This article contains spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2, episode 8, “Love Triangle.”

The Summer I Turned Pretty‘s Christopher Briney reacts to Belly’s (Lola Tung) major choice in the season 2 finale. Across two seasons, The Summer I Turned Pretty has been tracking an intense love triangle between Belly and the Fisher brothers, Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) and Conrad (Briney). The summer Belly turns 16, she finds her friendship with both boys changing into something more serious. While she ended season 1 with Conrad, the pair broke up between seasons, reigniting the love triangle in season 2. By the end of season 2, Belly ultimately chooses to be with Jeremiah.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Briney reacted to Belly choosing Jeremiah at the end of The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2. Briney had a rather positive outlook on the love triangle conclusion, feeling that the characters all ended season 2 where they needed to be, namely Conrad, who’s at a place where he can move on. Check out his statement below:

It feels like, at this point in their lives, the characters are doing what they all feel like they should be doing. Even with Conrad, it’s not necessarily his ideal situation, but he’s making a decision himself to stop fighting and to move on with his life.

Why Does Belly Choose Jeremiah Over Conrad?

While those who read the trilogy of the same name by Jenny Han may have seen Belly’s choice coming in The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2, some may still be wondering why exactly she chose Jeremiah. After all, since season 1, she has only ever declared Conrad as her first crush and true love. However, as the season jumps between the past and present, viewers get a pretty good idea of what went wrong between the pair, as Conrad consistently failed to be honest about his feelings and refused to let Belly in when it came to his struggles with his mother’s cancer.

As a result, he came across as a rather cold and unfeeling partner, leading to the pair breaking up. When the two are thrust together in season 2, though, there’s hope that they’ll make amends. The problem is that Conrad still refuses to acknowledge his feelings, especially in one pivotal moment. Han pointed out that in The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2, episode 6, “Love Fest,” Belly openly admits her feelings for Conrad and what their relationship meant to her. Crushingly, Conrad doesn’t reciprocate her feelings or articulate his desire for their relationship to continue.

From this point onward, Belly shows openness toward Jeremiah’s advances. She could only take so much of Conrad’s detachment, especially when Jeremiah is so honest about loving Belly and wanting to be better for her than Conrad. In the end, Conrad seems hurt about the whole thing, but ready to move on. It’s not necessarily that he’s not the right choice for Belly, but that he’s not the right choice at this time and isn’t ready to give her what she needs in a relationship. Ultimately, The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2 did leave the characters exactly where they’re ready to be at this time.