Now that HBO Max has renewed The Sex Lives of College Girls for season 3, this is an excellent time to discuss how the show can fix season 2’s story. The Sex Lives of College Girls season 2 finale left off with many of the girls in crisis. Kimberley (Pauline Chalamet) realized she liked Canaan (Christopher Meyer) and kissed him but decided to keep it from Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott). Whitney decided to move into the Kappa house after seeing Kimberly and Canaan kiss, and Kimberly kept it from her. Bela (Amrit Kaur) decided to transfer schools after being kicked off the Foxy and out of her new housing.
HBO Max’s The Sex Lives of College Girls isn’t usually the type of show that pits women against each other, so season 2’s finale felt especially out of character for Bela and Kimberly. Bela helped start the Foxy for women in comedy who didn’t want to suffer abuse from men, so her treatment of the other girls in the group was odd and made it difficult to sympathize with her. Kimberly is usually a fantastic friend. She’s always there for the other girls and great at communicating, so her carelessness regarding Whitney’s feelings was also confusing.
Bela Needs A Redemption Arc
Bela’s determination in The Sex Lives of College Girls season 2 blinded her and resulted in her hurting many people. In the season 2 premiere, Bela and Eric (Mekki Leeper) began hooking up. They eventually became exclusive when Bela realized she liked Eric after seeing him with another girl. When a well-known comedian spoke at Essex, Bela tried to make a good impression to get an internship. However, Eric also took the opportunity to pitch himself for the internship, so Bela cheated on him with the comedian to get ahead. After Eric found out and broke up with Bela, she asked for forgiveness because she felt awful, but he refused.
The Sex Lives of College Girls showrunner and co-creator Justin Noble told Deadline this about Bela:
“In episode 7, we get this glimpse of her at the end going down the path and sitting in this mental health bubble and thinking, and we’ve never seen that from her. That’s the show giving her an opportunity saying, ‘Hey, sometimes what you’re doing can hurt other people.’ She thinks about it, and then the finale gives her a test, and she fails miserably."
Similar to HBO's The White Lotus season 2, The Sex Lives of College Girls explores sexual politics, and it does so through Bela's decisions. Even after self-reflecting, Bela undermined her fellow editors at the Foxy by hijacking their feature in Essex’s magazine, then discouraged an aspiring female comedian by telling her to quit comedy altogether. Bela’s behavior was selfish and inconsiderate throughout season 2, so in The Sex Lives of College Girls season 3, she needs a redemption arc. The series must show her trying especially hard to earn everyone’s forgiveness and focus on bettering herself, and it shouldn’t be easy.
Whitney Needs More Personality
Season 2 of The Sex Lives of College Girls followed Whitney’s struggle to find her place outside of soccer, and the show’s writers evidently had the same issue. HBO found success with other teen shows featuring large casts, like the Gossip Girl reboot, but they can result in underdeveloped characters. Kimberly is the anxious nerd, Leighton is the lovable narcissist, and Bela is the fun and upbeat friend who always gets them into trouble, but Whitney doesn’t have a thing. In season 1, viewers sympathized with Whitney regarding her parent’s absence and how she was taken advantage of by her soccer coach, but she lacked depth in season 2.
Aside from her breakup with Canaan, and Kimberly kissing him in the finale, Whitney didn’t have much going on that fleshed out her character. Watching her struggle but ultimately succeed in her biochemistry class was satisfying, but it felt two-dimensional. However, co-creator Mindy Kaling’s new Scooby-Doo spinoff Velma proves HBO has faith in her ability to create dynamic characters and storylines. The Sex Lives of College Girls season 2’s finale provided the perfect setup to focus on Whitney in season 3. How Whitney handles Kimberly and Canaan’s betrayal will inform her character going forward. It's a terrific opportunity to give Whitney more personality.
Kimberly & Whitney Need To Repair Their Relationship
The Sex Lives of College Girls is about more than the girls’ sexual exploits. It’s about their struggles navigating college life and friendship, so Whitney and Kimberly need to make up in season 3. Justin Noble told Deadline: “Our girls get along. They’re there for each other. So it’ll be interesting to see how we would tackle this situation between Whitney and Kimberly because you can see both sides of it.”
Whether Canaan should be with Whitney or Kimberly is not the issue — it’s how Kimberly handled it. The situation is comparable to another HBO show, Euphoria, claiming Kimberly pulled a Cassie. Like in Euphoria, they were broken up before anything happened between the ex-boyfriend and the friend. Yet, Kimberly and Canaan only kissed, and Canaan didn’t abuse Whitney, so there’s some hope for Kimberly and Whitney’s friendship.
Kimberly must come clean to Whitney and beg for forgiveness to repair their friendship. When Kimberly asked Lila what to do, Lila said she understood why she liked Canaan, but if she acted on her feelings, it would ruin her friendship with Whitney. Yet Kimberly kissed him anyway. In The Sex Lives of College Girls season 3, Kimberly needs to regain Whitney’s trust and friendship, and it can’t be all fixed in two episodes. What cannot happen is Whitney becoming the villain by having her go to extremes to get back at Kimberly. It’s a complicated situation, but Kimberly was wrong and should not be made the victim.
Other Sex Lives Of College Girls Regulars Need More Screen Time
The Sex Lives of College Girls season 2 expanded on some series regulars, and the show needs to continue doing so in season 3. Eric and Canaan deserve more screen time next season because they have the potential to be in the girls' lives for a while, either as friends or more, so they need development. Any new information viewers learn about Eric and Canaan proves their promise as interesting standalone characters. It would also be wise to expand on them, so audiences can sympathize with the girls because instead of being told they like them, they will understand why.
The Sex Lives of College Girls provides levity with series regulars like Lila (Me Time's Ilia Isorelýs Paulino) and Willow (Renika Williams). Both women are hilarious and witty, and the show should provide more of that in season 3. Lila and Willow are who the girls go to for advice or help, but they deserve to be seen as their own persons rather just than being around whenever the girls need them. They are interesting characters who could provide a different perspective on college life.