The Sex Lives of College Girls Season 3 Falls Flat

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Mindy Kaling is known for her chaotic women, whether she is directly embodying them via The Mindy Project and The Office, or they’re figments of her imagination brought to life on screen like in Never Have I Ever. The latest season of The Sex Lives of College Girls proves to be no exception. Season Three’s shenanigans should come as no surprise—despite the nearly two years we had to wait for it—but it’s possible that after so many years of the same, her characters and their decisions are growing a little tired.

Last season ended with Bela (Amrit Kaur) wanting to transfer colleges because she cheated on her boyfriend, Eric (Mekki Leeper), and got booted from her own all-female comedy magazine; Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet) and Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott)’s friendship is on the rocks because Kimberly kissed Whitney’s ex-boyfriend; and Leighton (Renee Rapp) got back with her ex-girlfriend, Alicia (Midori Francis).

Season Three opens with the core four returning to Essex College for their sophomore year. It’s a bit of a shock for several reasons to hear the girls talking excitedly about their second year at college and to watch them move back into the dorms. For one, all the actresses look far beyond the typical age of a college sophomore (19); Renee Rapp is the only one even relatively close at 24, with the other three being well into their early thirties. Jarring still about this only being their second year at Essex is that four years have now passed since the first season’s release. It’s a bit counterintuitive to how T.V. seasons equate to years passing in shows like this.

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They do a relatively decent job of catching us up on the goings-on of Season 2 without being too heavy-handed in their exposition, and so everything makes some sort of sense as it unravels. Unfortunately, the storytelling isn’t as cohesive as it could be. Nearly every scene seems to be transitioned to the next by way of—admittedly beautiful—shots of the college campus, over which disco/club type music is played. This is not a new creative choice, but it feels even more disjointed after spending so long apart from the show.

This season does a good job of respectfully and thoughtfully depicting bisexuality and showing the detriment of casual substance abuse. Season 3 gets a bit more serious, with some plot lines dealing with sensitive subject matter that the previous two seasons didn’t necessarily touch. The characters and the way they struggle with these deeply personal, lifelong issues feels realistic and does not play to stereotypes.

Yet, these issues that should be major, pivotal scenes are usually wrapped up within the span of an episode, if that. Sometimes, it’s over the span of one to two scenes. It feels very unrealistic. We don’t stay with these character problems and don’t develop them long enough to make the audience care as deeply about them as they probably should. In fact, we spend so little time on them that it’s likely the audience will forget some of them when the opening credits to the next episode roll.

Also, Sex Lives tendency towards sensory overload in any given scene is a bit grating, and often leads to a kind of tonal whiplash. Make no mistake: I am a firm believer in shows that just want to have fun, because not every show has to be dour and serious, nor does every show need to vie for an Emmy nom. That said, the stark juxtaposition of techno club music, flashing lights, and pre-gaming scenes against the quieter, more emotional moments do not flow well.

The sheer number of varying storylines for each girl isn’t quite helped by the sudden bloating of the cast, either. It appears that with Renee Rapp’s exit, they have decided to add two new main characters to their roster: Taylor (Mia Rodgers), an edgy new freshman from London, and Kacey (Gracie Lawrence), an unexpected newcomer to the girls’ friend group. (This doesn’t include the other characters they’ve added in the sheer number of copious new love interests.)

With Taylor being a blonde queer woman and Kacey having a powerhouse of a singing voice, it almost feels like they split Leighton/Renee Rapp’s key characteristics into these two new characters to fill that void. While all the new characters are interesting, and the LGBTQ+ representation in the show is genuinely authentic and thoughtful, it gets a little overwhelming to keep up with every single individual storyline.

When the show attempts to overlap plots and bring them together, there’s ultimately too much going on for it to work well. There is no true throughline besides the girls’ love for each other⎯which unfortunately isn’t enough to tie everything together.

Renee Rapp’s absence is sorely felt. Barring the fact that she is the only one young enough to be in college, she also brings a sort of levity to the rest of the cast and is a force to be reckoned with on-screen. Alyah Chanelle Scott as Whitney takes up Renee/Leighton’s mantle as the next-strongest actress in the show, and the only other one who feels worth caring about⎯partially because, like Leighton, she cares for others and is not disruptive or dismissive of those around her (unlike Bela and Kimberly).

Her reason for leaving Essex and her overall exit from the show feel like a cop-out. It’s not easy to write off a character when they’re so ingrained in the fabric of the show, but the reasoning was too easy and practically fell into her lap. While she will be missed, though, it’s worth noting that the few episodes we did get with Renee felt a bit like a caricature of “Renee Rapp” as a figure in the cultural zeitgeist. She’s such a big presence in the world now that it’s hard to see her as anything other than herself, so it could have distracted a bit from the show as a whole had she remained so staunchly a part of it.

In that same vein, Bela and Kimberly are still incredibly frustrating characters to watch this season. They’ve had a year in TV-land to develop and grow and have had more than enough heart-to-hearts with their loved ones to understand what they’re doing wrong. This especially is the case for Bela, who’s a bit of a trainwreck. One would hope that, since Bela’s life has essentially crumbled to pieces at the end of Season 2, she would learn to be a little less selfish. She has a few sweet growth moments, but for the most part, devolves back into chaos.

Kimberly falls largely flat as a character. Pauline Chalamet has incredible comedic timing, and so she’s often a welcome relief when things get dicey. However, she doesn’t have much depth to her beyond making dorky comments and always falling into the laps of beautiful men without working too hard to do so. Bela at least has depth to her by way of her relationship with her parents, her struggles with sexuality, and her love for comedy. Kimberly, however, doesn’t have any defining features; she never really has, and Season 3 does nothing to further develop her.

Although there are a plethora of snags and complications in this latest season, it’s worth mentioning that, at the end of the day, Season 3 of The Sex Lives of College Girls is incredibly easy to watch. Despite aforementioned serious topics being touched upon, it’s still largely fun and light. The stakes never feel too high. It’s not necessarily something everyone can relate to, per se, but it doesn’t feel so ungrounded to the point of crossing into satirical or fantasy realms. It’s an entertaining endeavor, and even the most stressful of times turn into something silly. Everything works out in the end, and all the actresses are talented enough to draw you in and intrigue the audience at every little twist and turn. If only it had a bit more depth or consistency.

Gillian Bennett is a writer and editor who has been featured in Strike Magazine, Her Campus, and now Paste Magazine. She enjoys watching copious reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and fantasizing about living in London. You can find more of her neverending inner monologue and online diary on her Twitter or her blog.

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