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Jenny Han rarely plants an Easter egg on The Summer I Turned Pretty for emotional reasons; it's typically a breadcrumb trail that leads directly to heartbreak. In Season 3 Episode 7, Belly (Lola Tung) carried on the secret signal she once gave to Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) by knocking on her bedroom wall.
Fans have since sensed this wasn't just a knock; it was a death knell for Belly and Jeremiah's future together after what first seemed a small gesture turned out to be a callback to The Summer I Turned Pretty premiere.
Belly's knock served as a lifeline in Season 1, reminding Jeremiah that she was always reliable, dedicated, and just a wall away. The same knock falls flat in Season 3. Broken and drunk, Jeremiah doesn't respond.
The wall between them feels more solid than ever, as what once represented connection now screams disconnection.
A The Summer I Turned Pretty callback
The knock was Han's narrative knife, cutting the wound, and it was more than just a wink to expert viewers. According to The Direct, Belly's knock stood for the tug-of-war between Jeremiah and Conrad (Christopher Briney).
She realized her fiancé wasn't who she expected him to be during the hardest of times when she knocked...only to see Jeremiah passed out.
Fans aren't missing the mess at this point. All of the characters broke their promises in Episode 7. Jeremiah drowned himself while swearing not to drink. Belly touched Taylor's gummies, though she said she won't.
After committing to keep his feelings secret, Conrad admitted them to the stars. On the other hand, Belly's knock became a sign that this wedding is doomed to fail as broken vows stack up like dominoes.
The Belly-Conrad-Jeremiah love triangle
The unanswered knock was about Belly's presence, specifically her inner conflict, not just Jeremiah's absence. Belly didn't lean in when Conrad revealed the truth he had avoided for years on The Summer I Turned Pretty. She shrank and claimed Jeremiah's love was more secure, enduring, and safe.
But Conrad's vulnerability revealed she was driven by fear. Not love.
The beach is a place of beginnings and endings, and minor rituals like the knock carry a lot of weight. Jenny Han has always infused The Summer I Turned Pretty with poetic echoes. As we have seen, every beach scene had a turning point, and the recent tear-soaked sand of this season was no different.
Belly wasn't stubborn when she sobbed on the beach. The version of herself that had been acting as though Jeremiah was enough finally gave up.
What does the knock mean for the wedding?
Where does the knock leave us as we head into the last stretch? How can Jeremiah fulfill a marriage vow if he cannot react to a knock on the wall?
Belly and Jeremiah's engagement is already doomed, as implied in Han's novels, and Prime Video's The Summer I Turned Pretty seems to be relying on that. Like a neon sign, the knock says the wedding is headed for derailment.
Yet, confusion is what gives the episode its power. Belly isn't prepared to let go of Jeremiah, neither as her best friend nor as her fiancé. As viewers, we realize that eventually, Belly will have to stop knocking on walls and start opening doors, and try to clean up the mess of Conrad's declaration and Jeremiah's silence.
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The Summer I Turned Pretty is streaming on Prime Video.
NEXT UP: All about The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 Episode 8
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