‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Season 3 Episode 5 Recap: “Last Dance”

As the last episode hinted, “Last Dance” (Season 3, Episode 5) puts The Summer I Turned Pretty into Conrad’s head instead of Belly’s, using his voiceover to guide us through what is and isn’t said during the episode. And it turns out, he’s not doing so hot in the “being over Belly” department. 

A week after the birthday hug that ruined him, he’s still reliving the moment in his head. To occupy himself and keep distance from her, he’s taken up odd jobs around the Cousins beach house, like fixing the roof and cooking. The weekend is set to be a full house, with Jere and Taylor arriving to help Belly with wedding planning, but things are derailed when Jere is stuck at the office late on July 4th and Taylor has to rush home to help her mom with an unannounced salon inspection. 

So that leaves her with Conrad, who is initially reluctant to help knowing that close proximity with Belly will all but ruin him. So instead of letting her tag along with him while he runs errands, he lets her ride her bike to ask about wedding cakes and floral bouquets. But when he sees her on the road struggling with her purchases, he remembers a moment from when they were children and he gave her his bike when hers wasn’t allowing her to keep up with the squad—it turns out, he has always tried to fix her problems.

It’s understandable, then, that Conrad does what he always does and becomes the hero of the moment. He accompanies her to Michael’s so that she can cash in on a sale, and helps her brainstorm ways to cut corners but still deliver on their dream details. But when Belly relays some of these ideas to Jeremiah (like a downgraded version of the two-tier dark chocolate mirror glaze cake he wants), he’s dismissive and suggests they go into credit card debt instead. 

On the car ride home, it’s clear that Conrad and Belly are able to get deeper with one another than they are with Jere. Conrad asks about her plans after graduation, and she tells him she wants to pursue sports psychology, inspired by the psychologist she saw after her career-ending volleyball knee injury. In turn, Conrad lets go of his perfectionism and tells her that he’s also been in therapy. He admits that he isn’t just in Cousins for the summer on holiday; he was fired from his clinic job. When he uses that experience to suggest that he might not be cut out for medicine at all, Belly puts him in his place and reminds him of his hero complex. 

The car ride is going fine until they decide to stop for peaches. Conrad is apparently allergic, a detail that Belly didn’t seem to know, but she gleefully bites into one and then two, with the juice dripping down her chin. Conrad can’t stop himself and he lifts his white shirt to wipe her face—an intimate moment that is a step too far for both parties. He chastises himself for ruining the moment in his voiceover, while Belly is quick to remind him of Jeremiah’s presence by suggesting she buy a few for him to enjoy when he gets to Cousins. 

Conrad and Belly make dinner together, and it feels somewhat romantic. How could it not? She teases him for not seasoning his chicken and for always choosing quinoa as his grain, and he gives in to allowing her to add her own flair to their meal. When Belly points out that the flowers he picked out at Michael’s are similar to the ones she hates at her mom’s house, he’s flooded with a memory of the last time they were intimate just before their Prom debacle and their break-up. It’s clear that he can never be just friends with her, even as the wedding approaches.

Jeremiah, meanwhile, is getting a rare W at work. Just as Denise and Steven are heading out for the long weekend, Jere’s father Adam arrives with one last analysis that he needs done. Jeremiah offers to do it, both to allow them to catch the train to New York and to win some favor with his dad. As Jere crunches the numbers, he notices that something isn’t adding up. Adam corroborates this, realizing that the company they were looking to acquire has falsified their earnings, and is impressed that his son is the one that found this. This earns Jere some unfamiliar kudos from his father, who is suddenly so impressed by Jere’s abilities that he offers to host the wedding at his country club and pay for the whole thing. 

Before he leaves, Adam makes a sly comment that Denise should have worked on this before she left, and Jere doesn’t say anything about how he volunteered and encouraged her to leave for the weekend. This will certainly come back to bite Denise—if there’s one thing season 3 is solidifying about Jere, it’s that he often acts out of selfishness and doesn’t think about how his actions will affect everyone around him. 

But for now, Denise is happily on a train to New York, and doesn’t mind spending this time with Steven. When Denise finds out that Steven created the game he’s playing on his phone, she tells him that she’s going to NYC for the Northeast Gaming Conference. He’s going too, and they confide in each other that there are other things they both want to accomplish outside of this job. Early in the episode, Jere calls Steven’s workplace rivalry with Denise “sexy,” but it seems like there is even more depth to their budding flirtation. It seems like Denise might even respect Steven. 

When Jere finally arrives at Cousins, he finds Conrad and Belly eating a nice meal together. He refuses the peaches that Belly got for him, asking for strawberries instead, and opts to eat Belly’s fries instead. Conrad excuses himself immediately, unable to watch his brother touch the love of his life like that. In fact, his voiceover says that he’d rather be shot in the head repeatedly by a nail gun than witness their displays of affection. 

It’s hard not to feel bad for Conrad. Sure, he fucked up—he’s the first to admit it. His voiceover reveals how much he regrets taking back his confession, even as it stemmed from his promise to his mom about taking care of Jeremiah. He watches Belly and Jere from his bedroom, thinking that Jere can give Belly the things that Conrad can’t. 

But as we see their conversation on the dock, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that Jeremiah isn’t exactly fulfilling all of her wishes, either. Thus far, The Summer I Turned Pretty has done a great job of showing how different Belly’s life could be dependent on which brother she chooses, and “Last Dance” might be the clearest picture yet. Conrad caters to Belly, perhaps to a fault, while Belly repeatedly makes concessions on what she wants with Jeremiah. This time, it’s the wedding location and the fact that Adam wants to invite his colleagues to the event. Even his offer to pay for it goes against their plan to do it themselves, but Belly gives in once again. She surprises him by agreeing to a cheesy first dance song as well (shout out to Pulp Fiction). As audiences, it’s becoming clearer that soon, this wedding (and perhaps the future ahead) will be full of only Jeremiah’s desires and none of Belly’s. 

Radhika Menon (@menonrad) is a TV-obsessed writer based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared on Paste Magazine, Teen Vogue, Vulture and more. At any given moment, she can ruminate at length over Friday Night Lights, the University of Michigan, and the perfect slice of pizza. You may call her Rad.