The Summer I Turned Pretty – Season 2 Episode 4 “Love Game” Recap & Review

Love Game

Episode 4 of The Summer I Turned Pretty starts where we left off with Conrad having a panic attack as he walks to the beach trying to calm down. Steven, who follows after him, asks Conrad if he’s okay. Conrad tries to shoo Steven away but then asks for a distraction.

Steven starts talking about how he hates coming to the beach and how he and Jeremiah helped overcome his fear of the ocean. He calls Conrad the coolest person in the whole world and praises him for being so supportive.

Conrad slowly starts to calm down and tells Steven that he has got into Stanford where he’ll study Biology but adds that he’s scared about messing up his relationship with Jeremiah after what they have been through. Steven asks Conrad to stop worrying about the future and to talk to his brother eventually.

The next morning, Belly wakes up and sees that Julia hascome to the Beach House with her daughter Skye for an Open House. Conrad and Jeremiah come back from the beach and learn about the action. The brothers have an argument with Julia and the aunt claims that she doesn’t need a bunch of teenagers ruining her meeting with the realtor to have the house sold.

Conrad claps back at Julia and tells her that he will not just sit this one out, leaving the house to be sold without a fight. He calls Julia the problem and Skye asks him to be kind to his mother since selling the house was hard for her too.

When Conrad goes back to his room, he finds Julia there and the duo have a conversation about how much the beach house mattered to Susannah. Julia understands where Conrad is coming from but adds that it cost her a lot of money for her to maintain.

Steven talks to his mother on the call and promises to take care of Belly and Taylor. Taylor teases him for wearing a funny night suit. She then talks to Belly in her room and the girls discuss what Belly was doing at the beach house this time around.

Taylor asks Belly to refrain from getting sucked back into Conrad and Jeremiah’s family drama all over again. Belly is worried that the open house will prompt Julia to make the sale and want to do something about it.

The girls discuss Belly’s potential entry into the school volleyball team and Taylor tries to cheer her up. She asks Belly to stop fixating on the past and look forward to the future. Belly tries to shoo away the realtor, Sandy, when Conrad jumps in and tells the woman that Belly is his girlfriend. He proclaims that the house is his and that they don’t want to sell.

Julia arrives just in time and tells Sandy that the air conditioning in the house has broken down. Sandy is upset and believes that holding an open house on a hot day is not ideal with the air conditioning broken. They decide to push the open house to a different day and the teenagers take it as a victory.

In order to celebrate their mini-victory, Belly, Taylor, Steven, Conrad and Jeremiah decide to go to the beach. The group ask Skye to join them but they are unwilling at first. Julia asks them to join the group and Skye finally agrees.

Belly tells Jeremiah that inviting Skye was a way for her to show them what spending a summer in Cousins really felt like. The six teenagers get to the fair and share memories and stories of their childhood at Cousins with Skye.

Conrad claims that Susannah loves the beach house that Julia is selling but Skye defends their mother claiming she’s going through something. Belly diffuses the tension and gets the group to get into a healthy competition.

The girls, Taylor, Belly and Skye are a team while the boys, Jeremiah, Conrad and Steven are the other team for the ultimate – Belly vs. Conrad Showdown. Jeremiah claims that the prize remains the same as from when they were kids and the losers will have to buy the winners a big bag of candy of their choice.

Belly thinks to herself how they could possibly get their lives back even if it was just for one day as the two groups have a face-off at the group shooting game. The first round ends with Conrad’s team winning while Belly and the girls whine about losing.

After the match, Skye talks to Conrad and Jeremiah to try and explain to them why Julia is the way she is. They claim that Julia and Susannah are poles apart and have never grown close despite being half-sisters.

Skye asks Conrad and Jeremiah to be kind to their mother. The next game in the Belly vs. Conrad showdown is a rock-climbing challenge between Taylor and Steven where, despite her best efforts, Steven comes out winning.

Cameron, who is now working at the Cousins Beach arcade joins the six on their face-off as a referee. Next, Belly and Conrad have a face-off of their own with Shoot Your Shot where Belly comes out victorious after scoring all 5 baskets in contention to Conrad’s 4 baskets.

Skye starts to warm up towards the group of friends as they high-five Taylor despite their stern warning against it. Cameron asks Belly to pick a toy for winning the game and instead of choosing the teddy Conrad asked her to, Belly ends up picking a giraffe plushie.

A flashback shows the summer from when Belly was 13 when Conrad asked her to go to the fair, just the two of them. She recalls experiencing her first heartbreak then because she was sure that Conrad liked her. However, she remembers that Conrad has taken her there to be able to talk to the girl who worked at the arcade game booth.

In order to give Conrad the space to talk to the girl, Belly spends the day at the fair all by herself. After his game, Conrad eventually finds Belly and gives her the same teddy that he had asked her to take in the present time.

The group goes back inside where Taylor and Steven talk about how the Air Conditioning at the Beach House had suddenly failed after Steven had left the storage room. Steven lies saying he had no idea what she was talking about.

Meanwhile, Belly and Conrad make a side bet claiming the team that loses would have to take a ride on the Tower of Terror, a ride they despised as kids. Belly then talks to Jeremiah and realises she knows Jeremiah all too well.

Jeremiah and Skye have the next face-off on the dance arcade game. Skye comes out winning, shocking everyone. They end up hugging the girls despite it being against one of Skye’s rules. Belly recalls the summer when she was a child and would hang out with Laurel and Susannah and sends her mother, wishing her luck for the event.

At the book signing event, Laurel is having a hard time talking to potential readers when Cleveland shows up and chats with her. They discuss Conrad and the Fisher family dealing with Susannah’s death. Cleveland tells Laurel it was okay for her to be sad too and the two chat about how she was bottling her emotions.

Cleveland believes Laurel should be there for Belly in this hard time they are both experiencing instead of trying to make it better for Belly as her parent. Laurel responds to Belly, telling her she was busy instead of saying that she actually missed her daughter.

The showdown ends with the last match, an arcade car race between Team Belly and Team Conrad, tied. The car race ends with Conrad’s team winning the race. The boys pick their candy while Belly talks to Taylor about how rejoining the volleyball team does not feel like a good idea to her.

Belly thinks that she isn’t good enough but Taylor and Skye pump her up saying Belly is the reason why the girls performed so well. Conrad asks Belly to go ride the Tower of Terror as per their bet but Jeremiah offers to keep her company to calm her nerves.

The duo takes their seat and Jeremiah tells Belly he’s going to be there for her. Belly recalls how Jeremiah is always there for her over the years and how a few years ago, he had stuck around at home instead of going to the beach with his friends when she was down with a fever.

Present-day, Jeremiah and Belly hold hands on the arcade ride. Belly thanks Cameron for giving them company and asks him to join them at the Beach House. On their ride back home, Conrad and Steven talk about how fun it is being a kid again.

Steven tells him that it looks like Belly and Conrad share a vibe and have a romantic moment but Conrad does not make much of it. The group goes back home and Conrad asks Belly about the teddy bear he won for her. She claims she’s not holding on to it because she isn’t 13.

The episode ends with the teenagers getting emotional after seeing that Julia has emptied the entire Beach House in their absence.

The Episode Review

This episode was so endearing and it looks like Belly now is closer than ever to making her choice for the season. She is leaning towards Jeremiah and acknowledges how she is emotionally closer to the younger of the two brothers despite being in love with the older one.

With 4 more episodes left in this season, it looks like Belly has a lot to do in the next four days before she goes to Volleyball camp. I have a feeling that Belly will eventually cancel her camp while Taylor goes there by herself. It is also clear that Taylor and Steven’s kiss was not a one-time thing because there is a lot of sexual tension between them that we love.

Seeing Laurel bottle up her emotions hurts and I wish she is able to give herself the liberty to discuss her loss and how she is coping with Susannah’s death instead of trying to be strong for Belly and the boys. I can’t wait to watch the next episode and see what happens now that Julia has sold off the furniture from the Beach House.