As the summer comes to a slow conclusion, the shows that have come out over the past few months are making the season feel nostalgic. The new show We Were Liars is short and anything but sweet, with constant twists and turns that incorporate significant themes of teenage struggles and mental health.
It encapsulates the Dark Academia vibe, while sharing close similarities with the hit show The Summer I Turned Pretty (TSITP). Both shows center around a coming-of-age experience, particularly from a girl’s perspective, complicated family dynamics, and even more complicated summer boy issues.
While, TSITP leans more into a soft-lit, nostalgic, and complicated love triangle, We Were Liars (WWL) gravitates toward a gothic, realist world of complications in the entirety of teen life. The complicated family dynamics and concealed grief of both parents and kids dive into a complex theme of mental health, where the beauty of the setting and characters blinds viewers from the unspeakable darkness behind closed doors.
Both are set on a beach, with wealthy parents. These two teen dramas have taken over screens, minds, and hearts everywhere. Not only because of the climaxes in every single episode, but also due to the minor detailing of both shows. WWL follows Cadence Eastman, the granddaughter of a powerful man, raised in old England money, and on top of that part of a highly dysfunctional family.
Following a tragic accident during her 17th summer, and after a hot makeout with the boy across the pond (also known as Gat), she conveniently forgets everything except the fight they had before she lost her memory. However, after forgetting the love of her life, she begins having migraines, and the setting shifts from happy teen girl to ominous curiosity surrounding what happened prior to her accident. At first, when you’re watching We Were Liars, it starts off happily, diving in with a slow-burn romance.
The Summer I Turned Pretty is easier to follow: the bad boy brother, Conrad, and the golden retriever and often cringy Jeremiah, fight over the main character, Belly, who becomes the issue herself by going back and forth between both brothers. Cadence, on the other hand, knows who she wants.
Unlike Belly, she isn’t stuck between two guys and even worse- two brothers. However, Cadence is stuck between what’s real and what she wants to believe, between remembering the truth and protecting herself from it. Her love triangle isn’t obvious. It’s quiet, emotional, and full of pain.
In totality, The Summer I Turned Pretty and We Were Liars remind us that summer love is never just rainbows and sunshine. Sometimes it’s messy or sometimes it’s that situationship you get reminded of. It’s full of twists and turns, just like the two shows, and just like real life. No matter if you’re Team Conrad, Team Jeremiah, or just shocked by both shows, they’re exciting and stay with you. Even when the summer fades and the tan lines disappear, real complicated love always lingers.