The Problem Isn’t Belly, It’s That We Lost Access to Her Perspective
I think the way Conrad, Belly, and Jeremiah are perceived by the audience is partially by design. Yes, all three of them behave in frustrating ways, but with Conrad the reasons behind his behavior are usually very clearly explained to the audience so we can empathize with him even when he hurts people. We know he’s dealing with severe anxiety, his dad cheating, and his mom’s terminal illness. The show consistently lets us into Conrad’s emotional experience, so viewers rarely have to guess why he acts the way he does.
In season 1 Belly is very understandable in this way as well. We clearly see why she’s pulled between Conrad and Jeremiah. She wants Conrad, but feels rejected by him, while Jeremiah openly expresses his feelings and gives her reassurance, attention, and excitement. Whether people agreed with her choices or not, emotionally it makes sense.
I also think something that gets lost over time is that Belly has basically loved Conrad her entire life. The audience is supposed to carry that with them throughout the story because it is foundational to the entire show. Even with the flashbacks, though, the emotional depth of those long held feelings can get overshadowed by her real time behavior once she is with Jeremiah. I think the writers intended for the audience to hold onto the idea that Conrad is Belly’s deep, lifelong love even during moments where she doesn’t outwardly seem very concerned with his feelings, especially in season 2 and then again once she escapes to Paris in season 3. The issue is that television relies heavily on what we actively see characters do, not just what we are told to remember emotionally.
That’s why in seasons 2 and 3 it starts to feel like preserving the love triangle takes precedence over Belly as a character. The writers seem to intentionally make her motivations less clear so the audience will genuinely question who she could end up with. But when the audience loses access to a character’s emotional process, they start projecting their own interpretations onto their actions.
So many of us struggle with moments like the Brown scene for that reason. Previously Belly cared deeply about the fact that Conrad and Jeremiah are brothers and understood how complicated that was emotionally. Then suddenly she seems disconnected from Conrad’s feelings entirely, even when he is visibly devastated. There are emotional explanations that make sense, grief, resentment, wanting stability, trying to move on after feeling rejected by Conrad, but the show often leaves viewers to fill in those gaps themselves instead of fully showing Belly’s perspective.
I like all of the characters and do think Belly and Conrad are meant for and good for each other. But I also think the writers sometimes missed opportunities to show more of Belly’s empathy and humanity when it came to Conrad specifically. Because Conrad is such a psychologically fleshed out character, audiences naturally extend him a lot of grace. Belly, meanwhile, becomes harder to read, and I think that’s a big part of why audience perception shifted so much over time.
With Jeremiah, I also think the audience is intentionally given less emotional access to him. We are told about the depth of his bond with Belly and how painful Susannah’s illness was for him, but we don’t experience those emotions with him in the same way we do with Conrad. Conrad’s pain is deeply explored while Jeremiah’s is often summarized. For example Jeremiah’s last scene with Susannah focuses on his resentment toward Conrad and not his grief over losing his mom. Compare that to Susannah’s last scene with Conrad where it is made obvious that he is devastated that he’s going to lose his mom.
I think the original intention was for the audience to always side with Belly, embracing all of her rights and wrongs, while the boys had to prove themselves worthy of her. But over time Conrad became the most emotionally fleshed out character in the story, and instead of viewers asking “Who is right for Belly?” a lot of people started asking, “When is Belly going to prove her love for Conrad?” I’m personally happy just seeing them in a healthy long term relationship in the movie, but I also understand why so many viewers want to see Belly outwardly show the depth of her love for Conrad in the same way the show has consistently shown Conrad’s love for her.