


From a sweet bridal shower to a gnarly surf accident, a number of noteworthy events unfolded in The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 6. But if you asked me to sum the eventful installment up in just four words, I’d say, “We are so back.”
Why? Well, TSITP Season 3, Episode 6, “Last Name” saw the highly-anticipated return of Laurel (Jackie Chung), Belly’s (Lola Tung) narrative, and TSITP‘s other mother Taylor Swift. And that’s not all…
Spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 6 ahead.
In “Last Name,” Belly (Lola Tung) heads home for her bridal shower at Taylor’s (Rain Spencer) house, where she reunites with Steven (Sean Kaufman) and her mom, whose surprise attendance is inspired by a plea from Conrad (Christopher Briney). Meanwhile, the Fisher boys — Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), Connie, and Adam (Tom Everett Scott) go suit shopping. And though “Last Name” kicks off with Belly and Jere crashing at his dad’s house and hunting for an apartment of their own, the episode ends with Belly back at Cousins, sharing an unexpectedly intimate moment with Conrad.
Since The Summer I Turned Pretty is such a thoughtfully-crafted love letter to fans, each week until its September 17 finale, Decider will be taking a closer look at each episode and highlighting five moments that deserve to be put under the microscope. Whether they’re blink-and-miss-it details, brilliant Easter eggs, or major scenes that need to be talked through in greater depth, we’re here to obsess over, hypothesize, and dissect the series alongside you. We’re also shouting out a standout needle drop each episode, since the show’s soundtrack absolutely slaps.
From Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated” and another Jenny Han cameo to more red and blue color symbolism, the significance of “False God,” Belly/Conrad parallels galore, and more, here are five things you may have missed in The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 6, “Last Name.”
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Photo: Prime Video CHILL OUT? WHATCHA YELLING FOR? I’ll tell you why I’m yelling! I listened to Belly singing in the bathroom at Adam’s place far too many times trying to decipher what song she was belting before low-key admitting defeat. I read several incorrect theories that assumed she was singing the Bye Bye Birdie Conrad song, even though I knew it wasn’t. And then I noticed that Avril Lavigne’s 2002 banger, one of my favorite angsty jams growing up, was mysteriously posted to TSITP‘s Spotify soundtrack despite not playing in Episode 306. Seconds later, EVERYTHING CLICKED. I skipped to the bathroom scene again with “Complicated” on the brain and heard Belly’s voice and melody perfectly line up. In that early scene, she sings:
but you become
Somebody else
‘Round everyone else
You’re watching your back
Like you can’t relax
You try to be cool
You look like a fool to me
Tell me
Why’d you have to go and make things so complicated?
I see the way you’re acting like you’re somebody else
Gets me frustrated”In addition to being a straight-up iconic song, the intentional selection likely gives us serious insight into Belly’s emotional state. We know she’s not loving the version of Jere who’s “becoming somebody else” while trying to please his dad, and she later admits she’s having second thoughts on how they’re planning the wedding, since it doesn’t feel like their original vision. “Complicated” is a song about wanting people to be honest and true to themselves rather than putting up a front. And without her having to admit it, the song cleverly stresses the “complicated” stage of life Belly’s in after Jere slept with Lacie, they got prematurely engaged, and — at that point in the episode — she wasn’t on good terms with her mom. To quote the great Rory Gilmore, “What can you do? It’s Avril Lavigne’s world and we’re just living it!”
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Photo: Prime Video While Han’s cameo is fairly obvious in Episode 306, it’s also tradition! For those who don’t know, Han made cameos at Season 1’s debutante ball and was spotted at a gas station scene in Season 2. The author and series creator already made two tiny cameos this season (the crossword puzzle clue and the cat sounds in Steven’s video game), but as shown above, she also appears in Season 3, Episode 6 as Belly’s taking a tour of the club. In case the sheer sight of Han wasn’t exciting enough, the mastermind also walked in between a RED and a BLUE dress to keep Season 3’s TSwift-inspired color symbolism going strong. A detail-oriented queen.
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Photo: Prime Video Speaking of color symbolism, I don’t know about you but my jaw literally DROPPED when I first noticed that Conrad was squatting in front of the beach house beside bushes of blue flowers FEATURING ONE SINGLE RED FLOWER. Like, help?! Pretty much every Season 3 episode has inspired chats about color symbolism, the “Daylight” x “Red” mashup, and how “missing him was blue like I’ve never known” and “loving him was red.” The color contrast — be it between red or blue or red and gold — regularly stresses Belly’s torn emotions between Fisher brothers. And since Conrad is often associated with red post-S3 trailer, I have no choice but to believe that single red flower represents Belly’s lingering feelings for Conrad and growing doubt about marrying Jere. Is it a small sign of hope that their flame has yet to be extinguished? I’m believing it is!
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Photo: Prime Video In Season 3, Episode 2, we caught a glimpse of a Bye Bye Birdie poster in Belly’s dorm. Those who read Book 3, knew that Belly reminisced over watching old musicals on Wednesday nights as a kid with her mom. Her favorite was Bye Bye Birdie, and she used to sing, “We love you, Conrad, oh yes we do! We love you, Conrad, and we’ll be true!” Instead of Conrad Birdie, however, she was admittedly singing about Conrad Fisher. And Season 3, Episode 6 gives us an adorable flashback to those scenes, further suggesting that Belly and Conrad are endgame.
We also explained why the Sabrina poster in Belly’s room was so significant. And in Episode 306, we see Belly and her mom watch another Audrey Hepburn film, Funny Face, where Hepburn’s character Jo Stockton travels to Paris. After Laurel gifts Belly her passport and airline gift cards for her and Jere’s honeymoon earlier in the episode, Belly reminds her that she’s not going to study abroad in Paris anymore. But Funny Face‘s inclusion feels intentional, like another clue meant to foreshadow Belly’s inevitable Paris days ahead.
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Photo: Prime Video Since Jenny Han is an Easter egg mastermind, there are noteworthy parallels in every Season 3 episode. But Season 3, Episode 6 features so many Leo DiCaprio point at the screen meme moments that we had to lump them into one blurb. There’s Belly and Conrad saying, “You’re back.” There’s Belly calling Conrad “a baby” after he called her one in the Christmas flashback. We see Belly clutch her chest as Conrad’s done before. (They have a lot of feelings! Sometimes their chests physically hurt!) There’s “What have I done?” vs “What did I almost do?” They both yearn for each other from behind (and Belly admires Conrad’s back again!) Conrad leaves her another Post-It note! And when Belly returns to the beach house am I wrong or is that man in the middle of filling out A CROSSWORD PUZZLE?! Help!

With a Billy Joel song, a classic Alvvays jam that a real-life crush introduced me to, and several cast-performed numbers, Episode 306 had some solid options to choose from, but naturally, we have to award the prestigious Winning Needle Drop Award to “False God,” the official track of Belly and Conrad Almost Kissing. We already went long on this entire breathtaking, swoon-worthy scene, which brilliantly “restarted” Belly’s heart after it stopped functioning properly during the Season 3 premiere’s devastating “You’re Losing Me” drop. But our girl is coming back, confronting her lingering feelings for Conrad, and starting to listen to her inner monologue again. Plus, the parallels to Season 1, Episode 4, when “False God” last played during July 4 fireworks were perfect! So buckle up, dive deep into our wound cleaning explainer, and brace for what’s sure to be a major episode next week.
New episodes of The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 premiere Wednesdays on Prime Video.