TV Romance
‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’: Will Conrad Die? Breaking Down the Fan Theory (POLL)
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3.]
“Life’s too short to not spend it with the person you love,” Belly (Lola Tung) says in The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 trailer. Could her comment have a more tragic meaning than we expected? Some fans think so.
“Hear me out,” a fan begins, before launching into their prediction in a now-viral TikTok post. They think Conrad (Christopher Briney) will find out he’s sick in the final episodes, and knowing his time is limited, he’ll write to Belly while she’s in Paris.
The user admitted that it sounds far-fetched, but pointed out some evidence that might back up Conrad having health issues. The first thing noted is that Tung allegedly cried when reading the script’s ending. However, we couldn’t find any interview where the actress says such a thing. She did confess to tearing up on the last day of shooting Season 3, though.
“I get emotional on the last day of every season,” she told People, adding that she cries about “everything” whether it’s happy or sad. In another interview with Nylon, the actress said she a tear rolled down her cheek when she finished Jenny Han‘s The Summer I Turned Pretty book trilogy, which might’ve led to the fan’s mistake.
They also use Conrad complaining about arm pain to support their theory — which must have been an entirely off-hand comment because we don’t remember it. (Conrad supposedly blamed it on the housework that he was doing in Episode 5. We scanned the episode and didn’t spot it.) What we have noticed is Conrad clutching his chest a few times throughout Season 3, but it could just be a result of his anxiety. Or that his chest hurts from all of his Belly-related woes.
To be fair, it’s been confirmed that the show’s ending might differ from the final TSITP book, which sees Belly marry Conrad years after she called off her wedding to Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno).
“I always knew how I wanted to end the books,” Han told Elite Daily. “But with the show, I went into it with an open mind. I wanted to approach it with fresh eyes and just see what sort of magic happened on screen. I am somebody who is always changing things up.”
Could Conrad’s mom (Rachel Blanchard) have passed down her terminal illness? The viral video also mentions that Conrad’s death would “line up perfectly” with yet another fan speculation. In Episode 8, Adam’s (Tom Everett Scott) new girlfriend, Kayleigh (Emma Ishta), doesn’t drink her champagne during the rehearsal dinner toasts. If she’s pregnant and Conrad dies, they could name the baby after him.
Does the theory have legs, or is it too outlandish? Weigh in using the poll below.
The Summer I Turned Pretty, Season 3, Wednesdays, Prime Video
