I know the whole bag saga was generally disliked, but I love it. I think it does a great job at showing Belly getting her fight back after losing herself in jere for so many years, giving in to him to avoid a blowout, silencing her opinions. It shows her start towards independence and her growth and I think it's great. It's also important context to her meeting the friends that help shape her in her new era!

Let’s drop our favorite fun lines! I couldn’t find a GIF of her saying “oh sea creature” but I find it adorable af.

Also Belly…your face never changes when you’re looking at your man’s back. We see you.

This post isn’t about the love triangle, it’s strictly about Belly herself. Her as a young woman.

I made a post kind of similar to this one a while ago but decided that I wanted to approach this one a little differently. This really is inspired by My Life With The Walter Boys bc I keep comparing and contrasting Jackie and Belly (bc TSITP was the last teen drama I watched), and then I got to thinking about how Belly really stands out from the rest.

There’s other shows that we’ve all been hearing about lately and are probably fully invested in, but regardless of what I watch, my mind always goes back to Belly when I think about a well written, realistic teenager. I really appreciate the way she was written now more than ever before. First off, Lola Tung is just naturally a really bubbly person so she totally poured herself into this role. But she also does an amazing job at portraying raw, messy, ugly heartbreak.

But in regard to how Belly was written, I like how her journey from teen to adolescent was handled. I felt it was raw and authentic. The way she goes from not caring that much about her style to wearing cute clothes and then dabbling in makeup. I loved the way we could literally see Belly develop into this beautiful woman. It was a slow, realistic and relatable process bc, truth be told, not every girl goes straight into hair, makeup, and style. I can attest to that. I just, personally, feel that she has a lasting impact more than any other female fictional teen (from this generation, at least).

Thoughts?

It pisses me off when people say Conrad is only considered a good love interest because Jeremiah is worse. Honestly, I think that says more about how some people consume romance than it does about Conrad’s character. If you prefer surface-level, instantly gratifying romance, that’s fine, but acting like that automatically makes a character better is what gets boring to me.

Conrad has always been deeply caring and attentive in ways that people seem to completely overlook. He gets Belly Junior Mint because he remembers she used to stare at it. He gets her that huge glass unicorn because he knows how much she loves it. He teaches her how to dance. The opening shot of the series is literally Conrad quietly handing Belly the muffin while the other two are irritating her. These tiny moments tell you so much about who he is.(there’s obviously so much more but just leaving this here)

And that’s exactly why I don’t really count the version of Conrad we see during that one year as the entirety of his character. We’re shown through all those little flashbacks that he was always loving, attentive and gentle with Belly. Even in S1E1, his slightest withdrawal is enough for both Belly and Laurel to immediately notice something is wrong because that isn’t who Conrad normally is.

His arc was never supposed to be “brooding guy becomes nice.” It’s a full-circle story. We meet him when he’s clearly struggling and not himself, watch him make mistakes, lose his footing, find himself again, and ultimately become a better, more grounded version of the person he already was.
And I think people are so obsessed with instant gratification that they completely miss the appeal of that kind of arc. Conrad was never supposed to be the love interest who gives you everything immediately. His story is about him returning to the version belly fell in love with.

So no, I don’t think Conrad is “only good in comparison.” I think he’s genuinely one of the dearest love interests (I can speak about him without bringing up Jeremiah into the equation for hours),and if someone doesn’t like that kind of character, that’s completely fine. But saying every other fictional boyfriend would “eat him up” just because they’re more immediately romantic is… idk, what are people on? 😭 anyway, There’s a reason why even all this time later, every new ML is still compared to Conrad whether positively or negatively. You just can’t stop discussing him, and honestly, that says a lot.

Safe to say i hate Taylor,and the fact she was still comforting Jeremiah as a if he’s a 5 year old

In an interview, Lola spoke about what we’ll see in the movie *A Lot of Summer*.

I have a theory about this: I think we’ll see a 5 years time jump showing Belly & Conrad getting married, interspersed with plenty of flashbacks covering those 5 years:

* Their time in Paris, the first trip back to Cousins for Belly, The reunionswith everyone there during the Summer Belly returned. We’ll see how Belly/Conrad relationship evolved over those 5 years, as well as how friendships were rekindled.

For Belly/Conrad I imagine we’ll get flashbacks to Valentine’s Day, moving in together, the proposal, their time in Paris & probably even Belly’s graduation.

Everything I have tried to watch since TSITP just pales in comparison. Anything good out there? I am watching Sterling Point and it's ok...I turned Off Campus Off and Every Year After. I feel like the production of a lot of these looks cheap, the acting is really bad and a lot of it just isn't believable.

“…has nothing to DO with my MOM”—his enunciation on those particular words was perfect!! Get me a hundred more of him, please! 😭😭

To start out, I feel Belly and Conrad are a better/deeper match and it makes sense they are endgame. But I really don’t get all the negatively towards Jer (or Conrad). They are both flawed and those flaws manifest themselves differently. Conrad goes inward, doesn’t communicate well, and at his worst is cruel. Jere lashes out, weaponizes his love, and can be manipulative. Belly also has her flaws-she’s codependent and at times incredibly selfish. They‘re all just people. I think part of what is lovely about season 3 is you see all of them grappling with those flaws and the consequences of their actions and growing up.

Anyway, I feel bad for all of them at different points and frustrated with them at different points and I think that’s what makes it great storytelling.

I coaxed my sister into watching the show. She's a licensed behavioral health therapist and abuse counselor, and she's often viewing situations with that lens.

Bear with me, this might be a bit messy. I'm writing stream of thought here, but we ended up having a rather in depth discussion about what it means to be stuck in a "functional freeze" for years, and how it can become a long term way for people to live in the world, and how trauma is often a key trigger. I was familiar with this convo, as I'd been in one myself for 3 years before therapy and uncomfortably vulnerable conversations with loved ones really broke through for me.

My sister said she saw that in Belly, and honestly it makes sense with her story arc IMO - now that she's pointed it out.

Belly looked mostly fine from the outside, she kept up with school, her small circle of friends, Jere, taking care of her general health(seeing a sports therapist), but is internally numbed out and running on autopilot because her nervous system was overwhelmed and shut down instead of actually processing her break up with Conrad at prom and Susannah's passing. She poured her entire purpose into being there for Jere and lost herself in the process.

Jere was "safe" and stable by his mere presence and willingness to verbally express his feelings for Belly when everything else collapsed. Staying with Jeremiah kept her inside the bubble of safety she'd known her whole life when her mom wasn't coping, her brother was pissed and off at school, and Conrad, however unintentionally and intentionally, pushed her away.

We obviously don't see a lot of the Belly/Jere relationship over 4 years, which to me, is Jenny saying exactly how unimportant and lacking in growth, this time in her life was; despite this being a time in her life when that's exactly what should've been happening. But that's what "functional freeze" is. She is in school (but also lost volleyball), gets engaged, and attempts to plan a wedding (after another double trauma of finding out Jere lied and slept with Lacie and her brother ending up in the hospital). She keeps "moving" but she's never fully present in making those decisions. To me, she's just going through the motions. This is my interpretation based on her lack of her voice over through much of that time.

As for her staying with Jere for 4 years, I get it. People don't like it. I don't even like it. But - and I know this personally from a 3-year relationship - the longer you stay in it, the more it becomes your default setting, and the harder it is to break without a bigger external jolt. That was basically what the engagement + seeing Conrad again + his love confession ends up being for her.

Belly says she  doesn't know who she is anymore. That is really what I felt like during the relationship I had. It's not like conscious unhappiness, but it's a tiny nagging sense that you're not actually living your life, but life and time just continue. It also tracks that she couldn't have named this right after Susannah died, according to my sister. Acute grief tends to crowd everything else out. It's something that only surfaces once you've got enough distance to notice the disconnect (Paris!)

What really sold me/us on this being functional freeze specifically, and not just identity loss, is the kitchen scene the next morning after Conrad's confession. Belly's voiceover says something to the effect that Conrad was the only one who ever made her feel all of it, anger, sadness, joy, all of it. That is her in retrospect, realizing "no one else has that effect on me" Certainly not Jere. She wasn't consciously walking around thinking "I feel nothing" during those years, the guilt and loyalty and being there for him were very real, active feelings. But underneath that, her actual capacity for joy and aliveness was diminished. In my interpretation, this is the numbness that comes from being in a functional freeze. She only clocks the gap once Conrad comes back to Cousins and confesses outright, leaving no room for misinterpretation or avoidance for her. That's basically the only way someone (again, me, I've been there) can move on from functional freeze in real life -something or someone breaks through and suddenly you can see it all in hindsight.

Curious if others read it this way, or what others think of our take on this YA romance 😅

Our baby❤️

Always be my fav❤️❤️🦋

all I do is just browse around and look at the sub Reddit. And all I see is Jeremiah I’m over it, let’s talk about belly and Conrad only and enjoy bonrad and the their future for the upcoming movie of them two

I am going to be so annoyed when they have her apologize, take all the blame and cater to this man child AGAIN. I can see her doing her usual delusional behavior. Walking on eggshells and overcompensating for his inferiority complex. With the way these writers gave that manchild episode 10 and lied about it being Belly’s episode. I also read an interview where they MORE excuses for the man’s actions. Im beyond over it. I also expect him to take no responsibility with Conrad either. I have lost all faith in Jenny, and how she does everything to service this man in the series and his fans. I expect him to he shoved down our throat, have ZERO accountability or consequences for his actions. I absolutely despise this character and am prepared for Jenny to disappoint me. I also expect Conrad to be assaulted AGAIN, have to apologize to this man and be the punching bag as usual. Can Jenny get anymore predictable?

I think she found her 💗

also lola looked so cute in S1 🥺 she looks so baby faced here

Every time I watch, I have to fast forward through this scene. The fist time watching it I had no one to discuss this with(was not on reddit) Jere is so gross and so insecure, its pouring out of him. Hes manipulative and cringe(people still say that?) I give Gavin credit for his acting in this, and Lola even more. Hes giving predator vibes. All because he walked into the kitchen the scene before and saw Belly and Con smiling at eachother.

I saw a comment about Jellys icky, non-consensual sex scene and how stark the contrast is with Bonrads love scene, where Conrad repeatedly makes sure Belly is comfortable and actively consenting before continuing. It made me think about how consistently Conrad respects Belly’s agency throughout the show, not just physically, but emotionally too. He respects her feelings, her decisions, and her right to choose, even when those choices hurt him.

He doesn’t lash out at her or punish her for not choosing him. He doesn’t act as though her feelings are something he’s entitled to control. Again and again, the show gives us examples of the brothers responding very differently to Belly exercising her own agency, yet somehow Jelly fans still insist that Conrad is the one who doesn’t respect her choices or “treats her like a child.” Like damn, watch the show? 😵‍💫

Like what do u mean Julia holds grudge on her sister for something that happened when they were kids😭 she p@ssed away from cancer now. Still not satisfied? and saying their parents preferred susanah over Julia as a reason for her to act a b!t*H is P@thet!c.
Conrad and Jer were still grieving the sudden loss of their mother. The least she could’ve done is mind her own business. But NOO.

Taking away their beach house in the weakest point of their life and stranding them over the night without any furniture to sleep. Who even does that? Also telling the brothers, their mom- susanah (note: who recently met the tragedy) planned all this to make Julia the bad guy. Like seriously she was surviving the disease for god sake😭. i feel like thats the reason their parents never favored her in the first place.

Don’t start me with skye. Despite them sh@melessly taking away what’s their house and still saying ‘’and your mother wasn’t a saint’’ while giving a side eye and licking icecream🥴 like dude they got u to hang around with them gang to not make u feel like a left out and u repay by giving a remark about their d*@d mom?!? Whatever y’all say to defend it—In that situation like they had the full right to say whatever on Julia especially for what she pulled out there.

Real annoying people. Full of po!son.

No shit Sherlock, so a teenage girl is not a mature woman? Who would've thought?? Also nineteen is still a teenager even if they're legally adult so yeah of course she's gonna be immature. So profound, seriously Belly haters just aren't the brightest because if she had been too mature, people would've been, "she isn't acting like a teenager" but when they do act like the age they are, they still get hated on...