Tanner Zagarino has joined the cast of The Summer I Turned Pretty and, on top of being undeniable eye candy, his character is queer!
The beloved coming-of-age series returned earlier this month on Prime Video with its third and final season, featuring the return of Lola Tung as Belly Conklin, Jackie Chung as Laurel Park, Christopher Briney as Conrad Fisher, Gavin Casalegno as Jeremiah Fisher, and Sean Kaufman as Steven Conklin.
The final 11 episodes follow Belly in her last year of junior college, looking forward to “another summer in Cousins with her soulmate Jeremiah.” However, “core-shaking events” bring her first love, Conrad, back into her life, forcing her to decide which brother holds her heart.
While the ever-complicated love triangle keeps fans on edge, the arrival of a new face — Redbird, played by Zagarino — is causing a stir of its own.
Redbird is introduced as a fellow student at Finch College and Jeremiah’s fraternity brother. Though he initially comes across as a classic frat bro — the playboy and life of the party — it’s soon revealed that Redbird is a queer frat bro.
In episode two — spoilers ahead — Redbird attempts to comfort Jeremiah after a dramatic fallout with Belly, saying: “Oh, you don’t think I know about breakups? I know about breakups. You saw me after Sean.”
@thesummeriturnedprettyYou’re not ready for Redbird♬ original sound – the summer i turned pretty
When Jeremiah responds, “You two were together for two seconds, Redbird,” he shoots back: “[It] felt like something to me.”
As Redbird is straight in the novels on which the series is based, the surprising queering of his character has fans wondering whether he will ultimately end up with Jeremiah, who is openly bisexual.
“Just spent one hour theorising about Redbird/Jeremiah with my cousin and I’ve come to the conclusion that they’re endgame,” one fan wrote on X/Twitter, while another said: “Redbird is in love with Jeremiah, yes? He’s Jere’s date to Belly and Conrad’s wedding, right? That’s the twist ending, right?”
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A third tweeted: “Yall idk Jere and Redbird is giving me more buzz than every Jelly scene so far. I’m clocking in as head Redbird x Jere shipper they WILL be endgame.”
With seven more episodes to go until The Summer I Turned Pretty comes to an end (for good), it’s entirely possible that Belly chooses Conrad, leaving Jeremiah free to find love elsewhere – and who better than a fellow queer frat bro?
The Summer I Turned Pretty airs every Wednesday on Prime Video. The series finale lands on 17 September.
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