My Thoughts About Love Victor's Final Season

I watched the final season of Love Victor last night and my feelings were complicated, to say the least. I was really, really excited for this season and I felt like it really didn't live up to what it could have been. When they announced that the third season would be the last season and would only be 8 episodes, I was concerned. And as it turns out, I was right to be concerned. Having said all this, I didn't hate the season, I was just disappointed and didn't love it either.

Let's start, like we have in the past, with looking at the different characters. I want to start off with (surprise, surprise) Victor. One thing I have appreciated is seeing how much he's grown over the course of three seasons. In the first season, he relied on Simon very heavily because he didn't have anyone else to talk to while he figured stuff out. Then, in the second season, he would turn to Simon less and less frequently as things with Benji progressed. The whole sex message debacle turned out to be very much a one off last season, and a very amusing one at that. the season ended with Victor telling Simon that he could stand on his own now that he had a support system in place. This season, we never heard from Simon at all. And that was a good thing. Victor has learned to stand on his own and has been getting better about standing up for himself and what he want/needs. He's still not great about it all the time (I totally relate to this!), but he is better.

Victor and Benji have a tremendously complicated relationship. Turns out that Benji's drinking never really stopped, he only drank when he was stressed. I was glad to see him go to rehab, because he needed the help, but also because it gave him a chance to really work on the shit that gave them trouble last year. As I said in a prior post, "I think Benji was feeling tremendous pressure to be the perfectly knowledgeable boyfriend/guru, which is not a good combination. He seemed to feel that he couldn’t share his feelings with Victor because he didn’t want Victor to shut down, but he needed to find a way to share them. When he didn’t, he exploded at Victor and one thing led to another and they took a break. Benji seemed to think that he couldn’t be vulnerable or needy or anything other than the strong flying buttress of support. And no one can be that." Because Victor was so new to everything, Benji felt that he had to be ok with everything and that led to him bottling things up, which led to the fight at Benji's birthday dinner and the fight when Isabel walked in on them having sex. I loved that Benji decided to really take time and work on his own stuff.

I can't say I'm as fond of his decision to completely walk away from Victor for most of the season. I get not wanting a boyfriend, that really makes sense. But Victor is also his friend and that is where I have trouble. That being said, what Victor and Benji have is really intense, so I don't know if Benji could have been just a friend with Victor. It's really, really obvious that Victor and Benji really care about each other, like when Benji saw Victor upset in the hall and came up to find out what was going on. That was really cool, but I also think Victor had the right reaction. Benji wanted to cut off contact and then they met through the app (which was completely hilarious, BTW) and then Benji's dad came over and told Victor in no uncertain terms to stay away from Benji. More on that in a bit. So Victor's getting mixed messages about what Benji wants, is conflicted about the award, and is generally feeling like he is just hurting people. Was he a unfair to Benji? Maybe a bit, but I also think the reaction was completely understandable. All that said, the tie these two share is undeniable. Hence, Victor going to make a final plea to Benji to not go to boarding school and the ending make sense. And I'll have more to say about the ending later.

As for Benji's dad, I wanted to hurt him so badly. I know that he thought he was protecting Benji, but he really wasn't. He just saw Victor as someone who was hurting Benji and refused to see that his own actions had caused and were causing so much more damage. Between telling Benji he wasn't smart, the homophobic comment about not wanting Benji to be gay, to taking Benji to the strip club, to insisting that Victor was bad for Benji, he just kept causing damage. And trying to foist off Benji's relapse as all Victor's fault? That pissed me off so much. Laying all that on a 16-year old is just beyond unfair and just makes me see red. I was so glad when Victor told Benji what his dad did and I also loved that he completely ignored Benji's dad when he went to talk to Benji. That was fun.

And parents being clueless about how to help their kids and the damage they were doing to their kids was really a theme this season. Ok, this has been happening for the entire show. The first season, we had Isabel and Armando fighting constantly and Lake's mom belittling her in the name of "improving" her. The second season, we had Isabel's horrible reaction to Victor's coming out, more about Lake's mom, Mia's dad lying about Stanford, and Benji's parents just being clueless upper class white parents (sorry, I can't think of another way to put that). This season we had Isabel trying to set Victor up with Nick over Victor and Armando's objections, Armando being way too overprotective where Pilar was concerned (it felt really misogynistic), Lake's mom continuing to put Lake down, Mia's mom, Rahim's mom shoving Rahim back into the closet, and Benji's dad. Interestingly, the only parent who we saw who wasn't this way was Felix's mom.  And that was because their relationship has been one where Felix was the parent figure and now she can be and is really stepping up. I loved that both Lake and Rahim sat down with their moms to explain how their actions were causing pain. That was a good thing.

And now we have Isabel. I love the fact that she really was trying to make up for what she did. She was feeling really, really guilty over how she treated Victor and Benji and she was determined to be the perfect ally for Victor. So much so that it annoyed Victor. But, unlike last season when he was only really able to swallow his thoughts to avoid conflict or get upset at her, this season he very calmly explained that while he appreciated the thought behind what she was doing, she really needed to listen to what he needed. And she did. This is the relationship that Victor really could have used last season. When he and Isabel sat down and actually talked through stuff, it was really amazing. She gives good advice and is a great listener. It was definitely really nice to see them together again.

As for her introducing Nick, this is one area I was definitely conflicted about. First off, I wasn't happy that they brought in a new love interest in the last season, especially because it was a short season. I did appreciate that he did help Victor get through some of the time after Benji broke up with him, but I cannot say I felt any spark between the two of them. Don't get me wrong, they were gorgeous together and they were obviously physically attracted to each other, but I can't say that I ever felt like there was anything more than that. So having the two of them not stay together was a good thing, particularly after Nick realized that Victor was still majorly hung up on Benji.

As for Victor trying to help Liam, that just made me cringe. I get that he really did have good intentions, but in trying to force a bond with Liam to help him, he massively overstepped. The reason Simon was able to help him and the reason he was able to help Rahim was because he and Rahim reached out to get help. Liam never did. Victor just heard the notification from the app go off and realized that Liam had the app to and decided to just step in. Not a good idea. That said, he seemed to have learned his lesson, so hopefully he won't try that again. And seeing Liam and Nick end up together was sort of funny.

As for Rahim, he and Victor had a rocky road this season, First, Victor chose Benji and then just tried to pretend that everything was ok with Rahim without ever actually checking in to make sure Rahim was ok. And then there was the award. This was the tricky one. I get why Victor was reluctant to take it, but I also really get why Rahim was insistent on Victor taking it. Being awarded for existing (as Victor saw it) does seem a little degrading and infantilizing. However, what Victor was missing is that the award meant a lot to people like Rahim, people who aren't as straight passing as Victor is. Seeing the homophobia when the group was at the restaurant was shocking because there hasn't been that much blatant homophobia in the series. Yes, there were people on the basketball team who were being homophobic when Victor came out and Rahim did meet up with the femmephobic guy at Brasstown, but it wasn't as bad as what we saw there. And that really opened Victor's eyes. I hated that it took that to open his eyes, but it was nice to see Victor learn from Rahim. Victor never meant to hurt Rahim, but he managed to several times. Seeing Rahim end up happy with Connor was really nice.

And now about that ending. That was one part I really disliked. Let me start off by saying that I am not a fan of ambiguous endings. I appreciate that they didn't want to end it like this was the end of their life or their story, but I really think we deserved more of a concrete ending than what we got. I assume that Victor and Benji got back together given the fact that they were kissing, but I am really not sure given that Benji was talking about how he still had a lot of stuff to work on. I really felt that having some sort of coda on the end would have made it so much better. Not a flashforward through their whole lives, but if there could have been a scene of the Victor, Benji, Lake, Felix, and Andrew graduating with Victor and Benji together and happy, that would have given us more of a sense of closure and finality for this chapter of their lives. Instead, it just petered off which left me feeling incredibly unsatisfied, a little confused, and not happy. I did like that they let us know people's next steps, but the whole thing also felt a bit rushed.

I would actually say that about most of the season. It felt like they knew where they wanted people to end up and they came up with stories to explain it. It's not that the stories didn't make sense, it's that they felt a little inorganic. If they had a longer season or even just one more season, I think it would have made everything a whole lot better. Just overall I can't say that this season was anywhere near as good as the other two and that was a big disappointment for me personally.

So now onto other characters. Let's start with Benji. We got to see how he ended up drinking and we got to see the leadup to and the aftermath of the Accident. I really did appreciate seeing the troubles he had. In the first season, he was pretty chill and seemed to have it all together. That came apart in the second season when he and Victor fought and the third season explores why Benji is the way he is. He is someone who is always anxious and drank to combat that. As for his parents, while they may have wanted the best for him, they never knew how to help him. In fact, they caused a lot of his problems. Watching Benji blame Lucy for the pics of guys in various states of undress was both amusing and cringeworthy. I probably would have done something similar. Actually I did, only it wasn't to my parents. It was to my roommate the first semester of my junior year at college. I let him use my computer and he stumbled across some pages I looked at (no nudity, just shirtless or underwear shots from what I remember). So I totally related. I just wonder if Lucy ever found out about that. And I loved that Benji eventually decided to let Victor know about his feelings. Unfortunately, just like last season, he has a horrible sense of timing. Of course, that's expected from a drama, so it wasn't shocking.

I did love watching Benji and Rahim together. Benji was, for obvious reasons, pissed at Rahim. As for suspecting Rahim released the news he was in rehab, I get that but it was also a tad bit unfair (from an outsider's perspective). When it turned out that Rahim ended up being Benji's tutor, I just giggled. Forcing the two of them together was a good thing. It let Benji see that Rahim is not the awful person he thought he was, while also giving Rahim the chance to see Benji as a person. So it was something they both needed.

I'll also say that I am glad there was no real love triangle this season. I am never fond of those, so not having one made me happy. As for my thoughts about a triad, I still think it would have been nice, but given all the givens, I feel like it was a good thing that it didn't happen. I don't know if Benji would have been in a good enough place emotionally to handle an open relationship. The other issue is that the intensity of Benji and Victor's feelings for each other would probably have caused problems for the third person. And Rahim deserved better than that. I do think he and Victor could have been good together, but seeing him happy with someone who accepts him as he is was such a wonderful ending that I'm just happy for him.

Now for Felix and Pilar. I have to say that I sympathize with Pilar when it comes to hiding things from Armando. Watching him not know how to handle her having a boyfriend was how I was expecting him to act regarding Victor being gay last season. He was all machismo and misogynistic overprotectiveness and it was ugly. I really did not like him for a while. As for Felix choosing to not get Armando and Isabel mad, I have a lot of sympathy. It's obvious that he had to grow up way too fast and he never really had a solid parent figure in his life. He had to take care of his mom when she was unwell and be the adult in that relationship. So having parental figures who were actually parents was something he needed and couldn't just give up. I don't know what that means for him and Pilar (again, their ending was really ambiguous), but it seems like they're at least friends again.

Lucy and Lake were adorable. Watching Lake completely freak out about being attracted to Lucy and various other things (like sex with her) was actually adorable. There were some parallels between Lake and Victor in terms of coming to terms with their identities, but there were also a lot of differences. Neither Lake nor Lucy never labelled themselves. Based on what we saw, I would guess that Lake is bi or pan and that Lucy is a lesbian. My guess about Lucy mainly has to do with the fact that she indicated that some stuff had made her some to realizations about herself and I am assuming she is referring to Andrew here. I could be completely wrong about her, but that was my sense. The fact that they never labelled themselves is something that seems to be more and more common. I see a lot of youth insisting that labels aren't important, and when you're younger I really get that. You're figuring things out and trying on different labels to see what works. However, for me, I find labels to be really important. Not because they box you in, but because they let people know who you are and they can help you find a group with similar interests. That said, using or not using a particular label is a really personal thing and I get why some people may not use them.

Mia and Andrew. You know, I really wish they just wouldn't have gone to see Mia's mom because it was such a wasted opportunity. They got a great actress and barely used her. I know there could have been a lot of reasons for that, but it still felt like it was nothing more than a device to sort of reconcile Mia and her dad. I get why Mia was upset about her mom going to Prague, but expecting her mom to just drop a fellowship she had already accepted on a moment's notice was massively unfair. I get why it was important to Mia, but it was also such a bad idea and she way overreacted to what her mom said. I enjoyed seeing her and Andrew together and loved seeing her figure out how she could still fit into Lake's life given that Lake now had a girlfriend. I also loved seeing her visit her dad and Veronica and thought that moving back out there was the right thing to do under the circumstances.

As for Andrew, that boy has grown up a lot since we first met him. He's still cocky and self assured, but he's not the asshole he once was. He figured out how to let the good person he was on the inside finally shine through, and that was a good thing. Was sacrificing his chance at letting a scout see him at a game to go with Mia to Palo Alto a good thing? I have my doubts. While I get that he's trying to be there for her, especially considering her abandonment issues, I'm not sure it was the right thing. That being said, I also get that he had to do what he felt was right.

I don't really have much more to say right now. I plan on rewatching the third season tomorrow night and seeing if I have any different reactions. If I do, I will post them here Saturday morning. But tonight, I will be rewatching Heartstopper for the 13th time. To sum up my feelings about this season, I felt that they could have done a lot better. A lot of the smaller beats felt good, but the ending and some of the bigger beats, particularly between Benji and Victor, just felt like they didn't live up to what it should have been. If I was ranking the seasons, I'd go Season 2 as my favorite, Season 1 as the middle, and Season 3 as my least favorite. Maybe that's gonna be controversial, but it is where I am right now.

If you have any thoughts, comment below.

Some Thoughts About the Trailer for Love Victor Season 3

So it's finally here! The trailer for the third season of Love Victor has come out and I have some thoughts about it (I know, a total shock!).

A large part of the trailer focused on who Victor is going to choose. I've made my thoughts on that clear (see past blog entries for more), but lets deal with what we can see. Based on the trailer, I suspect that Victor goes to Benji's house because there are several shots of them talking in formal wear about what is going on between Victor and Rahim. Victor clearly wants to be with Benji, but he also clearly has feelings for Rahim and he tells Benji as much. At some point, Benji says that in order for them to have a chance, he needs to work on his own issues. I was so happy to see this because I have been saying that Benji has crap he needs to work on and that he and Victor need to work on stuff before getting back together. It also appears that Victor and Rahim remain friends and that Benji avoids them, at least for a while. He also makes it clear that he is not fond of Rahim, for understandable reasons. This tension is probably going to last the entire season. My bet is that Victor is going to pull a Simon, that is, he is going to invite the person he really wants to be with to ride with him on the ferris wheel in the last episode.

And then there is Nick, the new character played by Nico Greetham. Based on what we are seeing, it appears we have another contender for Victor's affection. Nick is someone Victor meets at church, so it appears that we will be exploring a more accepting version of religion this season, which will be nice. I have to say that I really hope this is one sided because I am not sure how many complications they can sort out in 8 episodes. Unless, of course, they're going for polyamory or Victor dating all three of them at once. That could be cool.

Lucy and Lake are officially going to be dating! I am curious what this means for the two of them. I assume they're both either bi or pan given that they've both been interested in and dated guys, but I could be wrong. Seeing them have 2 girls in a relationship is going to be really cool and interesting. And Felix's response to Lake's announcement was just funny. He was clearly flummoxed and was trying to be supportive, so naturally, he starts babbling.

Felix and Pilar keeping their relationship a secret from her parents? Not entirely sure why. His parents like Felix, so it can't be that. I gonna guess that it has something to do with Felix sort of being a part of the family, but I could be wrong. And it appears that the secret keeping is her idea, not his, so this could definitely be a source of tension for the two of them.

Mia and Andrew are going strong and they both seem to want their relationship to last forever. Not sure how likely that is, but you never know. And we see them seeing her mom, so this could be a very interesting ride. Given the fact that we see Mia holding a baby (presumably her half-sibling) and we see them in school, they come back after visiting her mom.

We don't get a lot about anyone else other than glimpses, so not a whole lot more to say.

So here are a couple of guesses about what will happen:

In episode 1, Victor and Benji talk and Benji leaves. I am betting that either in the episode or at the end, there will be a time jump to have Benji gone for a while and then coming back.

As I said above, in the last episode, Victor is going to try a last gambit to be with the guy he wants and will invite them onto the ferris wheel.

Given the descriptions released earlier, it seems that this season goes into their senior year (hence part of the reason for the guess about the time jump). Victor receives an award of some sort (the speech scene) and the descriptions talk about the gang making decisions about their future, so this really makes sense. It seems that season 2 was probably the first half of junior year (based on the first season being the 2nd half of their sophomore year), so if they want to do senior year, there is going to be at least one major time jump. A time jump in the beginning makes the most sense. It's also possible that there could be a time jump near the end of the last episode. For example, Victor goes on the ferris wheel with the guy he wants and then they have a time jump to their graduation or even further ahead.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

Hopes for the Third (and Final!) Season of Love, Victor

So today (February 8, 2022), Hulu announced that Love, Victor’s third season, coming out on June 15^th, will also be the last season for the show. I’m definitely sad about that, but also hoping that the writers will be able to wrap everything up in a nice way. Not sure why they're stopping here, since this will just be the rest of their junior year, so going for another season or two to finish high school would make more sense, but they are. And there are only 8 episodes instead of 10, which also concerns me a bit. Just really hope that they can wrap things up nicely. 

So, I wanted to write up some ideas about what I would like to see for the final season. These are going to be paired as couples for the most part because that is an easy way to look at them given the genre. I will discuss individuals in each as well as the pairings.
 
[1] Victor- I would love for Victor to not pick between Benji and Rahim. I really want him to pick both of them. Romance is (with almost no exceptions) depicted as being a binary choice between person A or person B. Why not date both of them? Polyamory is a very real thing and it is has almost no representation on TV, so having a good polyamorous person would be cool. Both Benji and Rahim are good for him in different ways and he loves them both, so why can’t he date both of them. Not sure if this would technically be a triad (do you all have to be dating each other for a triad?) or not, but it would be cool to see. If Victor does pick Benji, the two of them have some serious work to do given how quickly things fell apart last season. As for Benji and Rahim, I just hope that they are happy.
 
[2] Mia and Andrew- Gotta go with these two together since they left to look for Mia’s mom in the finale. I really do hope they stay together because they are absolutely adorable together. I also hope Mia finds some peace. She is the person who has a lot of personal drama because of other people and she deserves a break. I also really hope she and her dad make up. He has some serious groveling to do because of the way he outright lied to her. He told her that he would do what she asked and then broke that as soon as he could. He needs to seriously repair their relationship if he wants things to work out.
 
[3] Felix and Pilar- This was a couple that I didn’t really see coming. I can’t say I am super fond of the two of them together, but I am willing to be open minded. Other than that, I can’t say I honestly have a lot of particular wishes for either. Other than romantic relationships or Felix and his mom, they have mostly been in a place of supporting Victor. Now that Felix’s mom is in a better place, I really hope the two of them can relax and enjoy themselves.
 
[4] Lake and Lucy- This is the one that promises to be the most interesting. I am really curious to see where this goes. Other than a few compliments, Lake has never really expressed any interest in women, but when Lucy was blatantly flirting with her, you could tell she was intrigued. I am looking forward to seeing the two of them figuring things out. It promises to be a fun and interesting time. I also look forward to seeing Lake and Felix get to a place where they can be friends. I also really want Lake to stand up to her mom and tell her how toxic she can be.
 
{5] Armando and Isabel- So it appears that they are back together, which will be nice. And now that Isabel has finally come around to accepting Victor, I am looking forward to seeing him bring his boyfriend(s) to the house.
 
[6] Adrian- Not a whole lot to say here. He has not been in it much at all, so I can’t say I have any hopes for him at all. It might be nice to see more of him, but not essential.
 
I would also love to see the series explore a more accepting version of religion that exists. I appreciate that they showed the reality that there are a lot of religious people who don’t accept queer people, but it would be nice to see an accepting, affirming church, not just one that is “less awful”.
 
Until June 15^th!

Some Thoughts About Venji

I watched Love. Victor season 2 for the fourth time last night. The first few times I watch a show or movie, I tend to notice details or think of things that I hadn’t thought of before. For example, the first time watching the season, I missed that it was Felix who shouted “Yaass queen!” at the beginning of the third episode (the one right after Victor comes out in the hallway). The second time I watched, I thought it might be Felix, so I paid attention on the third time, and sure enough it was him. I have to say that that line never made much sense to me. While Felix says some odd things, that one doesn’t strike me as a very Felixlike thing to say. And that makes me wonder if it was supposed to be someone else and ended up being Felix for some reason or if Anthony decided to just shout it and the producers loved it so much that they kept it in.

Anyhow, when I watched the show for the third time, I was trying to figure out what happened to Benji and Victor. While most of the fault undoubtedly lies with Isabel and some with Victor (see my initial reaction for a lot more about this), it occurred to me that a good amount of the fault lies with Benji and I’m not talking about the AA below-the-belt shit he said. It started before that. At the end of season 1 and the beginning of season 2, Benji assured Victor that he knew what he was getting into with Victor being so new and all. And for most of the season, Benji seemed to get that Victor needed time to talk and process. However, during the AA fight, it became obvious that Benji was never as really cool with everything as he pretended to be. Victor’s need to talk things out, his need to keep up a relationship with Isabel, and everything else really got on Benji’s nerves. But Benji never let Victor know. On the one hand, I get it. You don’t want to shut your boyfriend down. On the other hand, Benji was always pushing Victor to be honest and wasn’t being honest himself. This was obvious from the first watch. What occurred to me later is the probable reason why Benji was being like this.

 

I think Benji was feeling tremendous pressure to be the perfectly knowledgable boyfriend/guru, which is not a good combination. He seemed to feel that he couldn’t share his feelings with Victor because he didn’t want Victor to shut down, but he needed to find a way to share them. When he didn’t, he exploded at Victor and one thing led to another and they took a break. Benji seemed to think that he couldn’t be vulnerable or needy or anything other than the strong flying buttress of support. And no one can be that. Now, I will say that it is possible that he talked with his sponsor or someone else, but absent any proof in the story (either verbal or visual), we have to assume he didn’t. And that is something the two of them really need to sort out if they want to have a chance together. Now that Isabel is out of the way, that should ease a lot of the pressure, but they still need to both communicate with each other better than they have been.

 

At some point, I’ll write a post about what I want to happen in season 3 now that the show is officially coming back. Until then, bye y’all!

Some Thoughts About Love, Victor Season 2

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!

Love, Victor Season 2 Trailer

So the Love, Victor season 2 trailer dropped. I didn't see it on Hulu's Youtube page (I did see it in their IG story though) [UPDATE: Hulu put it on their YouTube page, go to https://youtu.be/S7iyAHFoih8], but I did find it here. It looks wonderful.  Here are some of my thoughts:

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[1] Victor and Benji seem to be going strong and Victor is really out. The only issue mentioned were Victor's worries about sex and his worrying about the "right way" to be gay. Apparently the basketball team is uncomfortable around him, but he is not "gay enough" for Benji's friends. I also have to wonder if Benji dumping Derek for Victor might also play into that.

[2] Victor has apparently learned how to stand up for himself, which makes me happy. He spent so much of season 1 worried about making other people happy that he forgot to make sure he was taking care of himself.

[3] Isabel is apparently going to have a harder time dealing with Victor coming out than Armando does. Which isn't a huge surprise given how close Victor and Isabel are. She needs to adjust a lot to this new information. She comes across as not doing well at all and I really hope that what we see here is just the worst, but I fear it isn't.

[4] Lake is totally fine with Victor and Benji, which is a little surprising given how badly Victor hurt Mia. Although she does keep up good relations with Mia, which indicates that Mia is (a) very understanding or (b) not willing to make Lake choose between her and Victor. Either one is light years ahead of where I thought we would be, so that is good.

[5] Speaking of Mia, I found it interesting that Andrew has a girlfriend in the trailer. Not sure how long it took to start dating someone else, but I was not expecting that. It is a good sign for him though. And watching Andrew talk to Felix about grooming "downtown Felix" was a total hoot!

[6] Felix and Pilar are continuing their friendship, which looks awesome. I just really hope they don't try and make her an obstacle of some sort for Felix and Lake. The two of them as friends would be awesome. And seeing Felix and his mom together was heartbreaking. He has to take care of here and given the notice on the fridge, they are having trouble.

I am super excited for the new season and cannot wait for it to start!

Some Thoughts About What I Hope to See in Love, Victor Season 2

 So I just finished watching Love, Victor for the 10th time (yes, I am a little obsessed, deal with it). This is my first time rewatching it since they announced that it will be coming back for Season 2 on June 11th. This time, I decided to rewatch with an eye towards what I would like to see in Season 2.

To refresh: Victor Salazar is a young man who moved with his family from Texas to Atlanta, Georgia after his mother had an affair (it seemed to be more emotional than physical) with his dad's boss and after his dad was fired for attacking his boss over the affair. Victor's sister Pilar is incredibly upset about moving and his brother Adrian doesn't really seem fazed by the move. Victor was relieved to be in a big city because he was starting to realize that he was gay and on his first day at Creekwood High, he heard about Simon Spier who came out as gay and kissed his now-boyfriend at a carnival in front of most of the school. He writes to Simon on Instagram (they never say for sure, but based on the look, I think that is a safe bet) about how he was hoping to start over and that, after hearing about Simon, he felt upset and unsure about what to do. On his first day, he met Mia, a popular and pretty girl who is also quite kind; Felix, his quirky upstairs neighbor who can be annoying at times; Lake, a petty and insecure friend of Mia's who Felix is crushing on; and Andrew, a jock who nicknamed Felix "Lone Stone", has a crush on Mia, and who Lake is crushing on. He also meets Benji, an out gay kid who Victor is instantly attracted to. Over the course of the season, Victor and Simon talk as Victor dates Mia and tries to deny his attraction to Benji. When he and Benji go on a trip to get the coffee machine from the coffee shop they work at fixed, Victor kisses Benji and then freaks out. Benji is none to pleased about it and decides to move to another store because he has a boyfriend who would not be pleased about what happened. Victor sneaks off to New York to visit Simon and meets Bram (Simon's boyfriend) and their roommates who show Victor that there is no one way to be queer and that they are in his corner. Victor comes out to Felix, who gives him a hug and assures him that nothing has to change, and then tries to come out to Mia only to have events stymie him. He takes Mia to a dance where she catches him kissing Benji (who broke up with his boyfriend) and she leaves the dance with Andrew. Felix sneaks around with Lake (at her insistence) and then breaks off what they have when she won't go public. At the dance, she asks him to come up front and kiss and dance with her, making them official. After leaving the dance, Victor and Pilar go back home where their parents tell them that they will be separating. Victor, who had planned on telling them he was gay, decided not to say anything to make sure that there was no more tenseness, only to turn around and tell them, "I'm gay."

Ok, there was obviously a lot that I didn't hit (there are 10 25-30 minute episodes), but those are the highlights. So now I want to go through each main character and say what I am hoping we get from them.

Victor- First off, I am hoping that we get to see his parents' immediate reaction to his declaration. The Spring Fling was at some point during his sophomore year and Season 2 is in his junior year, so I am assuming there is a time jump there. I want to see how they react, not just be told about it. Second, he needs to make things right with Mia. I get why he didn't tell her right away, but he waited way too long. He hurt her tremendously and he needs to make it right if he can. But he also needs to respect her choice if she tells him that she needs space. Third, I am really curious about how he and Benji navigate his coming out and dating. Mia was Victor's first relationship, so this should be interesting. I am hoping that they start to retire the Victor and Simon messaging each other thing because Victor does need to learn how to do this on his own. I would like to see him get advice periodically, but not several times an episode like he did in Season 1. Finally, I want Victor to have more of a backbone. In the first season, he kept doing everything he could to help his family keep peace at the expense of himself. He needs to focus on himself here and not so much on them.

Benji- In Season 1, Benji was mostly the object of romantic interest. He got some character development, but not as much as any other main character. We learned that his coming out was traumatic (he got drunk and crashed a car into a Wendy's just before coming out to his parents in a hospital) and that his ex-boyfriend was very much not a romantic while Benji is definitely one. Benji is going to be in the interesting position of having to help Victor navigate coming out while being in a relationship with him. I also suspect that there is going to be tension between him and Mia over what happened with Victor.

Mia- I really felt for her in the finale. I know that when I was coming out, the idea of dating a woman (to try and force myself to be straight) and causing her pain by coming out was my greatest fear. Victor did this to her in spades. I am hoping she can forgive him eventually, but I am suspecting that it is going to be a bit of a road back. I really hope that we don't come back and they are friends right away. Victor needs to make amends and I want to see him do that. I am also curious about how she will handle her father and Veronica getting married and having a baby together. She seems to be the character who all the drama happens to, and I hope that is not the case. I really hope she and Andrew do end up together because he does seem to care about her. Unfortunately, I am not sure how she feels about him. so unless she can actually care for him, maybe they shouldn't be together.

Lake- It was great to see the character who was presented as a popular almost-airhead has depth. I really grew to love her over the course of the season and she and Felix make a lovely couple. Of course, I love the odd couples like this (I also love Mouth and Rachel or Mouth and Brooke on One Tree Hill), so seeing them together was like catnip for me. I do not like the way her mother talks to her and beats down her self esteem. I think her mom thinks that she is helping Lake by "being realistic", but she is not. I really hope Lake continues on her path to being less shallow and less concerned with what other people think.

Felix- Felix is the type of character I love. He is quirky, cute, and fun. Fortunately, he is also not too neurotic or insecure. He has been an awesome friend for Victor and has really helped Lake realize how awesome she is (I say helped because she started on her own, he just helped the process along). I am hoping that he doesn't change for the worse from being around popular people, because that seems to happen to this type of character a lot. He just needs to keep being the awesome person he has been.

Andrew- For the first several episodes, I intensely disliked him. He used Lake to try and hang out with Mia, gave Felix a dehumanizing nickname years ago, and tried to embarrass Victor due to his socio-economic status. About the only person he didn't hurt was Mia. Where I came to start liking Andrew was after Felix told him off for what he was doing (bullying people by making them the butts of jokes or by humiliating them) and Mia let him know that he might be a good person deep down. I think Andrew truly did not realize how much damage he was doing, because he did try and change after that. I was impressed that he didn't tell Mia about Victor kissing Benji and that he declined to go into Mia's house after taking her home after the dance. He wants to be in a relationship with her and is willing to wait.

Pilar- Honestly, she is the character I like the least. She is whiny, passive-aggressive, and pretty much the most annoying character around. I get why she is the way she is, but that doesn't mean that I like her. I am just hoping that she grows and become less annoying and less passive-aggressive (or just less aggressive).

And I hope Victor's parents get their shit together. They were fighting all season long and did not seem to get how much they were hurting their kids until Victor called them onto the carpet about it. Separating is a good idea because they need time and space. I am also hoping that they handle Victor's coming out with good grace. I am expecting some stumbles and some mistakes, but I really hope we don't get anything major like him getting kicked out or something like that. Based on how Armando (the father) reacted to the idea of Adrian potentially being gay, I am expecting him to have the most trouble. Isabel (the mother) is closer to Victor, so I am hoping that she handles it well, but it is entirely possible this could actually cause her to react worse if she feels betrayed or something.

Anyway, I really am looking forward to season 2 coming out. Until then!

Some Thoughts About Love, Victor

Stop me if this sounds familiar:

A teen drama with a protagonist who meets a sweet, popular character who is a love interest; another love interest; a jock who is an asshole; a quirky friend; a insecure person who wants to be popular; and other background characters.  Over the course of several episodes, the protagonist struggles with who they really like while also trying to fit in and live their life.

If you're saying that this sounds like a perfectly ordinary teen drama, you would be correct.  And Love, Victor has all of these.  What sets the show apart is that the main romantic pairing is a same-sex pair.  The ordinariness of the plot of Love, Victor is the very thing that makes it extraordinary.  Much like Love, Simon, the 2018 coming of age/teen rom-com film whose world Love, Victor is set in, the show sets out to be run of the mill with a same-sex couple as the primary pairing.  It has all the tropes and standard elements of the many, many teen dramas that proceeded it with that little twist.  And that is, as I said, what makes it so extraordinary.

I remember growing up and having characters coming out of the closet be a Sweeps moment.  It was a Big Deal.  So having a show where the character is known to be queer and the show is about them coming to terms with that shows the progress that has been made.  Don't get me wrong, we aren't at the Promised Land yet, but we have come a good distance.

The other thing that makes Love, Victor so great is that Victor is a Latino.  Most queer characters who are leading characters in shows or movies made by major studios (as opposed to supporting or part of an ensemble) have been white males.  There are exceptions to this (of course), but they have been just that, the exception to the rule.

I have to admit to a large amount of trepidation when I first heard about the show.  Early on, it sounded like they were going to turn the movie into a tv series, which would have been a major mistake.  When they announced that the show would have new characters, but set at the same high school, it eased a lot of my fears.  I loved that the show had Victor DMing Simon to get advice and to tell Simon what was going on in his life.  That gave the show a wonderful connection to the movie and allowed us to continue to be connected to Simon and Bram even though they weren't at the high school anymore.  In a similar vein, I loved seeing Ms. Albright as the vice principal in the first episode.  Again, it connected the show to the movie and gave us a very good reason for Victor to hear about and start communicating with Simon.

That being said, there were a couple of things I wish the show had done differently.  First, I was not particularly happy that the only options presented in terms of sexual orientation were gay/lesbian or straight.  There was no discussion that Victor might be bi or pan, which are very real orientations and are severely underrepresented on tv and in movies.  The other issue is a familiar one.  Michael Cimino, who plays Victor, is straight.  While he did an awesome job and obviously cares very deeply about how he presented Victor's struggles, it is always better to have a queer actor play a queer character because they can bring authenticity to the role and the struggle of coming to terms with who you are.

With that, I can't say there was anything else I was unhappy about.  The show had an episode that focused on the queer community and the way that the community really can be a family of people who want to cheer each other on and support each other as we work on coming out and figuring out who we are.  I also loved that Simon and Bram had roommates of various orientations, gender identities, pronouns, and gender presentations.  Again, representation matters.  When we can see people who are like us, or when the straight world can see the variety of people who are a part of the queer community, it helps everyone.  This is not to say that we don't have a way to go, but you have to start somewhere.

I think my favorite episode was the eighth episode where Victor went to New York to meet Simon.  That was the episode I talked about in the last paragraph.  It had great speeches from Bram who showed Victor that there are all sorts of people in the queer community, Justin (played by Tommy Dorfman) who explained how (for many, if not most, queer people) the person they showed to the world before they came out is a costume and how who they are after they come out is their authentic self, and then from Simon who explained to Victor why his roommates knew about what Victor told him.  The fact that Victor was able to admit why he was afraid to come out, which was followed by a group hug, was also wonderful, as was his admission at the end that that night was the best of his life.

Another awesome scene was when Victor came out to Felix and Felix admitted that he didn't know the perfect thing to say, but that nothing had to change between them.  That sort of unquestioning acceptance and affirmation is better than any long, flowery speech.  It was a short, simple declaration followed by a hug that let Victor know that he had at least one person in his life who would not turn their back on him.  It doesn't get much better than that.

I do have to admit to not being fond of the way Victor hurt Mia.  I will grant that he was not intending to be hurtful, but he hurt her deeply nonetheless.  I get why he didn't tell her when he was intending to, due to the fact that her father announced that not only was his girlfriend pregnant, but they were also getting married.  Throwing in the fact that he was gay would have made an already messy situation even messier, so I get the hesitation there.  Unfortunately, she discovered that he was gay on her own when she saw him kissing Benji.  That is never a good situation.

I really hope the show comes back for a second season because the way they ended the first is totally begging for another season.  Victor's parents announced that they are seperating, at least temporarily, and the episode ended with Victor announcing the fact that he is gay.  If we don't get to see how everyone deals with that, I will be really upset.

Overall, the show was well acted, Victor's struggles were eminently relatable, and the characters were developed in a way that allowed them to break free of some of the constricting boxes that characters are often thrust into.  If you like teen dramas, Love, Victor is well worth watching and enjoying.