(Spoiler Alert: This article discusses key plot points from Season 3 of ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty.’)
Picture this: Tina DiCenso, cozy on her Columbus, Ohio couch, alongside her daughter, Abbi. They’re surrounded by an impressive spread of snacks – homemade “dirt bombs” and pomegranate margaritas – all set for their highly anticipated weekly TV viewing ritual.
“I’m going to throw up,” Tina declared, the tension palpable.
She was moments away from hitting play on the series finale of “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” Amazon Prime’s beloved young-adult drama. This hit show chronicles the tumultuous journey of Belly Conklin (Lola Tung) as she navigates complex romantic relationships with her childhood friends, brothers Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) Fisher. Just after Wednesday’s finale, Prime Video surprised fans by announcing an upcoming “Summer I Turned Pretty” movie!
Tina DiCenso’s unfiltered reactions to each episode, lovingly filmed and shared on TikTok by her daughter, have unexpectedly propelled her to internet fame. She’s become a relatable icon for the show’s passionate online fandom, perfectly capturing the rollercoaster of emotions and anxiety that “The Summer I Turned Pretty” often puts its viewers through. Her commentary has become its own must-see event!
“It’s truly the end of an era,” Tina mused in Abbi’s most recent video, which quickly racked up over 580,000 views by Thursday evening.
With a shared high-five, a couple of deep breaths, they finally pressed play.
What followed was a nearly 20-minute display of pure, unadulterated emotion. Tina twirled, clapped, cheered, screamed, and even shed tears as she witnessed the dramatic resolution of the show’s iconic love triangle.
Reflecting on her newfound popularity, the 54-year-old Tina shared her surprise in a Thursday interview: “It still just blows my mind that people care so much about what I think or how I react. I’m just being myself!”
@abbi.dicenso WELCOME TO THE FINAL SHOW ❤️ I can’t believe we are closing this chapter. Thank you @DoorDash for delivering our finale goodies and making our night one we will remember forever ♾️ We have had the most magical summer with all of you! We will always be infinite!😭 #tsitp #teamconrad #DoorDashPartner #DoorDash ♬ original sound – abbidicenso
Throughout the summer, Tina’s videos were filled with memorable moments, from playfully threatening to throw pillows at the screen to delivering sharp, sarcastic remarks – often aimed at Jeremiah, the younger Fisher brother, who she felt consistently “lurked in the shadows” to complicate Belly and Conrad’s romance.
This most recent season of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” resonated particularly strongly with women over 35. Tina’s weekly commentary became a unique bridge, connecting younger and older fans with her refreshingly candid and no-nonsense take on the show’s high-stakes melodrama.
When Season 3 opened with Belly in a four-year relationship with Jeremiah, Tina’s exasperation was clear – cue the eye-rolls! And when Jeremiah proposed to Belly shortly after betraying her, Tina didn’t hold back, unleashing a stream of expletives at her television.
The night before Belly’s wedding to Jeremiah, a pivotal scene unfolded: Belly, under the influence, confessed that she had only ever imagined marrying Conrad. Tina, of course, reacted with pure joy, leaping onto her couch and exclaiming, “That gummy worked miracles!”
Tina explained her perspective, noting, “I watch it from a mother’s standpoint,” often having to remind herself that the characters were fictional, not her own children.
Throughout the season, her unwavering support for Conrad to win Belly back was a constant.
So, on Wednesday, when Belly and Conrad finally rekindled their flame and shared their first kiss in years, Tina’s cheers were as passionate and thunderous as if her favorite team had just scored the winning Super Bowl touchdown.
“We went from 0 to 10,000!” she shrieked in the video. “Holy Hell, Batman! That’s five years — five years of sexual tension — all coming out!”
Abbi DiCenso, 26, recalled how her mother’s animated responses during the first season always made her laugh. So, when they started Season 2, she wisely decided to hit record.
Since then, the “Summer I Turned Pretty” fandom has absolutely exploded, and the show’s official TikTok account has even given its enthusiastic stamp of approval to the weekly “TINA’S THOUGHTS™️” recaps.
Following Wednesday’s finale, the DiCenso women hosted an incredible Tina-themed watch party in Ohio. Roughly 300 devoted fans, some traveling all the way from Utah, joined the mother-daughter duo to celebrate the season’s conclusion. Organizers even created custom macarons adorned with Tina’s face!
The watch party was a fitting conclusion to what both women described as a “surreal” summer.
“I just couldn’t wrap my head around it,” Tina admitted. “I still can’t. I was thinking, ‘What do you mean you want a picture with *us*?'”
Across the globe in Denmark, 22-year-old Caroline Thøgersen found herself eagerly refreshing TikTok for Tina and Abbi’s final reaction. She confessed that at various points this season, she was more excited for Tina’s commentary than for the actual episode!
“She’s just so expressive and fun, and she’s incredibly real,” Caroline gushed. “I connect with everything she says, and I love that she never hides her true feelings.”
Throughout the season, supporters frequently speculated about how Tina would react to Conrad’s various misfortunes. After an episode where he suffered a surfing accident and almost kissed Belly, many X users joked that an ambulance should be on standby for their beloved Tina.
Abbi shared, “I’d open my social media and be hit with thousands of comments — ‘Tina is going to be sick,’ ‘Oh my god, Tina, we’re so sorry’ — essentially, warnings before I even had a clue what had happened on the show.”
It was perfectly fitting, then, that when the surprise announcement of a “Summer I Turned Pretty” movie, focusing on Belly and Conrad’s future, dropped on Wednesday, everyone had one thought in mind:
“Somebody go check on Tina!” one X user promptly posted.