He thought she knew!
This "Painful" 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' Theory Explains A Scene That's Haunted Fans For Years
Chloe Williams serves as B+C’s Entertainment Editor and resident Taylor Swift expert. Whether she’s writing a movie review or interviewing the stars of the latest hit show, Chloe loves exploring why stories inspire us. You can see her work published in BuzzFeed, Coastal Review, and North Beach Sun. When she’s not writing, Chloe’s probably watching a Marvel movie with a cherry coke or texting her sister about the latest celebrity news. Say hi at @thechloewilliams on Insta and @popculturechlo on Twitter!
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Everyone lost it when The Summer I Turned Pretty dropped the first teaser for season 3, featuring "Daylight" and "Red" by Taylor Swift, and a brand new poster. No matter whether you're Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah, no one can get over this show — and one eagle-eyed viewer just threw the fandom into chaos when she figured out the meaning behind one scene that's haunted us since 2023.
Keep reading for this genius theory about Belly and Conrad ahead of The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3.
What does Conrad mean when he says "I thought you knew"?
During season 2, episode 6, Belly and Conrad get into a fight on the beach where Belly tells him she would have fought harder for their relationship if she'd known he loved her, to which Conrad responds (in a moment that has since gone viral), "I thought you knew!"
Some TSITP fans have wondered for years what he meant in that moment, but one viewer finally figured it out. "The 4th of July episode makes it so clear that Belly knew [Conrad loved her], she had figured out the infinity necklace, she just had too many pomegranate margaritas to remember," @bellaaabeanstv says on TikTok. "So the 'I thought you knew' scene makes SO much sense."
"As someone who’s been obsessed since day 1, you just gave that scene so MUCH MORE PAIN," another user commented. "HOW AM I SO SLOW."
"She knew but she didn’t remember 😭," another user said.
Is The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 hinting at Sabrina?
posting as well because the layers to this go CRAZY!!
— maddie 🌊✨ (@MaddieCole_04) April 23, 2025
this the summer i turned pretty poster is literally based off of ‘sabrina’ (1954). not only did they watch it at the drive in in s1, but linus… who is on the left… is who sabrina ends the film with… pic.twitter.com/yBQfez4QgN
Fans immediately noticed that the new TSITP poster references Sabrina, in which the title character is torn between two brothers...and chooses Linus, who isn't kissing her. Plus there's so much to be said about the fact Linus is played by Humphrey Bogart, who also stars in Casablanca.
Casablanca has the famous line "We'll always have Paris," and the tagline for season 3 of TSITP (and the title of book 3) is "We'll always have summer."
And then we have the synopsis for the season, which says Belly's loving life with Jere, "until some core-shaking events bring her first love Conrad back into her life. Now on the brink of adulthood, Belly finds herself at a crossroads and must decide which brother has her heart. Summer will never be the same…"
And one Reddit user totally captures how we're all feeling: "Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod," while another adds, "THIS IS SO GOOD OMG."
That's definitely the vibe after remembering Sabrina has actually been a part of The Summer I Turned Pretty since the very beginning — we know Belly loves old movies, and when she goes on a drive-in movie date with Cam in season 1 episode 2, Sabrina's the movie that's playing!
So it looks like Jenny Han has been teasing Belly's endgame the whole time 👀.
Meet The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 Cast before the new episodes premiere July 16 on Prime Video.
This post has been updated.
