Willkommen, bienvenue, lil’ darlings. It’s time for our final Love, Victor recap of season two. All Holy Heck breaks loose and as with season one, we end on a cliffhanger shot of Victor’s (Michael Cimino) face.
For the unaware, Love, Victor is a Hulu show set in Becky Albertalli‘s “Simonverse.” It follows Victor Salazar as he navigates family woes, coming out and first love. This series takes place in the same Atlanta suburb and high school, Creekwood High, as Albertalli’s book Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Love, Simon, the movie based on said book. Those worlds collide when Victor reaches out to Simon Spier (Nick Robinson) for gay guidance.
Last time, Victor and his friend Rahim (Anthony Keyvan) ditched school and had a gay old time.
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There are a million and one loose threads going into the season two finale. How will they possibly get resolved? Read our recap of episode ten, “Close Your Eyes,” to find out if they do.
“Thanks for the donut.”
We open in Victor’s room with Victor staring at his wedding invite that is addressed to both him and Benji (George Sear). Victor checks to see if Simon has gotten back to him since he wrote to him last episode, but nope. Vic heads into the living room to talk to Pilar (Isabella Ferreira), but she’s not alone. Rahim is there too. The boys are being a little awkward turtle.
Victor asks Pilar to go to Mia’s parents’ wedding with him, but as much as she loves her brother, she loves her free time more. Pilar volunteers Rahim because he loves conga lines and “fancy blazer napkins.” Rahim isn’t so sure Benji would be cool with him going, and Victor assures him that Benji doesn’t get an opinion on that. Besides, Victor and Rahim are just friends, right? Right?
Over at Salazar apartment # 2, Shelby (Julie Benz) and Mando (James Martinez) are having a little morning-after flirt sesh. Isa (Ana Ortiz) shows up. In her defense (I guess), she did try texting first. Isa is worried about Victor and needs some advice from Mando. She believes that the #Venji breakup is at least partially her fault, considering how awful she was to Benji. Mando reminds her she can try to mend the bridge she burned.
However, that’s not the only thing getting to Victor … or Isa. The parents Salazar have been separated for six months. Isa gives her husband an ultimatum: Decide if we’re gonna actually work on our marriage, or if it’s time to get a divorce.
Meanwhile, at Felix’s (Anthony Turpel), he’s preparing a fancy brunch because his mom, Dawn (Betsy Brandt), is coming home from the hospital today! While eating, she regales her son with tales of the other patients in the mental hospital. Dawn is doing so much better, and a large part of her motivation was knowing she didn’t want to miss Felix’s big life moments. That brings them to the topic of Lake (Bebe Wood). Dawn understands why Felix feels betrayed but wants him to know that regardless of #Flake’s future, she is forever grateful to Lake. Because Lake risked her relationship with Felix to make sure Dawn got the necessary help. THANK YOU. Someone needed to say it.
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“It was my grandmother’s. I know she would have loved you. Except for you being knocked up. And white.”
Over at Mia’s, Lake is asking Mia (Rachel Hilson) for clothing advice; she wants to let the world know she is ready for romantic action. Mia reminds her that the age-appropriate guys attending the wedding are gay, Mia’s boyfriend and Felix. Not exactly viable smash candidates.
Mia’s parents, Harold (Mekhi Phifer) and Veronica (Sophia Bush), join them on the back porch. Mia gives Veronica a family heirloom as her “something old” for the wedding. Veronica gets super emotional and tells Harold that they “can’t.” Harold admits that he’s gonna take the job at Stanford because he realized it was “too big of an opportunity” to pass up. He doesn’t even apologize for breaking his promise or Mia’s trust. Mia runs into the house, and Lake gives Harold the biggest stink-eye as she chases after her.
Meanwhile, Felix arrives at Salazar apartment #1, and who opens the door? Pilar. Felix starts to tell her about his mom and how great she’s doing. Pilar cuts him off and says that while she’s super happy that Dawn is doing awesome, she cannot pretend that things are normal between them.
“If someone doesn’t give me a compliment about how I look, I’m not going.”
Felix is obviously super bummed about going back to acquaintance-zone with Pilar and compensates by over-complimenting Victor and Rahim on their wedding outfits.
At the wedding, Andrew (Mason Gooding) insists to Mia that they’ll figure out her living situation, but she’s not buying it. Meanwhile, Andrew’s ex, Lucy (Ava Capri), is a cater-waiter and comes up to Lake to offer her some of the hard stuff. To deal with the Felix awkwardness, and no other reason at all, of course.
Lake decides to sit next to Felix, which definitely won’t help her get ready to move on, but whatever. She peeps Victor and Rahim and doesn’t believe they could just be friends, cuz they’re too hot. Can we just NOT? Not everyone of compatible sexualities are gonna end up doing it.
Harold’s vows are … something else. He vows to put his love for Veronica above his ambition. And just like, I’ve got two special fingers for you, dude.
“At least I know I tried.”
Over at the coffee shop, Benji is sad-eye, Insta-stalking Victor. Isa comes by and says that it’s about time she and Benji talked. She’s brought him some pollo guisado and apologizes for ruining the dinner he was supposed to come to way back when. She also says she’s sorry if she was the reason he and Victor are having problems. Benji reassures her that their problems are more than her and that they may be bigger than two 16-year-olds can handle #preach. Isa says age ain’t nothing but a number and it’s all about how much you’re willing to put into it. And Victor really put a lot on the line for #Venji. Which, sure, but now Isa’s just overcompensating for not being supportive and crossing a line.
OMG. NO. Next scene is Rahim and Victor slurping down oysters. The dialogue, y’all, the dialogue: “I don’t know if this is for me,” and “I don’t see the appeal.” The gagging. Perfection. Thank God for Hulu.
Next, Andrew and Mia are dancing. He tells her she could live with him; it’s not like she takes up a lot of space. Harold wants to cut in. Mia cannot, though, and walks away again. Andrew then drops a truth bomb on Harold. Andrew has always respected him, looked up to him even, but after Harold broke Mia’s trust like this, he’s lost some of that respect.
Meanwhile in Close Your Eyes, Isa calls Mando just as he’s walking up to Shelby’s. Isa wants him to know that she talked to Benji. The parents Salazar flirt a little bit about celebratory ice cream. Then, Mando walks into Shelby’s.
“And I hope that you feel the same way too.”
Oooo. Back at the wedding, Lake asks Lucy for a little more liquid courage, and Lucy is all sultry when she replies that Lake’s jumpsuit is courage enough. Yaaaaaas. But Lake asks Felix to dance to “All My Life” by K-Ci and Jojo, which, like, takes me back to middle school; why don’t you? This song is Rahim’s jam because it’s R&B from before he was born, and oh my, I’m old enough to have birthed these children. Victor shyly asks Rahim to dance. There’s some fumbling about where to put hands because neither of them has actually danced with another guy before. <3
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So, #Flake are dancing, and Felix finally thanks Lake for helping his mom. He’ll always be grateful. But then … they discover Swedish Fish in Felix’s pocket. Pilar had put them there because she thought his mom might be craving them after weeks of being deprived. Felix’s face. It all comes together. He needs to leave because while he’s grateful to Lake, he’s no longer in love with her. And that’s so valid and wonderful to show. We don’t have to stay with people just because they’ve done great things for us. But, of course, Lake is gutted.
Guess who shows up at the wedding right now? Benji! He sees #Rictor dancing and flees. Victor runs after him. All right. I call BS. Sure, maybe Rahim and Victor were looking at each other a little starry-eyed, but my goodness, friends can dance together! Benji says he feels like an idiot, even though Victor insists he and Rahim are just friends. Hey, Benji, check this out.
“I’ve never felt more connected to someone in my entire life.”
Rahim comes up behind Victor, and when Victor asks Rahim for backup on the “we’re just friends” thing, Rahim confesses he like-likes him. And he thinks Vic feels the same. Rahim didn’t mean to get in between #Venji, but hanging out with Victor feels like magic. Victor’s not saying anything, but the words are sinking in. If nothing else, he likes the compliments Rahim is giving him. Rahim is moving closer and closer. He kisses Victor. I generally don’t love when people kiss others without asking for consent, especially if they’ve never kissed them before. But what I do like here is the visual image of two teen boys of color, lip-locked, a nail-polished hand in view. Rahim tells Victor to figure out what he wants, and leaves. Victor never says a word.
So, Victor heads up to Mia’s room to figure out what he wants (don’t worry, it’s not like that). But, Felix is already in there, hiding from his own problems. He and Victor start talking about their love lives. There’s a gross moment when we get into some patriarchal nonsense with how Felix expects Victor will react to #Filar and then again, with Victor’s actual reaction.
Felix suggests they play a visualization game to see who they should be with. It goes like this: Imagine all the future things you wanna do with your partner; prom, college FaceTime sex, etc. Who do you see? The exercise works for our besties.
“If you fall, I will catch you. I will be waiting. Time after time.”
We next see Victor checking Uber, but the wait time is 15 minutes. His little gay heart cannot wait that long, so he takes off running. The app travel time says 18 minutes; he’ll be able to beat 33 minutes for sure.
Felix comes upon Pilar taking out the trash (how much garbage does that household generate?). He kisses her; trash hands be damned.
Meanwhile, Lake is leaving the wedding and we finally see the full glory of her red jumpsuit. She runs into Lucy, who’s packing up the catering van. Lucy says she’s sorry that #Flake didn’t work out, but I’m not buying it for some reason? And here’s why: Lucy never saw Lake with Felix anyway; she’s always seen her with someone totally different. Lake starts swaying her shoulders back and forth, doing that flirty head tilt thing. Lucy takes out a bottle of champagne and asks Lake to hang. Oh yah, baby! THIS is the content!1!!11!!! Look, I didn’t want to go off of stereotypes, but Lucy has been pinging my queerdar all season, and seriously, Lake, what’s gayer than a jumpsuit?
Next, Harold knocks on Mia’s door. He wants to talk to Mia about Stanford. He thinks he’s made a big mistake. Ya think? She’s not there, though. At least she left a note. Mia and Andrew are on a road trip to visit Mama Mia.
Over at Salazar apartment #1, Isa’s working her way through a carton of Chubby Hubby when her own hubby knocks on the door. He brought hot fudge. And his mouth.
And Victor’s still running when he gets a phone call. It’s Simon calling him back. But Victor doesn’t need to talk to Simon anymore, like ever. He’s got his own support system now. He’s good. So, Victor thanks Simon profusely for all his help, but essentially dumps him, and Simon’s like, “Umm. You can still be my friend, dude.”
We end on a close up of Victor ringing the doorbell, the door opening, and Victor saying, “Hi.” Credits. We don’t know which boy Victor ran to. My money’s on Rahim. Good Lord, let it be Rahim.
Before I put a wrap on this season of Love, Victor, I want to give an acting shoutout to Michael Cimino. I haven’t really specifically focused on him or any moments by him because he’s just so solid throughout. He portrays Victor with walking-nerve, heart-on-his-sleeve-level realism. I don’t think I would have gotten through the first season of the show, which was not as good as this one, without his acting. Since the show was so much better this season, he elevated it that much more. Here’s hoping we get a season three. What did y’all think of that rollercoaster ride? Thanks for joining me as I recapped!
Ewwwscuse me what of the ep: “You kissed your sister?”
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