Season 1 |
Season 2 |
Season 3 |
Episode Guide
It’s You
Fast Times at Creekwood High
The Setup
You Up?
Lucas and Diego
Agent of Chaos
The Gay Award
Brave
Thanks to such television programmes as Heartstopper, It’s A Sin, and Sex Education, there is no shortage of shows featuring gay and bisexual characters.
However, when Love, Victor originally premiered back in 2020, it was the first time we had seen a mainstream show featuring a gay Latino teenager. So, not only did we get more queer representation on screen but we also had a show that could be commended for its Latino representation too.
Victor’s coming-out story featured all of the usual high school dilemmas – boy crushes, teasing from the football team – but as he also had to deal with his family’s religious and cultural beliefs, his journey towards finding his sexual identity was extremely trying. For any teenager coming from a similar Hispanic background to Victor’s, the show must have been relatable.
The first season ended with Victor finally plucking up the courage to tell his parents that he was gay. Season 2 chronicled his on-off relationship with Benji, his friendship with Rahim, and his volatile relationship with Isabel, his mom, who struggled to come to terms with her son’s sexuality. It then ended on a cliffhanger where Victor faced a major romantic choice: Benji or Rahim?
Season 3 isn’t too dissimilar to what has come before, although Victor now has the loving support of his mom who has finally come to terms with his sexuality. For any teenagers watching with their parents, it might be that her story is something of an inspiration to both parties. But for those wrapped up in Victor’s turbulent love life, this will be of less importance than Victor’s romantic decision: who did he settle on for a boyfriend?
Episode 1 wastes no time in letting us know the answer but no sooner does Victor make his choice than Nick arrives on the scene, a gay teenager who shares the same religious faith as Victor and his family. This complicates matters for our tortured teen and it’s not long before he has further choices to make about his love life. Should he choose Nick, who is certainly his mom’s choice? Or does he stay with the person he chose after the season 2 cliffhanger? There will be no spoilers here!
The introduction of Nick adds a further dimension to the show. Whereas it was all quite innocent before, we now have a new dynamic for Victor to manage. Kissing a boy was a brave enough step for Victor in the previous seasons but now he’s faced with somebody who often cares more about sex than romantic matters of the heart.
Surprisingly (or perhaps unsurprisingly, considering Victor’s fluctuating hormones), our protagonist is all too happy to get his kit off in the back of the guy’s car, despite the rigidity of his faith and his loyalty to his other beau.
While the dawn of a sexually promiscuous Victor might be a little shocking for some, it’s a natural progression of his journey. However, this side of his character is soon side-lined as elsewhere, it’s business as usual.
He stresses over his relationships with the other guy in his life and there are the usual scenes of him breaking up, reuniting, and breaking up with them again. This predictability undermines the season as a whole as generally, it is a little more adult in nature than the seasons that came before. With a larger focus on themes regarding sex and the risk of STDs (which is briefly touched upon), this season could have been far more original. It’s a shame then, that the screenwriters settled on something more conventional for this closing chapter of the show.
If you found Victor’s endless deliberations over which boy to choose wearying in the last two seasons, you will definitely tire of it here. Admittedly, trying to find ‘the one’ is always a tricky matter, especially when you’re a teen when finding your true love seems to be the only thing that matters in life.
Still, the season could have done without its abundance of romantic dilemmas as they eventually become exhausting. Not only do we have Victor’s on-off relationships to worry about, but we also have romantic subplots featuring Felix and Mia who both go through their own breakups during the course of the season.
These relationship dramas are my only misgivings as elsewhere the writers do a pretty good job wrapping up the series as a whole. Season 3 will be the last time we see Victor and co and while this might be upsetting for fans of the show, it is good that most of the key characters get their turn in the spotlight.
We get to learn more about Benji and the real reason why he needed to go into rehab. Felix renews his friendship with Lake while trying to cope with his tricky relationship with his mentally depressive mom and his on-off relationship with Pilar, Victor’s sister. And Isabel and Armando attend a group for parents of gay children and come to terms with the way they handled their son’s coming out.
Each story is handled quite sensitively and there are many moving moments as their character arcs come to an end. Rahim draws the short straw when it comes to an involving storyline but at least he gets the happy ending his warm and likeable character deserves.
Victor also gets a happy ending but while the final moments of the last episode are of him sitting on a Ferris Wheel with his ‘Mr. Right,’ there is the nagging feeling that the person he eventually ends up with might actually be his Mr. Wrong! We can only assume they go on to have a loving relationship with one another but it seems unlikely, considering the events that previously threatened to tear them apart. Perhaps I’m being a bit cynical but if you have your own opinion, feel free to leave a comment below.
It is a shame that Love, Victor has been cancelled but at least the show didn’t overstay its welcome. What began as a secondary companion piece to Love, Simon became its own fully-realised thing, with more to say about the queer experience than the movie did. At least the show ends on a (literal) high note and fans will certainly be satisfied. I just wish there was room for one more season as I get the feeling Victor’s journey towards finding himself is far from over.
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Verdict - 7/10
7/10