Yesterday, Love, Victor season 2 came out. If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram (both @mychelvandover), you'll know I have been posting about it a lot for the last few weeks. I was super excited for the season to come out, and it did not disappoint. After watching it last night, I took some time to process what happened (and there was a lot!) and arrange my thoughts. So, after some spoiler space, I'll write my thoughts about what happened and then I will comment about how whether or not I wanted to see happen actually happened. Without further ado, here we go...
So there are really 2 places I have considered starting: Venji and Isabel's reaction to Victor coming out. The thing is that the two are incredibly intertwined, so it is a little hard to separate them. I'll start with Isabel, because her reaction drives a lot of what Venji goes through.
Isabel is a very religious Catholic Latina and is conservative and that ends up spelling disaster. She and Victor have always been close (as we saw in season 1) and he has always been a mama's boy, so when he came out it completely knocked her off her axis. And she reacted very poorly. For a long while she refused to speak with Victor about it, insisted on calling Benji his "friend", made Benji feel unwelcome in the apartment, insisted Victor not come out to Adrian, did the whole "concerned mother" routine, threw away a dinner that she was making for Victor, Benji, Lake, and Felix (as well as Pilar) when she saw Venji kissing and made a lame excuse about burning it, stalked out of the room when Benji stroked Victor's arm, and just generally did everything she could to show how disapproving and unsupportive she was. All of this led Benji to be pissed and want Victor to push back more, but Victor was doing everything he could to salvage their relationship while pushing back when he felt he was able to. Add to that the time she walked in on them having sex, and things got so far beyond messy.
I so felt this. While I have never had a boyfriend, I did have a conservative, very religious Catholic mother who took quite a while to accept my being queer and pushed back against it somewhat. My mom and I were very close (honestly, pretty much the same as Victor and Isabel), so this was not a fun thing for me. I am not Latino, so I have no experience with that aspect of everything, but I do get a lot of what Victor was going through. A bit more on that later when I talk about Venji's relationship issues.
Anyway, the good thing is that Isabel did get better over time. I have no doubt that she loves Victor, but her refusal to support him came perilously close to causing a massive rupture in their relationship. The only reason there was no rupture is that Victor stubbornly refused to allow one to happen. He stopped confiding in her because of her actions, which is totally unsurprising. After all, if someone is not supportive of you and your relationship, why would you talk with them about it? And the less that is said about that priest, the better. When he and Isabel talked for the first time in episode 5, I had to pause the show, call my sister (who had watched through episode 5), and ask if it was a conversion therapy episode. She assured me it wasn't, so I was able to watch the rest of the episode, and the priest just got worse. He kept trying to get Victor to give up his "sin" and basically told Adrian that Victor would "not know God's love" (ie. he would go to Hell). This last part led to my favorite line of the season. Isabel confronted him in his office, told him that he was wrong and that she would love and support Victor, and ended with one of the greatest lines of dialogue ever. He told her to not give up on God and she shot back, "I'm not giving up on God. I'm giving up on you." She also quit her position as the Music Director of the church and found a more accepting (not sure about affirming) church.
After that, she was pretty good. She found Benji and apologized for what she did, which was important. And the reason it was important was that her disapproval and lack of support caused a massive rift between Victor and Benji. It wasn't all about her, but a lot of it was. Victor said he wanted to come out publicly with Benji as a couple to the school, but chickened out after his mom reminded him about how cruel kids could be. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that she was only trying to be helpful there, but it is really hard not to suspect that (on some level) she was trying to sabotage Venji. This delayed coming out led to some rumors about why Victor and Mia broke up (most ended up with her being cast as a slut) which led to Victor shoving someone who insulted Mia. Fortunately, that particular situation ended with Victor standing on a chair and proclaiming (in the middle of a hallway!) that he and Mia broke up because he was gay and that Benji was his boyfriend.
But that was the start of a pattern that kept happening. Victor would confront a new aspect of queer life and shy away from it, generally due to total lack of knowledge about it, which would cause him to pull away from Benji only to later have a talk with Benji about it while Benji listened patiently and helped him work it out. This pattern wore on Benji, and (I think) partially led to Benji's decision not to tell Victor that he was in AA, which led to a fight where Benji used his patience with Victor in a massively below-the-belt blow during an argument. I loved that Benji was being so patient with Victor, and that below-the-blow pissed me off. Benji knew that Victor was brand new and had a really hard time coming out before they got together, so if he wasn't ready to help guide Victor, then he should have said something. Don't get me wrong, Victor was no angel in the relationship. He hid things (mainly because he didn't want to admit he didn't know something) and didn't stand up for himself as much as he should have, but he was torn between his boyfriend and his mother. And when that happened, he defaulted to his stance of trying to keep the peace, which ended up causing some problems with Benji.
The biggest blow-up came after Isabel walked in on Venji having sex. Under any circumstance, that would be insanely awkward and nothing a parent would want to see, but Isabel's reaction to it and Benji's reaction to her just made everything a thousand times worse. She said that she didn't want them having sex with Adrian in the apartment, which Benji took (not irrationally) as homophobic. And I have to agree with him. If she had caught Victor having sex with a girl, I don't think she would have been as mad as she was. Don't get me wrong, she would have been mad, I just think that the fact that Victor was with Benji was why she reacted so much more strongly. And, as I said, she had long since forfeited any right to the benefit of the doubt. If she had been supportive in the past, Benji would have reacted less strongly, which would have prevented the fight between Victor and Benji about everything. While she was blowing up at Venji and Benji was blowing up at her, Victor was trying to calm them both down so he could have a chance to breathe and to figure out what to do. That led to Benji insisting that he and Victor take a break and led to Isabel visiting him to try and make amends and to get Venji back together.
Speaking of sex, I have to say that the whole cabin episode was sort of amusing, particularly the look on Victor's face when he saw the bottle of lube that Benji brought up sitting out. That was really, really funny. He was so panicked about the idea of having sex that he immediately tried to talk with Simon about it. That was a classic scene. Anyway, back to the rest....
I think the person I feel for most here was Victor. A lot of that is because I really identify with him and get why he was not pushing back against Isabel while Benji was there, but was pushing back against her when he had her alone or with Armando. He really wanted to preserve both relationships, but Benji seemed to be pressuring him to end (or at least radically alter) his relationship with Isabel and Isabel was sabotaging his relationship with Benji. Victor was trying to get the two most important people in his life to co-exist and neither one was helping out. I had sympathy with Benji until he started doing to Victor some of the same things Derek did to him last year. Benji said that Derek made him feel bad about being a romantic and this season he made Victor feel bad about loving basketball and wanting to salvage his relationship with his mom. Benji didn't seem to get how important both were to Victor and that was a part of their problems. And, like I said before, throwing his support in Victor's face during the argument after Victor found out (from Benji's parents) he was in AA was just cruel.
As for the whole AA thing, I am not super qualified to speak to that. My main thought is that I think Benji should have said something to Victor sooner. I do get that you should share things when you can, but when it is something that major, I have a harder time agreeing with the idea of not talking about it. What if they had gone to a party and Victor got his a beer or alcoholic beverage? That would have hurt Benji's sobriety and that would also have caused problems. On the other hand, I am a little surprised that Victor didn't think to ask about it since he knew that Benji had been drinking and that it culminated in his driving a car through a Wendy's. The other reason I think Benji should have said something was what Victor said to him, that Benji had been insisting on openness and honesty and hadn't shared this major thing with Victor. I definitely think Victor could have been more understanding about the whole thing, given that Benji had been so patient with him.
And now to the last of their problems, Victor telling Rahim that Benji had a drinking problem and was in AA. I so wanted to smack Victor for that one. He even said that he should not have told Rahim, and he knew that he was betraying Benji's trust. I do get why Victor said something, but it was entirely the wrong thing to do. Victor and Rahim had a fair amount in common. They both have conservative, religious parents (Rahim is Muslim) and they both are people of color (Rahim is Iranian). This gave them something to bond over, so Victor felt comfortable talking to Rahim. But telling him about Benji's being in AA was such a betrayal. And that was the final straw that led to the two of them taking a break.
Speaking of Rahim, I thought he was a great character. I was worried that he was introduced solely to cause problems between Victor and Benji, but he wasn't. He came out to Victor and leaned on him for some help sort of like Victor relied on Simon. I say sort of because their situations were definitely different. Rahim knew he was gay and never denied it the way Victor did. Mainly he just needed support and someone he could count on while he worked up the nerve to tell his parents that he was gay. He did end up being attracted to Victor which led to the finale scene where Victor rung someone's doorbell, but we don't know who. Some thoughts about that later. I definitely enjoyed seeing him and Victor out and about when they skipped school the day after Victor and Benji went on a break. It was nice for Victor to be able to do some things that he wouldn't normally do and it gave him and Rahim a chance to bond. It also led to a lovely scene where Isabel and Victor talked about why he didn't tell her that he and Benji were on a break.
So, now about other characters. Let's do some quick ones first:
Armando- I was really impressed with how quickly he was able to adjust to the new reality. I know it was hard for him at first, but he knew that he had to be supportive of his son and he did so. Seeing him attend PFLAG meetings was great as was his talk with Jack Spier (loved that Josh Duhamel was back!). I also loved that he made it clear to Isabel that she needed to be more supportive of Victor if there was a chance of the two of them reconciling. I was afraid that, given his reactions to things in the first season, he would react very poorly to Victor coming out. Fortunately, he didn't.
Pilar- Her reaction to Victor coming out was the third best reaction (Felix's was first, Adrian's was second). After Victor told her and their parents that he was gay, she paused for a few seconds, then walked right up and gave him a hug. That was great. She was also a lot less whiny than last season, which really helped. She did have a great line when she said, "Damn! Gay Victor has much bigger balls than Straight Victor!" after he confronted Isabel about her not wanting him to go to a cabin with Benji for the weekend. That made me laugh. I'm not sure how I feel about her and Felix together. Partly it's that I really like him and Lake together, but also there is the while fact that the two of them had more of a sibling relationship, so it feels weirdly incestuous.
Adrian- His reaction to Victor coming out was second only to Felix's. He wholly and unquestioningly supported Victor, which was cool enough. But when he asked why Victor had been with Mia (hey, fair question!), Armando compared it to the time that Adrian thought blueberry pancakes were the best only to have that opinion changed when he found French toast. So when he turned to Victor and told him that he was glad "you've found your French toast." I had to swoon a little. It was so adorable and such a great expression of support. And then there was the priest talking to him. I was happy with how Isabel let him know, in no uncertain terms, that Victor would be ok.
Felix- I love him and Lake together. Their main issue revolved around his mom and their life. I get why he didn't want Lake saying anything, but I also totally get why she did. His mom was not taking her new meds and it was obviously hurting Felix, so she wanted to make sure he could get some help. However, she promised not to tell anyone anything but told her mom, which led to her mom letting Felix know of another therapist they could go to, which led to a confrontation between their moms and Felix's mom being placed in a psych ward for a couple of weeks. That was another betrayal, albeit for very good reasons. However, I suspect that her betrayal was a part of the reason he ultimately chose Pilar. As for his attempts at manscaping in the 5th episode, that was just another really funny moment.
Lake- She has really grown since we first met her, She is thinking less about how things impact her and more about how they impact her and Felix as a couple. I do wish Felix was more the same, but I suspect that taking care of his mom was a little overwhelming. And if I was reading things correctly, she has Lucy (Andrew's ex!) interested in her. That could be fun!
Andrew- He is someone else who really astonished me. He has gone from being the obnoxious jock to being a genuinely good person. He does have his failures (his failure to stand up to the guys who refused to change in the locker room with Victor was a glaring one) but he was trying. And he was good with Mia and was actually pretty awesome to Felix. I'm surprised at how much I've come to really enjoy him.
Mia- And here is our last character study. I was surprised at how quickly she adapted to everything given how badly Victor hurt her. I get why she felt that she should be angry, but found it hard to be angry because the reason Victor hurt her was a part of his coming out process, which was a great thing for him. I do want to say that I wish he had validated her anger there a bit more. He did great at apologizing and everything and their friendship got back on track, but I wish that there had been something acknowledging that her anger was perfectly valid even as she was happy that Victor was being himself. As for her dad taking that job at Stanford, that was a big betrayal. He asked for her opinion and she gave it (albeit after saying ok), telling him that she didn't want him to take the job and move them because she wanted him to choose her over his job for once. The worst part is that he agreed and then went and accepted the job offer anyway. The season ended with her and Andrew driving to see her mom, who had emailed her in the penultimate episode.
So, now how what I wanted stacked up against what actually happened:
- Seeing Armando and Isabel's immediate reactions - Yes
- Making things right with Mia - Yes
- Seeing how he and Benji navigate his coming out - Yes
- Paring back on his needing advice from Simon- Yes, and the last episode had what looks like the last message to Simon
- Victor growing a backbone - Yes (Qualified, he still has more to grow, but it's a start)
- Tension between Benji and Mia over Victor - Nope
- Bit of time before Mia forgives Victor - Yes, although not as long as I expected
- Mia and Andrew ending up together - Yes, eventually
- Lake continuing her personal growth - Yes
- Felix not becoming shallow and a person affected by popularity- Yes
- Pilar improving her attitude - Yes, in spades
- Armando and Isabel getting their shit together - Sort of, I think
- Armando reacting badly to Victor coming out - Nope (totally off there!)
- Isabel possibly reacting badly to Victor coming out - I underestimated her reaction big time. I figured it would be hard, but it was so much worse than I expected.
So, I really hope they have a third season because I need to know a few things:
[1] Whose doorbell did Victor ring? I assume Benji or Rahim's, but it could have been someone else. I want it to be Benji so the two of them can be back together, but if it is Rahim, I hope both Victor and Benji think about what caused their problems to fix them.
[2] Why did Felix choose Pilar?
[3] Are Armando and Isabel back together or are they just hooking up now?
[4] Is Lucy interested in Lake?
[5] What will Mia and her dad do? And is she planning on just visiting her mom or staying with her?
Hope you enjoyed this! Let me know if you have any thoughts!
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