The Sex Lives of College Girls, season 1

Reneé Rapp, Alyah Chanelle Scott, Amrit Kaur, and Pauline Chalamet in The Sex Lives of College Girls

The Sex Lives of College Girls comes from creators Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble, which is why I watched it. It’s about the friendship that develops between four 18 year old college roommates as they start on adulthood. It’s on HBO Max.

Season 2 of the Sex Lives of College Girls was approved even before season 1 ended. Another series released at about the same time, Harlem, has almost the same character set and a similar vibe, but no renewal so far. Hmmm.

Reneé Rapp, Alyah Chanelle Scott, Amrit Kaur, and Pauline Chalamet in The Sex Lives of College Girls

Here are the main characters. Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet) is a naive and broke girl from Oklahoma who’s on a scholarship. Bela (Amrit Kaur) is as aspiring comedian of South Asian heritage. Leighton (Reneé Rapp) is a rich kid and very closeted. Finally there’s Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott) who is a soccer star and whose mother is a U.S Senator.

It took me a long time to start caring about these characters. I wanted more laughs. The women seemed vapid and stupid at first, which was supposed to be the humor I wanted. They were newly released from parental control and wanted lots of sex – NOW. They drank too much. Whitney was having an affair with her married soccer coach, Leighton was hooking up in secret with girls on a dating app, Bela was giving hand jobs to members of the comedy publication in hopes of being admitted, and Kimberly went 1000% overboard having incessant sex with Leighton’s brother (Gavin Leatherwood).

They were such idiots. But you know what? They grew on me. I started caring. By episode 10, I was invested in all their problems.

The secondary characters were more grounded and sensible than the lead characters. They were the ones dispensing good advice. Alicia (Midori Francis) from the women’s center became an interest for Leighton. Canaan (Christopher Meyer) and Lila (Ilia Isorelýs Paulino) from the coffee shop where Kimberly worked were interesting. Jocelyn (Lauren ‘Lolo’ Spencer), who was in a wheelchair and often shared meals and conversations with the four, had some of the best lines.

As the episodes moved along, plot lines dealt with issues like cheating, a #MeToo storyline, coming out, being honest with each other and parents, and other topics that hooked me. It took s00000 long to make me care, I can’t give it a strong recommendation. More like a middle of the road recommendation. Be perfectly all right if you want to disagree with that opinion in the comments.

There were several women directors: Zoe R. Cassavetes, Maggie Carey, Meredith Dawson, Liza Johnson, Lila Neugebauer, and Rachel Raimist.

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