‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ episode 3 recap: Family tension at Cousins Beach
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Belly and Jeremiah reveal engagement plans, sparking family conflict.
- Steven recovers at home post-accident; Laurel and John reestablish boundaries.
- Family dinner upends memorial plans as Belly blurts out their engagement news.
Here’s a full recap of “The Summer I Turned Pretty’s third episode of the third season, which premiered Wednesday, July 23 on Amazon Prime.
Spoilers ahead: You’ve been warned! Stop here if you haven’t had the chance to catch the third episode. Here’s a full recap of the first two premiere episodes.
Belly and Jeremiah’s engagement
Belly and Jeremiah happily navigate their new engagement, but they’re still worried what their families might think.
They plan to tell the family at Susannah’s upcoming memorial. They plan to have an August wedding in Cousins Beach, their favorite place. (Note: The fictional Cousins Beach scenes were filmed in the Wilmington area.)
Failing to keep it a secret, Belly caves and tells Taylor who is still heartbroken over Steven. She isn’t too happy at first, but after thinking about it, she supports Belly and is happy for her.
Conrad, Steven and Taylor
Though Conrad is let go from his job at the clinic after Steven’s accident, he still decides not to attend the dedication.
Steven is recovering from his accident at home with Laurel, his mom. She has him bedridden, though he still finds time to sneak in some work.
When John (Laurel’s ex-husband and Belly and Steven’s dad) drops Belly off at home, John and Laurel talk about them “reconnecting” at the literary conference they were at together during Steven’s accident in the second episode.
Laurel assures John that it will never happen again and that they should take some space, so that the kids do not get suspicious. So they decide John should skip the memorial, which hinders the plans of Belly and Jeremiah telling the family they are engaged.
Taylor and Steven share a brief interaction which does not give too much away, as Steven is still a bit distant with her.
Taylor’s mom ends up calling Steven to take a look at her finances after her recent break up. He finds that she is in deep financial trouble, and ends up telling Taylor.
Family dinner at Cousins Beach
The dedication goes well, and Jeremiah kills his speech. Conrad makes an unexpected appearance, and still has not told anyone he has been let go from the clinic. Belly and Jeremiah decide that they will wait to tell everyone about their engagement. But that doesn’t go as planned.
During an uncomfortable dinner after the dedication, Belly tells their secret in an attempt to defend Jeremiah’s future against his dad.
This leaves the entire table in shock. Adam and Laurel are furious, Steven is shocked and Conrad is silent.
Instead of staying in Cousins for the summer like they originally had planned, Laurel drags Belly back home angry and frustrated.
That’s where the third episode ends.
TSITP episode release dates
Watch Season 3 of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” on Prime Video with one episode releasing weekly on Wednesdays at 3 a.m.
This story was originally published July 23, 2025 at 4:10 PM with the headline "‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ episode 3 recap: Family tension at Cousins Beach."