The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2 Episode 4 Review: Love Game

The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2 Episode 4, “Love Game,” has serious game.

A boardwalk showdown for the ages, this episode written by Scarlett Curtis and directed by Isabel Sandoval is heavy on the pop anthems and light on the angst.

This outing confirms the best teen dramas are the ones that focus on the teenage experience. Because there are no nostalgic feelings more joyful than the ones we experience watching these teenagers terrorize an arcade of people with a silly bet.

To All the Boardwalk Showdowns

This beach dream of a show takes the notion that love is a battlefield to the next level with a barbaric teen completion fueled by slow-motion entrances and the most aggressive backtrack of pop hits. Each escalating challenge is epic, ridiculous, and a joy to watch.

It is an aggressive ice bath of entertainment for the senses that instantly takes you back to the days of Teen Wolf and The Vampire Diaries‘ over-the-top antics.

The Summer I Turned Pretty lets these kids be their worst selves as they slip into fits of trash talk and violent battle cries. It establishes how ridiculous we looked as teenagers while accentuating how serious Belly and Conrad believe the stakes to be.

The turning point in this episode’s success is the choice to check the consuming grief and the complicated pitfalls of a love triangle at the door. We embark on a feel-good journey that showcases the ensemble’s lightning-in-a-bottle chemistry and the magic of Cousins Beach through an unfiltered teen lens.

This episode feels like a do-over for To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before fans who were cheated out of the Assassins game being adapted during Lara Jean’s films.

These arcade adventures check all the absurd and over-the-top entertaining boxes that John Ambrose stiffening gas from Chrissy’s car does in Jenny Han’s book.

Even the Cam Cameron re-introduction is brimming with that crackling rom-com energy the first To All the Boys film wowed us with. As he barrels on-screen, it’s not impossible to hear the gasp that such a perfect Cam cameo should elicit.

The choice to have him join the Cousins crew on their adventures with little explanation as to how he can abandon his rock climbing post is particularly great.

Cam and Taylor may be tied for best Season 2 glow-up because the “just excited to be invited” energy he is giving off is such a fun change of pace for the larger ensemble and this notable Season 1 love interest.

Cannot Keep Team Conrad Down

With Belly and Conrad barely speaking, you were safe to assume this would be Jeremiah’s time, but “Love Game” is all but consumed by excellent Team Conrad content.

The flashback to Taylor Swift’s “Sweet Nothing” as Belly realizes Conrad isn’t at the boardwalk for her is balanced beautifully by past and present references to Junior Mint’s significance. Every silly, over-the-top moment these two throw at each other is followed by a look that makes it clear Conrad’s heart breaks in Belly’s presence.

Toss in an out-of-pocket “girlfriend” comment from a particularly sassy morning Conrad, and this episode is the win Conrad girlies didn’t anticipate.

That’s not to say Jeremiah doesn’t get his due. Sure, Conrad and Belly are the fireworks, but realizing that the person willing to climb into the hole with Belly isn’t Conrad, but Jeremiah is a searing rebuttal.

The Summer I Turned Pretty isn’t going to hand either of these boys a win without some killer back-and-forth first.

The Kids Are Not Alright

This refreshingly energetic outing does an excellent job of toying with a looming threat. But how could we anticipate such a devastating blowback?

“Love Game” is a beautiful love letter to those long summer days with friends, and Conrad’s opening scene establishes this as a lesson in learning to lean on others for comfort.

So to have Conrad drop his guard around his friends after such a long-fought battle with grief is almost too perfect in its devastation as he walks in on his punishment — an empty beach house stripped of Susannah’s essence.

That final shot of the ensemble standing in stunned silence after their loud energy consumed so much of this storyline is just heartbreaking. It’s a swift gutting that would be detested if it wasn’t such a prolific move.

We enjoyed these low-stake games from a distance, unaware The Summer I Turned Pretty had every intention of playing us too.

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New episodes of The Summer I Turned Pretty stream Fridays on Prime Video.

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