In “Last Year,” the penultimate episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, the series spans several months to follow Belly’s attempt to rebuild in Paris and the Fisher family’s continuing fallout at home. The episode moves from the first Thanksgiving after a broken engagement through Christmas, New Year’s and into the following spring, showing how characters respond to loss, change and the possibility of new beginnings.
Belly’s Paris chapters form the episode’s emotional center. She is shown working multiple menial jobs, taking online classes and sharing a rundown apartment with indifferent roommates. The Thanksgiving and Christmas sequences underline her isolation: her attempt at stuffing is compared unfavorably to Jeremiah’s, and a FaceTime with Taylor during a Friendsgiving underscores how far she is from home. The episode uses two Taylor Swift needle drops — “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” and “the 1” — as musical bookends to Belly’s arc, punctuating moments of loneliness and the gradual acceptance of a different life.
Back on the Cape, Jeremiah’s recovery from the broken engagement is uneven. He alternates between self-destructive behavior — including sleeping with multiple people within his friend and colleague circles — and attempts at retreat: he tells his father he has returned to school and claims to be staying at the frat house, neither of which proves true. Adam ultimately cuts Jeremiah off financially and socially, telling him he has never been made to be accountable. Denise emerges as a primary confidante for Jeremiah; she hears him say that losing Belly pains him more than losing their mother, Susannah, because Belly is still alive and hence a presence he can’t yet let go. Denise urges forgiveness as a way forward, and Jeremiah phones Belly on New Year’s Eve to accept her apology and offer an olive branch.
At Cousins Beach, the household is strained in different ways. Steven and Conrad work through tension that has built since the summer. Steven learns that funding for a side project he and Denise were pursuing has been pulled because of Adam, who reveals he was behind the decision. Instead of firing Adam, Steven spontaneously quits. Conrad and Laurel’s status is ambiguous; the episode implies they may have reconciled, and Laurel tells Conrad she will be in Paris for the holidays, leaving Conrad to consider whether he should take a risk in reaching out to Belly. He opts to write letters rather than call or text.
Confrontation between the brothers arrives in spring. On the anniversary of their mother’s death, Conrad and Jeremiah meet at her grave. The exchange ranges from awkward reminiscence to direct reproach. Conrad calls out Jeremiah for treating Belly as something to be possessed and for quickly pursuing other relationships after Conrad and Belly’s breakup. Jeremiah counters by accusing Conrad of being a “snake in the grass” for lingering that summer. The conversation ends with a partial truce: Jeremiah concedes he cannot compete with what Conrad and Belly had, and tells Conrad to take his chance even if Jeremiah will not be happy about it.
Meanwhile, Belly’s life in Paris progresses beyond survival. Benito, a friend who appears while she is working at a bar, flirts with her across several encounters; he teaches her to ride a motorcycle and later shares a New Year’s kiss with her. By spring, Belly is dating Benito, planning to take a yearlong psychology course at the Sorbonne, taking over a one-year lease from Gemma and preparing to meet Benito’s family in Mexico. Conrad’s romantic overtures continue by letter: he sends care packages that include Belly’s favorite Sour Patch Kids and a postcard that gives his wallet a new keepsake. Belly replies with a brief postcard that thanks him for the candy and provides her new address, but she does not make a declaration of love.
That measured response prompts Conrad to act. After folding the postcard into his wallet, he changes his travel plans and flies to Paris to surprise Belly on what the episode presents as her birthday weekend. The episode ends on a transitional note for Belly: in the salon chair, she appears poised to cut her hair — a visual cue of reinvention — and the stage is set for the season finale’s reunion.
Episode 10 also advances several secondary strands. Laurel and John prepare for the holidays while navigating their ties to the Fisher household. Steven and Denise face professional setbacks that prompt career decisions. Redbird and secondary characters reveal truths that unsettle Jeremiah’s cover stories about his living situation. Throughout, the show returns to promises made to Susannah — the Fisher brothers’ obligations to each other and to their mother’s memory — and how those promises shape present choices.
“Last Year” compresses emotional beats across roughly a year to show the consequences of the summer’s ruptures. Belly’s decision to remain in Paris, her tentative new relationship with Benito and her plans for study all suggest a character moving toward autonomy. At the same time, Jeremiah and Conrad’s unresolved conflict and Steven’s abrupt career move ensure that the finale will address family dynamics as much as romance. The episode leaves several strands in motion: Jeremiah’s path to accountability, Conrad’s surprise arrival in Paris and Belly’s symbolic haircut, setting the stage for the season’s concluding episode.