law firm alongside Donna Paulsen. Donna was portrayed by Sarah Rafferty, who has gone on to play Katherine Walter, the matriarch of the Walter family and legal guardian of Jackie Howard (Nikki Rodriguez) in My Life with the Walter Boys.
My Life with the Walter Boys to Girl Meets World: Corey Fogelmanis
Sure, Corey Fogelmanis isn’t one of the Walter boys (Noah LaLonde and Ashby Gentry) who gets caught up in a love triangle with their new roomie, Jackie. However, Fogelmanis is the first link to connecting My Life with the Walter Boys to our final bro-triangle teen drama. Fogelmanis plays Nathan Walter in My Life with the Walter Boys, but many will remember Fogelmanis from one of his first roles as Farkle Minkus on Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World.
Girl Meets World to One Tree Hill: Lee Norris
Farkle isn’t the only Minkus on our list of connections! Lucky for us, Fogelmanis came face-to-face with Lee Norris, who played Stuart Minkus (Farkle’s dad) on the original series Boy Meets World, in a special episode of Girl Meets World. After Boy Meets World (but before Girl Meets World), Norris portrayed Marvin “Mouth” McFadden on One Tree Hill, which means we can ultimately link My Life with the Walter Boys to One Tree Hill and the Scott brothers.
And if we have to bring it all back to The Summer I Turned Pretty. Erica Dunton, who directed an episode of One Tree Hill, directed three episodes of the Prime Video teen romance series.
The Summer I Turned Pretty, Season 3 Premiere, Wednesday, July 16, Prime Video
My Life With the Walter Boys, Season 2 Premiere, Thursday, August 28th, Netflix
One Tree Hill, All Episodes, Streaming Now, Hulu
The Vampire Diaries, All Episodes, Streaming Now, HBO Max
