The emotional season two finale of Prime Video’s The Summer I Turned Pretty definitely hurt to watch — but it was especially painful if you’re Team Conrad, and even more so if you’re a Swiftie.
Two of the most devastating songs in the Taylor Swift canon were used in Thursday night’s (Aug. 17) season closer — Folklore‘s Bon Iver collaboration “Exile” and Midnights deluxe track “Bigger Than The Whole Sky”– making moments where leading lady Belly breaks Conrad’s heart or says goodbye to a dying Susannah all the more gut-wrenching. And while the episode definitely had its fair share of happy moments (particularly for Jeremiah supporters, iykyk), one of the only things fans could talk about afterward was the evil genius of using Swift’s songs so strategically.
The use of “Exile” was a particular standout, simply because of how perfectly it described the scene at hand. Belly, played by Lola Tung, ends things for good with her ex-boyfriend, Chris Briney’s Conrad, and instead chooses to be with his brother Jeremiah, portrayed by Gavin Casalegno. Belly and Conrad’s main issue as a couple was their inability to communicate or fully understand each other, as reflected in each word of “Exile”: “I never learned to read your mind (never learned to read my mind)/ I couldn’t turn things around (you never turned things around)/ ‘Cause you never gave a warning sign (I gave so many signs).”
“actually footage of me when exile started playing in the summer I turned pretty,” tweeted one fan, sharing a video of someone literally plunging a knife into their TV screen.
“THEY DID NOT PUT ‘bigger than the whole sky’ OVER THAT SCENE,” wrote another, referencing the moment in the episode when Belly visits her unofficial second mom Susannah, played by Rachel Blanchard, for the last time shortly before Susannah passes away from cancer.
In the song, Swift describes a loss that’s just as indescribable and hard to process as Belly’s loss of her close family friend: “Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye/ You were bigger than the whole sky/ You were more than just a short time.”
This is far from the first time The Summer I Turned Pretty music supervisors have used Swift’s discography this season; in fact, the “Anti-Hero” singer’s music has been featured heavily throughout both installments of the show, which is based on Jenny Han’s novels of the same name. Tracks like “Lover,” “False God” and “The Way I Loved You (Taylor’s Version)” were included in the series’ debut season, while season two has boasted “august,” “Back to December (Taylor’s Version),” “Snow On The Beach,” “Sweet Nothing,” “Last Kiss (Taylor’s Version),” “Delicate,” “This Love” and more.
Luckily, fans have some time to recover before the next season of The Summer I Turned Pretty arrives, almost inevitably bringing with it more sad, beautiful, tragic Swift synch placements. The show was officially renewed for a third season, though work on the next chapter won’t begin until the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes are resolved.
See the best reactions to The Summer I Turned Pretty‘s double Swift knockout below:
