Prime Video's Every Year After hides a dark secret that was the main reason Percy (Sadie Soverall) decided to leave everything behind in Barry's Bay, and it's tied to something she did with Sam's brother, Charlie (Michael Bradway). The latest romance drama series on Prime Video, which some deem the streamer's The Summer I Turned Pretty replacement, follows the story of Percy and Sam, who started out as childhood friends before falling in love as they spent their summers together in Barry's Bay.
As the series unfolded across dual timelines, intimate flashbacks from 2011 to 2016 and the emotional present day, Every Year After revealed that Percy and Sam's summer romance ended in heartbreak. After their breakup, a devastated Percy abruptly fled Barry's Bay and cut off all contact with Sam for an entire decade. Percy's sudden disappearance became the show's central mystery.
Every Year After is based on Carley Fortune's bestselling 2022 novel, Every Summer After.
Why Percy Leaves In Every Year After, Explained By Prime Series Finale & Book
Percy's disappearance ties directly to one regrettable decision involving Sam's brother, Charlie. As it turns out, in the finale, it is revealed that after a painful breakup with Sam, a heartbroken and vulnerable Percy had a one-night hookup with Charlie when she was 17. This betrayal (sleeping with her ex's older brother) hit so hard that it became the shattering reason she fled. At that time, she couldn't face Sam with the truth at the time, so she completely rejected his attempts to reconcile and disappeared.
Fast forward to the present day, Percy returned to Barry's Bay after the death of Charlie and Sam's mother, Sue (who also served as Percy's adoptive mother while she spent her summers near them). The funeral forces her to confront the past, including unresolved feelings for Sam, family secrets, and her dark secret with Charlie.
In both Carley Fortune's novel Every Summer After and the Prime Video series, Percy and Charlie hooked up once in the aftermath of her breakup with Sam. What sets the two versions apart is how (and when) Sam discovered the truth.
In the book, Sam already carried a vague suspicion about what had happened between Percy and his older brother. It was Charlie who eventually confessed the full details to Sam months after the incident, during a painful Christmas break conversation. Charlie also told their mother, Sue. By the time Percy returned for Sue's funeral, more than a decade later, and tried to come clean, Sam had already known for years and had digested the information. But still, it added layers of quiet resentment and unresolved pain to their reunion.
Prime Video's Every Year After completely changed the revelation. In Episode 5's shocking ending, instead of Charlie, Percy finally came clean to Sam about what happened right after he called off his relationship with Taylor and professed his desire to be with her again. Sam's reaction to the news unfolded in real time. As it turned out, Percy and Charlie kept their one-night betrayal a closely guarded secret for over a decade.
After Sam learned the devastating truth for the first time, Episode 6 chronicled his raw and immediate heartbreak, ultimately leading to an explosive confrontation where a drunk Sam punched Charlie.
This change was a good thing for the series because it heightened the emotional stakes, avoiding the anticlimactic reveal in the book. Instead of long-buried knowledge, Sam's frustration in real time made the second-chance romance between him and Percy even more fraught and uncertain by the finale.
So Why Did Percy Sleep With Charlie?
Percy slept with Charlie in Every Year After due to a variety of reasons tied to heartbreak, insecurity, alcohol, and impulsive teenage vulnerability. The penultimate episode of the romance drama series laid the groundwork for how and why it happened during their final summer together as teenagers (right before college).
Sam was accepted into a prestigious pre-med program away from Barry's Bay. He became distant, overwhelmed, and emotionally unavailable. Sam eventually broke up with Percy. For Percy, it felt like Sam was choosing his ambitions over her and abandoning the deep connection they had built since childhood.
Percy went to Charlie after Sam broke up with her, and they bonded overnight. It's worth noting that, in both the book and the novel, Charlie genuinely cared for Percy and harbored unspoken feelings for years. Charlie's efforts to cheer up Percy made her realize, in the book, that "he'd so obviously been paying attention to [her all this time]."
Charlie and Percy's one-night stand was portrayed as impulsive rather than a long-planned affair (similar to the reason Belly and Jeremiah broke up for the first time in The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3). Percy was in a state of wanting to be wanted, while Charlie's deep feelings for her emerged that same night.
In both the book and the series, Percy and Charlie's mistake served as the emotional core, born out of feeling unloved and abandoned, that shatters everything.
