I wasn’t sure what the second half of I Love LA would hold, but I don’t think I could have predicted the absolute insanity that would be in store. Surprise twists around every corner kept this premiere season on its toes. With a second season confirmed, we’ll have to wait patiently to see what’s in store for creator Rachel Sennott and her gang. For now, let’s dig into the delicious second half of this Gen Z love letter to L.A.
Episode # 5. “They can’t all be Jeremys.”
Maia (Rachel Sennott) and Dylan (Josh Hutcherson) are having a nice stroll while she ponders their need for a gun. Dylan correctly clocks that this would be a terrible idea, and then they get shot at…so great walk! In her job, Maia scores Tallulah (Odessa A’zion) a Kia deal, but she’s busy hooking up with her new chef gal Tessa (Moses Ingram). Anyone who can cook is hot in my opinion, so get it, girl!
Maia’s trying to make job maneuvers and has a sushi lunch with her boss, Alyssa (Leighton Meester), but it goes poorly when spouses come up. Alyssa goes on and on about her partner, Jeremy (Ben Feldman). Maia does the obvious, “Yeah, of course, Dylan too,” and makes him a surprise songwriter. The boss is clearly so full of shit, so I’m curious to see what the relationship looks like. Hint: it’s not good. And yet this woman has the audacity to tell Maia not to settle for Dylan and go find her Jeremy. Later, though, Jeremy gets caught masturbating to porn by Maia. Yeah, I’d keep Dylan too.
And speaking of masturbating, Charlie (Jordan Firstman) has befriended Mr. Hit Thing Lukas (Froy Gutierrez). It’s absolutely hilarious seeing the comparison between gay and frat bro speak, but Charlie gets the job doing Lukas’s wardrobe for his Vegas residency. He also gets invited to join a group run while he’s incredibly high and has an absolutely horrible time. But he gets added to the group masturbation chat where the guys text each other instead of masturbating. Whatever you need for accountability, I guess, but Charlie’s responses to the whole thing are funny and adorable, and really, it creates a sense of community that he’s been clearly lacking. And then in a shocking twist, Lukas dies unexpectedly, making Charlie jobless. For him, it all comes to a slamming halt.
Episode # 6. “Game Night”
Maia has finagled herself into a Forbes photo and article with her boss, even if her hair is rather Nancy Pelosi. But her boss fumbles a question about an old job and what sounded like a not-so-good work environment. And for a moment, I feel bad for her, but I don’t think it will last. Speaking of old environments, Maia’s old supervisor, Ben (Colin Woodell, pictured), sends her a cheeky, sneaky note inviting her to catch up over drinks. Their chemistry is quite questionable. No, actually, he’s just a dick. “To get what you want, people have to get hurt.” Respectfully, you should go die.
Meanwhile, Tallulah gets a Ritz cracker deal, but they decide to make it queer, and she’s less than thrilled. In fact, she’s quite embarrassed to have her new queer relationship smeared all over her identity. And that’s valid. Some people want aspects of their life to be more private, and just because they choose a spotlight, that doesn’t mean who they are sleeping with needs to be an essential part of the job they do or what they put out there. I don’t blame her for the graffiti.
Charlie gets to attend Lukas’s funeral, but in the overflow rooms. Ouch. He was on the masturbation chat! Put some respect on his name! But he also runs into his ex, who is actually moving to New York. I sense this chapter isn’t quite closed…Cut back to Maia, who has imbibed with her creepy old supervisor and returned home to crash Dylan’s game night with his coworkers. My oh my, Dylan, your one coworker, Clare (Callie Hernandez), is quite cute, isn’t she? Good luck explaining that one, dude. Maia goes out of her way to piss him off because Dylan’s hot when he’s mad, so that gets them in the bedroom, but I don’t think he appreciates the immediate post-orgasm texting to Tallulah. Uh-oh…could things be brewing?
Episode # 7. “Divas Down”
The couple is tense, and you have to wonder how much they’re actually communicating with each other. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to sit here and claim to be some amazing, relationship Wonder Woman. I’m not. I’m just a lady who has been in a long-term relationship for almost a decade, and I can tell when a couple doesn’t properly communicate. Because if Dylan had actually brought up his frustration post sex, they wouldn’t be tense with each other like this, because they either would have worked through it or already chosen to take a break. So you know a fight is just waiting in the wings…oops, spoiler alert.
But Maia’s mind is elsewhere. The high-glitz, high-status Formè dinner is coming up, and it’s a big deal. It’s the perfect launch point for social media elites to get to the dinner, and Maia wants it for Tallulah really badly. And on the flip side, Tallulah is really not seeing this yet for what it really is. This is it. This is THE break. The big one. The kahuna. The whole enchilada. So it’s a pity Maia accidentally stabs herself and creates a whole other issue for them to deal with. Cue the traffic accident, and of course, they have to pretend to be Jewish. I was dying.
But they get her out, she can still walk in heels…I mean, she’ll damage the foot beyond repair, but ladies understand: you gotta do what you gotta do. And Maia is going to get Tallulah that dinner. Even if it means busting in on a stolen meeting. Uh-oh, coworker Courtney (Lauren Holt) gives Maia the inside track that her 
boss, Alyssa, has swiped the meeting that was supposed to be for Tallulah. And Maia is not happy. After crashing it in a big way, Tallulah gets in and quickly walks off, but Maia has to handle the fallout of her choices. Shockingly, or rather not shockingly, Alyssa doesn’t love Maia’s attack plan. And I get it both ways. Maia has to be thirsty. She has to chase things for Tallulah to get her paid, but when you bite the hand that feeds you and rush past your boss who wants to do things a certain way, you shoot yourself in the foot. Or stab yourself. Regardless, you might have gotten Tallulah the bag, but you lost the whole store. Not to mention you missed dinner with Dylan and his parents, so he’s not happy. Quite the opposite. He’s already got bags ready to walk out. Get a bag, lose a bag, I guess.
And not to forget our buddy Charlie! He’s been pretty down since Lukas died and is trying to figure out his job path. Well, wouldn’t you know, Charlie’s past comes knocking twice. Last episode, his ex pops up, and now, Mimi Rush (Ayo Edebiri) comes back. I love Ayo, she’s such a fantastic actress. This little bit part was so perfect for her. She crushed it, and Charlie’s back where he belongs: back in his game, even if he does miss his masturbation chat.
Episode 8. “I Love NY”
Maia, Tallulah, and Alani (True Whitaker) are having FUN. Well, they’re trying. Maia and Dylan are no contact for a full week…yeahhhh, we’ll see how that goes. No shame on Dylan, but he seems a bit clingy, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he breaks his own contact rule. And Maia’s certainly not sticking to the rules because she sends Charlie to check in on him. More coming on that soon…
Back to the Formè dinner, Tallulah goes to her fitting only to be put in a plain, black dress. Ok, do I understand why Tallulah’s upset? Yes. She’s a drama queen. You can’t put a drama queen in a plain, black dress. BUT…do I also understand the designer’s point that when you are the drama, your clothes shouldn’t be? YES. Tallulah, I love you, but you are a walking psychotic break. No one knows what the everloving f*ck you’re going to do next, so actually putting you in a plain, black dress gives you more of a sense of responsibility and class, and maybe, just MAYBE, more brands would want to work with you? Come on, girl.
This show, from a millennial woman’s perspective, focuses a lens on generational approaches. I’m a waiter. I’m going to analyze the full scene before making my choices. Gen Z is a bit more grab-them-by-the-balls-and-run-with-it type of attitude. Is either better than the other? No. There is a benefit to waiting, and there is a benefit to being spontaneous. I think it’s about finding the balance between them, and that’s something I don’t think Maia and Tallulah have figured out yet. But stealing a dress that isn’t yours? That doesn’t help things NOR does it help your image, Tallulah!
Maia is trying to fix everything. She’s trying to fix her job situation, but not be used by Ben the creeper. Fat chance, honey. His default is clearly “use and abuse,” so I’d walk the other way fast. She’s trying to fix things with Dylan and asks Charlie to check in on him. Charlie, of course confirms this to Dylan, like yes, obviously she cares about you and doesn’t like this either, but y’all just aren’t being grownups and sitting down and having the full deep-dive, difficult conversation. Cue Maia calling Charlie for dress help and Dylan becoming a dick about it. And here’s where Dylan lost me.
How dare you, sir!!! How dare you be so selfish that you become unhinged when she calls a friend and doesn’t immediately start talking about you! Dylan, you’re a sweet guy, but you’re not the only thing she has in her life. So I’m actually fully Team Maia on this one and how she actually didn’t deserve for you to end up in another woman’s bed…and we all know which woman it was.
You made that choice, and I don’t think it was a particularly hard one, Dylan. I think it was easy, too easy. And I think that’s actually the problem. You wanted to fuck Clare, so all you had to do was wait for any little reason to use as an excuse. Maia wasn’t gushing about you over the phone, and that was all you needed. Because when you truly, deeply love someone, it’s not that easy to go fuck someone else. I can’t even fantasize about other men without imagining my husband must have been lost tragically, because he’s my everything. So two days later and you’re already in someone else’s bed? Naw, you wanted to be there, and you chose to get yourself there!
And speaking of choices, Charlie realizes things aren’t fully done with his ex, and now that he’s in New York, saving Maia’s dress debacle, he can follow through on some things for himself. Charlie’s character arc this season was by far my favorite. You see him start the season very bitter and chasing revenge. And then here at the end, he’s finding peace for himself, and instead of throwing his past away, he’s challenging himself to embrace it and create the narrative he wants. And I just love that for him. And I also want more!
But we’ve wrapped this first season, and now we just get to wait and speculate on what could be ahead. Another season has already been confirmed, and I would imagine creator Rachel Sennott is over the moon to create more for us. We’ll have to see what’s ahead for Maia, Tallulah, Charlie, and that dumbass Dylan (all my love to Josh, what an amazing actor you are) next season, and I anticipate it will be absolutely crazy. But what do I know? I’m a millennial. I’ll just be sitting here…waiting…
[ Editor: And I’m a Baby Boomer, which explains why I didn’t connect with it at all. But I’m glad Alexandra did because it is a fave on HBO. We’ll let you know when we find out more about Season Two.]
