Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Sex Lives Of College Girls’ Season 2 On HBO Max, Where The Friends At Essex College Try To Get Their Social Lives Back

The Sex Lives Of Teenage Girls made a splash a year ago because not only was it featured some well-formed, funny characters right from its first episode. It was also unafraid to “go there” when it came to sex and sex-adjacent topics. Its second season is more of the same.

THE SEX LIVES OF COLLEGE GIRLS SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Scenes of the Essex College campus. Leighton (Reneé Rapp) is getting dropped off by her very emotional father (Rob Huebel).

The Gist: Thanksgiving break is over and the fallout from the cheating scandal that came out before the break is just starting to happen. Leighton’s brother was expelled — he’s fine, he has a new car from his parents and a spot at Cornell — Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet) has lost her scholarship, and the Thetas have lost their charter. Kimberly and Leighton, along with roomies Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott) and Bela (Amrit Kaur) are now being labeled as “narcs” by the Thetas and they’re spreading the word that the quartet should be banned from all frat parties on campus.

Kimberly hasn’t told her parents about losing her scholarship — even on their 39-hour drive from Arizona — and she tries to get a loan, with Leighton’s help. But when she finds out her parents need to cosign, she has to turn the loan down. So she takes a job closed-captioning an Australian dating reality show. Bela is starting up the all-female humor magazine that she set out to do before break, but finds the women volunteering to submit pieces are unfunny. Whitney has to figure out what to do with her free time now that soccer is over; she tries water polo but fails miserably.

Leighton still hasn’t told Bela and Whitney that she’s gay, though she’s appreciated the support Kimberly has given her. They manage to find a non-Theta frat party — deeply researched by Bela — after the Snow Run (where everyone runs in their undies in the snow), and a woman hits on Leighton right away, though Leighton still makes an excuse because no one really knows she’s out yet.

Oh, and a new student has moved into the dorm; he’s a “climate refugee” from Kansas (!) named Jackson (Mitchell Slaggert) and he seems to like to have really loud sex. How do the girls know this? He lives next door and they can hear everything.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Like we said before season 1, The Sex Lives Of College Girls is reminiscent of The Mindy Project and Never Have I Ever, Mindy Kaling’s two best-known series (she co-created Sex Lives with Justin Noble).

Our Take: What we enjoyed about the first season of The Sex Lives Of College Girls continues in its second season. Namely, the four leads are amazingly appealing, their characters are well-drawn and the chemistry among them makes the audience believe that the four of them could be friends in real life. Because the show takes up directly after it left off — after what seems like the longest Thanksgiving break ever — the stories flow nicely.

Yes, there are still heavy pop culture references, but they’re generally smart and funny, like when Willow (Renika Williams) tells Leighton she’s not into her because “I’m into gingers; I’d die for Shiv Roy.” But they’re used relatively sparingly, as the four main characters, and even many of the side characters, are in a good comedic groove, with most of the humor coming from character instead of gags.

One thing we know is that there will be complications, especially with Kimberly’s quest to pay for the next semester and beyond. But things will also get complicated for the other three girls, as Whitney gets jealous when a new girl works at the coffee shop with her boyfriend Caanan (Christopher Meyer). Bela is going to find herself in a semi-relationship with Eric (Mekki Leeper), and Leighton has to deal with all the new attention once word gets around campus that she’s gay. Those complications are going to be mostly funny, of course, but like last season, there should be some warmth and poignancy in those events, too.

Sex and Skin: Given the name of the show, it’s not a surprise that there’s a fair amount of it. No nudity in the first couple of episodes, though.

Parting Shot: Bela goes to Eric to thank him for his advice about the humor magazine, and the two of them kiss.

Sleeper Star: Ilia Isorelýs Paulino gets more screen time this season as Lila, and we’re happy about that. Her character is pure fun and she’s good for the other four to play off of.

Most Pilot-y Line: “Based on the video I watched, it’s just pool soccer with hands,” says Whitney about water polo. Little does she realize that you have to stay above water while throwing that ball around. Seems like a pretty obvious thing.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The Sex Lives Of College Girls continues the good vibes in Season 2, with a well-oiled comedic ensemble and an easygoing charm that makes the show very bingeable.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.