“The Summer I Turned Pretty” is taking over. According to the Hollywood Reporter, 25 million viewers tuned in to the premier of the show’s third and final season. Since this season began, viewership has tripled compared to the first season.
For the uninitiated, the show follows Belly — yes, that is her name — a young girl caught in a love triangle between two brothers, Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher. Bright summer scenes and lots of drama are set against beautiful beaches and soundtracked by many, many Taylor Swift songs.
I think the love triangle is the key to the show’s growing success. A huge part of a successful TV shows is discourse. If you can get people talking, writing and TikTok-ing, you have a hit on your hands. The love triangle is a discourse-making machine. They divide audiences into teams and fuel debates. “The Summer I Turned Pretty” follows in the footsteps of “Twilight,” “The Vampire Diaries” and “The Hunger Games” in a setup that reaches back in storytelling history to “Wuthering Heights” and “Twelfth Night.” Belly’s wavering back-and-forth between the two brothers has been the cause of much frustration, just like the iconic triangles of other famous stories. I’ve found myself literally yelling at the screen sometimes — and that’s what is so great about “The Summer I Turned Pretty!”
Love triangles sometimes have the reputation of being a cheap and dirty trick. They can get an audience invested in a romance without having to do the legwork of establishing why the characters like each other. And, of course, some love triangle stories are poorly done, but some of them work so well.
“The Summer I Turned Pretty” is one of those love triangles that works. The show takes the time to establish all members of the triangle and has a great cast of secondary characters. The widespread popularity of the show illustrates how compelling the triangle is.
As you can probably tell, I am a fan of the show. I read the books the show is based on enthusiastically in middle school, and I’ve watched the show since the start.
There is a thread of criticism towards this show for seeming overdone, cheesy or girly. However, this bothers me. I like the show! The love triangle is set up with genuine care. I don’t want to ever be embarrassed to like something just because it is associated with “girliness.”
The love triangle is simply an excellent tool to create tension. It keeps you hooked on the big question: who will she choose?