It was more than just another teen drama because, in addition to its lived-in, believable characters, it had an undercurrent of fear and potential loss. That fear becomes reality and bursts to the surface in season two, which isn’t letting you escape anywhere. But it somehow holds space for both grief and joy, and that feels even better.

The frothiness of the first season is replaced by real grief and adult emotions, but it’s a welcome change in Belly’s journey to adulthood.

By allowing all of the cringe, all of the hope, all of the tears and beach runs with blaring soundtracks, The Summer I Turned Pretty drags people in with the promise of a desperate love triangle, but eventually delivers a bittersweet reflection on maturity and desire — one that feels like it could be watched again and again.

Season 2 of The Summer I Turned Pretty is at its best when it sticks to the teen characters.

It’s not the summer show we all grasped hungrily at in our romance-starved grips last year. It’s more of wave-after-wave of angst, grief, and fighting, with happy moments too few and far between to make watching Season 2 nearly as enjoyable as the first.

Because the source material’s appeal is so lasting, the series had the chance to resonate with adults too—unfortunately, by Season 2, it seems to have squandered that potential.