Love, Victor is the spin-off TV series to the highly successful movie Love, Simon, which is based on the book Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. For me, Albertalli’s book is one of my all-time favourite books and I adore the movie, so to say that I had very high expectations may be an understatement.
The series was super sweet and heartwarming, while being a lot cheesier and cringier than Love, Simon. The first thing to note is that this TV series focused on a coming out story we don’t often get to see as it follows a Latinx teen(!!) who comes to terms with his sexuality in a home that may not be so accepting. Simon Spier grew up in a white liberal and seemingly perfect family, while Victor on the other hand does not have things quite so easy.
A brief disclaimer before we dive into this: I am a cisgender, heterosexual female and these are my opinions on the viewing experience I personally had!
Storyline
The storyline felt a bit too similar to Love, Simon, but I really appreciated having a Latinx protagonist and seeing the struggles of figuring out who you are through his eyes. The storyline was nothing new or groundbreaking, but was still sweet and I think if a second season goes ahead, it will be better and tackle issues more in depth
Characters
Victor (Michael Cimino) is our protagonist in this series and I was hoping to really like Victor, but I just didn’t and I am hoping his character will improve if there’s a second season. I didn’t like the choice he made and how much he lied to the people close to him. I know that everything must have been hard for Victor, but he then also cheated on Mia with Benji.
Mia (Rachel Hilson) was Victor’s girlfriend for the majority of the season and she was annoying, whiny, and always made everything about herself, plus she was horrible to her dad’s fiance. That being said, I am hoping to learn more about her if we can.
Felix (Anthony Turpel) was my favourite character in the show. He reminded me of Stiles from Teen Wolf, which was the best! Felix was a great friend, he was always kind, and looked out for everybody.
Lake (Bebe Wood) was also not the most likeable as she came across as very vain and stuck up, plus the way she treated Felix was pretty terrible and I wasn’t the biggest fan of her posting photos of other people without their consent.
Benji (George Sear) was a great character. He was sweet, accepting and funny. I hope to be seeing more of him!
Pilar (Isabella Ferreira) was such a cool character, but I think she should have been in it more.
Andrew (Mason Gooding) was another very unlikable character as he bullied Victor from day one and was pretty mean to Felix and Lake.
What I Liked:
- I will always be happy about a coming out story! As I mentioned, this was quite similar to Love, Simon, but we did get a new family dynamic and we go to see Victor figuring out his sexuality. I think this part of the show was very well done and we got to see how difficult it was for Victor.
- The appearance of Bram (Keiynan Lonsdale) and Simon (Nick Robinson) had me squealing! I was so excited that Victor got to see that there is no one way to be gay and sees Bram, Simon, and all their flatmates living their truth. I thought this was the best episode of the show and it was nice to see Victor actually talk to Simon, along with seeing Victor accept that he is gay and becomes more confident in who he is.
- I really liked Benji and Victor’s friendship. Benji was so kind, accepting, and just all around a great guy. There were so many great moments including them working together, the little dance scene, Benji singing a song to Victor, and just always being so nice to him. I do think they could have developed their romantic relationship a bit more before they got together, but I think these two had a great dynamic. I can’t wait to see these two dating!
- Victor coming out to Felix was another great moment. It was such a pure and beautiful scene!
What I Disliked:
- It was very predictable. You knew who was going to end up together from the second episode. I know this is common in a TV series, but we could really use some originality. Love, Victor used a few too many teen tropes, including the popular girl not wanting to date the ‘uncool’ guy with Felix and Lake, this trope is so toxic and wrong! We had the parents having marital problems, a lot of angsty teenagers, the girlfriend keeping a secret, the bully having a soft spot for one girl, and so many more.
- I really wanted to like Mia and Victor, but I think the series made it too obvious that Victor was into Benji from the get go. This made this relationship really sad to watch as Victor seemed to be stringing Mia along. I do hope that these two can be friends in future seasons.
- I was really bothered by the way this teen show handled the discussion about sex. Victor was clearly not ready to take that next step, but I think the way Mia reacted and the way they barely talked about this really bothered me. The only person who actually had a respectful reaction to this was Felix (again). As this is targeted towards younger viewers, I was hoping for a more honest and accepting discussion.
- Another little thing that felt a bit odd was how open Victor was with Simon. Simon was pretty much acting as Victor’s therapist and I loved that they became friends and Simon was there for Victor, but it just felt a bit unrealistic and weird.
If you want a charming and easy to binge show then Love, Victor is perfect. It has combined the typical teen tropes with a discussion about figuring out who you are to bring us this adorable and diverse show.
