(Spoiler alert: This article discusses plot points from Season 3 of ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty.’)
In Columbus, Ohio, Tina DiCenso settled onto her couch next to her daughter, Abbi, a bowl of fresh peaches and apples in hand. The kitchen counter was laden with an impressive spread of snacks—from homemade ‘dirt bombs’ to pomegranate margaritas—all part of their cherished weekly viewing tradition.
“I’m going to throw up,” Ms. DiCenso declared, her anticipation palpable.
She was moments away from diving into the series finale of “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” Amazon Prime’s wildly popular young-adult drama. The show chronicles Belly Conklin’s journey (played by Lola Tung) as she navigates complex romantic relationships with her childhood friends, brothers Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) Fisher. After the finale, Prime Video surprised fans with news of an upcoming “Summer I Turned Pretty” movie.
Ms. DiCenso’s unvarnished reactions to each episode, captured and shared on TikTok by her daughter, have unexpectedly made her a prominent figure within the series’ passionate online community. Her videos vividly express the intense emotions and anxieties that the show often stirs in its viewers, becoming a must-see event in their own right.
“It is the end of an era,” Ms. DiCenso reflected in Abbi’s latest video, which quickly garnered over 580,000 views.
With a high-five and a few calming breaths, the mother-daughter duo pressed play. Over the next twenty minutes, Ms. DiCenso’s living room transformed into a whirlwind of emotion. She paced, clapped, cheered, spun in joyous circles, screamed in frustration, and wiped away tears as the dramatic conclusion to the show’s central love triangle unfolded.
“It still astounds me that people are genuinely interested in what I have to say or how I react,” Ms. DiCenso, 54, shared in a recent interview. “It’s simply me being myself.”
Throughout the summer, Ms. DiCenso’s reaction videos were filled with memorable moments. She playfully threatened to hurl pillows at the television and delivered sharp, sarcastic remarks, especially towards Jeremiah, whom she viewed as consistently trying to interfere with Belly and Conrad’s bond.
The latest season of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” resonated strongly with an older demographic, particularly women over 35. Ms. DiCenso’s candid weekly recaps created a unique bridge between younger and older fans, offering a no-nonsense perspective on the show’s often-dramatic storylines.
As Season 3 opened with Belly and Jeremiah in a four-year relationship, Ms. DiCenso’s exasperated eye-rolls spoke volumes. Her fury erupted into expletives when Jeremiah proposed to Belly after admitting to cheating. The night before Belly’s wedding to Jeremiah, when Belly, under the influence, confessed that she’d only ever envisioned marrying Conrad, Ms. DiCenso sprang onto the couch, exclaiming, “That gummy worked miracles!”
“I approach it from a mother’s perspective,” she explained, admitting she sometimes had to remind herself that the characters were fictional, unlike her own children.
Her unwavering support for Conrad to rekindle his romance with Belly was evident throughout the season.
So, when the characters finally reunited and shared a long-awaited kiss, Ms. DiCenso’s cheers were as thunderous as for a Super Bowl touchdown.
“We went from 0 to 10,000!” she shouted 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 expressive reactions during the first season brought her so much laughter that she decided to record them for Season 2.
Since then, the “Summer I Turned Pretty” fandom has skyrocketed, with the show’s official TikTok account even endorsing the weekly “TINA’S THOUGHTS™️” recaps.
Following Wednesday’s filming, the DiCenso women celebrated at a “Tina-themed” watch party in Ohio. Over 300 fans, some traveling from as far as Utah, joined them to commemorate the finale. Organizers even crafted macarons featuring Tina’s likeness.
The watch party marked a “surreal” culmination to a memorable summer for both women.
“I simply couldn’t grasp it,” Ms. DiCenso said. “I still can’t. I kept thinking, ‘What do you mean you want a picture with us?’”
Thousands of miles away in Denmark, Caroline Thøgersen, 22, anxiously refreshed her TikTok feed for the duo’s final reaction video. She confessed that, at times this season, she anticipated Ms. DiCenso’s commentary more eagerly than the actual episode.
“She’s incredibly expressive, entertaining, and authentic,” Ms. Thøgersen commented. “I resonate with everything she says, and I admire her honesty.”
Fans frequently voiced their concern and curiosity about Ms. DiCenso’s potential reactions to Conrad’s various misfortunes. After one episode where he had a surfing accident and almost kissed Belly, many users on social media platform X suggested that an ambulance should be on standby for their beloved Tina.
“I’d check my social media, and there would be thousands of comments — ‘Tina is going to be sick,’ ‘Oh my god, Tina, we’re so sorry’ — warnings before I even knew what had happened,” Abbi DiCenso recounted.
It was only natural, then, that when the show announced a surprise movie focusing on Belly and Conrad’s future, one thought dominated the collective consciousness of the fandom:
“Somebody go check on Tina!” an X user humorously posted.