To the Victor...

Last year, I blogged about season one of a television series that was at times really cheesy but also occasionally quite good: Love, Victor. Now season two has arrived, and has effectively switched the adjectives: it's now occasionally quite cheesy but also really good.

Love, Victor is a spinoff of the movie Love, Simon, and is centered on a high school teen whose family has relocated to a new city. In season one, he's working through his sexuality as he tries to fit in at a new school, all while not upsetting a home life already rocked by parents near the brink of divorce. Love, Victor was originally conceived as a show for Disney+, and the first season had some Disney Channel vibes as a result: a healthy dose of packaged soap operatic elements, and a rather chaste depiction of teen sexuality in general (and Victor's LGBT sexuality in particular). But a game cast, fun characters, and the occasional scene that would rise above the rest all made it a show I enjoyed watching.

The series never actually aired on Disney+, though. Calculating that "mildly homophobic" was a better brand than "not family-friendly for homophobes," executives shunted the series to Hulu instead. But when the series was renewed for season two, the creators and writers now had the chance to write a season for a different audience. And so, while still very much a high school drama, season two of Love, Victor "grew up."

The series still often tacks toward the most soap operatic plot developments it can -- this person now loves that person, even though that person has moved on to some other person. But there's a lot more serious plot elements in the mix. Victor comes out to his parents, and one of them has a difficult time accepting it. The girl he was dating, Mia, experiences the complex emotions of anger over being deceived and dumped while feeling like she can't be angry when she has to be supportive -- all while navigating a challenging relationship with her ambitious father and new prospective stepmother. Victor's parents continue to deal with their crumbling relationship, and like it or not, Victor's coming out is playing a role in how that's going.

I find that Love, Victor expertly walks the tightrope of incorporating LGBT themes without letting that be the only thing the show is about. Victor is definitely the focus (I mean, his name is in the title), and him navigating his first gay relationship is a major arc of season two. But every major character has a story arc in the season, Victor's boyfriend has a story line that ultimately has nothing to do with being gay, and several straight relationships among the high school characters get nearly as much screen time as Victor's. The season's most emotional story line (and it's not even particularly close) involves Victor's friend Felix, who is quietly trying to deal with his mother's mental issues without letting anyone else know.

In short, between seasons one and two, Love, Victor transformed from "a show I probably wouldn't watch if the LGBT content didn't speak to me personally" to "a show that's worth recommending, without qualification." I'd give season two a B+. And recently, it was announced that it will be returning for a season three. I'll be looking forward to it.