‘Sabrina’ Parallels, A ‘Home Alone’ Dance, 473 Meaning, And More

The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 10 helped make up for lost time after viewers felt a bit cheated by Episode 9. The installment gave some storylines a sense of closure and showed long-awaited character growth. Plus, it ended with an exhilarating cliffhanger that will have fans howling until the Season 3 finale, and of course, delivered a new batch of Easter eggs!

Spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 10 ahead.

TSITP Season 3’s penultimate episode, “Last Year,” picks up three months into a homesick Belly’s (Lola Tung) Parisian adventure as she longs spending Thanksgiving with her family. Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) is still recovering from the breakup. And after Adam (Tom Everett Scott) cuts him off and Steven (Sean Kaufman) kicks him off his couch, he gets a restaurant gig and starts crashing with Denise (Isabella Briggs). Meanwhile, after Conrad (Christopher Briney) learns Belly is staying in Paris for Christmas, too, he starts writing her sweet letters.

Belly spends a snowy Christmas in Paris with Benito (Fernando Cattori), while an emotional Jeremiah ditches Christmas in Cousins. Instead, he has a deep chat with Denise, who invites him to spend the holidays with her family. (So, uh, are we getting Jere/Denise endgame after all?!) When Taylor (Rain Spencer) visits Belly in Paris for New Year’s Eve, both Fisher brothers reach out. Jeremiah calls and he and Bells make amends, while Conrad sends Sour Patch Kids, Junior Mint (with infinity necklace), and another letter to Paris. In the spirit of starting new, Belly declares the “end of an era” and kisses Benito (aka “Sexy Latino Chalamet”) at midnight. The two start dating, Belly finds a perfect solo apartment, and she decides to stay in Paris for another year.

As noted in an earlier piece, one of the episode’s meatiest scenes finds Conrad and Jeremiah reuniting at Susannah’s gravesite on the anniversary of her death. They address the Bellyphant in the room, hash out their issues, and Jere gives Conrad the green light to pursue Belly. Naturally, he sends another letter, pours his heart out, and books a flight to Paris, which is where TSITP leaves us…until next time!

Since The Summer I Turned Pretty is such a thoughtfully-crafted love letter to fans, each week until its September 17 finale, Decider will be taking a closer look at each episode and highlighting five moments that deserve to be put under the microscope. Whether they’re blink-and-miss-it details, brilliant Easter eggs, or major scenes that need to be talked through in greater depth, we’re here to obsess over, hypothesize, and dissect the series alongside you. We’re also shouting out a standout needle drop each episode, since the show’s soundtrack absolutely slaps.

From some serious Sabrina references and a Home Alone reference to a precious book nod, more compelling numerology theories, and the deeper meaning behind the final scene, here are five things you may have missed in The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 10, “Last Year.”

1. All The Sabrina Parallels

   If you’ve been with us since the start of Season 3, you know we dove deep into TSITP‘s ties to Sabrina. ICYMI, in Season 3, Episode 2, we saw a poster in Belly’s dorm room for Sabrina, the 1954 film starring Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, and William Holden. Fans know that Belly loves old movies and even watched Sabrina on her drive-in movie date with Cam (David Iacono) in Season 1. But a Sabrina poster was also the inspo behind TSITP‘s Season 3 promo shot, which showed Jere kissing Belly on the cheek as Conrad looked on. For those who don’t know, the movie shows Hepburn’s character, Sabrina, in a love triangle with two brothers. It also shows her heading to Paris to find herself, then later returning with her chosen brother. Sound familiar?! Ahead of Episode 10, fans assumed the references and parallels to the film were teasing TSITP‘s endgame, which, based on the poster formatting alone, would be Conrad. But Jenny took the Sabrina references to a whole other level in the penultimate episode, essentially securing a Bonrad endgame.

   While Belly and Taylor are talking about the Fisher boys at Belly’s New Year’s Eve party, a framed Sabrina poster is on the wall behind them and later appears in a scene when Belly is moving. On the phone, Belly tells her mom her new apartment “has a view of the Sacré-Coeur. Just like in Sabrina.” And the scene where Belly is writing a letter to Conrad is an incredibly cinematic parallel to a scene of Sabrina writing a letter of her own, also sitting on a desk, beside a lamp, with doors open and the same iconic view behind her. We think we’ve seen this film before, and we DID like the ending!

2. While Belly and Conrad may not have been together on Christmas in Season 3, Episode 10, “Last Year” still found a way to call back to their Christmas in Cousins that changed everything. In Episode 310, Belly says she has big plans to spend Christmas eve on her own, and as we learn, those plans include dancing alone to Brenda Lee’s classic holiday hit, “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree.” If the scene looks familiar, it’s a reference to Home Alone (song and all!), the movie Belly was memorably watching to celebrate the holidays when Conrad arrived at the beach house. “What would Kevin do?!” He would bust a move to some festive tunes!

3. Conrad Keeping Belly’s Letter In His Wallet Is A Nod To The Book

   When Belly does finally reply to Conrad’s letters, Conrad keeps the postcard folded up in his wallet. In the show, the reveal is a sweet sign of how much her words, and the fact that she replied at all, mean to him. But the scene in Episode 310 is also a nod to the final paragraph of TSITP‘s third and final book. Warning We’ll Always Have Summer ending spoilers below, so if you don’t want any idea of how the book ends, skip to Easter egg #4…

   After Book 3 shares the text of Belly’s letter to Conrad, Belly explains, “For years he kept it in his wallet, soft and creased into a million little folds. He said it kept him going. Kept him hoping. He said he wanted to keep it with him always, but I said we should keep the letters together, where they belong…” BRB, sobbing!

4. A Deep Dive Into Episode 10 Numerology

   Since we’ve examined everything from times on clocks to gate numbers this season, we feel it’s our civic duty to put our Taylor Swift thinking caps on and explore the numerology and Angel Number potential in Season 3, Episode 10. Conrad’s flight to Paris leaves at 10:45 p.m., and 1045 is believed to symbolize “a message from your angels and the Universe to begin working on creating your own destiny, using your unique abilities, and building a strong foundation for your future.” Sounds like our guy, am I right?!

   Next up? $473, the very specific fare difference Conrad is charged to switch his flight. As a whole, 473 is reportedly associated with twin flames, goals, the presence of angels, and trusting one’s inner self and the path ahead. But added together, 4+7+3 = 14, and since the number 14 also appears on a wall in front of Conrad in the ticket scene, some fans wonder if it could be foreshadowing Belly and Conrad’s beloved Valentine’s Day flashback from the books, though that seems like a bit more of a reach.

   Next up, I’m unfortunately here to debunk another wild numerical-adjacent theory! While it is very out there, I’d be remiss if I didn’t admit to clocking it instantly myself. When Belly’s moving into her new apartment, fans quickly noticed “A12” on marked in red on her moving boxes. Considering Taylor Swift posted a video with “A12” in the background back in 2024, then announced A12th album, hopeful fans were wondering if Han could have a surprise 12th episode in store, but alas, it seems that’s just how certain boxes are labeled!

5. The Layered Meaning Behind Belly’s Haircut

   While Conrad’s on a flight to Paris, we see Belly prepping for her birthday dinner by heading to the hair salon for a cut. When the hairdresser asks if she’s sure she wants a chop, she says yes and adds, “I’m ready for something new this summer.” While the haircut will undoubtedly help usher in a new era of Belly’s life, it also powerfully signifies the end of a past era. The cut comes after Jeremiah let Belly go, then gave Conrad his blessing to pursue her, and the fact that Jere said, “Don’t ever cut your hair, okay?” to Belly in Season 1 suggests this cut is a significant step towards letting him go and finding who she is without him.

   Let’s also take a moment to acknowledge that Belly and Conrad are about to reunite in THE SUMMER for HER BIRTHDAY in PARIS. That’s certainly something new, too!

6. The “No Shoes” Household Parallel

   We know, we know, it’s supposed to be five things you may have missed and a winning needle drop! But this Belly and Conrad parallel was too cute to ignore! Foreshadowing their own shared no shoes home, perhaps?! We can only hope!

Episode 10’s Winning Needle Drop: “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles

“Last Year” feature two of my favorite Taylor Swift songs (“I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” and “the 1”), plus bangers like “Murder on the Dancefloor” and a moving music moment for Bleachers’ “Isimo,” but Harry Styles “Sign of the Times” perfectly closed the episode, welcoming viewers to “the final show” (AKA the finale/Bonrad engame?!) as both Belly and Conrad took major steps forward. As Harry sang, “Remember everything will be alright.
We can meet again somewhere. Somewhere far away from here,” and folks, they’re LITERALLY ABOUT TO. It’s! A! Sign! Of! The! Times!

New episodes of The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 premiere Wednesdays on Prime Video.