Spoiler alert: This story contains plot details from The Summer I Turned Pretty
If you’re even the least bit online, you’ve likely come across content related to The Summer I Turned Pretty, Amazon Prime’s hit teen drama series based on the Jenny Han book series of the same name. If you’re a fan of the show and online, you’ve no doubt come across reactions to that emotional beach scene with love interests Belly and Conrad.
While that episode aired in August, the series is now trending on TikTok thanks to fans who are posting about the scene while emphasizing the lines “Why? Why?”
For those in need of a refresher, the scene in question appears near the end of Season 2 in the episode titled “Love Fest.” Belly (Lola Tung) along with brothers Conrad (Chris Briney) and Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno) and their crew decide to throw a major house party in an effort to gain closure after the sale of the Fishers’ beach house. A blowup between the Fisher brothers ensues, and Belly finds herself caught in the love triangle crossfire. Then she leaves, heading toward the water … Enter the beach scene between Belly and Conrad (affectionately known by fans as Bonrad).
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
Set to Taylor Swift’s Snow on the Beach, the scene has Belly confronting Conrad about him asking Jeremiah for his blessing to be with her — as Jeremiah also has feelings for her. Belly, on the beach, drunkenly explains that had she known Conrad had cared that much about her to go to Jeremiah, she would have fought harder for him instead of breaking up.
Now fans, particularly Bonrad shippers, have taken to social media to share their reactions to the scene. Despite airing last summer, fans are still reeling from Belly and Conrad’s conversation, posting videos as recently as this month. These Gen Z TikTokers, also referred to as “why girls,” are emotionally reciting the scene verbatim to their cameras.
‘They perfectly executed the miscommunication trope … I genuinely think about it all the time’
Sandra Felan (@_sandradenise) posted a video of herself mouthing the words to the scene, with text overlay saying, “This argument scene on the beach is literally my Roman Empire … it’s such a perfect example of miscommunication I could talk about it forever.” Felan’s video has more than 1.8 million views and 279,000 likes.
“The minute I saw that argument scene I just became obsessed with it. They perfectly executed the miscommunication trope, and I genuinely think about it all the time,” Felan told Yahoo News. “So when I saw the trend of people saying ‘my Roman Empire’ when explaining something that they think about literally every single day, the only thing that came to my mind was that scene because of how often I really do think about it.”
She’s not alone. Other fans of the show have taken to the platform to share their own recitations of the emotional scene.
The Summer I Turned Pretty, currently Amazon Prime’s third-most-streamed TV show, has been a force on social media since its debut. On TikTok, the hashtag #thesummeriturnedpretty has amassed more than 16.5 billion views and spawned devoted “teams” – Team Conrad and Team Jeremiah. As Belly struggles to navigate her teenage love triangle, fans have grown increasingly invested in her choices.
“[The scene] changed how I view the previous episodes, it paints all of their interactions in a different light,” Felan said, “and it amplifies both of their heartbreak.”
