It is safe to say that the debate on which Fisher boy is better is a hot topic. Although Isabel, also known as Belly, seems to be stuck between two of her family friends, I believe she should branch out and attempt to find a boy that’s not practically her family. But if she does decide to pick one, the better boy for her is Conrad.

Although many people still believe Jeremiah is better for her, they must have overlooked his bad attributes and only focused on the fact that he is more conventionally attractive.

Although both boys have made mistakes throughout their relationships with Belly, Conrad has better reasons as to why he acted the way he did towards her.

First of all, Conrad was her first love and ever since she was little she has had a crush on him. Jeremiah just happened to come along after their breakup, and I feel that Belly used him as almost a long-term rebound. Even when Belly was in a relationship with Jeremiah, she was still thinking about Conrad, which was very clear in the show.

Susannah Fisher, [the mother of Conrad and Jeremiah] loved that Belly and Conrad were together. She proved that with the note that Jeremiah received accidentally before their attempted marriage.

When Conrad made mistakes with Belly, he was still young and in high school and although he shouldn’t have made those mistakes, he didn’t know much better. When Jeremiah cheated on Belly in season 3, he was much older and knew what he was doing. Although they were technically on a break, he knew that they would get back together. I feel he was doing that to hurt Belly as opposed to Conrad, and he actually forgot unintentionally.

After Conrad and Belly’s breakup, for years Conrad kept trying to get her back and he did not give up on her. After the wedding was canceled, Jeremiah practically gave up and waited for Belly to do something. When she did, he got mad that she didn’t want him back. Conrad is the Fisher brother for Belly.

Molly Kossbiel ’27

Jeremiah and Conrad Fisher have struck lots of controversy about which brother is the better choice for Isabel [Belly] Conklin in “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” Despite the strong ideology that Belly belongs with one of these brothers, I partially believe that she shouldn’t be with either of them. However, Jeremiah has shown that he is not only the better brother due to his stability, clear communication and determination to love her, but that he is also the victim.

In the show’s newest season, Jeremiah was caught in a cheating scandal during his spring break vacation in Cabo, but it’s not that simple. His relationship with Belly had come to a temporary end previous to the incident, so technically it wasn’t cheating. Even if he did cheat, the fight leading to that short break up was fueled by Belly and Conrad’s reconnection during Christmas, and the rekindled love between them. Jeremiah was definitely idiotic for hurting her, but before he did anything wrong, she was emotionally cheating on him with his brother.

When Belly found out what happened over spring break, Jeremiah begged for her forgiveness, which led to their engagement. The connection between Jeremiah and Belly was thriving, but there were still problems underneath the surface that clearly victimized Jeremiah.

Undoubtedly, Conrad is a soulful, protective and caring person within Belly and Jeremiah’s lives, but he is extremely unstable and destructive. Conrad has a long history of acting hot and cold, as well as being emotionally unavailable for Belly. Then, after four years of a happy relationship between Jeremiah and Belly, he shows up before their wedding exclaiming that he loves her. Of course, she told Jeremiah she felt the same, leaving Jeremiah heartbroken. I believe that it wasn’t necessarily on either of the boys; Belly clearly can’t choose which brother she wants, but Jeremiah was the victim. He was devastated worse than anyone after the wedding was called off, and despite his pain, he still told Conrad to “do what you have to do.” This shows that he was mature enough to let them love each other even though he hated the idea of it.

Overall, I think Jeremiah proved himself to be a realistic, resilient and kind boyfriend for Belly, whereas Conrad has been unstable and explosive. Nobody is perfect — especially not in love — but Jeremiah is logically the better Fisher brother.

Anna Fox ’26