Nineties Babies Nostalgia

the sex lives of college girls season 3: could it get any more gay?

• Jessica Forrester & Amanda Moore • Season 4 • Episode 3

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We're yapping all things season 3 of The Sex Lives of College Girls, including cliffhangers, arcs, new characters, send offs, protests, coming out, musicals, and partner tests And because we thought Bela, Kimberly, and Whitney would approve (we miss you Leighton), we're having a pizza party. And in true sitcom-style luck, all of this audio was recorded from a laptop microphone that was closer to the food than it was us. Enjoy the chaos!!

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Get home from school turn on my TV, who are these friends staring right back at me, now that we're older - 

Why is this so weird in person? I know but I love it. Hi, I'm Amanda. And I'm Jessica. And this is 90's Babies Nostalgia, where a couple of 90's babies really screwed up their system for how we're recording. And also we like talking about TV. Just to be clear, we are not sponsored by or affiliated with any of the TV shows, channels, production companies that we talk about. We just really love talking about TV. And today we're talking about the Sex lives of college girls. Season three. We um we're together. Yeah, we're together. We're recording in person. We meant to have two mics. One of them broke. We're also having a pizza party. We're just gonna go with it. We're gonna make it work. Hopefully it's an exciting one for you since we are together and this is a fun show. And if this is completely unusable, then you'll never know.

And that's totally fine. It's true. All right. If you did not know sex lives of college girls is a series created and executive produced by Justin Noble and Mindy Kaling. Season one premiered November 18th, 2021, followed by season two, just about a year later on November 17th, 2022. And it followed the lives of Kimberly, Bela, Whitney, and Leighton. which were four freshmen college students at Essex College through their freshman year. And then season three aired November 21st, 2024 and just wrapped up the season at the end of January 2025. They've kind of filmed different areas. Season one was filmed at Vassar College. Season two was filmed at University of Washington, Seattle campus and UCLA. And then I think season three was also a combination. Yeah, I think so.

The series was nominated for Outstanding New TV Series for the GLAAD Media Awards, as well as it's set to be awarded the Seal of Female Empowerment and Entertainment by the Women's Committee of the Critics' Choice Association.

On our cast list, we have our main, our main people. If you don't know, if you've never seen this show before, first of all, go watch the show. Second of all, you might want a real recap of seasons one and two because we're not actually talking about that. We're just talking about season three. We're assuming that you've seen them already. So we have Kimberly Finkel. the ugliest name you've ever heard that's the point played by Miss Pauline Chalamet who as of recording this is 33 years old that's right she was 30 when this started we also have Bela I don't know what her last name is sorry to that woman it wasn't on the wiki played by Amrit Kaur who is 31 Oh, and I guess, yeah, the point of Kimberly is she is the dumb, ah weird the weird, not the dumb, she's the weird, she's the kooky one from the Midwest who's not adjusted to to to college life at all. Yeah, and came from a very poor background. Yes, that is important. Bela is a South Asian American who really just wants to do comedy and is very sex positive, but her parents want her to be a doctor. Whitney, Don't know her last name either. Her mom's a senator, played by Aaliyah Chanel Scott, 27. She's the soccer jock. That's about it. And this season we say goodbye to Leighton Meester. Not Meester, baby. Leighton Meester is an actress.

Leighton Murray. mur Murray. It is Murray. Who was played by Renee Rapp who is 25.
 
A couple new season ads to season three is we bring in a new roommate, Kacey. who was played by Gracie Lawrence. She's 27. She's kind of like the religious, sheltered... She's the Southern pageant girl. Yeah, yes, yes. Southern pageant girl. And then we also bring in a recurring, pretty significant side character, Taylor. That's played by Mia Rogers, who's 24 at the time of recording. And Taylor is a freshman who's coming in, living in the same dorms as them, that Bela kind of takes under her wing. She's like the troubled lesbian. She's British, she's very gay, she's very cool. Yeah. 

As we kind of touched on already, season three follows the roommates at the start of their sophomore year back at Essex. And we kind of left off at like huge season two cliffhangers.

Whitney and Kimberly at the end of season two have big attention because of Canaan. And so at the beginning of season three, They are not living together. Whitney has decided to live in the Kappa House. Whitney and Kimberly are not speaking. And they kind of want to be friends again. And we eventually get to that point in this season.

i have to ask because there were a few season two cliffhangers and this was undoubtedly the biggest one right is that Kimberly at the end of season two decides she really likes Canaan and they kiss. Whitney sees but they don't see her seeing them so then later Whitney asks did you kiss him or no did anything happen and Kimberly says no What did you think was going to happen with this storyline? like, did you have thoughts about this resolution?

I feel like we'll get more into the resolution as the season continues, but I think in general, the fight makes sense. Did you like Kimberly and Canaan at all? No.

And so many people in the comments were pro Kimberly Canaan. Really? Oh yeah I saw so many comments that were like loved him with Kimberly and I was like there's no connection where Whitney and Canaan have like an amazing connection. You want to see them be romantic towards one another on screen and you just don't get that with Kimberly. I get why the writers wrote it in because it created drama. I guess the resolution I was happy with, it created a nice friendship moment that I feel like has forever bonded Kimberly and whitney and like something like that won't happen again between them. What are your thoughts?

Boo.

Okay. Yeah. Okay. The first time that I watched season two, I it was not a fan of Kimberly and Canaan at all. The second time that I watched it, because I rewatched seasons one and two before season three, I actually kind of got it because they do have very similar backgrounds and values yeah and like mindsets about life and so it was this whole lead up we have established that Kimberly is just like into a hot body and Canaan has one and then she realizes that he also is like very smart and has good morals and that's why she likes him so it's one of the only many times we've seen her attracted to someone for their personality

I also, controversially, don't think that it's that bad to kiss your friend's ex. I'm so sorry. I know it's controversial. I think it's bad to lie about it. okay okay I think it's bad to lie about it. And to be fair, that is also the main reason that Whitney is mad. And I know that in interviews, Aaliyah and Pauline have talked about like the majority of the stuff they just shoot, like just shooting what was on the paper for the most part. They know like what it's gonna look like. But Aaliyah felt very particular about this scene because just saying sorry and like the resolution didn't feel like enough. like She wouldn't accept what had been written. And so this was one of the only ones that they've ever like workshopped the day of filming. It took them the longest to film because it was her and Pauline and the writers figuring out what actually felt like a genuine apology.

yeah they lock each other in the closet, which is fun. Bela locks them. Yeah, Bela locks them in the closet. It's like, you guys need to freaking figure this out because we all need to be roommates again.

Well, my other question of the season two cliffhangers is Bela wants to transfer schools at the end of season two because she blew up her whole life. She made the fake female Catullan. and then was awful and they kicked her out. And so she, and she cheated on her boyfriend. And so she goes to the office and says, I want to transfer schools. And that's how her story ends in season two. And we never hear a word about it since. That's not true.

What do we hear when it when the season opens up the first time we see Bela, she's in the she like just left the office. I think it might actually be the first shot of the season, if not the one of Leighton in the car with Alicia. I think this I think this might be first because Bela leaves the office and then like a school administrator immediately follows her out and is like,

I don't know why they said you might have a chance. You have a 1.8 GPA. I've never seen a GPA that low before. There's no way you can transfer schools. And then I think we get the summer shots in the car and they're like coming back to school.

That makes sense. I feel like it's lazy writing. Oh. Obviously Bela was never gonna leave. Obviously Kimberly and Canaan couldn't stay together because no one actually wanted them to be together except for, I don't know, whoever the fvck got that in the script the first time. However... The commenters want them together.

no one in my life wants them together. It's lazy writing to put these massive cliffhangers and then they're just immediately resolved by the simplest solutions. There's no big feelings involved. What was the point? I feel like there is big feelings involved with the Kimberly and Whitney one.

Because she's in a different place. We don't get the resolution until the end of episode two, maybe the beginning of episode three. We don't get any resolution in episode one. No, I think it's episode one. Because it's before Leighton leaves. Which is episode two. So I think we get it in episode... I think...no, but Whitney moves in before Leighton leaves because she's like, why do you need five boxes of shin guards? So we get it at the end of episode one. Oh yeah, that is kind of soon. but they didn't talk all summer. I don't know. I guess I kind of understand including that because they wanted to stir at the pot and it's like Canaan and Kimberly work together. So this was their way of stirring the pot. The Bela asking to transfer schools is kind of silly because they don't really give us much of that. I didn't even remember.

Next up with big season three arcs. So that was kind of like season two, season three transition. Big season three arcs, which if you're watching the show, you know we have to talk about it, is Leighton and Alicia leaving for Boston and Leighton's goodbye scene. We get Leighton leaving because Alicia gets a really great opportunity to work for a politician.

I think the mayor of Boston. Yeah and like could not say no which really really upsets Leighton but also like Leighton has a good friend group at Essex, but isn't necessarily like happy education wise. She's really, really good at math and they just like cannot offer her the math classes that she needs. So her professor puts in a transfer to MIT, which she gets. And it's like, how do you say no to MIT? And we get this very, very beautiful, do you wanna, before we get to the goodbye scene, do you wanna touch on anything else with that?

Well, since we're going to go over the like beautiful goodbye scene, let's talk about the stupid stuff first. Okay. I mean, number one, we knew, we knew Leighton was going to leave because Renee always says that like she is ready to move on past acting, right? Is this how we saw her leaving? I was worried she was going to chase after Alicia. I was glad that she didn't because that would be so anti-Leighton Murray, I think. this isn't super important, I guess. There's this detail that Essex can't offer her the math classes that she is qualified for because no other students are qualified. So she has to go to another school and take a bus for hours. That is the least unrealistic thing I've ever seen Leighton Murray do. She has a car service on speed dial. Yeah. Taking the bus wouldn't be a problem for Leighton because she wouldn't be taking the bus. No.

Yeah, I agree, that seemed silly because you're like, this is not anything you would do. we've seen her take the car service for stupider things. huh So it's like, why would have she not done that? But I didn't think her, I think her leaving to go to MIT felt like the most realistic choice they could have done. That did make sense.

I also I know they wanted her and Alicia to like have a happy ending kind of, I appreciate that. But also, there's this point where Alicia's like, well, I got this incredible opportunity and Leighton's like so you're just going to drop out of school and be a dropout and she's like, well, I can do the work that I want to do now.

For how long? Alicia, to me, is way smarter than that. like If you actually want a career in politics, you can't just start as an intern. You have to get a degree and start as an intern. It's not one or the other, it's both. Yeah. Yeah, I don't really have much more to say on that. Yeah. Yeah, but you want to talk about the sappy stuff? Yeah. So we get this very, very, very beautiful scene leading up to that, the roommates find out that Leighton's leaving through gossip, essentially, they confront her about it. And she tells them that she is leaving. And she has this very beautiful scene where she's like, I would have came here and I would have done

All the things that everyone told me that I would have been in kappa. I would have dated boys. I would have done all the things I would have gone the four years and I would have been miserable. But instead like I met you guys and you gave me the confidence to be myself. And it is just such a beautiful moment of female friendship.

It's so, it's like this is what female friendship can bring out in people. And they all hug and they all have tears in their eyes. And just like the actors did such a good job at making the scene really come to life too.

Yes, they did. And they've also talked, they've been asked about this a lot because and they're all friends. But in particular, Aaliyah and Renee are really close. Aaliyah directs some of Renee's music videos. They met through the show and they call each other their bitches, like they are ride or dies. And so a lot of that sentiment felt very real because also this is Renee leaving. Yeah. it was beautiful. I liked it. And then because she left, of course, we have to fill out the quad, which hilariously, they were like, we're in a triple, but we need a quad because there's four of us. But now there's only three of us again. So now we need a fourth roommate.

So much unnecessary chaos, but we get Kacey. I thought Kacey was going to be a carbon... First of all, from the promos, I thought Taylor was going to be the new roommate and she was going to be a carbon Leighton essentially, but like cooler. But instead we get Kacey, who's like very uncool because she's very Southern. She's overly confident. She's very perky. She loves Disney. She's very naive. She grew up in the pageant world. And her overconfidence is about hiding her insecurities. And unlike Leighton, who was not going to move for Alicia, but was going to try to keep Alicia there for her, Kacey is a transfer student because her boyfriend goes to Essex.

Which kind of just already tells you what kind of a girl she is. 

When she first got on screen, did you think she was a carbon copy of any of the other characters? No. That was a promo prediction.

at first to me I was like did they just throw in another Kimberly and then immediately once you get to know Kacey you're like absolutely not but it was just like how naive she was and Kimberly also was kind of naive like there was some parts of them that I'm like are these two of the same character but it went away really fast I think I didn't have that because Kacey so clearly had money

Mhmm mhmm 

So Kacey moves for her boyfriend, all of the roommates besides Kacey, so the OG roommates, go out to a party. And while they're at the party, and Kacey does not go out because she's like, I'm having a girl's s night in, I need to do all the things. Face mask, hair, all of the things are getting done. At the party, they're all like, isn't that Kacey's boyfriend?

like making out with someone. And so immediately they text her, she comes in and they all just like have her back. She breaks up with him. They shield her all the way home to protect her. And I think that was the moment to me at least that I was like, okay, I could see this dynamic working between the four roommates.

I was unsure because she came in a little hot. She wasn't the friendliest to the roommates. But after that scene, I was like, okay, I could see where she fits.

I think to your point about the Leighton leaving scene and like the beautiful female friendship and empowerment, I have this like way later down in her notes, but I think that's really what like makes this show. And it was never Leighton who did it initially, but that she did become that person. And I think Kacey has a similar arc in the roommate dynamic, because from this scene, she's not been kind to them at all at this point but they are so kind to her not only do they let her know but then they like create a whole shield around her so that no one sees her when she's leaving because she's got like pimple patches and rollers and stuff their just unashamed and un un stalled friendship I think is what really like wins people over and makes the show so beautiful. They have another moment with Kacey that is very, is this exactly at parent's weekend. They're all out to dinner with their parents and Kacey talking to her mom like she's still with Calvin like they are not broken up and she has not shared this with the roommates they do not know that her mom doesn't know and they all immediately just go along with it they're like if this is what Kacey if this is what she needs we're just gonna lie and be like oh yes Calvin he's great like They just all go along with it and it is so beautiful because they don't they have questions but they don't need the answers to know what they need to do to be there for her. And I love that. 

I had this theory when I was rewatching the first two seasons, I think the moment when the roommates all click, because they're so different, I think the moment when they all become friends, and these like ride or dies, is the parents weekend in the first season, when they're at the FAF meeting, and Bela goes, okay, but what are all the lies that we need to tell each other's parents? And Leighton's like, finally a reason to be at one of these meetings. Like, I think it's Bela's, especially like her confidence and just complete willingness to always support the people around her that like cements that mentality that like we're all gonna do this for each other yeah and I loved I love the parents weekend episodes I think both of them are fantastic this one's hilarious I also ah ah that's not a thing that we had at my school no and even if we did we weren't like going to dinner with our roommates but they're fun to watch

Yeah, maybe these exist. I've never heard of said parents' weekends. It feels strange. We went to public school. Yeah, it's probably why. It's only for rich, private school.

The other thing that stands out from the, well, many things stand out from the parents' weekend, but specifically in regards to Kacey is during this parents' weekend, you really get a peep into why she is so confident to cover her insecurities. And a lot of this comes from her mother and clearly her pageant upbringing, because when she finally does tell her mom about the breakup and is like, he cheated on me, her mom immediately is like, well, what did you do wrong? You must have done something. And there are parents like this and it's awful. Awful, awful, awful. But it really explains her character. You're like, oh, this is why you kind of have a lot of hard edges. and Like you've never really felt support from your parents. Anything that happens wrong in your life is your fault. It's very sad. Yeah, I also what really stuck out to me from that interaction with her mom is the They have a tradition where she and her mom take a photo together every year or something and like they always wear a very similar outfit and her mom wants to look like her. like She's very clearly like living vicariously she makes a comment that Kacey should wear her sweater because her arms look better covered up. And then after this whole episode at the end, when they take their photo together, Kacey decides to take her sweater off for the photo and says, I think my arms are better this way. But as a woman with arms, as many of us have, that really hit home for me. And I think it was also one of the, this episode in general is the first time you see that Kacey is actually deeply insecure. Which is good. She needed humbling. She did. She girl needed a lot of humbling.

also, this is all kind of tied in. Kacey's auditioning for the musical. She immediately assumes she's gonna get the lead. Again, her confidence, right? Overly confident woman. Never been in a musical. Ever. And she's like, well, I was a pageant girl. I'm gonna get the lead. She doesn't. She gets the character of Grandma. She meets Cooper, who is gonna become a new like interest and boyfriend of hers. And through all of this, it really shows she crushes her audition, but the theater teacher is kind of like, there needs to be more to you. I need to know that I can trust you, that you can like actually be reliable.

Not just be reliable but have depth. yep She specifically says you are hollow. You are all vibrato and there's no depth. And in the theater you need to have a deep performance. You can't just sing a pretty song. You need to have an emotion behind it.

To be fair, she sings Roar by Katy Perry, which I think is a crazy choice. Although the last friend I said that to was while we were watching the episode and she said that she sang that in an audition once and I felt bad. Oh my god So if you sing that in an audition, you're not alone. She does a beautiful version of it. but also like the audacity of Kacey because yeah she has a beautiful beautiful voice the actress is in a band and is also about to start on Broadway however there's a lot more to a musical there's staging there's lines to learn there's emotions to convey there's all sorts of you know and you have to learn how to be a team player as well it was nice to see her being humbled 

So through all of this, her and Cooper kind of get a connection. They end up dating. And one of their like big moments is Kacey learns about this Essex 50 hottest list. And she's like, I got to be on this list. To the point that it takes over her life. Like she cannot think, speak, do anything other than focus on this 50s hottest list.

And she ends up not getting on it, but Cooper pulls some strings to get Calvin off of it, to get her on it, or just to get someone off of it. Someone, I don't know who. So he ends up getting someone kicked off. In my brain, it was kind of implied it was Calvin, but I guess they don't fully confirm it. ah And this really like, wins. Like in Kacey's eyes, Cooper is like way better than he really is because he does things like this for her.

It also shows what a shallow character she is or shallow person she is. Yeah. Because, I mean, yes, the obsession with being on the 50 hottest list at a university that you just started out like maybe two months ago where no one even knows you. Also, she's not the hottest person at Essex. I'm so sorry. She's stunning. But there were times during this plot line where it was like cutting then to shots of Whitney. And I was like, babe, if Whitney's not on this list, there's no way in hell you should be other than racism. But then also, to me, I just think it's just like beautiful symbolism of showing how like hollow she is that What matters to her is being on the list, no matter how it happens. She didn't get fairly voted for. Her boyfriend rigged it. So it systematically means nothing, but it's the power that matters to her. It's the recognition that it'll be printed that she's one of the 50 hottest people.

Also, what a fvcked up list. Yeah, it's fvcked. That's another thing. Is there parents weekend? Did your university have a 50s hottest list? We would like to know because it feels wrong.

Another thing about Kacey is she's a virgin. That's a pretty big part of her character and her story.

And she ends up rushing into sex with Cooper. It doesn't go well. It eventually leads to her feeling way, way, way too committed to him. She invites him to meet her mom, and they end up ending things because he feels like things are moving too quickly. However, this show's writing. This is one of the reasons it's so beautiful, is she's like, I'm ready to have sex. This is my time. She puts up a pink canopy with fairy lights. She has a playlist going of all her favorite Disney songs. She has candles. She has flower petals. like She has made this room look obnoxious. And all the roommates come in and are like, do you want feedback? And she's like, no, it's perfect.

It shows how immature she is. Yeah. Okay. Here's the thing though is like, they kind of get into what she ready to have sex or not probably not. Yeah. When she's setting up the room. I think that's a very clear like production design choice that she's not ready. But there are times where I thought that she was especially when it actually happens like she's not really persuaded into it. Yes, she rushes into it for the wrong reasons. But I think that like her like suddenly escalating the relationship so much after having sex isn't just because she wasn't ready to have sex I feel like it's the same thing as the the hot 50 list like it's all about the label and what you're supposed to have more than the actual depth of what's going on you know like I have a very anxious attachment style, especially when it comes to seeking male validation. So like I wouldn't be surprised if she were acting that way with him, even if they didn't have sex. Yeah.

Like it's something that she just thinks is needed. Cause she's like naturally next steps are you meet my parents. Yeah. Yeah. Do we want to get into miss Whitney? I think we're ready.

Whitney and Kappa, we touched on it. Kind of, not really. I feel like I don't have much more. What do you have to say? All right, guys, listen up. So in all of season two...

Yeah, I don't know if it's in season one at all. In season two, Whitney and Leighton are both rushing and kappa and Leighton is kind of like how the hell did you get in this because this is a really elite sorority and I'm a legacy and you're new money and you're wearing sneakers to the events. Yeah, you don't know the script baby and yet they both get in Leighton quits kappa at the end of season two.

Whitney takes her spot after seeing Kimberly and moves into the Kappa house. This is our other cliffhanger from season two. We could have covered it at the top of this episode, but I didn't write it there. So she moves into Kappa the start of this season and is like inundated with all of these things she has to do. And if she misses certain events, she has to pay money for it. But like they have really nice like shampoos and stuff in the bathrooms. And also they do really stick up for her when Kimberly comes around and they hear what she did. She's like surrounded by her Kappa girls who were like,

you are not welcome here So she enjoys it to some extent, but then once she makes up with Kimberly, she's like, this is a cult and I have no time for this and just leaves. And it just felt like another thing of like, what was the point of this? What was the point of writing all of this into season two? And even obviously you couldn't ignore it. So then the start of season three, just for it to immediately go away. And it wasn't clear if she was quitting Kappa or just moving out of the Kappa house.

But then she never went back to Kappa and suddenly seemed to be a member of KJ, which is like the black, not frat, but it's like a black culture history house, right?

Yeah, I think that if we take the perspective of like, what was the point of including this, then we're gonna get rid of all the plot lines. And it's like the point of including it is to add spice to the plot. So I understand that it added some fun to bring another roommate into the experience of rushing. I also think they touched on some really real stuff that happens in sororities that is like absolute bullsh*t. Like if you are a student athlete or you know, in a harder major with very intense classes, it's almost impossible to be in sorority because you will get fined for not going to events, which is just ridiculous. And if you don't have an enormous amount of wealth and you're already paying a lot of money to be in a sorority, it's crazy that they're fining you on top of that. So I do think there was a value in and including some of that stuff in the plot, because I think it's important to talk about for people who don't know that that's actually real.

i was also curious because you were in a sorority how real it felt yeah we didn't have a house so it was a little different yeah but yeah like that is real if you don't go to an event and you don't have an actual excuse you do get fined that's crazy it's crazy her she had an excuse it was soccer which then she shouldn't have gotten like that feels not fully accurate you know also I know Whitney's supposedly not like hurt for money because her mom's a senator but it's new money and also people in office don't really get paid that much but I guess like whatever bribes or something but to quit right after paying dues like you're out thousands of dollars. Yeah that's where I agree with you. I wish there was more resolution in terms of like what happened because you're right she moves out but we don't really know what happened.

So the main thing happening with Whitney in season three is that she's got way too much on her plate. Yes. Her mental health is spiraling. And she's also got like that kind of black cultural stigma added on to therapy. Like in addition to the regular societal stigma of therapy, we see that everyone else in her roommates are like, yeah, everyone should be in therapy. And she's like, not everyone. Like we don't all need therapy. She's not sleeping. She's hardly eating, taking espresso shots. every She's timing espresso beans to stay awake. 

she's like timing her day to a point of like, I have 10 minutes to go, like go over here, fvck my side thing and then get back to work. Like it's not healthy. No And it's very obvious.

which leads her to, in one of the games, yeah one of the soccer games, cause she's a varsity player. that they I don't know if they have a JV. Anyway, she's one of star players on the team yeah and they're having a record season, but because she's not sleeping enough and not taking care of herself, she has a terrible knee injury that I saw coming from a mile away and I still was like, ooh, it happened I hate it. yeah And her coach,

is like, yeah, you could let it rest or because we're having such a good season and we're probably gonna make it to the playoffs. you could just like get a cortisol shot and like keep playing on it. And so that's what she does. Cause she's an idiot because she's 19. Well, also she's guilt tripped into doing it. She doesn't really feel she has a decision. She feels pressured.
And eventually she does go to therapy. And she's explaining everything to the therapist and therapist is like, you need a day off. So she goes to her coach and is like, I need a day off. And the coach is like, absolutely not, then you can't play the playoff game. And so she's like, fine, then I quit.

Okay, I loved this for Whitney yeah for a lot of reasons. I thought it was a really interesting choice given that in season two, she doesn't know, like it's the off season for soccer and she doesn't have anything else in her life. And this is a bit of a spat between her and Canaan who was her boyfriend in season two of, well, she doesn't really have anything besides soccer. And that's when she gets into like STEM classes and is rushing Kappa.

so for her to then choose herself over soccer by the end of season three, I thought was really beautiful. I did think that it was a little bit of a stretch to go from like her barely being able to walk in the mental in like the student health building and leaving to go into therapy to quitting soccer, like and not letting the coach gaslight her a bit more. Yeah.

It all did happen very fast. She went to one therapy session and was like, oh yes, you're right. I do need a day off and I am gonna stand to my ground. And it's like, that probably would have taken more than one session.

But I thought it was cool because it kind of leads into this whole like student athlete uprising at Essex because she's pulled into like the sports board where they ask her a bunch of questions. She's trying to explain why she quit. But really, they're just trying to get her back playing. And she's like, if you're not going to listen to me, I'm just going to leave. Because I don't have time for this. I have a lot of other things to do. And it doesn't include not being listened to. Which again, one therapy session, she has this amount of confidence to speak up for what she needs in front of a whole board of people.

But then it ends up with her kind of being able to then in the locker room while she's collecting her stuff, she kind of speaks her truth to her teammates and her teammates also open up about the different pressures they've been feeling. And then this goes like across sports. It's not just a soccer thing, but the student athletes are demanding more. I don't remember going across other sports. I just remember the entire girls soccer team quit.

In the episode where they re-pull her into the board, this like student athlete board, she's like, oh, I brought a few people with me. And it's people from all different sports. It's not just, well, maybe it's just the men's soccer team, but it's not just her teammates. It's not just women.

Yeah. Oh, okay. I just noticed the her teammates, but I know for sure that the whole girl soccer team quits right before their playoffs, which they never make it to playoffs. So it's like a really big deal for the school. It's a, it's a, I'm proud of Whitney, I guess for all of this. Yeah. She also has one other plot line, which is she meets a rich guy, but she doesn't date rich guys, but they're just fvck buddies.

but then they like kind of start dating. And then as soon as they start dating, she reconnects with Canaan and they kiss. And this was kind of cheating, but then she like quickly drops the side piece. And then by the end of it all, she's back with Canaan. That's about that. Do you have thoughts or feelings about it? I like them together. That's my thought. That's my feeling. I just really love Canaan. So yeah. Yeah. 

Kimberly is honestly mostly relationship focused I feel like this season. yes She does get her like political girly moments but we're gonna get into that more at the end. We're gonna cover like the big season three closers. Most of season three for her arc is just like who she's dating which i don't always love but like her pull needs to be studied because she i saw someone on tiktok talking about this today and i was like yes exactly because she like looked like no no disregard to miss Pauline Chalamet lovely human being she's beautiful but she also like looks like a person you could see in the midwest like she looks like a normal person yeah and she's pulling tens tens tens across the board

which gets us into Eli, our bi-king, a bisexual man who she thinks is flirting with her, but then he's kissing a guy at a party, but then it turns out he's bisexual, and so she tries to peg him.

Which I do have to say was not her idea. This is Lila coming in and fvcking sh*t up and giving some of the worst advice, which then all of the roommates are like, why did you take Lila's advice on this? And you know what's crazy is that's not even the death of the relationship. That's actually like the start of it, arguably.

Yeah, the relationship continues and he's like not only a bi king, he's also like really into partying, into EDM music. He just has very different interests from her specifically in this season because she's kind of going through this like, I want to be a Supreme Court Justice so I need to have a clean record on everything. It's always been her dream to be a Supreme Court Justice. Yes, but this is very like it is in motion yeah and a focus this season. Which I feel like is also pretty true to college that like your first year you're kind of fvcking around and then sophomore year you're like okay we're we're getting to business now. That's very true. And so they go to a party together and she accidentally does drugs because there is m0lly in the water and she doesn't realize it.

As a person who's never around drugs jess, is that at all a thing that could happen? I've never been anywhere with m0lly water, and I don't really know that that's how m0lly works. But also why would they write it if it doesn't? That feels weird to me, but also could be possible. But you know what's not possible. Miss Kimberly Finkel from season one ever drinking from a container that was left open randomly. No, she she refused to take drinks. Like when the she went to her first frat party, she was like, Do you have a can? I'm not drinking your jungle juice your keg beer. Yes, like this was open. She's not drinking water off of a random table at a rave when she's never been to one before. Yeah.

And then she is starting to trip and she's following Eli and she loses him in the crowd and he does not come back for her. And she just cannot get over this, which valid, like completely valid, but she cannot move past the fact that she's dating someone that did not come back to find her.

And so she's kind of like ghosting him, not really giving him time of day, not really hanging out with him. And during parents weekend, they run into him when she's with her mom.

And her mom ends up in, well, he's like, oh yeah, we were kind of dating. And Kimberly's like, oh sh*t. So then he ends up coming to dinner and hanging out with her and her mom. And eventually she's like, no, I'm mad at you. Like, this is not gonna work. Like you left me. This is not okay.

they break up, yeah. To be fair, okay, she can't move past him leaving her behind. I probably wouldn't either, but also just that they're very different people. Their hobbies are different, their interests are different, and that's totally valid. You're 19. If things aren't aligning, break up. However, they do reconnect at the end of this season when she's, she goes to a protest on campus and he's also there, and they're like, maybe we could hang out sometime.

so it's implied they might get back together because it didn't feel like just friends I guess it could be friends and I guess maybe that's the show's way of being like here's a common interest they both protest I'm not sold on it I'm just not sold on that I'm sold because he's a little cutie I was gonna say I was gonna say he's cute but like

That's all you need to sell it sell me. That's all you need, yeah. He's a little cutie. He is very cute. He's cute. 

So The other, yeah, you can go. yeah Okay. Brian's in her symposium. Sorry if you're watching this and I keep becoming more and more horizontal. I don't have bones. That's a lie. Okay. I don't know why I felt the need to clarify that that was a lie. Brian's in her political symposium, which is the other part of her character arc in this season. The only one that's not related to relationships.

kind of she's in this like cool political professor's symposium that's like they never let in sophomores but she got in because she like gave a really good speech and Brian's there and they're like connecting intellectually and she's like whoa this is crazy and then they see each other at like a party or something and they start like being a thing and they're like there's this funny-ass scene where they're having sex and they're like it's so cool to be stimulated intellectually as well as physically oh my god I didn't know you read Foucault and so funny and I actually was a huge fan of Brian when he came in like that was the first love interest that I was like this makes sense for Kimberly and also in another thing we'll talk about later he like fully stepped up and seemed like really great 

Complete 180, he's a plot device for her, because he was so good and then he was so bad. yeah So she sent him a nude, big thing, big thing for Miss Kimberly Finkel to show her titties, her ta-tas, tig old bitties to a man in a document, but her face isn't in it, except psych, it was a live photo. Ladies, be careful. It was a live photo, if you click it, you could see her face. So she needs it deleted. He doesn't want to delete it. He's gaslighting the fvck out of her. She deletes it off his messages. And then Lila's like, bitch you ain't ever heard of the cloud.

And so they go up into his dorm room. She's kind of confirmed that the photo does exist because his roommate's there and he's giggling, which implies that he has seen the photo. And Brian is still now like gaslighting them both. And Lila just straight knees him in the balls and holds him down so they can use his face to open up the photo and to delete it.

Brilliant. Yeah, it's what's needed. It's what men deserve. that kind of brings us to the third big relationship in Kimberly's arc, which I really do think is a big part of the arc in the season is Lila. I love Lila a lot as a character. We'll talk about her more later, but in season two, Kimberly really encouraged Lila to go for a manager position
at Sips where they both work on campus. And now we see her really like stepping into that role in the most Lila fashion ever, which starts with this like um weird thing where they have campus robots that are going to like deliver the drinks, and Lila and Canaan are so opposed to it, mostly because if they're delivering the drinks people aren't coming inside so then they're not tipping you, which is valid. But Kimberly like feels bad about lying, about not using the robots and stuff. Lila's the one who's like, she's pissed off at Kimberly for narcing on them. And then still go is the one that picks her up when she's tripping and then lights them on fire in the same trip, in this, well, car trip, at the same scene. It's incredible. And seeing them come back together and just like, how much, whether she's annoyed with Kimberly or not, Lila's just like such a good friend and and good support system. And yeah, I love this. Like, as soon as Kimberly mentioned the photo, she was like, Oh, I got you. Oh, we're going. Yep. I just love her. Yeah, she's one of the best recurring characters in their friendship. It's just really beautiful. Not one of. She's the best. Yeah, it's true. Name a better one. There's not exactly. And I love all of them.

a lot happens with Bela this season So like I said, Bela has a 1.8 GPA from freshman year. So she can't leave Essex, but apparently she they they never mention academic probation, first of all. Second of all, there's an opening to be a FAF. I don't remember what that stands for, but it's essentially like an RA, like a resident advisor. You are a sophomore or upperclassman who is to take care of the little baby freshman in the freshman dorm.

And she decides that this is gonna be her thing. I'm like, I'm living for disheveled Bela. I'm living for Bela becoming a faf, except for the fact that I had to apply and interview to be a resident advisor and got denied because I seemed a little nervous and that no university in its right mind would let a student with a 1.8 GPA be a faf.

Like, even if it's not as much as a resident advisor, even if it's like you're just throwing little parties for them, they would not allow that. Like, let alone the fact that in her freshman year, she has a lot of campus history with like, the Catullan and starting the female version and all of that stuff. It's like, there would have been enough known about her around campus that they would have not.

chosen to make her an RA, I don't think. Well some people, I mean some schools prefer that, like if you've been active. Sure, I just feel like there's a lot of negative attention around her that like, I don't know that that would have worked in her favor.

But because she's a faf, we get Taylor, because Taylor is one of the freshmen that she supervises. Yeah, and Taylor is having issues with her roommate, which really means Taylor has a crush on her roommate and can't be around her. And so Bela gives them gives Taylor the key to their room. So Taylor really becomes like this fifth roommate that's not really a roommate that everyone hates but Bela has a really soft spot for. one of the first things Bela does is fvck the mascot with his head on and it's incredible. It's incredible.

and this is used as a plot device for Bela to realize that like she has moved past just like hooking up with the hottest or the horniest thing that she now needs like something real and needs someone nice which is connected to the fact that she has a crush on a fellow Faf Arvind who has a girlfriend who he just conveniently breaks up with. Yeah. Yeah. Did they ever tell us why? No, I think they just like have tension, him and Bela. And then he's like, I broke up with her. Yeah. also in that scene, when he tells her, she goes, Oh my God, that's terrible. But she's cheesing the entire time. And it's so funny, but so real. 

I need to briefly mention the mascot again. Okay. Because this is the most Bela thing I've ever seen in my life. The mascot's flirting with her. And she's like, I think I'm gonna fvck the mascot guys. And then they do. And he's like ready to take his head off. And she's like, No, leave it on. So there's this fox head on. And he's like perfectly ripped. And then later, she breaks it off with him.

And he takes his head off. And he's the most hot guy I've seen in this entire show. And I'm like, there's no way in hell a man that hot would agree to fvck someone who wants to keep his head on unless he's like, I mean, maybe he's just like into that. And that's why he's the mascot. yeah But it was just like, I loved that whole turn of events. Like that was beautiful. Yeah, yeah, very funny. 

So Arvind and her have this tension. She's kind of avoiding him because he broke up with his girlfriend, but she doesn't know how to be like, I really, really like you. I have a crush on you. And so at Parents Weekend, he invites her to an event and she's like, lies. And basically says like, her parents aren't there. Okay, this isn't just because they're having issues. They're actually doing really well, her and Arvind. It's because she knows that her parents will love him. And once that happens, she won't like him.

Yes, and she hasn't told him that he likes she likes him yet. I think they have. No, it's after parent's weekend. wow So that's why she was like, I can't have my parents fall in love with him because I haven't even told him I like him and it's all too much. So at parent weekend, she lies. They end up all running into each other at the restaurant because apparently there's only one fvcking restaurant that's nice enough for parents in this damn town.

and she admits to having feelings for him. They end up kissing. Um, and this kind of like kicks off their relationship. it takes them a while to have sex. They finally do. And it's boring as hell. Yeah. but then in the casual conversation, it kind of comes up like how many people have you slept with? And Arvind has the worst possible reaction.
 
it's not even a casual conversation really because she's like on top of him they're not having sex but they're about to like they just finished studying or and are making out and then he mentions that like she's only the second person that he's had sex with because because they're kind of comparing like her and his ex and then she says she's had sex with like 20 people and he Like the vibe is clearly broken. He is no longer wanting to make out with her and have sex, which they were clearly going to do. and he doesn't really say anything in that moment. I think it's just more like, Oh, I'm tired. I need to get to bed. But then he feels very weird about it later. And just in general, like he's not like immediately slut shaming her, but he's very clearly judging her and slut shaming her internally. Yeah.

And he does eventually apologize for having the worst reaction. Like he recognizes he has a bad reaction and he apologizes for it. But this is kind of like the catalyst that ends in their breakup. She's writing stuff for this storytelling show that she's gonna be a part of. And she has this idea. She's like, I have all these hilarious sex stories and hookup stories. And it's such great comedy that like people should hear it.

and Arvind is very much like that is private stuff you should not share that with the public like I'm not comfortable with that and then Bela's like well then we probably can't be together like we're not a good match I'm a very open person like I need to be able to share this stuff and it's like she's a comedian of course yeah so they break up which leads to

bisexual awakening yeah i love these moves jess they are wow okay she's pushing the cart she's pushing the cart um yeah so she meets Bela gets involved in this like comedic storytelling thing on campus it's like very not cool casually she like finds out about it and meets haley who is openly gay and they're hanging out a couple times and then Bela just Kisses her at a frat party without thinking about it without ever having a moment of like am I bi am I liking a girl? Which is very Bela of her I think I just found it really fascinating that she does everything backwards. Like there's no big awakening She was dressing gay before she ever realized she was gay I've known I was gay for the last 10 years and I'm just now figuring out how to dress gay like she Bela does everything backwards because she's just herself so much and all the time without thinking, which I kind of love. She just sometimes needs to think. And I also like this because Amrit really I think melds herself to Bela. Like I know in the first seasons because but comedy is such a big part of Bela's character, she like started doing stand-up and learning about comedy and now it's like a big part of her life. She's also, I don't know if she's gay or bi, but she has a girlfriend and

and has led in a film about a South Asian lesbian. And so this is like Bela becoming more like her in this sense, you know? as soon as she kisses her, literally the next day, she wakes up and she goes, roommates, I have an announcement. I'm bisexual. And they're like,

All right, we are gonna miss breakfast. So let's go. And she's like, you gave Leighton so much praise. Well, what Leighton did was really brave. Kacey's like, wish I had been here for that and she's never even met Leighton and Leighton would have hated her. yeah which I also think is all just very Bela. They're like, also because like, Bela's been talking about how hot women are the entire show. Yes, correct. there's It's not like it came as a surprise to anyone.

And then we get a really beautiful, we'll touch on it more later, coming out to her mom as well. But I have a question for you, Jess. Did you feel edged at all by Bela and Taylor? I always saw that to me as a mentorship relationship.

It was nothing other than a mentorship. There was no like tension where the moment Hailey and her were on screen, I was like, Oh, this is gonna be like Bela's girl where I never felt that with Taylor to me. I was like, Oh, this is like Bela being able to like step up and guide someone as a friend who she really cares about. But I was never like, Oh, maybe they're gonna be something. Did you?

I think we all knew Bela was gonna come out as bi by the end of this season. Shoot her outfits. Oh, from the beginning. Yeah. From the beginning and then even more so now. But I think somehow we all knew or there were clues or rumors or something. I think we all knew was coming. And when she so quickly developed this friendship with Taylor, who was just so brazenly gay,

it made a lot of sense and it felt like they were setting that up as a long game. I agree with the mentorship relationship like I very much felt that and I thought I was sometimes worried like what about when it happens like am I gonna feel creeped out by it or how are they gonna figure that out but I did kind of think that Taylor was gonna be some awakening for Bela also because a lot of what happens with Taylor we'll get I mean she's next but like one of the her big things is that she supposedly like has a crush on her roommate who's straight and like the whole time that she's telling Bela about this it feels very out of nowhere and like she's actually speaking coded about Bela like

because she she supposedly hated Bela at first and then all of a sudden they're really close and then she's spending all she's like u-hauling with Bela spending all of her time in her apartment we never see her with her roommate until suddenly she has a big crush and there's times where Bela's like yeah I know what it's like to be interested in someone who's emotionally unavailable and Taylor's just looking at her and then Bela's the one that forces Taylor to go to like queer speed dating and it's like they're both like I don't know a lot of it felt very coded like they could be meaning it about each other.

I just never felt that. That's fair. Let me know in the comments. Yeah, yeah I just didn't feel that. Taylor is this big like recurring character that we get.

that as Amanda mentioned, they like develop this friendship because she's spending so many much time in their dorm room. And it kind of starts from like Taylor not being very nice, not easy to talk to, really kind of being quite rude and dismissive to Bela, to then us learning more about Taylor's life, that her parents aren't really in her life. She hasn't spoken to her mom for years.

and that she is a struggling alcoholic. And this I kind of think humanizes Taylor, but also then humanizes Taylor to Bela in which they then form this like very beautiful relationship where Bela is very supportive and worried about Taylor. Yeah. She's like her sober companion.

Yeah, and she like does things that are so natural to Bela that I'm like, oh, this just, you know, it means so much to Taylor, even if she's not being super vocal about it. Like during parents weekend, she invites Taylor along. And it's like, you know, is Taylor gonna spice up this dynamic probably more than the parents would like? Yes. Does she have anywhere else to be? Nope. So she's coming in with.

I think that's also where I got questions about it because about about Bela and Taylor, because usually you only see like the partners that they're dating who were there. Those are the ones that that were planned to come. And because Bela invites her and Taylor's immediately like, yeah, I want to see the people who made you like, I don't know. there I was like, it's kind of weird to just like invite this freshman you've known for a month.

to parents weekend. But I do agree that they have like a really beautiful friendship. Yeah, I did also sometimes feel like it was a little lazy to be like well, she's an asshole because her parents abandoned her and she's an alcoholic. Like just because you've been hurt doesn't mean you should hurt other people. Yeah, but I also really like her as a character as Ash tells her it helps that you're hot. Which brings us to Yeah, the beautiful lovely love of my life Miss Ruby Cruz. Yeah. That queer speed dating event that Bela forces Taylor to go to to try to get over her roommate. During that she meets Ash played by Ruby Cruz.

But nothing really comes of it. It's an introduction to the character and then we kind of move past. You can tell it's the only person that Taylor seems like there could be some interest in, but we just kind of move past that. And then at the queer rodeo event, Taylor invites her roommate.

misreads the vibes, ends up kissing her straight roommate. And as she's leaving that event, she runs into Ash again, and Ash walks her home. And then they're together for the rest of the show. That's like mid show. And we see Ash at Whitney's soccer game with Taylor as well and just like kind of always hanging out and then they move in together and Bela's concerned because ah she's kind of equating this to like you're sober but you're just transferring that addictive trait.

I actually think that that is pretty accurate in like the way addicts live. They have big swings. However, Bela says, I think I know what's best for you in this moment. And that's not something you should ever tell anyone, especially not someone making questionable choices. Yeah. So I thought it was going to be Taylor and Bela. I wasn't mad that it was Taylor and Ash because Ruby Cruz is a stunning human being and the two of them together is like, God, this is just the hottest couple I've ever seen in my life. like these are Taylor and Ash are the two most beautiful human beings I've ever seen.

And I'm not mad. However, the one weird thing is that it feels like the show has always been centered around the four roommates. And it's like when Renee left, they thought, what? She was such a big personality. They needed two people to replace her. And I love Kacey. And I like Taylor. And I'm not mad that either of them exist. But there are shots at the end of the season when we just see like Taylor and Ash in their apartment that feels a little out of place because they're not part of the core dorm.
I'm kind of like, why are we still, why are we following them?

I feel like we saw it a little bit in season two and in this season. I feel like they are trying to diversify the side characters a little bit more and give us a little bit more of the side characters. And I feel like this might be them doing that to try to increase the chance for a renewal of an additional season and to give them more to work with, which I don't hate. I also like them both as characters that I'm like, if this means we get more screen time or even potential like developed plots of their relationship in an additional season, I'm like, that's fine. Show me weird scenes of them. I like it.

Like I'm okay with them not necessarily centering everything around the four roommates. I also have the question of if we're adding all these new people, why they all gotta be white? Yep. Mm hmm. They're not even all American. No. Like one white person left and we brought in three new ones. Mm hmm. Yeah.

All right, some big iconic things that happened in this season. Mostly we're gonna talk about the stuff at the very end, but we gotta, it's this is the second to last episode, I think.
 
the good partners test this entire episode is Kacey convinced them, all of the roommates to do a partner test. It's a family tradition of hers where you have your, your partner come over and like do all these little tasks for you and see how well they do, see if they have the trait and you tailor the tasks to the traits that you hope your partner has. And while she says this is a family tradition, I cannot help But stress enough that the writers took this purely off of TikTok, because the very first thing they do is make those boys peel oranges, which is there was a TikTok trend the year they were writing this. Yes. What do you think about this episode and these trends?

I think the trend is hilarious and it is a good sign of just like a person in general, partner, friendship, anything to be like, are you willing to help me with this? Cause also as a disabled woman, I can't do a lot of things with my hands. So I purely do judge someone's like willingness to be a good friend based on their ability to do silly tasks for me. Even if they don't know I'm disabled,

I'm like, I'm having trouble with this. And if someone immediately takes it out of my hand and opens it, I give them five points.

I think you should be willing to help people. I don't think you should be testing people. I don't think it's healthy to test people, particularly the people you claim to love. Fair, fair, fair, fair. To set them, and like these situations are like - for failure - I literally sat right in front of these oranges and I'm perfectly able of peeling them. I just want you to do it and I'm giving you absolutely no reason why. It doesn't feel okay. Yeah.

i didn't love it. But this is the part where I really liked Brian because he immediately clocks it everyone else is like this is super weird. And he's like, is this a test? I love tests. I'm great at tests and then flying colors. Yeah.

I also, the other big part of this episode that is just like chef's kiss is first they bring in Isaiah who's Whitney's like rich boy huh and he sucks. But then Whitney is like, okay, let's bring in someone else and Canaan shows up. And like even though Canaan doesn't, he's not like Brian where he's like, this is a test. He doesn't verbally say it, but you can tell Canaan knows and he crushes it.

He's also just, Canaan's also just a perfect man. Canaan's just a perfect man. My very first note on this season is I love the men of this show so much, and does that make me a bad feminist? Because it's the sex types of college girls, but every time, like and it's not even his looks, like yes, he's a beautiful man, yeah but every time that he opens his mouth, I'm just more in love with Canaan. And when it comes to the orange peeling, she's like, oh, I just got my nails done, and he's like, those things?

No, you didn't. Yeah, no, he says you better have just gotten your nails done. Oh, excuse me. Yeah. yeah No, yeah, it is great. And also it's Whitney telling them that she's interested in Canaan because she didn't tell them before. Yeah. Another huge thing is, um,

Kimberly attends the protest after her professor discourages her from doing it, because now it's going to be on your record. And maybe it'll be harder for her to be a judge. And she decides that this is more important and is apparently just trying to get kicked out of Essex. So she sneaks into the server room. I guess we could tell you that they're protesting a right wing speaker on campus. That's probably important, but not really. So they go into the server room because it's going to be live streamed.

and before you get into like how she's trying to get expelled from Essex, which is also what I thought I also thought was worried about her scholarship and then I remembered that already got revoked. Yeah. She gets into that room with Bela's ID. Why the fvck does Bela have access to the server room in no world would RA duties require you to have server room access?

I did not process. That's how she got in there. That's crazy. My thing is it's like she already lost her scholarship. She went through all that crazy stuff last season where she was like selling her eggs to make money and sh*t. She almost got kicked out for cheating. Yeah. Yeah. And yes, because she Yes, she was cheating. Like she's literally just trying to get kicked out of Essex. I'm like, girl, attend the protest. Your professor recommended it against it, but you know it's what's right in your heart. Do not then attend the protest and go in the server room and cut every single wire.

They were really like, we don't know what anything does, we're gonna break all of it, and that way it won't work. yeah And also, okay, yeah, you stopped the livestream, you didn't actually stop him from speaking on campus. yeah I don't know, it was flawed logic, but mostly I was just distracted the entire, I had to rewind, and because I was just like, no, that like I'm not seeing things, that is Bela's badge. like yeah well That shouldn't have worked. Yeah, that's funny. After Kacey loses her virginity and then her and Cooper are on the edges of a breakup. They already have broken up. They have broken up. All the roommates are sitting down on the couch and just chatting and they have this really like authentic open conversation about how they all lost their virginity and Kimberly shares that her experience was
very similar to Kacey's. oh Yeah, it was. And that, you know, she's like, and that was the ugliest guy I've ever slept with. So it's only up from here. And you know, the whole conversation is not like, maybe losing your virginity is meant to be a little messy. And that it's okay. oh And I just really, I really liked it.

Mixed feelings, mixed feelings. They aren't on the couches, by the way. They're on the floor. They come home and find Kacey sat on the floor up against a wall crying and tells them that Cooper broke up with her. And then they all talk about it. I really liked it. I really liked that Kacey was a virgin.

because I was a virgin all of college. I didn't lose my virginity until I was almost 25. And so I guess that's why I have mixed feelings because when I did, it wasn't messy in any way. It's not like it was incredible, but I think it's super valid to lose your virginity in a way that you might regret or that you might have felt was not ideal. But I also just really wish we could drive home the fact that you just don't have to lose your virginity. And I'm not saying I was that secure because you knew me at that time. I was not a secure person. I'm not a secure person now, but a lot of my deep insecurities come from this time in my life.
 
But I still never felt ready or like I had a person, so I didn't. And maybe that's also because I didn't have a person and she kind of did. yeah But I just think there's another way that story could have been written that wasn't kind of telling the same the that we hear more often.

But it was beautiful. Yeah. It's also like not all of them had messy bad stories. Some of them were just messy in the sense that like the sex wasn't great because it's the first time you have sex, it's never not good. You know, so I liked that it was a mixed bag of stories. It wasn't all like, it was horrible, you know, like Kacey's experience or Kimberly's experience. Yeah. The final scene.

This is a huge moment. It feels like a series ender while also opening up for a season extension. Like it feels like it could be either or depending on what Max offers them. And like they purposely set it up this way.

Kacey is going out to sing her solo

And she in just captures the entire audience with her voice, with her stature, with just like the power that she holds in that moment. The theater teacher is like visibly stunned. Kacey's mom, who she didn't even think would care that she was doing this, is crying.

The song is never enough from The Greatest Showman. Yep. Have you seen The Greatest? You haven't seen The Greatest Showman? No. You just looked up the song for this or? I have listened to the soundtrack. I didn't know that. I just have never watched The Greatest Showman. That's so peculiar, but we don't have time to get into all of that right now.

never enough is a song that's already gonna be hard not to like bring the house down like that is a stunning song I was distracted the entire time because I was thinking what show are they putting on that she's singing this song because in that setting that like they're not putting on the greatest showman because that the way that that scene was set is not the context of that song at all and then I said this to my friend and she was like they said that the song is like with or the show is with contemporary songs and I completely missed that detail so if you missed that detail like I did that's what it was is apparently it was I was gonna answer for you yeah no I could tell your hand was impatient it was like I know give it to me yeah it's a great song but

Also, during the song, Bela has her mom on one side, has Hayley on the other side, and she reaches over to Hayley and grabs Hayley's hand, and Bela's mom sees, and then Bela's mom grabs her hand, and it's kind of a very cutie way that they, she was like, hi, mom, I'm bi. It was just, I loved it. her I love that it was done without this big like coming out moment while it was a big coming out moment. I expected her mom to be more just like a smile or something but she really like grabbed like I was mimicking her just then when I was grabbing Jessica she she she like shows tears in her eyes and reassurance. Yeah.

Also we see, because Kimberly, they got caught cutting the server room wires. I don't think we said that. We see Eli breaking her out of- Bailing her out. But it's not like jail, cause they're on campus. It was campus police that caught them. Was it? Yeah. But like, yeah, break breaking, bailing her out of campus jail. The soccer team reunites and we see them celebrating together. And then Taylor also calls her mom and we see her mom answer. And this is like from what we know the first time they've spoken in like five plus years.
 
This is a whole montage happening while Kacey is singing and it's the final scene. And it is really beautiful. I thought it was really beautiful. I had a few complaints beyond just the song choice, which is a beautiful song. I just was at the time confused yeah as established.

My main thing is that they made this big deal out of getting Kimberly out of jail. And then she rushes into the theater at the, okay, first of all, why is everyone in the theater when Kacey wasn't even supposed to be in the show until the last like 30 minutes before the show went on? Or maybe it was like a few hours before and she told everyone, but like she was replaced.

days before and suddenly everyone knows including her mom she told her mom really well her roommates maybe did okay i'm talking myself into it but they make this big deal where Kimberly is like gets she gets out of jail and then she like runs into the theater and like sees the the end of the song and so every one of our main characters is having this big moment in the theater except for Whitney. Whitney doesn't get to see the performance. Whitney's having her own moment yeah because everyone stood up But we don't actually know what happened with the soccer team. We assume they at least got their demands because they're now in the locker room. But they also were supposed to have playoffs that night, which was a really big deal. And we don't know if they they already had playoffs. And I felt like as one of the original main characters,

It did a disservice to Whitney's storyline to not show what happened with the soccer team more and to also have her there with the rest of them in that big moment. Like I needed more togetherness. Also because we've seen the other girls at Whitney's soccer games before, I'm sure that they would have liked to be there. And why are they all showing up for Kacey and not for Whitney in that moment?

I just wish that there were maybe two moments so that they could all be supporting each other in both and I know that that's not always how life works but it's written, it's not life yeah

Yeah, I guess to me, even in this world that the soccer team is reuniting, in my brain Whitney still is not on it, so she wouldn't participate in playoffs anyway. I feel like her mind is kind of made up on that. Oh no, she's back on the team. You think? They're all in jerseys. Also soccer was her whole life. She didn't quit because she didn't like it. Oh, I guess I did not take it as that.

i feel like she still does not have enough time for it girl yeah that didn't bother me as much but i agree with you it's like if you're giving everyone their big moment why are you giving Kacey this huge moment without also giving it to whitney yeah and i think it was really when kimberly ran through the doors because then i was like why is that so important that she's showing up for that moment if whitney's not there yeah. OK. I miss Eric. I miss the Catalin girls. Where they at? We get to see what the weird girl at the beginning of this season be like, hey, Bela, I hope your summer was good. No hard feelings. But where's Lily? Where's Eric? Arvind didn't have an ounce of Eric's appeal with Bela. I fvcking love that man. He was so cute, and he was so funny, and he, like, understood her. Yeah.

Lila's the best character. We've already said this. Also, I love Canaan. Also, in this moment, one of the things that I really love that they did in this season really well is that all of the characters' friends are friends with each other. There are so many moments where I just see Lila and Kacey, or they're in the cafeteria, and it'll be like, Kacey, Lila, and Willow.

And I'm like, how the fvck do all these girls know each other? Clearly it's cause they're all part of the cinematic universe of this friend group from the dorm. yeah But like there were so many times, like there's a frat party where Kacey's like getting advice from Willow and the other Kappa girl, or not Kappa, KJ girls. yeah And I just thought it was a really fun choice that they did. but It's never explained. There's never a moment when they're like, whoa, cause you know, Lila would never be friends with Kacey in the first place, but she's at the performance in the final scene and she goes, that's my tiny friend.

Yeah, yeah. I have to be honest, based on the promos and what people and fans were expecting from this season, I expected more queer experimentation in the friend group. Like, we got rid of Leighton, and thank you for Taylor and Ash, like, I'll take it. And thank you for Bela's bi-awakening. But I was expecting more. Were you expecting Bela sooner, or? I was expecting maybe Whitney.

I was thinking Whitney sometimes, too. Yeah. And I was like, we didn't get anything. I've seen people say, Whitney, you're next. Yeah. Some of the queer writing did feel a little bit unrealistic as well. There's a moment where Taylor says that, like oh, no, you absolutely can't be friends with your ex. I've never heard anything less lesbian than that. Again, the girl that I dated is currently watching my cat. that's just like very normal in queer relationships because the communities are so small. Also, there's a moment where Willow's like, I know every gay girl on campus and one way you can spot it is like queer women don't have long nails. And that's like an, that's an older stereotype. Look at Cynthia Erivo's fvcking nails. Yeah.

Yeah. And that is a gay ass woman. I did love that Tig Notaro was in this as it being such a gay show. She is a gay icon. She plays the politics professor. I did like the queer speed dating as someone who has been on queer speed dating. It is pretty much like that. I liked the queer rodeo. I liked Trish who was Travis is now Trish because one of the actresses actually transitioned.

I love that they're raising money for top surgery for someone and I'm obsessed with, I can't even remember if it was like a gay man or a drag performer, but there's someone on stage who's very clearly a queer man and he's like pointing at Canaan and Canaan's like, ugh, my heart. And I'm like, ugh, Canaan. Yeah, obsessed. Yeah, I think they included a lot of good queer moments. I think I just wanted more. I don't know what I wanted more of, but I wanted more. Okay.

A couple things that the girls that were hilarious is I love, which this is kind of more a cinematography choice or even just like the way they're showing it in TV, is while they're all doing things, we then get flashes of the group chat of the girls. So it's like what they are externally expressing and then what they are choosing to express to one another, which just feels very real.
You're like, oh my god, can you believe this idiot?

And then Bela decides one day she's like, I'm doing an experiment on like women are as horny as men. Yes. Are women as horny as men? And so she gives all of the roommates clickers and every time that they feel horny, they need to click it. And it's hilarious because at like parents weekends, Whitney's dad walks in and they're all like, click, click,

and she's like guys And then they all have a hot waiter and he shows up and they all just click, click, click, click. And none of the parents know what's going on. And they're like, oh, it's Bela's study. And her parents are like, she's so committed to science. It's hilarious.

Also, I don't know why we didn't include it earlier, but I just have to mention, Kimberly dressed as Bernie Sanders for Halloween and went to a party like that. Yeah, yeah, as Bernie Sanders in his meme of being outside in the cold, but really what that made me think is why the fvck didn't we get a Halloween episode in season one? Because I loved their outfits and Halloween is such a great time in college. Yeah, truly. Yeah.

Okay There is this one scene that I loved where the therapist recommends a weighted blanket and Whitney is loving her weighted blanket and she goes and she ends up quitting soccer and she's walking out of the building from that meeting having a panic attack and she runs into Canaan and Canaan's like, are you okay? And she's like, I think I'm having a panic attack but my weighted blanket is too far.

And so they lay on the grass and she has Canaan, get on top of her and put all of his body weight on her. And he's like, is this helping? And she's like, shh, weighted blankets, don't talk. I love this scene because first of all, Canaan is such a good boy. He's like, my ex-girlfriend needs me to lay on top of her in the middle of school where like lots of people are walking around and can see us. Yeah, sure, I guess so. But also, this is a thing that happens in Grey's Anatomy.

not as a weighted blanket but there's a character who is an addict and has spiraling thoughts all the time and her her partner sometimes like he lays on top of her and she finds it so soothing she calls it addicting and he makes her do it one time when he's feeling stressed so to see it in another show was like pretty funny to me yeah yeah i kind of love that we talked about like this is just it's such a beautiful show for how the characters hold each other up Do you want to talk about how they're flawed? Yeah, I think what makes this show so great. And I am someone who does not like cringe television. And so sometimes this type of comedy writing is is's really hard for me to watch because I get secondhand embarrassment really hard. And so normally I don't really tend to watch shows like this, but I love this show. And the reason is that these are real people.

Like all of us know these people and all of us have been parts of these characters. Like they are so flawed to a point that it's realistic. You're like, oh yes, like I know a Bela and I know a Whitney and I know a Kimberly.

so when these crazy plot lines happen with them, you're like, that's insane, but also it makes sense. And it's normally done in a way where you're like, yeah, I kind of know someone who would act that way. mhmm I was texting Jess when I was first starting the rewatch of like, I fvcking hate Kimberly at the beginning. I don't hate her. She's a well written character, but she's so cringe because you know, you know a Kimberly. If you're white, you've probably been a Kimberly because at the beginning she's making so many mistakes about race because she just does know better. And you know, it's not written to condone her actions. It's written to make fun of her.

Yeah, make that the butt of the joke. And then she learns. And she improves. My favorite character probably is Bela. And she's the messiest of them all. I fvcking love that bitch. I'm right or die with her. She can do no wrong. Yeah, when she cheats on Eric, I'm like, girl, you messed up. But I get it. I get why you did it. I see the logic. yeah And yeah, I agree. That makes it really beautiful. And then also how they are all so different. They're all so messed up.

And they're still like, that's my ride or die bitch. I'm gonna do whatever you need. I love it. I also love the cast. They give off very similar vibes. And one of my favorite facts that I learned is that Aaliyah, being only 27, identifies as an ideally embedded 9:30 person, brings a Kindle to the club person. She's just so confident in doing her own thing. And I fvcking love that.

I think you watch some shows and we've mentioned it, we feel this way about Heartstopper. You watch some shows and you go, I can tell that cast fvcks with each other. Like they get along, that set is fun to be on. They enjoy being there and watching this show, you really get that vibe. You're like, they like being there. This is a fun job for them. It's a job, but it's a fun job. Yeah. 
getting into quotes. I think these first few are me. Kacey says this to her ex at the party when she gets called in because he's cheating. And she goes, and you know that part of your body you're insecure about? It is weird.

I love that because like she doesn't even need to know what part he knows, you know, like she could maybe not know what he's insecure about and it would still work just as well. Yeah, yeah. There is one night where I think Whitney Kimberly, maybe it's just Whitney and Kimberly but like multiple of them are coming back from hookups in the morning and Bela is going to take a photo of them and goes, say dicked down in three. And then she's taking a photo and Kimberly actually says it at the same time that when he goes absolutely not. Yeah, yeah.

And then Kimberly and Kacey have this exchange where Kimberly goes, because Kimberly is trying to be like clean, right? Supreme court image, clean girl. She goes, Oh, are Crocs offensive? And Kacey's like, to the concept of fashion? Absolutely. Which as a Crocs girly, don't agree. Well, they're not fashionable, but they are fantastic. 
Kacey also, I think this is around the time of the breakup. No, well, this is when she's crying in the stairwell after not getting the part and Cooper finds her. Yes, yes. And Cooper finds her and kind of approaches her and is like, is everything okay? And she goes, I just need to be alone for 10 to 80 minutes. Which is like me processing any emotion. Mhmm Kacey is such a vibe. So many of our quotes are from Kacey. Mhmm

We both wrote this one down. Who throws something at her? This is when Bela's passing out the clickers to all of the roommates. So she's just like tossing the clickers at each of them in the dorm. And Kacey goes, I'm sorry. Is there something about my personality that suggests you can toss things at me? she's so fvcking funny.

so in the symposium, Kimberly is getting walked all over by these upperclassmen guys. And then she tries to like reverse it and is like extra harsh then the next time. And her professor goes, you went from runt to cunt. And Kimberly goes, whoa, are you allowed to say that? Probably not. I got caught up in the rhyme. Like so mean, but also runt to cunt like I like it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

This must be, I'm guessing this is Lila with Kacey going and walking. Yeah. Because I wrote credits for most of these that you wrote down, but this was the only one I couldn't. Did I write that one yeah down? I wrote my initials next to mine. Oh yeah, yeah. So yes, this is definitely Lila and Kacey. I don't know the exact example, but they are walking somewhere and Lila goes, look, goes, look out, tall and tiny, coming through.

fvcking love her. Yeah. Cooper is mentioning some sort of theater party. I don't remember what it is, but it sounds very theater kid nerdy. he doesn't say when it is at all. He just says what it is and Kacey goes, Oh, no, I'm gonna be busy whenever that's happening.

Then they're getting ready to go somewhere as a group of roommates. They agreed to go somewhere. And Whitney goes, do not let her put Taylor Swift on. She'll get lost in the song and never come out. Go, go, go. Referring to Kacey.

i think that's when they need to get ready for the rodeo maybe yeah yeah oh wait no this next one's yours too oh yes this is at the rodeo i think yeah at the rodeo arvind gets so drunk arvin gets white girl wasted like he gets wasted Bela has to take him home and he's kind of like coming onto her they haven't had sex yet but she's like she really wants to have sex but she's like you are way too drunk like this is not the time like you are not present and he goes Oh, I'm all present. Unwrap me Santa. He gives such dad vibes. Yes, yes. At the gay rodeo when Taylor walks out some guys are throwing eggs at her and Ash just like from the a fvcking bush just jumps of course a lesbian jumps out of a bush. Sorry.

just jumps out and throws a muffin at these guys and shouts, suck my gay dick. It's just so stupid cause She's just this tiny little human throwing a muffin. Yep. 

this is when Lila and Kimberly go to Brian's dorm room together to make sure that the photo is completely deleted. And he's like, you're being crazy, which is completely gaslighting her and continuing to do it. But she goes, I'm okay with being a little crazy.

and I loved it because it's like yeah one it's ridiculous that she's being called crazy but there is a level where it's like you know I'm okay with that especially in this moment was it worth you taking Lila with you to like basically manhandle this guy was it a little crazy because you guys used violence a little bit was it worth it yeah Yeah, you know, I also think it shows Kimberly's growth because she's so worried about her image for the future in this moment, for her to like, be accepting like maybe I'm not gonna fit in. Maybe I'm gonna be a little crazy. Yeah. Because you also need to know that when she's tripping in that episode, she has hallucinations of various Supreme Court justices alive and dead sending her texts about how disappointed they are in her life

Yeah. And then the last quote is a Kimberly quote, is when they break into the server room, this guy is like, how did you know about this? And she goes, little fact about me. If I don't know something yet, I yearn to learn, which like me too, Kimberly, I hate that I am probably the most like you, but yes.

All right, that's all of our quotes and our facts and our I just really hope we get a season four guys. I felt like there's we jess and I talked about this the other day, but like I feel like we added this whole new group of people right got a lot of new side characters but mostly we've got two whole new main characters and it feels like it just it does a disservice to the show and the characters to not give us at least a fourth season 

If we only get season, if we only get three seasons, yes, it ended nicely, but that season will always stand out as being totally quite different from the first yeah two. So I hope, I mean, I would like even more than four. I'd be surprised if we get more than four, but I would really like a fourth season. Yep.

Agree I think and we also talked about we think this is a show that like probably could do like five seasons and then after that that probably would be it its peak and be time to say goodbye to it. But yes, I really hope we get one to two additional seasons. Though it was set up like they wanted to do eight doing a semester a season. What the heck was that Mindy? I mean, girl's got to get that bag. Is that all for your final thoughts?

Suck my gay dick. And with that, our next episode, keeping it up with the gay content, guys. We are gonna talk about XO Kitty season two. So stay tuned for that one. Please follow us on all of our social media, nineties Babies Nostalgia, spell out the word nineties on Instagram and YouTube, but use the numbers on TikTok since that is still a thing. Please rate and review as it really helps us out.

And with that, we'll see you in the next one. Bye!