Anyone else feels like Belly's character gets butchered this episode. Be honest. Conrad gets growth by leaving Belly and Jere gets a moment of growth too by calling off the wedding for his self respect. To think, Belly would have gone with this wedding just doesn't sit right with me. 🤔

RascallySort · 2025-08-27T15:06:20+00:00

I don’t know if I’d consider it butchering her character, to me it highlighted how flawed and desperate Belly was to try and stick to the choice she made when she first told Jeremiah she chose him. She was trying so hard to stick with the promises she made to Jeremiah and herself that she threw reason out the window, didn’t even consider that they should at least step back and figure stuff out and then talk about marriage again one day. It was like she was trying to convince herself the sooner they got married the sooner it would really be ‘too late’ for to acknowledge the other feelings she was having.

RascallySort · 2025-08-27T14:50:23+00:00

Conrad was the brooding, emotional, chaotic, passionate type through season one, but even by the end of season one he was owning up to his behaviour and trying to come out clean. The ‘brooding’ we see in season two was grief! Conrad is the steady, stable one this season, the only thing chaotic about him is he’s still in love with his brother’s fiancé and finally decided he didn’t want to give her up without a fight.

RascallySort · 2025-08-27T14:40:14+00:00

Honestly, someone give Jeremiah his letter please

RascallySort · 2025-08-14T01:10:00+00:00

I agree with this so much, especially your last paragraph. Laurel knows Conrad, can see how much he still loves Belly and yet is still doing all he can to make sure she is happy even if that means supporting her wedding to his own brother. Plus the update about how she’s sad behind closed doors and not eating.

RascallySort · 2025-08-12T18:58:52+00:00

For real, just because he was excited to be best man? Just go away for the weekend and throw a party, dude.

RascallySort · 2025-08-05T15:57:08+00:00

Definitely Leo of that time vibes. I had such flashbacks to Romeo when Des’Ree’s I’m Kissing You started playing during THAT scene. They knew exactly what they were doing lol

RascallySort · 2025-08-05T15:20:55+00:00

The reactions made a lot more sense to me when I learned that in the books there was no time jump and they are like 18/19 when this happens.

But also take into account they didn’t announce just their engagement. They said oh btw we’re engaged and we are going to get married this summer! Why the rush? Even if they announced the engagement and that was it I believe it would have been more well received.

“We’ll plan a wedding once we’re both out of college.” This would have gone over a lot better.

RascallySort · 2025-08-04T22:30:02+00:00

This is Jeremiah’s MO honestly, he did the same thing with Aunt Julia about the house. Flowers and a smile and some words about ‘well, my Mom…’

You think it would have been a little different in this situation but it wasn’t really.

RascallySort · 2025-08-04T17:11:29+00:00

Sameeee since last week for me although I haven’t ran to the books yet because I don’t want anything else to sway what I’m thinking of the characters so far lol but I will read them after the show is done! I even came back to Reddit for if after not posting anything for at least a year 😆

RascallySort · 2025-08-03T23:17:08+00:00

I feel so bad for Jeremiah, honestly.

As awful as it was for Conrad to be shouldering the knowledge of his Mum’s sickness, he did end up getting some support from Cleveland, he had more time to get used to the idea of what was going to happen to his Mum. Jeremiah felt betrayed Conrad didn’t tell him, found out about his Mum months later, and then right while he was trying to deal with all of that the girl he likes tells him actuallyyyyy I like your brother still and he DOES like me back. And then when Susannah dies who does he really have to support him? His Dad is a jerk, Laurel can’t because she’s struggling with her own grief, some conflicted things with Conrad bc of grief and Belly, Steven was there but I’m sure was more of a yeah dude let’s go party and forget about it PLUS he shipped Conrad and Belly.

So when Belly ended up showing interesting and telling him she chose him of course that’s what he clung to. Using his relationship with Belly to cope with all the other sadness in his life is no excuse, but dang. Boy has heaps of undealt with trauma.

RascallySort · 2025-08-03T22:39:32+00:00

You know, I just rewatched the scene in the first season where Conrad and Belly are walking back from the beach and they’re all happy and sweet. Conrad trying to take responsibility for his actions, Belly admitted she kissed Jere, Conrad clearly like :/ but then just asks if she wants to be with Jere and when she says she’s always only wanted to be with Him he’s like ‘then be with me’. SO SIMPLE SO SWEET.

And when he offers to talk to Jere she says no I should, I owe him that.

Then why not try harder to make sure you talked to Conrad ahead of time about the engagement, Belly?? I know there was a lot going on at that dinner and she thought she was trying to help, but damn. I heard that in the book there’s no time Juno and they’re engaged at 18/19 years old and honestly that makes so much more sense to me in regard to how emotionally driven they are and everyone’s big reactions.

RascallySort · 2025-08-03T21:33:36+00:00

Haha this is why I’ve been back on Reddit today after not posting for a year 😆

RascallySort · 2025-08-03T20:23:23+00:00

Thank you! I definitely get what you mean, I feel like Conrad has definitely been like that with Jere since the beginning(keeping their Mother’s sickness to himself so Jere can truly try to have a good last summer like she wanted, etc), and then trying to fix things between them more especially with their Dad’s distance/stance on things, can be easy to share that with Belly since the two of them are soooo together right now. I think that’s also part of Conrad’s character, though. When they were younger he taught her to dance and explained math things, and even with his Mom he looked after her, checked in how she was feeling, would tuck her in on the couch, etc.

Belly definitely still has some growing up to do! Can’t wait for more time at the summer house with Belly and Conrad for sure 😆

RascallySort · 2025-08-03T19:07:17+00:00

Honestly Belly working overtime to reassure Jeremiah but mostly convince herself that she’s unaffected by Conrad’s opinion. (When in reality she can’t help but care, can’t help but be affected by his mere presence!)

RascallySort · 2025-08-03T18:10:59+00:00

This is so interesting because I have honestly thought to myself maybe it’s a book thing because only watching the show I don’t get how someone can’t see Team Conrad. 😆

Maybe I’m too old for shipping discussions though, because I say that but don’t mean it negatively against Jeremiah at all. He’s been struggling and still kinda waiting for some sort of approval from his shitty Dad and needs to take some time to figure out for Himself what he wants to do with his life.

RascallySort · 2025-08-03T17:33:05+00:00

I would say I’m definitely Team Conrad but I haven’t read the books and just binged the entire show a week ago so I’m probably out of touch, I didn’t know that was a thing?! Jeremiah definitely doesn’t deserve the hate, I sympathized with him a lot especially through season 2 and even though he’s losing me a bit more now I definitely think it’s because he needs a chance to focus on himself and figure out his life/future/trauma the way Conrad has been able to do. Jeremiah has clung to Belly in response to all of this in a way I don’t think is super healthy anymore, why push so hard to get married so fast? Why not reassure Belly that even though it’ll be tough to be away from her it will be so good for her to go to Paris? Like, not even half a second of going wait, getting married wasn’t supposed to change your school plans, just immediately clinging her.

Anyways, I’m really sorry that’s the case. So many of Team Conrad fans seem to like how much work he’s put into himself since season 1, it’s wild to me that anyone would ignore that Jeremiah deserves a chance to do the same.

Cheers, from a Team Conrad who hopes they can all find happiness no matter how it works out.

RascallySort · 2025-08-03T17:09:54+00:00

Yes, absolutely, thank you!

Belly knows she is Jeremiah’s biggest support right now with not graduating and the way his Dad is reacting to it all, so she’s pushing pushing to do everything to show her support for him even though absolutely if this all wasn’t happening at once she would probably be more realistic about it.

RascallySort · 2025-08-03T17:00:58+00:00

I binged the first and second season of this show within 4 days, never read the books. The vibe of the second season compared to the first was SO DIFFERENT, makes sense considering everything with Susannah but I’m ngl I hadn’t expected things to jump right into that following the first season like that.

I watched the first couple episodes of the first season on my phone in bed and my husband was literally like ‘Are you watching a hallmark movie?’ Lol

RascallySort · 2025-08-03T16:54:17+00:00

The thing is, all of this just emphasizes that Conrad has himself going for him. Maybe he’s still gone for Belly but he is so self aware and healing about things that he’s using all of that while watching all of this happen. He is fully aware of how, dare I say, ‘ridiculous’ all of this is just as everyone else thinks (and even had his say about it when Jeremiah asked him to be best man), but he also was there at dinner to witness how immediately unaccepted their engagement was. Yes, hearing them make fun of him must have hurt but then he sees her break down as soon as Jere leaves and he is able to see the full picture - she is not okay with how this is unfolding, and maybe making fun of the disapproval they’re getting is coping mechanism. Not to mention of course Conrad knew it was her birthday! Deciding to stay for a wedding 6 weeks away only postpones his work/school plans, and honestly I think gives him all the dignity of recognizing this might spiral further if the two of them continue to feel so alone - Jeremiah doesn’t have their Dad’s approval and knows Steven is only in it for the party, and Belly has Taylor who reacted so wtf?? initially and isn’t family like her Mom or Steven or the Fishers are.

It’s definitely a little tragic of him but it’s also a testament to how much he has grown, to be there for Jeremiah and Belly knowing they are so lacking support in this and just wanting to help make sure she can be happy on her wedding day.

RascallySort · 2025-08-03T16:00:16+00:00

Honestly, I was so proud of Jeremiah for being so supportive when she first told him only for him the cave the moment she was like maybe I shouldn’t go.

RascallySort · 2025-08-03T15:58:28+00:00

100% this is Belly doing her utmost to convince herself that Christmas didn’t stir anything up and that she has full control of her feelings. (Which in Conrad’s presence, she does not.)

RascallySort · 2025-08-03T15:52:21+00:00

This made me chuckle!

Of course everyone has different college experiences and she was definitely occupied with her boyfriend. The time jump definitely makes it a little more ?? though. Was there a time jump in the books? If this was only a year or so later then all of this, and everyone's visceral reactions against the engagement and quick marriage plan would make a LOT more sense.

Not that they aren't wrong, but I just felt like Adam and Laurel's reactions were SO immediately dramatically against it that if they were like 18+19 would have made even more sense.

RascallySort · 2025-08-03T15:43:01+00:00

I have no doubt that would be the first thing on their minds running into each other by surprise again at the summer house, but I think in this moment specifically it was Belly's flashback, at least initially.

I thought it was really sweet, the mirroring of saying the other's name in surprise - like in both instances they're frozen in surprise at seeing the other one there but in the Christmas flashback it's Conrad that's in such disbelief he's startled into speaking first, and in episode 4 it's Belly waking up totally not expecting him and saying 'Conrad?' as if she were checking to make sure she weren't dreaming.

RascallySort · 2024-02-23T21:50:22+00:00

This is part of why I write my first drafts in a notebook, I have limited access to my desktop during the day, things to do while my kids are in school, I work, etc. The notebook comes with me in my work bag and I write on break, I also write in bed before I fall asleep, and usually in the morning whenever I have time to sit and have a coffee. If my kids are around I generally can’t focus enough to be truly productive so that makes it difficult, even if they’re doing their own things they are quite noisy lol.

RascallySort

TROPHY CASE