Love, Victor‘s third and final season hits Hulu (USA) and Disney+ (all other regions) this Pride Month. What should feel like a concluding season, feels unfinished, leaving everything open for an eventual movie perhaps?
We pick up right where we left off with Victor (Michael Cimino) leaving Mia’s parents’ wedding after being kissed by Rahim (Anthony Keyvan). Whomever doorbell Victor ends up ringing at the end of season 2, will have some temporary consequences going forward. Benji’s still battling demons regarding his alcohol abuse, while a new boy (played by American Horror Story‘s Nico Greetham) moves to Creekwood, catching Victor’s attention. Andrew (Mason Gooding) was last seen joining Mia (Rachel Hilson) in search of her mother, while Lake (Bebe Wood) discovers a new side of herself. Will they continue to be the close knit friend group they were before, or do new love triangles and connections cause them to drift apart?
This third season feels rushed at times. Problems arise and often get resolved within the same 25-30 minutes episode. This causes to make some of it feel too episodic instead of a cohesive full season, and with only 8-episodes it comes across as if the creative team was running out of ideas. Unfortunately, as a viewer, I feel like there’s so much more to explore. As usual, I won’t be going into detail in order to keep big twists a surprise – and trust me there’s plenty – but I will say, this season went ways with Victor’s character I didn’t expect so soon.
The story continues to focus on family and what it means to have adults make decisions for teenagers growing up to be young adults. Not only do the Salazars have their own stuff to figure out with Pilar (Isabella Ferreira) going through puberty and Armando & Isabel’s relationship, but also Felix (Anthony Turpel) and Mia’s families have some unresolved business. The issue I had with this season is that there’s so much ground to cover, the writers were bound to bench some characters. As someone who loves Mason Gooding, I would’ve loved to have seen him become more than Mia’s love interest, but alas he’s just tagging along all season. Victor’s younger brother (played by Mateo Fernandez) had such a great scene in season 2, I would’ve liked to see him become more fleshed out this time around, but he’s hardly in it at all.
The entire cast does a phenomenal job portraying their characters, it feels weird knowing this is their last journey with them. I wonder what made Hulu cancel the series and if it had something to do with these young actors wanting to move on to new projects. There aren’t a lot of series that focus on young LGBTQIA+ people, so to see this show end on a series of cliffhangers feels anticlimactic and hurtful to the fans.
Love, Victor S3 is an admirably told continuation of Victor in search of his own identity and desires, that could’ve benefited of a tighter storyline and should’ve delivered a proper ending. For now this is farewell, but perhaps we’ll see each other again.
All episodes available June 15, on Hulu and Disney+
Reviewed June 6, 2022. Rating: TV-14. Running time: 8 episodes of 26 min.
PRODUCTION: A Disney+ release of a 20th Television, No Helmet Productions, Temple Hill Entertainment & The Walk-Up Company production. Executive producers: Isaac Aptaker, Marty Bowen, Adam Fischback, Jason Ensler, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner, Adam Londy, Pouya Shahbazian & Brian Tanen.
CREW: Directors: Jason Ensler & Steven Canals. Writers: Becky Albertalli, Isaac Aptaker, Elizabeth Berger & Brian Tanen. Editing: Pietro Cecchini & Kyla Plewes. Cinematography: J.P. Wakayama.
CAST: Michael Cimino, Rachel Hilson, Anthony Turpel, Bebe Wood, Mason Gooding, George Sear, Isabella Ferreira, Mateo Fernandez, James Martinez, Ana Ortiz.