i know that disney is too big to boycott effectively but that shouldn't translate to "and so we should keep buying their products like normal" but rather "at the very least we should try"

Love, Victor Season 2 *spoilers*

Love, Victor came out on Friday with 10 episodes of pure growth and development. Something we have all been hoping for. Season one was an excellent start to a story that everyone craved more for and made you think. Now that the show is no longer under the watchful eye of Disney, it really shines and makes you want more and yell at the very end.

This season we see character growth and in-depth conversations that the first season was lacking. Victor is finishing up the summer after being coming out to his parents, who decided to separate. This is quite a lot going on in his life that we see him struggle with throughout the season. But the good news is that Benji is his boyfriend, and their first summer as a couple is fantastic. Seeing Victor and Benji being happy is something that everyone can sign to heaven about. Personally, I like Benji. However, I feel that his character is not indeed developed until this season. In addition, Victor's Mom, Isabel, is not as accepting as his father Armando of his sexuality which builds up throughout the season and causes conflict in almost every episode.

Now just looking at Victor and Benji's after the summer on cloud 9, you can slowly see the issues build up until they boil over. In every episode, we see the couple struggle with Isabel not accepting Benji and barely acknowledging that Victor is gay. This is a weight that the couple tries to pick up; however it becomes too heavy towards the end. In the beginning, Benji was accepting and understanding. Still, then as time goes by, you can see him grow more frustrated and lose his sparkle around Victor. Even though the couple has excellent profound, vulnerable moments through the season, they really lack communication skills to work through their problems. They are 16-year-olds, so that makes sense, but it is frustrating to watch them talk back and forth without expressing how they feel genuinely. This is mainly on Benji's side because he says he understands when he feels terrible that his boyfriend's Mom doesn't acknowledge him. Then on his birthday, which everyone in their lifetime is gonna have a shit birthday and Benji's day was that day, secrets begin to come out.

Benji is a whole alcoholic, apparently. Did not see that coming at all. I was very caught off guard when this came out and was like, wow, why didn't he ever say anything. I think this is the downfall of the writers, not because they make Benji an alcoholic but because his character is underdeveloped. We really don't actually know Benji. We know bits and pieces but not his story. When his Mom, who tries her best, you can tell, spills his secret at dinner in front of Victor, we see the shame overcome Benji, and he does not handle it well. Victor doesn't understand why he didn't tell him, and Benji somewhat lets him know how he feels, and Victor feels some type of way. And this is when shit hits the fan. They have an argument, and you can see that all the build-up from the issues with Victor's mother comes has impacted Benji, and he is over it! Now on some levels, you can see where he is coming from. However, Benji never really expressed these things to Victor and was not transparent about how he was feeling. This is why Victor is hurt by what he said. They later make up, which is it really making up if you don't talk through the issues and just have makeup sex? I digress. His Mom walks in, and then once again, shit hits the fan, and Benji is pissed. He gets outed as an addict, and then his boyfriend and Mom just disregard him, and he just explodes.

In the next episode, neither of the two acknowledge that they were both somewhat wrong, and they do not speak for a good minute. Victor loses contact with Benji and begins to freak out. It seems to be from a genuine place of concern, but to Benji, it says, "my boyfriend is an addict, and he is gonna relapse." Victor also tells Rahim, a whole new character who is a delight on the screen, that Benji drinks, which is not the best move because this breaks trust in their relationship. Benji decides that they need a break, which hurts not only Victor's heart but ours.

I would like to note, personally, I think Benji has issues with admitting his actual faults. I think we have seen him be this guy be sweet and understanding. Now we see him in an unflattering light, which is refreshing because he is a human who has feelings, and he has been sweeping them under the rug. He's not perfect, and he actually is not that accepting as we, and he likes to think he is. When confronted that he should apologize because he is not perfect, he is like no way. Victor and Rahim point out that Benji is white and is privileged, which seems out of pocket, but it's valid because this is something I knew would happen when season one came out. They come from very different backgrounds. Their situations are vastly different, and Benji acts like Victor has more control without understanding where Victor or his family is coming from. Benji had a completely different experience of coming out. It was not tremendous nor perfect; his parents accepted him and are proud of his progress. Victor does not have that, and Benji knows this, but I guess he wants more from him at the same time. However, that being said, Benji is in his right to his feelings about the situation, and Victor should have been checking in on his partner's feelings to make sure that he was okay. When you are in a relationship, the feelings of both matter; both partners have to work to understand the other and support them. Both characters try, but they fall flat. It is easy to shit on Benji, and while he was not at his greatest towards the end, a lot of this was hard on him, and he was trying his best.

Victor stood up for himself this season and tried to make everyone happy however this is his first relationship. Then it was hard for him to be out at times. He truly cares about Benji, but he got lost in many things surrounding him, and he neglected his boyfriend at times. Or his feelings, if anything. He made excuses for his Mom without acknowledging that she was causing significant issues to his relationship and himself as her son. I hope that this season was a lesson learned and that he works harder to show up for Benji as a mutual partner.

Rahim is a new character, and when I say he is a breath of fresh air, he really is. He just brings a particular light to show, and I enjoyed it when he was on the screen. He and Victor have similar backgrounds, which brings them to a certain level of connection. They just seem to flow so well together, and I wasn't surprised that they felt connected. They go to Mia's dad's wedding together and dance and kiss. Now Victor has to pick between the two boys, and I do not know who he should choose. He loves Benji, but they would have to do a lot of work to heal the relationship. He and Rahim just have a spark together, but it's new, and he does not love Rahim. We see on TV that the first person a gay guy gets with is his first love, and they stay together for an unreasonable amount of time. They maybe get with one other person, but usually, they end up with their first love, which is not always realistic. Versus straight characters who go through love interests like they do underwear. It can be jarring to see a couple you are routing for end up breaking up, and then they date other people, but that's real life. That brings us to cliff hanger of the last episode, which was utter bullshit. Doing cliffhangers is dangerous nowadays because networks cancel show no matter how good they are. It is pretty risky and just frustrating for the fans.

After all of that, the season was terrific. It had a certain level of growth that was needed, and it really showed up. I only touched on Victor and Benji, but all the characters really grew, and their stories improved and make you pay attention to them as well. Was it perfect? No. Is it supposed to be? No. If you enjoyed the first season, you would enjoy the second season even more. You will want the intimacy the show carries with the characters and the conversations.