Like many teen dramas before it, The Summer I Turned Pretty knows the power of underscoring every beat of adolescent angst with the perfect gut punch of a needle drop. And much like Manhattan is the unofficial fifth lead of Sex and the City, Taylor Swift’s discography may as well be a main character in the Prime Video juggernaut.
During one iconic moment from the show’s third and final season—which came to an end on September 17—Belly (Lola Tung) and Conrad (Christopher Briney) nearly kiss as she helps clean him up after a surfing accident. Amid thumping heartbeats, heavy sighs, and no shortage of sexual tension, Swift’s “False God” begins playing—the very same song that soundtracked their first almost-kiss in season one. During the golden age of TikTok fan edits, the reprisal read as an in-universe wink to The Summer I Turned Pretty’s fans, who have received its soundtrack with nearly the same fervor as its central love triangle.
