Belly (Lola Tung) and Laurel (Jackie Chung) in "The Summer I Turned Pretty" Season 3Amazon / MGM Studios
When you think of "The Summer I Turned Pretty," you might picture Belly's tangled love life, the Cousins Beach sunsets or the memorable soundtrack. But the grown ups get their moments, too.
In "The Summer I Turned Pretty" Season 3, the parents of Belly (Lola Tung), Steven (Sean Kaufman), Conrad (Christopher Briney), Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) and Taylor (Rain Spencer) deal with the universal theme of empty-nesting as the beloved summer crew go to college and beyond.
Laurel Park (Jackie Chung), Belly and Steven Conklin's mom, continues to grieve the loss of best friend Susannah Fisher (Rachel Blanchard), who died in Season 2. Meanwhile Susannah's husband, Adam Fisher (Tom Everett Scott), struggles to step up for his two sons, Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher. Season 3 also introduces viewers to Taylor's mom, Lucinda Jewel (Kristen Connolly).
If you look just beyond the love triangles, something deeper is going on: The parents are having a coming-of-age story of their own.
The main obstacle facing the parents of Cousins Beach is Belly and Jeremiah's engagement. Now upperclassmen in college with around four years of dating under their belt, the young lovebirds get engaged after Steven's car accident, which for Belly, puts their blowout fight over Jeremiah sleeping with someone else into a new perspective.
"When you lose someone, or almost lose someone, that can change things for you and bring you closer to the people in your life that really matter," Tung previously told TODAY.com.
Before the engagement, audiences find Laurel several years after both Belly and Steven have left for college.
"I think Laurel has had quite the journey from supporting her friend through her illness, and then losing Susannah and grieving in Season 2," Chung tells TODAY.com. "And so I think by the time we've hit Season 3, and time has passed, Laurel is on more, like, steady ground."
"With her kids gone, she has an opportunity to look around and see what's out there, and see what her life can be and look for new relationships," she adds. "There's a lot of potential for Laurel."
When it comes to parenting, she says in Season 2, "Laurel wasn't always the best communicator." That was Susannah's strong suit. Chung says Laurel strives to step up to that task after Susannah's death.
"Laurel is trying really hard to communicate with her kids and Susannah's kids, and just trying to be the best parent she can be," she says. "She doesn't always succeed, and she butts heads with her kids sometimes, but you know, it's all out of love."
After Belly and Jeremiah announce their engagement over dinner in Episode 3, Laurel immediately criticizes the decision and storms out, shutting the meal down before it even begins.
Chung says Laurel's overall goal is to "set them up for success as individuals in their lives and (help them make) good decisions for themselves."
"I think Laurel doesn't always agree with all the decisions," she adds with a laugh. "And she does her best to give her kids space, but when she has an opinion, she expresses it."
Calling Laurel a lifetime member of "Team Belly," Chung says her character "supports her children 100%" but thinks it's still early in Belly's life.
"(Belly) has plenty of years to figure out who she is and who she wants to be with," Chung says. "I think she'd just love for Belly to have a chance to establish that, to find her core and her base."
Adam was also at that fateful dinner in Episode 3. In fact, the engagement announcement came about after he made an underhanded remark about Jeremiah being a "super senior." Belly, wanting to prove that she and Jeremiah are taking their future plans seriously, then reveals they are getting married.
Like Laurel, he calls Jeremiah "irresponsible" and helps shut down the dinner before appetizers hit the table.
Adam has never exactly been father of the year. When Susannah got sick, he was MIA. After she passed, he stayed emotionally checked out, and in Season 2, he refused to help save the family beach house until Laurel pressured him into doing it.
"People say that Adam actually stepped up... but it was really Laurel who kind of forced his hand," Scott tells TODAY.com. "But I love that scene because you see a little crack in Adam. He does get to kind of show that he's hurting and he's missing Susannah."
Scott says in Season 3, his character's relationship with his sons continues to be "rocky."
"He is their only parent now," Scott adds. "He's going to try to do the right things. He just doesn't have the tools. He's not very good at it, being present."
But his ultimate goal is reconciliation, Scott says, adding, "Adam is going to be more involved."
"He's trying to get back together with his sons and trying to make amends with them," he says.
"I know that not a lot of people like the character of Adam and what's been fun for me is playing someone and trying to make them real and trying to give them all these flaws," he continues. "But also I think there is a real guy in there trying.
In Season 3, Steven is notably working at Adam's venture capital firm, Breaker. Scott says through the beach house, Steven is like another son to Adam.
"He sees himself in Steven, and he likes giving him a boost," Scott says. "We're going to have a lot of scenes together."
From her introduction in Season 3, Episode 1, Lucinda Jewel has been chaotic and the show's resident "cool mom."
She notably FaceTimed her daughter in Episode 1 with the blunt warning, "Remember this: Once you've downgraded yourself, there is no going back up, and then you're just a hо."
"They're sort of parent daughter relationship is switched, like Taylor feels more like the parent a bit, which is an interesting dynamic that's funny and presents its own challenges," Spencer tells TODAY.com.
"Being a young adult (is) like, 'How much do I help my mom, versus listen to my heart and what I want to do and leave the nest?'" she adds.
When Taylor comes home for summer break, Lucinda greets her with a freshly cleaned house, a breakup playlist and plans to binge watch "Gilmore Girls." Taylor divulges her boy drama, and in classic TV mom fashion, Lucinda schemes. She calls Steven, pretending to need bookkeeping help, but the plan backfires. Steven finds out Lucinda's salon is bleeding cash and might not last the month.
By the end of the episode, Lucinda crumbles, crying in front of Taylor. Her response seemingly sets the stage for their arc in Season 3: "We'll figure this out together."
While Susannah Fisher may be gone, her presence is felt everywhere.
From the first scene of Season 3, it's clear she's still the emotional center of the show. Her death fractured the core group and sent each parent, and kid, on their own winding path through grief, growth and messy healing.
"She was Laurel's biggest cheerleader and an instigator," Chung says. "The one who throws a party, who says, 'Come on, Laurel, let's dance.'"
Her absence is felt in the quiet moments -- Belly reaching for someone to guide her, Laurel learning how to open up and Adam trying to fill her shoes as a single parent. The memorial garden dedication in her name in Episode 3 brings the whole group back together, and it's her legacy that both unites and complicates them.
Plus, there's a chance we'll continue to see more of Susannah in Season 3. The official X account for "The Summer I Turned Pretty" shared photos of Rachel Blanchard on set, though it was unclear if she filmed scenes for the third season.