Season 3 of this gigantic eyeball-grabber is like a dip in a tepid pool on a winter morning. As you get acclimatized to the water, it begins to feel warm and comforting. That said, The Summer I Turned Pretty is a craze beyond any explanation. Its Mills & Boon level of romance would be unacceptable in any era of this millennium.
Perhaps the serial’s mundaneness is its biggest asset. It’s been a while since we saw something so nakedly shallow and fluffy. Notably, the series has ambitions of being a profound take on young love. This is easier said than done. The cast is competent, sometimes a bit more than that. But the triangular plot at the core is a bit of a bore.
Which sensible girl of today would fall in love with two brothers who look so similar, they could be twins? Luckily Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) are not twins. If they were, this would be more Nishanchi than Hum… Dil De Chuke Sanam (both, by the way, far superior in every aspect).
We both know which of the two Belly (Lola Tung, pretty) will finally choose (hint: the gentle, wiser suitor is always the winner). While Belly plays ping and pong with the two (physically interchangeable) brothers, her wedding plans with Jeremiah proceed as per plotting plans. But we can clearly see which way the winds of her sail are taking Belly.
While she makes up her mind with the screen equivalent of ini mini mini moe, Belly’s pragmatic mother Laurel (Jackie Chung) threatens to boycott her daughter’s wedding. No, not because she doesn’t approve of the flavour of the wedding cake (this is a series that could make a Hamletian dilemma out of that) but because Mum feels Belly is too young to get married. Mum Laurel likes Jeremiah—so don’t get her wrong—but she thinks they should wait to see if they feel the same after some years.
Mom Laurel and Beti Belly have violent squabbles, until Belly escapes to her family retreat, Cousins Beach. This gives the camera a reason to get soft and mushy on us… Who doesn’t love a good love story shot in panoramic locations that Shakespeare must have dreamt of while writing Romeo & Juliet? During those days there was just the balcony to steal a kiss in. Now there is so much more.
While the Belly-Jeremiah-Conrad tangle within a triangle plays itself out, another story unfolds in the background: Belly’s brother Steven (Sean Kaufman) loves a girl who keeps pushing him away although she too loves him. Why? I am not very sure. Something about pushing the limits of the emotional volume.
While these characters solve their First World problems, I can’t help thinking about Chandan Kumar’s love for Sudha Bharti in Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound. They must be wondering what these First World lovers have that they don’t.
