In the sun-drenched shores of Cousins Beach, where the waves crash like unresolved emotions and the salty air carries whispers of first loves lost and found, “The Summer I Turned Pretty” is poised to bid a tearful farewell—or is it? As the third and supposedly final season hurtles toward its explosive conclusion this week on September 17, 2025, with the 11th episode dropping at midnight PT on Prime Video, creator and executive producer Jenny Han has dropped a bombshell that’s sending fans into a frenzy of hope and speculation. In a heartfelt interview with Entertainment Weekly just days ago, Han revealed she’s “officially considering” a fourth season, refusing to close the door on the beloved world she’s built from her bestselling trilogy. “Never say never—I never do,” Han confided, her words laced with the same wistful optimism that defines her characters. “If the story is there, then I’m there.” With the series finale airing imminently, this tease has reignited passions, turning what was meant to be an emotional goodbye into a tantalizing “see you later?” for Belly Conklin and the Fisher brothers. As the credits roll on Season 3, one question burns brighter than a boardwalk bonfire: Could Cousins Beach summers stretch on forever?

For the uninitiated—or those binge-watching for the umpteenth time—”The Summer I Turned Pretty” is more than a teen romance; it’s a sun-soaked odyssey of growing pains, heartbreak, and the intoxicating haze of youth. Adapted from Han’s 2009-2011 young adult trilogy published by Simon & Schuster, the Prime Video series follows Isabel “Belly” Conklin (Lola Tung), a once-awkward teen who blossoms into a confident young woman during her annual summers at the Fisher family’s beach house in the fictional Cousins Beach, Massachusetts. What starts as idyllic family vacations—complete with barbecues, volleyball games, and Susannah Fisher’s (Kyra Sedgwick) warm hospitality—unravels into a tangled web of love triangles, secrets, and life-altering choices. At the epicenter is Belly’s impossible dilemma: the brooding, enigmatic Conrad Fisher (Christopher Briney), her soulmate with a poet’s heart and a surfer’s soul, or his golden-boy brother Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), the fun-loving charmer who’s always been her rock.

Season 1, which premiered on June 17, 2022, introduced us to this sun-kissed paradise with seven episodes that captured the magic of Belly’s “summer she turned pretty.” Filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, to evoke the East Coast vibe, it drew from the first book, “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” exploring Belly’s budding romance with Conrad amid the shadow of Susannah’s terminal illness. The show’s authenticity shone through in its soundtrack—curated with Taylor Swift anthems like “august” and “Cruel Summer,” which Han personally lobbied for, even penning handwritten notes to the pop icon. By Season 2, premiering July 14, 2023, the stakes skyrocketed: Belly and Jeremiah’s impulsive engagement crumbles under Conrad’s lingering feelings, all while the Fisher family’s grief boils over. Amazon’s Vernon Sanders hailed it as the streamer’s No. 2 most-viewed series among women 18-34, behind only “The Rings of Power,” with over a billion minutes watched in its debut week. The emotional rollercoaster, amplified by Swift tracks like “Back to December (Taylor’s Version),” turned it into a cultural phenomenon, spawning TikTok edits, fan theories, and heated debates over #TeamConrad vs. #TeamJeremiah.

Now, as Season 3—the expanded 11-episode finale—wraps up this week, it’s adapting the trilogy’s third book, “We’ll Always Have Summer,” but with Han’s signature twists that diverge from the page to heighten the drama. Premiering in July 2025 with weekly drops every Wednesday at 3 a.m. ET, the season picks up after Belly chooses Jeremiah, only for cracks to form in their relationship. Episodes have delved into Belly’s college dreams clashing with family obligations, Conrad’s self-destructive spiral in Paris (a show-original detour from the book’s Spain setting), and the lingering ghost of Susannah’s legacy. New cast members like Isabella Briggs and Kristen Connolly as series regulars, alongside recurring roles for Sofia Bryant, Lily Donoghue, Zoé de Grand’Maison, Emma Ishta, and Tanner Zagarino as Jeremiah’s frat buddy Redbird, have injected fresh energy. Han even directed an episode herself, pouring her vision into Conrad’s point-of-view scenes that peel back his layers of pain and passion. “There are moments from the books fans adore, but we’ve rescheduled iconic scenes like the Peaches moment three times to get it right,” Han shared in a July 2025 PEOPLE interview. The season’s trailer, set to Swift’s “Daylight” and “Red (Taylor’s Version),” promised closure with a wedding that might not be, heartfelt confessions, and sunsets that feel achingly final.

Yet, amid the tears and triumphs, Han’s recent revelation has flipped the script. Speaking to USA Today and GMA Integrated News ahead of the finale, the New York Times bestselling author—whose “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” trilogy became a Netflix juggernaut—admitted the three-season arc “feels complete,” mirroring the books’ structure. In the novels, Belly ultimately reunites with Conrad after calling off her engagement to Jeremiah, with an epilogue showing monthly letters from him during her college years. But Han, ever the storyteller, isn’t ready to lock the beach house door. “I love these characters, this world, and the people I’ve worked with,” she told GMA’s Lyn Ching in July. “One never knows about the future.” Her “never say never” mantra, echoed in Entertainment Weekly, opens the floodgates: Could Season 4 explore Belly’s post-college life, perhaps a spin-off focusing on Taylor (Rain Spencer) and Steven’s (Sean Kaufman) adventures, or even a revival years later with the characters as adults? Han hinted at “exciting surprises” in a Capital FM chat, fueling speculation that Prime Video might greenlight more if viewership surges. Lola Tung, Belly’s portrayer, is all in: “I’m there if Jenny asks—it’s a privilege to be in her cinematic universe.”

The buzz has electrified social media, with #SummerITurnedPrettyFinale trending worldwide as fans dissect episodes and plead for extensions. On X, posts like “Jenny Han says never say never for Season 4? My heart can’t take this hope!” from accounts like @SportsS97730 have racked up thousands of likes, while Manila Bulletin shared behind-the-scenes snaps from Episode 7, showing Han on set with Tung, Briney, and Casalegno. Reddit threads on r/TheSummerITurnedPretty explode with theories: Will Conrad’s Paris arc lead to a fourth-season redemption? Could a spin-off feature Belly’s daughter discovering old letters? The devotion is palpable—Season 2’s completion rate among young women was the highest ever for Prime, and Season 3’s weekly format has kept watercooler chats alive. Even as the finale approaches, with four episodes left as of late August (now down to one), fans are rallying petitions and fan art, begging Han to extend the magic.

Behind the scenes, Han’s journey with the series has been a labor of love. As showrunner alongside Sarah Kucserka, she’s overseen production since the 2021 series order, navigating strikes, cast changes—like Rachel Blanchard replacing Jackie Chung? Wait, no, Jackie is Laurel—and the emotional weight of adapting her own words. Filming in Wilmington captured the essence of Cousins: the boardwalk’s neon glow, the bonfire’s crackle, the ocean’s endless pull. The ensemble—featuring Jackie Chung as Belly’s mom Laurel, David Iacono as Cam (briefly), and Kyra Sedgwick’s heartbreaking Susannah—has become family, with off-screen bonds mirroring the on-screen ones. Tung, now 23, has grown from newcomer to star, while Briney and Casalegno’s brotherly chemistry keeps the love triangle electric. Han’s directorial debut in Season 3 adds a personal touch, especially in scenes dissecting fan theories about Conrad’s “infinity necklace” symbolizing eternal love.

As the clock ticks toward September 17, the air is thick with anticipation. Will the finale deliver the bookending reunion, or leave threads dangling for more? Han’s tease suggests the latter, positioning “The Summer I Turned Pretty” not as an endpoint, but a pause in an ongoing saga. In a world craving escapist romance, this series—much like its Swift-infused soundtrack—reminds us that some summers never truly end. Whether Season 4 materializes or evolves into a spin-off, one thing’s certain: Belly’s story has captured hearts, and Han’s open door means the waves at Cousins Beach might crash again. Tune in this week, tissues at the ready—because if there’s one lesson from this summer, it’s that love, like the tide, always returns.