The Sex Lives of College Girls – Season 2 Episode 7 Recap & Review

The Essex College Food Workers Strike

In The Sex Lives of College Girls Season 2 Episode 7, the food workers go on strike due to unfair pay. Kimberly decides to join them in walking out at noon.

Kimberly and Canaan protest together in front of the dining hall, but they can’t get any students to boycott the campus eateries. Even Jackson walks right past them. So, Kimberly calls Senator Chase for help. She asks Whitney’s mom to come speak at their rally, and she accepts.

When Lila gets back from a work trip, she reprimands Kimberly for making this situation difficult for her. She can’t stand with her during the protest or she’ll get fired from her management position.

While visiting, Senator Chase tells Whitney in her science class that she got her an internship at NIH. But Whitney doesn’t want her mom to get involved. She refuses it, wanting to obtain an internship on her own merit.

Kimberly continues protesting. She even confronts Jackson when he walks out of the dining hall, and he immediately throws away his food in support of her.

President Lacy insists the administration won’t budge on students’ wages, no matter who rallies. But the rally has an excellent turnout. Even Lila attends (albeit in sunglasses and a hat) and apologizes to Kimberly about her earlier attitude.

Before Senator Chase gives her speech, she records a video for social media, basing it around a quote about labor Kimberly found from one of Essex’s founders. Unfortunately, it turns out that Essex founder was a slave owner–and the senator gets lambasted for it on social media.

Senator Chase wants to leave the rally early, but Kimberly convinces her to give her speech and get ahead of all the vitriol coming her way. So the senator speaks to the students, apologizing for her mistake and emphasizing why she’s really here: to stand up for student workers’ rights. In the end, the administration agrees to the union’s demands.

Meanwhile, Bela deals with her guilt over cheating on Eric with Dan. Things get worse for her when Eric finds out and breaks up with her in front of her writing staff. 

She later asks Eric to forgive her, but he tells her this isn’t about her. He says her problem is that she needs everyone to like her. No matter what she has, she has to focus on winning over someone else.

Meanwhile, Leighton plays games with Tatum to try to seem as cool as she is. She even goes so far as to lie about an amazing party she’s been invited to.

When Tatum asks to come, Leighton has to scrounge up an invite to a real party. She finds out about a secret party in the art gallery from Jocelyn. When she and Tatum get there, Leighton lies to her about knowing the person who planned it.

It turns out, however, that the person who planned it is a friend of Tatum’s. And he wants to know who’s taking credit for his party.

Tatum asks Leighton if she lied to her, and she admits it. Leighton tells her she thinks Tatum is cooler than she is. Tatum insists she shouldn’t worry about that. She’s here with her because she already likes her.

Back at the science lab, Andrew tells Whitney he asked her mom about the internship she turned down. She calls him opportunistic, but he says he just knows what he wants–and then kisses her.

The Episode Review

Sherri Shepherd is always a delight when her character makes an appearance, but I especially enjoyed the rally drama this episode. Senator Chase’s mistake wasn’t what was important, but rather it was standing up for the rights of student workers. Kimberly and the senator really got to shine through this storyline.

But while some things can be fixed, others have to be let go. Bela and Eric can’t simply continue on as they have. Thankfully, it seems the writers acknowledge that she needs time to herself to acknowledge what made her cheat and to grow. I’m really looking forward to seeing where this arc takes her.

Leighton and Tatum’s plot was such an overdone trope to exploit for such a trite ending. But I think I’m angrier about the show’s pairing Whitney with the mediocre personality that is Andrew.