Conrad – Lily Kopp

From the second we saw Conrad Fisher slow-motion walking toward Belly to Taylor Swift’s “Lover,” with the sun shining on him, his crooked smile, and his puppy dog eyes, it was over. 

Yes, season one Conrad wasn’t the most exemplary man; however, he was dealing with a lot at just 17 years old. He discovered his mom’s cancer had returned, and his dad cheated during her first cancer treatment; all information he thought was best to hide to protect both Jeremiah and the Conklin siblings. 

Even though he made some mistakes, as all the characters did, he always owned up to them and apologized for his behavior. As he said in a recent episode, “We were kids, we weren’t trying to hurt each other.”

Throughout the show, we see Conrad’s love shining brightly, through a series of flashbacks and actions that our unreliable narrator, Belly, often dismisses as random acts of kindness.

For example, Conrad remembers all of the little things about Belly and acts on those memories. 

He bought her the glass unicorn, he won her Junior Mint the bear, he sent her Sour Patch Kids, he made her dirt bomb muffins, he gave up smoking for her, he bought her the infinity necklace, he always remembered her birthday, and he remembered their conversation from her first day at the summer house nearly five years prior. 

Honestly, the list could continue for pages and pages, and Belly remembers basically everything about Conrad, too, except his allergy to peaches.

In the second season, we see Conrad give up everything for Belly and Jeremiah. He realizes that his brother wants Belly, so he steps to the side, even though it completely broke him. He moved away and gave them their happy ending because, for Conrad, it wasn’t about winning Belly, it was about making her happy.

By season three, Conrad might just be the perfect man ever. He has his life together; he’s gone to therapy, he’s in medical school at his dream university, he has new friends, and he’s playing football again. Despite all of the changes, he still knows he loves Belly.

And yet, he still helped Belly plan her wedding to Jeremiah, taking her shopping, fixing up the house, and convincing her mom to play an active role in the wedding.

After it all, through their forced time together, we see Conrad and Belly’s chemistry and how they look at each other with so much love. In the finale, we see how happy – and enjoyable – Jeremiah is without Belly and not competing with Conrad. 

Even though Jeremiah was a strong contender, in the wise words of Lola Tung, the actress who plays Belly, “His con is that he’s not Conrad.”

Jeremiah – Kyrsten White

As soon as Jeremiah Fisher appeared on screen with his bright smile and silly personality, everyone knew they were in for a treat. 

From the start of season one, Jeremiah was known for his cheerful disposition and charm. His simply being a regularly goofy 16-year-old at the start of the show led to him quickly becoming a fan favorite. At the time, he did not have much competition when compared to the then-gloomy Conrad.

Throughout the show, Jeremiah was known for treating Belly as best as he could — aside from the cheating scandal, of course. He was always there for her whenever he had the ability to be. Even when the pair were not together, he managed to be an open space for her to come to. 

While he might have had some bad moments here and there, so did everyone else. Most of the internet refuses to acknowledge that he was as respectful as he could be when Conrad was dating Belly. Sure, he was jealous, but Jeremiah did not act on his urges while the couple was together.

It also is not like Jeremiah immediately went after Belly the second she and Conrad split. He wanted to, but he waited until his brother said it was okay. Everyone always talks about how much better Conrad is for respecting Jeremiah and Belly’s relationship, but they never acknowledge when the situation was the other way around. 

Jeremiah might not have been the best person during season three, but there are still moments showing him trying his hardest. Although there was the cheating issue and his odd proposal timing, it is clear he actually wants to marry Belly.

When Belly’s mom first said she refused to attend the wedding, Jeremiah rushed to show up at her door with gifts to win her over. Though he was annoyed about moving the location of the wedding, Jeremiah was excited to tell Belly his dad would fund it, allowing them the ability to get everything they could not before. 

There are plenty of times throughout all three seasons where both brothers struggle, but Jeremiah is always held more accountable by the audience than Conrad for his mistakes. Jeremiah might not be the best person for Belly, but their relationship was longer than any of the ones she had with Conrad.

After being together for four years, the argument that Belly should be with Conrad instead does not make sense. Maybe there were a few rough patches that Jeremiah and Belly went through, but every couple goes through those, minus the cheating scandal usually. 

If Conrad had never come back to Cousins from California, Jeremiah and Belly would have lived a long and happy life together.