Romance enthusiasts are currently reveling in a wave of streaming adaptations, and the series Every Year After presents a faithful on-screen rendition of a cherished scene from Carley Fortune’s debut novel, Every Summer After.
**Heads up! Spoilers for Every Year After are ahead, now available on Prime Video.**
The pivotal moment, appearing about two-thirds into Fortune’s book, is brought to life in the fourth episode of the Prime Video series, aptly named “Anatomy of a Romance.” The scene features Percy (played by Sadie Soverall) and Sam (portrayed by Matt Cornett) enjoying a leisurely summer day in Sam’s room, where he is engrossed in his anatomy studies.
As Lana Del Rey’s “West Coast” sets the mood, Percy, buoyed by her recent triumph of swimming across the lake, feels invincible and decides to take the initiative.
“Picked up any new insights from that book of yours?” she teases. “Care to share, genius?”
Sam is initially hesitant, seemingly at a loss for words. However, Percy knows just what to say to motivate him to take action.
“Guess I’ll have to find some other future doctor to educate me then,” she teases.
That’s when Sam swoops in, starting off by gently holding Percy’s ankle, and moving up to her knee. While Percy ribs Sam for the elementary nature of the body parts he’s identifying, he gradually moves to more advanced—and intimate—material, as he grazes her vastus medialis, or inner thigh. The music slows, becoming just instrumentals. The two gaze into each other’s eyes as he slides over to the vastus lateralis, otherwise known as her outer thigh, and then up to the tensor fasciae latae, a thigh muscle.
“Are you done with the anatomy lesson, or should I keep going?” he asks.
The tension becomes too much for Percy, who grabs Sam and pulls him in for what becomes their first kiss in the series. They break apart only for a moment, holding each other’s faces, as Sam whispers, “Are we doing this?”
Percy replies, “Hell yeah, we’re doing this.”
The scene, which sees the two confront their feelings for each other, features dialogue almost directly lifted from the pages of Fortune’s book (though Sam covers a couple more body parts in Every Summer After). As Soverall told DECIDER that the scene in Every Year After is “almost one to one” with how it plays out in Every Summer After.
Cornett named the scene as one of several “fan-favorite book moments,” assuring DECIDER that “a lot of time and precious energy were put into those.” Even Michael Bradway, who plays Sam’s older brother Charlie in the new series, cited the scene as one fans would go berserk over while chatting with DECIDER.
“I mean, I wasn’t in this scene obviously, but the anatomy scene is something that everyone is talking about and I think people are really gonna love what they did,” he said.
And he was absolutely right. Now it’s just a matter of waiting for a second season to be picked up…
Every Year After Season 1 is streaming on Prime Video.