Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah? The summer we obsessed over a teen love triangle

The iconic trio — Tina, Rahul and Anjali from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

That seems to be the defining word: Obsession. Every few years, along comes a show that takes over everyone’s imagination. In The Summer I…, Belly has grown up with Conrad and Jeremiah, both sons of her mother’s best friend, spending each summer in their summerhouse in a quaint seaside suburb called Cousins. She loves brooding Conrad, who loves her back, but never can quite express it, and their romance often feels caught up in bad timing. Belly can’t take the constant yo-yo, and opts for Jeremiah. Drama ensues, and Season 3 is about Belly and Jeremiah’s wedding, and Conrad finally trying to break up the wedding with his heart wrenching declarations of love. Will Belly and Conrad end up together — we have three more episodes to find out.

But the show’s popularity has forced us to ask: Why is a teen love story making us cry and hold our hearts? When the teen drama first aired in 2022, it didn’t become an instant hit. But as the drama around the love triangle unfolded, audiences hooked on to it. “These shows are an easy watch, there is no investment of energy,” says Reem Iqbal, 35, a marketing professional. “I am also rewatching Never Have I Ever — it’s my white noise,” she adds. Chanchlani watches Gossip Girl and Gilmore Girls when things get overwhelming. “Anytime I feel like I’m doing too much adulting, I go back to these,” she says. 

A still from the popular teen show My Life With The Walter Boys. PIC/PINTEREST@Placesafe

Chanchlani also points out to the music used in season three of The Summer I Turned Pretty. “Jenny Han has used some iconic songs. This season for me is all about Ariana Grande’s I wish I hated you. I have been listening to the song on loop now. In episode eight, I caught a bit of U2, and then of course, there’s Taylor Swift,” she says. Han, who is also showrunner, has used the pop star’s music and lyrics to drive the point home.

The West may have given us ample content with love triangles, including One Tree Hill, Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, The OC, and more. But so has Bollywood. Who can forget the iconic Rahul-Tina-Anjali equation of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai or Rahul-Nisha-Pooja from Dil Toh Pagal Hai? Perhaps that has influenced the content we watch today, especially millennials. “Growing up on Bollywood romances where love triangles were the big emotional hook, I think I naturally leaned into shows with similar arcs. That mix of romance, drama, and friendship just feels very familiar,” says Leisha Patidar, 23, a content creator.

Ishita Sengupta, Nikhil Kamath and Muskan Chanchlani

But why would adults be interested in shows meant for teens? Audiences say, its nostalgia. “It takes you back to your teen years. Most of these shows have a similar theme. It’s usually teen romance, and coming of age stories. Besides, who doesn’t enjoy the drama of a love triangle?” says Iqbal. Radhika Sanghvi, 25, an independent social media marketer says, “I think we all want to feel that in our lives too… that we are part of that love triangle, but without the drama of it in real life. That pining and the character’s journey, all keep us invested.”

For many, teen dramas offer the space to live out a fantasy. The simplistic nature of teen relationships gives viewers comfort, and an escape from their adult relationships, which often come with complexities. Deeksha Athwani, clinical psychologist at Fortis Hospital, Mulund, says, “Teen dramas capture overwhelming, intense emotions about teen years. It’s about the first kiss, first love, or first heartbreak. Adults feel nostalgic, and it’s exciting to relive that through characters on screen. Adult relationships, in comparison, are too complicated. So, it’s about comfort versus complexities.”

What do teens have to say about adults watching drams meant for them? “Most of us watch these shows in the living room,” says Azeeza Reshamvala, 17, a student, “So, we are often watching it with our parents. I watch The Summer I Turned Pretty with my mom. I think, for her, it’s probably a story she has not experienced in her teens,” she adds, explaining that for many parents, teen shows are a way to live vicariously. Reshamvala adds that while she may discuss and dissect the show with her friends, she’s glad her parents watch the episodes with her too. “I think it helps them understand what we are thinking.”

Rahul Desai, Leisha Patidar and Muskan Rawat

These triangles are often added for effect, entertainment, and to add a bit of conflict to the story. As most love triangles are not very realistic, the fantasy draws in the audience while the drama that unfolds keeps things spicy. “At some point, I do feel that a love triangle with two brothers is a bit messed up,” says Rawat, also pointing out to the storyline of My Life With The Walter Boys. “But, it’s my guilty pleasure, a quick escape from my problems,” she says.  

Mumbai-based film critic Ishita Sengupta explains why such stories are popular, and says, “A love triangle offers more tools for character development. The space for narrative levity like confusion, happenstance, and tension gets more streamlined when only two people are involved.” 

In Bollywood, though, we have largely seen love triangles where the choice is far more clearer. We know whom to root for. And, manipulation is used to steer audiences. “Manipulation happens on a writing level. Bollywood films tend to lean on certain stereotypes to show who the right choice is. It’s more simplistic writing where the stakes are low. The story is not about whom the protagonist chooses — the choice is obvious. The story then becomes about how they arrive at it, the journey of how they end up together,” says Sengupta. 

But love triangles could also be an opportunity for filmmakers to explore dimensions of love. Rahul Desai, a Mumbai-based film critic, says,  “Love triangles are used as a device to make moral complexities more accessible,” adding that ambiguity is the crux of it but Indian cinema tends to use it to simplify themes, and the plot ends up being a commentary on what an ideal partner is culturally. “In India, we go to movies for answers, not to think,” he says. But Desai believes that love triangles now feel more relatable. “They are more accessible and life-like now. A love triangle is no longer a fantasy or fictional anymore,” he says, adding that the current audience is watching teen shows out of curiosity, and not simple nostalgia. 

For The Summer I…, social media has played a big part in its popularity. The young generation is quick to create memes and video edits about the shows, which helps increase awareness. For many fans, the dissection of episodes adds to the entertainment. “Sometimes you don’t notice small details while watching, but then you see an edit or a thread and suddenly you’re like, ‘Wait, they’re actually right!’ It definitely shapes how you view characters,” says Patidar. 

But not everybody is a fan. Author Nikhil Kamath, 29, says he only began watching The Summer I Turned Pretty because the Reels connected to the show kept popping up on his Instagram feed. “I came to know it’s a series based on books by Jenny Han, so I decided to watch it. But I quickly felt annoyed with the characters. As a viewer, it felt like there was too much conflict,” he says, explaining that the characters go through things that are too big for teens to deal with. The two brothers in the show deal with the death of their mother, are exposed to their father’s infidelity, have to fight the sale of their summer house, and more — all while being in love with same girl. “Every good story needs conflict, but this show has too much,” he says.

Why my 43-year-old heart beats for Conrad

I have dealt with guilt and shame the last few weeks — that’s because I am in love with a 23-year-old fictional character from a teen TV show. Conrad Fisher is yummy — as Taylor Swift’s song Wildest Dreams says: “He’s so tall and handsome as hell, He’s so bad, but he does it so well”.

Well, that’s just for starters. Why I like Conrad more is his attention to detail. Along with being impossibly beautiful, he pays attention to details — he knows Belly so well, and he uses that information to make life easier for her. He cares about her tears, and that says a lot. He would rather hurt himself, than see her cry. Oh Conrad, make more men like you. He reminds you of that first boyfriend or first crush, when things were easier — and putting love over everything else was not a chore. Conrad wants to be a doctor, but he wants to be with Belly more. Because he knows, if he has Belly by his side, it will all be better.

Yes, he has been indecisive and so caught up in his emotions that he hurt Belly because of his inconstancies. But hey, he is only 23, and we have seen many make the same mistakes even at 40 — an age where we should have matured. Conrad goes for therapy to deal with his mother’s loss and to learn how to be a better man — I liked that part of the show as well. 

So yes, I have felt a slight bit of embarrassment for pining for Conrad at 43, as much as he pines for Belly at 23, but it’s all good. For an hour every week, I, and many women out there get to feel what Belly feels — an all-consuming love, like it can only be when we are 23. And it’s a rush. Team Conrad all the way.

- Aastha Atray Banan

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