Character Development of Belly in the Series
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POST SUMMARY • [1]Summarize
I don’t agree with every single point in this article, but I do think it makes a lot of great points. Thoughts?
Posted by CelebrationBubbly102 · in r/tsitp · 1 month ago
ORIGINAL POST
It feels like this season, Belly is reacting pretty lukewarm to her own life. None of her relationships seem to matter or deserve exploration at all outside of her relationships with the Fisher boys. Steven almost died, but her reaction to that is centered on how this causes her to interact with Jeremiah and Conrad. Conrad fixes Laurel and Belly’s relationship, but we don’t get a substantial conversation from Laurel and Belly on their feelings. There is almost no mention of how Belly feels about now that she’s been back in Cousins when her relationship with Susannah was central to Seasons 1 and 2.
Even her relationship with Jeremiah makes no sense- there’s no anger, jealousy, or resentment when he acts outrageous, just acceptance. We’re on episode 6, and it feels like she’ll only leave that dynamic because she loves Conrad more, not because of realizations about Jeremiah.
As someone who was invested in Belly’s story and seeing how she will grow and change, it is a little disappointing that it feels like her development is being shafted to give her sufficient “shipping” moments with both boys. Nothing can just be about Belly, even the downfall of her relationship with Jeremiah- it has to be about her love for Conrad, not Jeremiah’s own behavior.
I also don't agree with every point but I agree with the person's overall point. She has no personality anymore. We see her doing the twist with Jeremiah to recreate the scene in Pulp Fiction >!whereas in the book, she expresses her frustration at not having their first dance to Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs 'Stay.'!< It's really sad to see Belly reduced to this--she's more immature than she was in season 1 when it was actually understandable since she was a teenager. (Technically, her prefrontal cortex has not finished developing and won't for a few more years but still.) In season 3, I can't stand her. I hear what you're saying about shipping moments. It feels like the story was sacrificed so that each ship could have an equal number of moments to create video montages on YouTube.
I believe Jenny wrote it like this on purpose to show how co-dependent Belly and Jere are in their relationship. They are both holding each other back. Belly has lost herself and will find herself again when she goes to Paris. Once she gains maturity and finds her true self and passions again, she will be ready for Conrad. Conrad has already had his growth through counseling and so he will be patiently waiting! He knows the Belly he fell in love with is in there somewhere.
This could end up being a beautiful story, I'm trusting Jenny to deliver!
I agree. I think there is something thematic about Belly sort of being relegated to the passenger seat of her own life. It is my hope this version of her will be bookended by a Belly who takes back her agency and chooses how she wants to move forward with her life. I think we're supposed to be troubled about seeing Belly this way (unless you're so invested in Jeremiah that it has ceased to become Belly's story for you). I, too, wish we saw an inkling of something else to grab onto besides the very tell-don't-show details of Belly's major and dream study abroad program, because even if it is thematic of Belly's place in her journey, as a piece of media this season does read like Belly's heart and mind are incapable of passing the Bechdel test, and we know she's capable of more.
I just don’t think her focus on Jeremiah can be blamed for all of it. It can be blamed for her lack of internality for herself, but her relationship with Steven for example is being neglected after a big life event for both of them. Same with Susannah. Belly is arguably with Jeremiah in part due to her love for Susannah, but she never thinks of her. She arguably thinks about Conrad more than she thinks about Susannah or Steven.
I can buy Belly neglecting herself, but not caring about her other relationships feels like a missed opportunity instead of purposeful writing.
People will argue that this is the point, but no. It's one thing to write a well-rounded character who is losing themselves, being put in a box and overlooking other relationships in favor of their significant other. It's another thing to write a character in a really one dimensional way, neglecting to show any part of their life that isn't their love life.
I'd understand if it felt like Belly was a whole person who is limiting herself. That's not the case, though. The very valid criticism this season has been that Belly doesn't feel like a whole person or a character in her own right.
Whether she chooses to focus on Jeremiah or not, she still has a family. She still has friends. She still has her dream of going to Paris, whether she gives that up or not. She's still affected by a knee injury that killed her volleyball career, even if that means she's clung to Jeremiah harder because of that.
They should be showing us that her other interpersonal relationship have suffered while she's been dating him, including her familial relationships. They should show us that it's a problem that she's only made one friend at Finch in four years, that it bothers her. They should show us why she wants to go to Paris and why it's important that she does and a tragedy that she is giving it up, so that we care. They should show us that getting injuried affected her, if it's made her more codependent on him, or lonelier, or anything.
Instead, they simply decided not to show any of this, any facet of Belly's life that isn't Jeremiah. And no, that's not the same as writing a character that is prioritizing her boyfriend too much, because if we're not shown what's going on (or not going on) outside of him, anything could be true. Belly could have more friends at Finch and we just didn't see them (a lot of girls showed up for her shower after all). She could also nust be not at all bothered to only have met Anika. She could have not given a crap about losing volleyball. Paris could just be a fancy of hers because she thinks it's pretty.
Jesus, they even took away her voiceover for half the season. She's been lacking any kind of interiority because none of actions have felt motivated or justified. They're literally asking the audience to just make something up to explain how she's been acting and how her behavior flips from scene to scene. And even now that the voiceover is back, they'll keep prioritizing the love triangle over her by having her still be super cozy with Jere (despite his behavior that supposedly annoy her) while also having intense moments with Conrad. Without much self reflection, of course, because if there's too much of that, it will ruin the suspense.
They haven't even established in the show, why Belly is choosing to lose herself in this relationship. Is it her clinging to her childhood? To Suzannah? Is it still a reaction to Conrad breaking her heart? Is it because she feels guilty? Why does she still feel so guilty when it's been 4 years? Has she's been in denial about her feelings for Conrad? Have they been buried instead? Did they go away for the most part and are only just coming back? Why is she so rude towards Conrad a lot of the time? Why did she encourage Jere to propose and accepted it right after he cheated and "hurt her more than anyone else"? None of that is even touched on. They're just hoping the audience magically fills in the gaps. That's a problem.
YES. YES YES YES. I wish I could like this 1000 times. I'm frustrated with the fact that this leaves viewers trying to make sense and justify the writing.
But it's not the story and writing leading us to conclude and generalize that Belly is suddenly behaving this way because of her relationship. It's viewers inferring that because they don't have anything else to go on because our brains are trying to pick up the slack because of the writing. That's NOT good writing. It's not the audience lacking "media literacy" it's the writing being bad.
"Why" is exactly right. It's the biggest question for most of the plots this season and there's no answer to anything.
I agree with some, not with all. I do think they’ve glossed over a few things that could have added way more depth to her character. They have opted to build out the Taylor and Steven stories out more…I get that, but it was at the expense of learning more about Belly’s last 4 years…
I think the love story was always going to be the key draw - and as shallow as it sounds, that is why we all got hooked to start. I think Jenny is taking the story exactly where she wants to because it is HER story, it’s made up. Belly is her character.
I would argue she has given Belly way more depth than she had in the books. I mean, I sfound Belly in the books totally unlikable and obsessed with Cousins. At least in the show, they have mellowed that out and given her more justifications to feel what she feels.
I agree that the side characters have made it harder for us to really focus on Belly as the main character. The lack of her narration has also stripped away her thoughts. If we were more inside belly’s head, she could be talking about Paris, her dreams, etc. but instead they have really pushed away her inner monologue to make jelly fans less likely to abandon the series.
It would have been much more interesting if Taylor and Steven had grown to have a healthy, stable relationship and have that be a foil for Belly and Jeremiah
I think the whole series, especially the characters of Conrad, Jeremiah and Belly suffer from the battle team J or Team C.
That competition brought a lot of hype and attention. But that same attention and hype caused adjustment and changes in the script and the characters to keep this hype alive.
I think the characters are suffering from that. Belly who is more immature and self centered than ever. Conrad who is slowly becoming a martyr. And Jeremiah becomes a bit of a vigilante, irresponsible cheater.
Their characters become a bit over the top and i think that is a shame. And of course i will watch it till the end, and of course i will always be team C. But i like the book more than the series now.
the polarizing is getting a bit insane for me. I feel like there was more nuance in season 1 before anything happened - now, jeremiah is evil, Conrad is a saint and belly is a plot device.
This +10000, I think the pandering of teams while good for marketing, made it so hard to deliver a good product because I think the nuance of the story is part of what made the books good. Its about who is good for each other, not who is good period.
r/tsitp • [2]Summarize
In response to the “This is Belly’s story” narrative
Posted by Rich-Procedure5912 · in r/tsitp · 22 days agoWhile the story is told from Belly’s perspective, we actually know very little about her beyond her relationships with the Fishers and her summers in Cousins. Jenny Han chose to focus the narrative almost entirely on that. As a result, we don’t see Belly as a full character…just an empty vessel defined by others. Is she a good friend, sister, or daughter? We don’t know. Those aspects of her life are either absent or underdeveloped. We have seen Taylor be a good friend to Belly, we have never seen the opposite. We don’t know what Belly wants in life beyond being in Cousins or ending up with one of the brothers. If this were truly Belly’s story, we would have seen her make real choices, face challenges, and grow independently of the love triangle. We were not given that. We didn’t even get to see her college years, arguably some of the most formative in a young adult’s life. Those years were skipped entirely, and with them, any real opportunity to explore who Belly is outside of the Fishers. Instead, the central question has always been: Who does Belly end up with? That’s the story we’ve been told, in both the books and the show. It feels disingenuous to now insist that the story is about Belly’s personal journey when we’ve never been given the depth to care about her outside of that context. If viewers are more invested in who she ends up with than her personal growth, it’s because that’s the narrative Jenny has chosen to give us from the start. To ask the question “who is Belly” now, with only three episodes left in a series that has only ever been about her relationships is just bad storytelling.
Jenny told us before episode 9 that it's Belly's show and went on to have an episode full of Jeremiah crying lol
Omg I was hoping someone would bring this up. I genuinely don’t believe this show is about Belly, it’s about the Fisher brothers. We see more of her brother’s personality than hers. She is an empty vessel who likes two brothers, chocolate and volleyball.
I also do not find the Jeremiah / belly chemistry believable at all. It feels like two teenagers performing at having a relationship.
It feels more like Conrad and Jeremiah‘s story because over the 3 seasons they get personality traits outside of their feelings for Belly, they get life experiences that we see or are at least impactful enough that they get brought up regularly, we explore their brotherly relationship and how it fractures over the years, how they try to rebuild it and then how it derails again.
We also see both of the relationships with their dad and how that’s impacted and continues to impact them, we see their bond with their mother and how her death changes them. Belly does not get this depth with any member of her family, despite her mum, dad and brother all being more prevalent characters than Adam for example.
I also feel like the Belly and Taylor friendship has added more depth to Taylor‘s character but adds little to Belly as she never seems to care that much and only uses Taylor as a sounding board for her feelings about boys.
Absolutely. Like, she’s had a knee injury and ended playing college volleyball - that’s seriously impactful on a person. Why don’t we see any of that struggle and how it impacted her choices when it came to her degree or is she that shallow?!
I agree
Thank you. I’m an older viewer so haven’t read the books. I genuinely feel like I know nothing about belly. The show has shown absolutely no personality from belly. I’m 9 episodes in and I still don’t understand why Belly is with Jeremiah, why did she have to pick one or the other at the end of season 2. If she loved Conrad that much how can you go to his brother. In all honesty, the show makes it seem like she wants the beach house.
The summer I ended up single with a beach house
That’s such a good point. Jenny might keep saying “this is Belly’s story” but then doesn’t actually give her the space to exist outside of Conrad, Jeremiah, or Cousins. We know way more about how the brothers feel about her than who she is as a person. If her journey was meant to be the focus, we should’ve seen her choices, her growth, and her life beyond the triangle. Instead, the narrative keeps circling back to which boy she’ll end up with. That doesn’t make her the center of the story; it makes her the prize.
It’s also bad storytelling. Show us why Conrad is so in love with her, after all these years!
I made similar comment when she posted the story on this is belly’s show before episode 9. We do not know belly outside of her love triangle with the boys. Even her conversations with taylor/steven/anika/her mom are all around the boys or how each boy react to her.
What is more surprising that after taking away her voice over in s3, we are supposed to be like yeah this is belly’s show. We literally do not know anything about her. I mean whole show has now become like who will she chose 🤦♀️
r/TheSummerITurnedPrett • [3]Summarize
Belly‘s character development arc
Posted by Nava1Nava · in r/TheSummerITurnedPrett · 2 months agoI had this sudden thought that Belly might introduce herself as Isabel when she‘s in Paris, which in the books she obviously started going by Isabel in college. I mean they probably wanna show Belly becoming more mature and independent in Paris, cause as we all obviously know, she hasn‘t done much growing and maturing while stuck in her Finch/codependent relationship bubble. It would highlight her growing up quite nicely. Honestly I hope she finally gets told off for messing with two brothers, not knowing what she wants and not knowing how much her decisions and actions affect everyone, not just her. It should also be addressed, just how unhealthy her and Jeremiah‘s relationship is and how they have been clinging onto each other as a coping mechanism. It should be one of the reasons they finally break up and then she can hopefully grow up (and grow a backbone) in Paris..
But yeah what do you guys think?
This is a great take, and I think that's where the show is going. They're not "accidentally" portraying Belly as immature, lost in her relationship with Jere with little growth. It's very intentional. Especially because we haven't gotten much of her narration which is vital to the story (this shows she's absorbed and lost in her relationship with Jeremiah). Ever since season two, she walks on eggshells with Jeremiah, trying to please him and losing herself in the process because she feels guilty.
Paris will be what she needs to grow and realize Conrad is who she needs and is meant to be with. But her arc is in the worst lowest part right now. I believe in Jenny and the story!
Yeah I really hope so! I did think Jeremiah‘s and Belly‘s break up was very lackluster in the books and to me it seemed like she would have gone through with it and Jeremiah had to pull the plug on his own. I would like to see them both acknowledge their codependency and inability to let each other grow and mature and for Conrad‘s confession and the letter to be the final straw. I know the show isn‘t THAT deep and profound but it would be a great message for the younger audience to not romanticise a relationship like theirs
I think its super purposeful that Steven is the one who changes her name on her dorm door from Isabel to Belly... It's signifying that when she's around the people she's grown up with, she can't be anything but Belly. She's still the girl she always was because she's never got out of her own shell and met new people properly. To me the name Isabel being used is about her coming home to herself, hence why Conrad uses it. Thats the truest version of her.
I definitely think we will see a good few incidents of Conrad calling her Isabel and I love the theory that when she gets to Paris she decides thats the name she goes by. I'd LOVE if his letters end up being addressed as 'Dear Isabel' rather than Dear Belly because it will show a complete departure of who she was before.
Omg yes to this but especially Dear Isabel 🥹
I LOVE this take, I really do hope they come through and actually do this
I get them not changing to Isabel because it would kind of be crazy to just change the main characters name in the middle of a show. Going by Isabel in Paris could make sense since it’s presumably just an epilogue esque episode/scenes where she’s there.
I definitely hope they address how unhealthy and codependent she is with Jeremiah. They’re obviously intentionally writing it that way so I hope they don’t cop out of calling them out for that. If the breakup is just focused on her loving Conrad still i’d be disappointed (as a devoted bonrad!) because it’s just nauseating to watch belly act like with Jeremiah! I hope they’re not pulling any punches and really make it clear how crazy this all is.
Unpopular opinion, I don’t have an issue with Belly for dating two brothers. I don’t know why, I just don’t. Is it weird for them to step on each other’s toes? Yes. But for her I understand why she dated both.
French people won’t care about two brothers LOL
But someone needs to call her out! It’s WRONG. It has been WRONG from day one!
and YES CAUSE WHY IS NO ONE EVER TELLING HER ASS TO SIT DOWN AND STOP MESSING WITH TWO GRIEVING BROTHERS
Pleasee 💀💀 Valid but to be fair usually international students end up hanging out mostly with other international students, I could see how french people specifically would not be going out of their way to make friends that don‘t speak French, especially Americans
YES! I'm finding my people. Belly is gonna grow up, but to see that she grows up, we have to see her struggle/be immature.
r/tsitp • [4]Summarize
Hot take?
Posted by Imaginary-Ship620 · in r/tsitp · 2 months agoMy hot take is that we need to be patient with the growth/character arc of Belly. It is relatively the same plotline as the books, and it has quite literally just started. Jeremiah and Belly are keeping each other immature, and if I remember correctly, in the books Belly's own maturity/character arc doesn't come until much later. She's going to come to her senses (if you think about it, she's kinda traumatized after being alone in a hospital while her brother fights for his life after finding out her bf cheated on her twice) and then study abroad and have space from everyone and everything in Cousins. I just think we could be a little more patient to let the show unfold.
But no hate towards anyone with strong opinions about the show, I just wanted to add a different perspective! Let me know what y'all think :))
I’m so glad someone else is saying this! People have the right to their thoughts and opinions, but it’s been so obvious to me that they are showing Belly as this person because that’s apart of her story. Being with Jeremiah has caused her to essentially run away from grieving Susannah and Conrad. On top of that, she’s become codependent on him and takes care of him like a mother. The whole point is to show that their relationship was never meant to be the right relationship for her. This is not to say that any of her behavior is acceptable behavior, however I’ve been a young 20 year old college girl in a codependent relationship, you become a shell of who you are and once you exit that relationship is when you find your way back to yourself.
On top of this, fans are upset that there are “zero” signs that Belly is interested in Conrad. I think she spent four years tapping those feelings so far down that she now HAS to make it work with Jere or she looses it all, the house, the family & Susannah. It’s unfolding, slowly. It’s obvious is episode 3 when she sees Conrad, she forget Jere was even there (a nod to the book) as well as her overcompensating that she’s with Jere to prove to not everyone but only herself that she’s over her Conrad feelings. As far as she knows, he never really loved her like she loved him, so I don’t blame her for trying to prove that she doesn’t feel that way.
YES!! We have to wait to see her and Conrad's relationship re-unfold, but I thought his entrance in the garden scene was very similar to his first scene with Belly. I know Jenny has so much more in store for us!!
As far as the "zero signs" thing goes, part of that honestly feels like a bit of a media literacy problem lol. There are definitely signs (IMO it's blatantly obvious she's not over him - when she saw Conrad at the garden ceremony it was in slow motion and everything faded away until Jere greeted him). As I said in a different response, there's very much a "show, don't tell" thing going on that shows don't do as much of anymore (they kinda just lay everything out and leave very little up to interpretation).
I do agree with your take though, that she's spent 4 years basically in denial. When Conrad wasn't around, it was probably pretty easy for her to be absorbed in her relationship with Jere. Same for Conrad. He could pretend that he's moved on. But being around each other at the beach house is going to throw that denial out the window and cause her to have a rude awakening about what she's really feeling.
(edited for clarity on something lol)
it’s just crazy to me how we saw belly during her relationship with Conrad, she was so levelheaded and so much mature and her smile was so big, she could tell Conrad about ”scientific facts“ and he would listen to her in awe. But with Jeremiah, she feels like she always has to coddle him. the difference just fascinates me. Am all for seeing growth in belly.
YES!! Jere is definitely holding back Belly emotionally. She's stuck in this obligatory relationship that doesn't challenge her.
I agree, like Steven said, Jeremiah doesnt challenge her.
Yes the negativity on the threads is kind of ruining it tbh! It is just a show and there is sooo much left! i also really could see a lot of what was "missed" from the books being hit on in the flashbacks like maybe even belly has some flashbacks too. totally agree that it makes sense!
MMHMM! The cast and crew worked really hard and we've just begun. There's so much in store!
I'm one of the few who's also with you. I feel like a lot of people are just here/waiting for Conrad scenes, which is why there's a lot of frustration about the episodes so far.
I do think the car accident is a huge factor in their engagement that people are kind of discounting. She was pretty shaken up by it. Honestly, I don't think it would've happened otherwise (in the books, sure—different circumstances, characterizations, etc).
Either way, I'm excited to see how they bring the rest of the story to life.
THIS! She went through two pretty traumatic events (betrayal trauma with Jere and then Steven's accident/being alone without her parents to be there with her) so she wasn't in her right mind and likely still isn't. Our girl will get there!
I’m with you. Probably one of the very few, I’m there with you.
r/TheSummerITurnedPrett • [5]Summarize
Belly vs Belly
Posted by Decent_Baseball_4571 · in r/TheSummerITurnedPrett · 26 days agoOk I worked tonight and came home with my food and was SAT for the new episode… (despite having to be up to put my child on the bus in 2 hours😭😂)… anyways, I digress. This episode of Belly is the most “alive” she’s felt to me lol. Like we see so many different emotions and feelings from her. Most of the time I’m like GIRL, come on!! But this episode she felt like a real human, reacting in a real human way. Idk. Maybe im crazy but it felt like her character was much more relatable and awake to the world lol pls feel free to dispute or give opinions on maybe why but for once she didn’t feel so insufferable
I enjoyed her first day in Paris. She was all alone but she was out of her comfort zone and fugured somethung out herself. Enjoyed this episode.
I love seeing her embrace the clueless American in Paris. I mean this with love. It’s absolutely perfect. Because you know she’s gonna fall into herself and get comfortable… But when they cut to the dinner scene and she was rambling on about attacking the guy with a lot of energy and excitement in her voice next to the laid back locals it just seemed so sweet. Definitely showing her age.
Agreed! I enjoyed her in Paris and am looking forward to seeing more of it. It only lasted a day but it’s already doing wonders for her.
That’s because she was not trying to please anyone but herself💖
Nah she was so different after just, what, 36 hours away? I can only imagine what a few months or a year will do for her! It is a great sign that she seems more alive and herself than she has the whole season. I can't wait to see more!
r/TheSummerITurnedPrett • [6]Summarize
She’s A Shell Of Herself
Posted by livelaughlovely101 · in r/TheSummerITurnedPrett · 2 months agoBelly made a decision at the end of season two and has been steadfast in sticking with it.
That decision is obviously one that would cause her to regress and have barely any room to grow.
Her identity is rooted in being Jeremiah’s girlfriend and honestly not much else.
You see glimpses of who she used to be… but she hasn’t been around anyone long enough to actually address it.
There’s one person in particular that brings out the Belly we know and love most….
She’s about to start living with him full time in cousins, after years of barely seeing each other.
Oh yeah, he also happens to be the love of her life.
Bring on the rest of season three!
It would be interesting to see what Laurel feels about their 4 year relationship. This isn’t what she wanted for Belly. It goes against everything she has been her own personal life. I can’t believe she’s happy seeing Belly sacrifice so much of herself over one boy and a summer house.
I think we get a glimpse of it when they’re talking during move in day. I think Laurel is trying to stay out of things to maintain a solid relationship with her daughter, but we can see that she so badly wants Belly to have the college experience she did. We can see that Laurel is nervous for her daughter’s future.
I was a little taken aback when it came up >!that she no longer even had volleyball,!< but then realised it was to drive home the exact point that you are making. Outside of him, she has very little else.
As for Laurel, the more I have rewatched the first 2s, I questioned just how hands on/off laurel's.parenting style is and how this might have effected Belly's insecurity, seeing as Laurel is such an 'independent woman.'
I also think that the past four years have been very fraught for Laurel and Belly. When we last saw them their relationship was so broken. If I had to guess I’d say that Laurel probably kept her mouth shut regarding Jeremiah until move in day where they have that short discussion. But you can see how badly Laurel wants Belly to have the transformative college experience she did, and I think she conveys that she doesn’t think Belly will have that with Jere around.
It's a bit realistic because I remember several of my friends get into relationships like that when we were in our early 20s. Playing house and acting like his mother while limiting herself.
Yes! She’s putting Jer first in everything. She doesn’t even have her own life anymore.
r/TheSummerITurnedPrett • [7]Summarize
Belly Over Time
Posted by Entire-Anywhere-7318 · in r/TheSummerITurnedPrett · 29 days agoThis post is just for fun. I saw a post on Twitter comparing two photos of Belly …one before her established relationship with Jeremiah in S3, and one during it. While many saw it as a simple "growing up" moment, I interpreted it a bit differently (curious to hear your thoughts too, I don’t think there’s a right answer 😂🩷).
To me, the first image showed a girl who was naive, not in a bad way, just inexperienced…a true romantic, eyes wide open like doors letting in light. She had this glow, this presence. But in the later image, that light seems gone. Her eyes aren’t as open, her body language is tense …and not just in that photo, but throughout this time.
It made me think about how a mismatched or toxic relationship can subtly drain you. It doesn’t have to be explosive to be unhealthy, sometimes it’s just two people not right for each other, or not right yet. Belly looks drained. Jeremiah doesn’t. It says a lot about who the relationship is affecting more.
I rewatched the trailer for the last 3 episodes and she has that old light again in Paris. But now it’s paired with confidence and growth. Her energy feels open but grounded. I’m excited to see how that plays out onscreen.
That’s just what I saw, would love to hear other takes! 🩷
i miss season 1 belly so much and i'm happy she will found herself in paris
Me too☹️, but I’m happy that she’s growing. That evolution of self is so normal, so it’ll be cool to see how they have written it out for us to watch 🥰
Agree with you. S1 belly is full of light and you can see how life impacted her. The weight of her own decisions and grief/loss. Thank god she was able to wake up and leave the dynamic, because some people live their life stuck in that spiral and are never able to gain their spark back
We can even see her slip up the happy facade she has been putting on with Jere when he isn't looking. In Ep 3, when they are putting their clothes back on after that jumpscare at the beginning of the episode, she literally looks so done with everything.
That’s so true!!!! I didn’t even think of that
Jeremiah has sucked the life out of her. Paris will be good for her.
She looks happier and more free in the Final trailer, than she has this season.
Right, like she can breathe again or something. Or like she’s letting herself be free again
Don't know why you got downvoted, this is so true! Her relationship with Jere sucked the light out of her, and I think Lola portrayed it beautifully.
Wasnt she the one literally begging for a thing with Jere ? And then they stayed together for 4 years. Nobody asked her to. If she was so miserable, wouldn’t she have already figured it out and left?
I didn’t even notice, just came back to the app. But thanks for the kind reply! And yes she portrayed this so well!
💯 agree! Belly was clearly broken from season 2. And as my mom always says: "Broken people break people. It's what they do AFTER healing that matters." Case-in-point: Conrad Fisher. My boy was broken in seasons 1-2, and DEFINITELY showed it! But after starting his healing journey, he came back as the good man he is.
No, you can literally see it on her face. Rewatch that scene.
r/TheSummerITurnedPrett • [8]Summarize
Will Belly be able to keep up?
Posted by NoShip458 · in r/TheSummerITurnedPrett · 2 months agoI hadn’t posted here in a long time, but I wanted to share some thoughts and questions to get a sense of what you all are thinking about the beginning of this third season.
Soo,at this point, after a four-year time jump — theoretically meant to show growth and emotional evolution — we expected to see the characters more self-aware, emotionally grounded, ready to stand by their choices. But that’s not what we got. Conrad clearly grew. He distanced himself, rebuilt, faced trauma, pain, and loneliness. He came back more centered, more at peace, with a mature outlook on life. He still has things to work through, but he’s on the right path. And without favoritism, he’s by far the character with the most emotional development in the series. So what are they doing with him? Throwing him right back into the same mess. The same tiring love triangle cycle. And then there’s Belly. A character who, instead of evolving, seems to have regressed. We already criticized Jeremiah — rightfully so — for his manipulative, childish behavior and his unresolved inferiority complex. But what’s most frustrating is that Belly just accepts all of it. He cheats on her twice. She forgives him. She gets upset for a while, but then just moves on. And agrees to marry him. That’s just one example. Because the show never gives this couple any depth. It’s all so forced, so surface-level, with no connection, no chemistry, no real build-up that makes it believable. And when I say Belly being complacent with Jeremiah’s behavior says a lot about her, that’s exactly what I mean. There’s no critical reflection, no moment where she truly questions things. She just swallows it all and keeps going. Like it’s normal. Like she’s numb. But this also says a lot about the writing. When a script doesn’t allow for real internal conflict, doesn’t show a character doubting, reflecting, or even feeling repulsed by such serious behavior it weakens emotional depth. It makes everything feel shallow. Belly doesn’t seem capable of grasping the seriousness of what’s happening in her own life. She accepts it, and are we, the viewers, supposed to accept that too? That’s where the real issue lies: we can’t connect with the character. We can’t feel empathy for her. The writing doesn’t invite us in, it forces us to swallow a poorly developed arc that demands too much of our goodwill as an audience. And as a character, what’s left of her? Where’s the growth? The emotional awareness? Any sign of maturity? There’s nothing. Zero. Not a single redeeming quality in the Belly we’ve seen from season two onwards. And that’s even more painful because she’s the protagonist. We should be rooting for her. We should want Bonrad to work. But even that, the show won’t let us have. And it’s beyond frustrating, because this Conrad, the one who came back whole and evolved, does not deserve to be dragged back into that pain. Why on earth is he still tied to someone who has nothing to offer him? It doesn’t feel believable. Not after everything he’s been through.
So yes, I’m asking: does Belly, as she is now, really deserve the man Conrad has become? Or is the show more interested in keeping the chaos of the triangle alive than in honoring the pieces of this story that could actually carry some real substance?
There are issues with the writing, direction and performances.
The cold denial from the end of last season has progressed to this weird attempt to represent on screen this compartmentalisation of Belly’s feelings. It didn’t work then and it doesn’t work now. There are small flickers, but they are too subtle in the kind of down pour of saccharine sweet beaming and amped up Jelly proposals, she almost proposed to him? Where was her book scepticism?? The part where she says ‘are you asking me to marry you to try to erase what you did?’ Where is the constant presence of Conrad in her thoughts, the allowing herself to remember him at secret moments? The choice at the end of S2 to have her out and out choose Jere has has had some really detrimental down stream effects, and this decision to amp up the seriousness of the Jeremiah Belly relationship just seems like a continuation of the doubling down. It’s made worse because I can’t buy their relationship it, lacks authenticity and seems self consciously performative.
The repetitive description of their adoration for each other scene after scene just seems like a whole lot of Jelly fan service. How many twirly hugs and wide grinning beaming up at him can I sustain? Hand me the nail gun. We are told what the issues are, but we don’t really see them in what is playing out on screen?
I feel like Jenny has spoken at length about this idea that we should all feel suspense or surprised by the twists and turns in the narrative is really misplaced? It’s clear from the moment ‘there’s a dazzling heat’ starts playing for Conrad’s entrance who and what the story is about. The tension is partly in the anticipation of knowing what is coming. We need to see Belly’s doubts and hesitations not because she doesn’t know how she feels, but because she does and that truth scares her. The suspense isn’t about who she’ll choose, it’s about when she’ll stop running from it.
Couple that with the dumbing down of the Bonrad moments, does she react to the idea of Agnes? Or pause a moment before thanking Conrad for his intervening with Steven? It was also unforgivable to me that they down played Belly’s realisation at Christmas that she still loved Conrad. The camera lingered on her face for exactly one nanosecond before panning out to the external shot of the house. There should be a natural beat there, and the gaze of the camera should be locked on her expression for a moment longer. It is as major a revelation in the book as any other, and the moment upon which all the subsequent drama arises from? I was left with the overall impression that Belly is over it has little feeling left for Conrad beyond residual nostalgia and she probably deserves the situation she has nurtured.
Conrad’s development is now light years away from Belly, there has been out pouring of sympathy for him from the audience, almost too far in his direction. Not sure I don’t think he wouldn’t be better off staying in Cali. I might prefer that. If the die hard Bonrads are feeling like this (and there seems to be a reasonable segment that does) the show is failing. We have to sympathise with Belly to the extent we want better for her. That’s not where I am at right now.
I just did a rewatch of the Christmas 2.0 and there is a discrepancy between the book, between narration and acting. Belly can sell an emotional numbness around him but that is already pushing a lot of my good will to mentally think this because of all my context. I think she should have lingered, taken deep breaths, yearned, and stole looks. Do something instead of what he had. It should be more than what it was, even if it was anger but something. The acting from Lola is very different from what I expected. I also hated the comparison with the first pet. What the ....?
I want a big black texta to cross out the pet line. Agree interpreting Lola’s reactions and an understanding of the Jelly dynamic relies on a metric tonne of subtext and gymnastics to create a coherent story line. Even despite the guidance of the analogous Staylor storyline.
I also hate how she kept eating the pretzels, and didn’t even kind of bother trying to get the chocolate off her face. It’s not shaving your legs twice is it? She seems sort of slightly irritated by Conrad, not tortured by her rapidly reemerging feelings? Amidst the ‘numbness’ which I totally agree comes off as indifference. We already saw how audiences reacted negatively to that at the end of S2?? Can we do something to preserve the audience’s sympathy for Belly??
The way that would have to work in my humble opinion is to see more of how she is impacted by Jeremiah’s irresponsible behaviours and kind of selfishness but that she keeps sweeping it under the carpet to honour this self made promise to ‘never leave him alone’ again following her perceived failure in supporting him when Susannah died.
> I was left with the overall impression that Belly is over it has little feeling left for Conrad beyond residual nostalgia and she probably deserves the situation she has nurtured.
😮💨😮💨😮💨 you ain’t wrong. i feel this currently, too.
>Why on earth is he still tied to someone who has nothing to offer him? It doesn’t feel believable.
This. And it’s not sth I’m asking myself as of late Belly is my least fav out of this triangle since season 1. She comes across as someone who’s in love with the person who “admires” her (the most). When you think of S1. She was in love with Conrad , switched to Cam, to Jeremiah, to Conrad, to Jeremiah and to Conrad again.
Then in S2 I was rolling my eyes about her self-centredness.
I liked the beginning of S3. But I don’t see a love triangle tbh
i’m sad over the shell of belly i witnessed in the first two episodes (minus christmas 2.0). i feel like i don’t know who she is - but i guess that’s the point? i don’t know. i’m not rooting for her at this point in the season, but i really hope we start to recognize a piece of the “same ol’ belly” that conrad - and we’ve- grown to love.
I think that's one of my questions too. Who is Belly? We've argued so many times that the series needed to give her some personality, but so far she still feels like a big lump of nothing. Season 1's Belly had her flaws, but she could still evoke sympathy, unlike now.
I was hoping you were still around!
I agree with your points. It’s why when I first watched the episodes I connected with Taylor. They let us into Taylor’s emotional journey a lot more than Belly. I don’t agree with Taylor’s choices but I know why she’s making them.
When Belly said it was so sweet that Jeremiah was just sitting out there doing nothing all night. You mean the bare minimum? He didn’t send them food or coffee. He just sat out there and waited for Belly to come forgive him.
I’ve been really evaluating how I want the show to end, if I even care if Belly and Conrad end up together. Not sure that I do. I’m not against it, but I just want to believe it’s what Belly wants.
>When Belly said it was so sweet that Jeremiah was just sitting out there doing nothing all night. You mean the bare minimum? He didn’t send them food or coffee. He just sat out there and waited for Belly to come forgive him.
They're just portraying her so besotted with everything he does, even if it's the bare minimum, it's weird as hell.
The book works because Jere's flaws actually bother her. She's genuinely so annoyed with him and their relationship, even though she tries to deny it and act like everything is perfect. Book Belly hates having to coddle Jeremiah. She hates that he's immature and that it's never about her. She also can't stop comparing him to Conrad, who is an actual grown up who doesn't need go be coddled.
Show Belly, though, is just totally fine with coddling Jeremiah and mothering him. She likes it, loves it even. Steven has to point out to her that it's a problem and that she's no better than Adam for not giving Jeremiah the chance to prove himself.
There's absolutely no way Book Belly would be defending Jeremiah taking an extra semester to graduate and costing Adam 20k just because he was too busy partying to read an email. She literally hated that when they went out to eat with her dad, he'd order the most expensive dish in the menu and then expect her dad to pay for it!!! She hated that he didn't think about things like that, was immature and had awful credit. She judged him and his friends for being little rich kids.... The changes are bullshit, honestly.
In the show, the whole situation is her own doing as much as it is Jeremiah's and she seems alright with the set up. It just makes me feel like ok, go be with Jere then. What they do show of her being annoyed, they play off as normal differences between two people in a relationship. It doesn't stop them from being together and aside from one fight, it's never been an issue for four years. It honestly doesn't feel like she'd be miserable marrying him or that she wants Conrad (or anyone else).
Yeah, exactlyyyyy. Everything you said is spot on.
If Belly wants Jeremiah, she should have him. I'm not going to beg her to raise her standards to Conrad. The only thing that makes me sad is that he's stuck on someone who doesn't love him anymore.
> When Belly said it was so sweet that Jeremiah was just sitting out there doing nothing all night. You mean the bare minimum? He didn’t send them food or coffee. He just sat out there and waited for Belly to come forgive him.
meanwhile, conrad is vilified for simply not being able to hold it together because his mother was dying. the bar for jeremiah is in.. hell.
> I’m not against it, but I just want to believe it’s what Belly wants.
same, girl. same. it’s a non-negotiable for me.
Agree with your points. The first 2 episodes are all set up, like a prologue for the main plot of the wedding and the triangle again.
I did not like these episodes at all apart from a handful of scenes. I only like Conrad and Anika right now and John.
I am NOT rooting for Belly because she is sooooo clueless and so much in denial that I want to shake her.
I am sure it'll pick up once we're back in Cousins and I hope it's less Jelly scenes overall because they have ZERO chemistry and it's painful to watch. BUT even the Christmas scene with Conrad and Belly should have had more yearning and chemistry but that was rushed and fell flat. When the teaser trailer evokes more emotion than 2 hours of actual show you know the show is a problem.
r/TheSummerITurnedPrett • [9]Summarize
Belly's journey in season three
Posted by Past_Wallaby_9435 · in r/TheSummerITurnedPrett · 1 month agoI think what people miss when they complain about belly being a doormat for Jere is that she is and always has been a people pleaser.
Conrad clocked this in the pilot in their iconic swimmingpool scene - he tells her not to go along with his mothers cotillion plans just to please her. But if course belly is willing to do anything to make Susannah, the surrogate mother of her dreams.
Belly tries to be the perfect "daughter" figure to Susannah, often putting Susannah's happiness before her own.
She also struggles to stand up to Taylor, a friend who can be quite demanding and agressive, because she fears confrontation and losing her friendship.
Belly's journey is, in many ways, a coming-of-age story about learning to prioritize her own needs and desires. As the series progresses, we see her slowly start to recognize that she can't be everything to everyone.
I think this is the journey she also on with her relationship with Jere. She keeps repressing her desires and feelings out of a fear of losing him. And eventually she is going to realise that and break our of this dynamic.
Now she also did this with Conrad when they were teens but I felt like in episode 5 she was actually willing to call him out on his behaviours (hero complex) without the anxiety of disappointing him or pushing him away. Their dynamic has shifted and become a much healthier one where she feels able to be herself and speak her mind.
So ultimately, their future relationship will be a muxh healthier one than she had with Jere.
Yes I agree. She's figuring herself out right now and those journeys are messy. I liked what she said to Conrad about making mistakes and being alive. I felt she was talking about her own experiences and what is up to come. I liked knowing that Belly was seeing a psychologist last year.
I wonder if we are going to see what she was going through when she hurt her knee. I wonder if that is why she is holding on to Jere. I feel like something happened last year because she mentioned Steven saying that they have been through the hard stuff and I always assumed that it was Suzannah's death but maybe there is more.
She definitely is! And she’s trying to honor Susannah by making Jere happy and taking care of him.
Knowing this about Belly makes me appreciate Laurel’s love for Belly too, in the way that she pushes Belly to choose herself/supports her in putting herself first: getting her the Deb dress Belly actually liked, knowing Belly wasn’t ready to sleep alone with the bed scene when she was a kid, and now wanting her to figure out who she is before getting married.
People have been harsh on Laurel’s reactions and I’ve seen commentary about Laurel trying to fix her own mistakes by controlling Belly’s decisions, but I viewed that as Laurel truly knowing who Belly is and what she needs more than anyone else (other than Conrad)—and part of that is wanting Belly to make decisions for herself and not to jump into a life where she’ll always be putting others first.
Exactly. When Laurel says she’s too young she means in experience and understanding herself - Belly still needs to find her own voice, and it can’t be attached or controlled by making Jere happy at her own expense. I hope Jenny fixed this in the show bc this arc wasn’t in the book (well it was there but skimmed over and left to intrepretation), and it’s multi layered arc.
Imagine Belly calling Jere on his victim complex, oh wait she did and the a$$hole “broke up” with her.
She also gives up her idea of the wedding she wants bc Susannah would have wanted a club wedding. Like WTF! This is all so obvious.
r/TheSummerITurnedPrett • [10]Summarize
You wanna talk about character assassination? Belly’s getting the brunt of it.
Posted by tsitpbonrad · in r/TheSummerITurnedPrett · 2 months agoFor the past 2 seasons, I have been a Belly defender through and through. And I am trying to still be one but how can I sympathize with her when they are hiding all of her redeemable quotes and traits?
I seriously do not even recognize this Belly. She is a complete and total shell of herself and it’s so sad and painful to watch. I get that this is probably the story they are trying to build up for later on in the season but wow they need to pace out their story better if they don’t want the general public (and the long waiting dedicated book fans) to start getting impatient with her character development. Especially from a streaming standpoint considering its weekly releases.
I'm so pissed off by Belly’s behavior. She clearly says she decided to marry Jere because for Susannah family was everything! What kind of reasoning is that? And then marry someone without having any savings, without stability, no house, nothing! How do you even think you’re going to get married? For free? Where do you expect to find the money to do it? It’s all so immature!!
And she decides to announce the wedding only because she wanted to defend Jeremiah from Adam’s words? But first of all, Jere could defend himself just fine. And point two: announcing your wedding at 20 doesn’t strike me as a very well-thought-out plan for Jere’s future!
I'm truly so fed up with all of this and it’s so hard for me to side with Belly in these episodes
Laurel: are you pregnant? Belly: no but Jere cheated twice and proposed to me after Steven got in the accident
That’s how it should’ve went
Funnily enough the marrying for the sake of having someone as family, without anything else in your favour is exactly why Conrad doesn’t ask Belly to run off with him so that’s an interesting parallel I hadn’t picked up on!
For your other points - I’m anti violence and very feminist but I genuinely wanted to reach through the screen and smack belly at the dinner scene. AND THEN TO TRY AND KISS STRAIGHT AFTERWARDS! Did they really think this would make people root for Belly?
jenny thought making belly less ‘problematic’ (her being obviously in love with con while with being with jere) would make her more likeable to fans. she was dead wrong. instead, to conrad fans, belly looks cold & cruel & inconsiderate. and soon jeremiah fans will feel that too, if we continue to just see her being all happy and in love with jere. because if we don’t see some obvious signs of her feelings for con always being there soon, she’s going to look so much worse just randomly dumping jere & picking conrad out of nowhere.
I think the 4 year time jump, which is longer than in the book is contributing. Belly & Jere do NOT feel like a couple who have been together for 4 years. But them doing long distance and then together for a short while before Jeremiah cheats feels like a more reasonable timeline for her to then go back to the original brother boyfriend?
I also know they made changes to mature the show, but her sleeping with both brothers (and Jere for presumably YEARS), especially without any Belly internal processing of that feels icky to me.
Trust me, we’re just as baffled about how we’re supposed to believe she’s still hung up on Conrad too. She’s pretty solidly in Jeremiah’s corner right now. I’m not complaining, but given the pacing this season, I’m worried they’ve dug themselves into a deep (avoidable) hole that’s going to be sudden and brutal and make it really hard to root for Belly at all.
exactly. Her and Jere looks so convincingly in love that I feel when she finally >!gets with Conniebaby, if this is the endgame for this show?!< I swear it's gonna looks so bad that we wished she's back w Jere again. She looks soo happy with Jere. And I'm in the Bonrad sphere and I'm not even that mad. Actually, I would. Because if I knew I wouldn't even be watching this show. Help. I'm stuck in this train!!!
I imagine this is intentional. I think the voiceovers will return when Conrad enters her mind and she needs to mature. All the lack of voiceover is demonstrating is that when Belly is with Jere, she’s not really “thinking” clearly at all.
ETA: I think we as an audience are meant to feel estranged to Belly right now. We are not supposed to support Jelly.
Also, one of the main arguments from the Jelly side of the fandom is that Belly’s feelings for Conrad are tied almost exclusively to trying to fulfill Susannah’s wish of being with one of her sons. I think the writers are telling us it’s the exact opposite. Susannah plays an outsized role in Belly’s feelings and actions toward Jere.
She’s getting shredded to pieces on all social media fronts right now.
A lot of people want Conrad to run back to California, find a nice girl, and never come back.
I love her, I love the little moments we had of Bonrad, but she HAS to grow up.
Jenny definitely knows she (Belly) looks insane right now, so we will see what she did to address that lol.
3 episodes in and we're still not getting progression I'm cryinggg belly sTAND UPPP
Looking for someone to comment this, everyone is critiquing Belly's behaviour and how they've portrayed her this season. But it feels like they are intentionally trying to get across how wrong Jere and Belly are for each over.
For me this season has made me feel that it shows they aren't together for love but are each others crutch and they are too deep in that even though it makes both their behaviour questionable, they are clinging onto each other as Belly can't stand the thought of Jere ignoring her again as he's her best friend and this is the only way she won't lose him. With Jere, it's like he subconsciously knows they're not right for each other but doesn't want to lose her to someone else and be second best like he always is to Conrad.
It's one of them bad relationships everyone goes through that you know isn't right but you're too afraid to admit it so you overcompensate, everyone else knows isn't right but don't feel it's their place to get involved. It's the relationship you need to have where you can look back and think that was so toxic, I now know what I want and it's not that.
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Character development of Belly in the series
Key Considerations for Belly's Character Development in the Series:
Growth from Adolescence to Young Adulthood: Belly starts as a naive teenager and gradually matures throughout the series. Her experiences with love, friendship, and family shape her identity.
Romantic Relationships: Belly's relationships with Conrad and Jeremiah are central to her character arc. Her feelings evolve from infatuation to deeper emotional connections, highlighting her struggles with love and heartbreak.
Family Dynamics: Belly's relationship with her mother and the Fisher family plays a significant role in her development. The complexities of these relationships reveal her vulnerabilities and desires for acceptance.
Self-Discovery: Throughout the series, Belly learns to assert herself and make choices that reflect her true desires rather than conforming to others' expectations. This journey of self-discovery is crucial to her growth.
Resilience and Independence: As she faces challenges, including loss and betrayal, Belly demonstrates resilience. Her journey emphasizes the importance of independence and finding her own voice.
Takeaway: Belly's character development is a nuanced exploration of growing up, navigating relationships, and discovering one's identity. Her journey resonates with many viewers, making her a relatable and compelling character.
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