The Summer I Turned Pretty won’t be returning for a fourth season, but could the show live somehow? That’s the question fans are asking and, while we don’t yet know what the future might hold beyond season 3, the series finale post-credits definitely has given us hope that this isn’t the end of our time in Cousins.
Warning: the following post contains spoilers from The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 episode 11 aka the series finale.
In the series finale, Belly and Conrad finally got their happy ending after the pair finally embraced the love they’ve long shared. The show ended as the pair returned home from Paris to the beach house with an open-ended final scene that gave Belly and Conrad their happy ending, while leaving their future unwritten.
It was an ending that gave us a happy ending, but certainly left us wanting more – specifically the chance to see Belly and Conrad’s wedding day. Interestingly, following the final scene of the series, the credits began to roll as “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” played over a montage of photos of Belly and Conrad spending Christmas together in Paris. Directly after, before the final credits rolled, a letter penned by author Jenny Han displayed as the closing page in the book.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the love you’ve shown The Summer I Turned Pretty all these years. Whether you’ve been with Belly since the very first book or joined us with the show I’m so grateful you’ve made Belly’s story part of your summer. We put our whole hearts into this show and we’re so thankful to you for coming along with us on the ride. Maybe we’ll meet again one summer in Cousins. Until then, all of my love,” Han wrote in the letter addressed to fans.
It was a sweet way to honor the fans who have been along for this ride over the years, but it also gave us a kernel of hope that perhaps this isn’t really the end of the road.
The letter could have very easily ended with “we’re so thankful for you coming along with us on this ride” but instead included that tease of meeting again in Cousins. Was this a not so subtle way of indicating that perhaps the story will continue in some other medium?
Fans have been speculating about a potential spinoff and the series finale certainly laid the groundwork for a few possible spinoffs.
There’s the option of following Steven, Taylor, Denise and Jeremiah as they move to California and figure out this next part of their lives. There’s the option of continuing Belly and Conrad’s story now that they’ve gotten together with a show potentially exploring their life in Paris or their next chapter together. And then there’s the prequel talks of a show exploring Laurel and Susannah’s early years. What if the Christmas in Paris epilogue was a hint that perhaps a holiday movie is coming?
Interestingly, it has been hinted that there have been discussions of a spinoff with Amazon MGM Studios TV boss Vernon Sanders telling Variety, Han has ideas she's been dying to tackle and suggesting they'd love to continue working with her.
You know, all plans lead with Jenny Han, and she’s known from the beginning, how she’s wanted to do this, so we’ve been focused on this, getting the season right and ending it the right way," Sanders said at the time. "And I think once the full thing is released, we’ll be able to have more conversations with her. She’s got new ideas that she’s been dying to tackle. So whatever Jenny wants to do, we want to do it with her."
It certainly seems like there are many opportunities to expand and continue the franchise, and one has to wonder if Han’s series finale letter to the fans was a hint that the show will go on, just not via a fourth season of The Summer I Turned Pretty.
Now that the series finale is out there in the world, all eyes will be on Prime Video and fans will surely be anxiously awaiting news of whether our time in Cousins has truly ended or if a new journey could soon be beginning!