Spoilers ahead for Love, Victor season one.
Set in the same world as Love, Simon, the series focuses on Victor (Michael Cimino), a new student at Creekwood High School who, like Simon (Nick Robinson), is on a journey of self-discovery as he struggles to come to terms with his sexuality.
Upon release, Love, Victor received acclaim from critics for Cimono’s lead performance, the supporting characters and for capturing the essence of the original teen drama, which made history as the first Hollywood film to focus on a gay teen romance.
The first season also earned widespread praise for continuing the epic love story of Simon and Bram (Keiynan Lonsdale). We warned you above, but we’ll do so again: SPOILERS AHEAD FOR LOVE, VICTOR SEASON ONE.
In the 10-episode first season, Victor seeks out Simon (with Robinson returning as narrator) after learning about his declaration of love for Bram at the school carnival, which turned them into legends at Creekwood.
He confides in Simon about his sexuality, his sudden romance with Creekwood’s most popular girl, Mia (Rachel Noami Harrison), and his mother and father’s conservative beliefs in regards to homosexuality.
After messaging with Simon for the first seven episodes, Victor decides to surprise him in New York, where he is attending NYU with Bram. Sadly, Simon isn’t there because he’s at his cousin’s bachelor party, so Bram shows up and takes Victor around the city. (Pro-tip: don’t travel across the country without checking if the person you’re staying with is actually there, duh).
Bram introduces Victor to his circle of queer friends, where he denies his sexuality and states that he’s merely visiting to check out NYU. Bram, who’s much more confident with his queer identity than in Love, Simon, later takes Victor to a gay league basketball game and prepares Victor for a drag night at Messy Boots – with a special guest appearance from Drag Race’s Katya.
Beforehand, Victor questions Bram and Simon’s roommate Justin (played by 13 Reasons Why star Tommy Dorfman) as to why “gay people like dressing up in drag,” which leads to a tender moment with the group in which Victor expresses worry over telling his religious parents that he’s ‘just like them’. It was a tear-jerker and a perfect example of the power in chosen families.
At the club, Victor finds out that Simon has spilling the T on his coming out journey with his roommates. He storms out and bumps into – surprise, surprise – Simon! Victor confronts him over breaking his trust, to which Simon responds: “When you first messaged me, I was touched, but I was scared too. I know you want me to be this guru who has all the answers, but I don’t.
“I didn’t want to push you too hard or tell you the wrong thing, or make your life any harder than it was. Like you said in your first message, we’re not the same. I never had a girlfriend, but Bram did. I didn’t have super religious parents, Justin did. Every one of my friends had a little bit to offer, a little piece of the puzzle. They weren’t sitting around laughing about your life, they were in your corner, listening and helping and cheering you on.”
After asking Simon why his friends would want to help a “stranger”, he continues: “Because you’re not a stranger. You’re one of us. That’s the best part about all of this, having a community; a group of friends that gave up an entire weekend to help a kid they’ve never met just because they know, that on some level, we’ve all been through the same thing. Because we’re family.”
Simon then hands Victor his iconic denim jacket from the first film, and they both rejoin the group in Messy Boots. Katya later brings Victor up on stage and asks how his night is going. “It’s been the best night of my life,” he says, and yes, more tears.
The episode concludes with Victor feeling more comfortable with his identity, and from that point onward, Simon’s voice continues to be heard through his messages to Victor, and neither Robinson or Lonsdale appear again.
Unfortunately, Simon and Bram don’t appear in a single scene together, although the former does appear in the bar from afar. This hasn’t been explained, although we can imagine this is down to Robinson’s busy schedule.
A second season of Love, Victor is already in the works, according to showrunner Brian Tannen, so here’s hoping fans finally get that long-awaited reunion between Simon and Bram (and the return of Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel, because we’re still obsessed with them).
The first full season of Love, Victor is now available to stream in the United States on Hulu. It also stars George Sear, Anthony Turpel, Bebe Wood, Mason Gooding, Isabella Ferreira, Mateo Fernandez, Mekhi Phifer and Sophia Bush.
Ugly Betty icon and legend Ana Ortiz stars as Isabel, Victor’s mother who is feeling the pressure after moving across the country, while James Martinez (One Day at a Time) plays his “guy’s guy” father Armando.
Sadly, there’s still no air date for UK viewers. We’ll keep you updated if that changes.
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