Rachel Sennott is to my generation what the cast of Friends was to the previous one in many ways. I suppose one could argue that it’s easy for a White woman like Rachel to do what she does, but I don’t think she ought to be written off so lightly. What Rachel does is put her heart on her sleeve, or should I say, on the screen. Her writing is comedic, yes, but underneath the annoying accents and glamorous setting, there’s just a girl talking about her insecurities. I’ve only seen the first episode of I Love LA, but I think this is the best way to describe this show that focuses on young people who want to grip the world in their hands but struggle even to get a promotion. I may know everything I know about LA from TV and movies, but I can still feel drawn to a show that makes the city a part of its storytelling. Also, the girl knew exactly what she was doing, casting Josh Hutcherson and Leighton Meester in this show. Yes, I AM the target demographic. Okay, with that said, let’s jump into the first episode of I Love LA.
Spoiler Alert
Why Is Maia Mad At Tallulah?
Episode 1 opens with Maia turning 27 and getting nasty with her boyfriend, Dylan, all during an earthquake (yikes). Still, this is LA, so nothing’s amiss as long as Maia feels precious on her birthday. She complains about her wrinkles and how her face looks older the second Dylan says the picture her work friend posted made her look like a baby. Crisis is averted when he tells her that she’s efficiently skinnier, and he knows she loves that (well said, my man). Maia heads out to meet her two best friends and immediately gets hit with yet another wave of emotions when she sees that her ex-best friend is still posting about a campaign that they worked on together a whole year ago. Tallulah used to be Maia’s best friend, and Maia managed her until the former decided to ditch her for a big management company. Now Maia’s stuck in LA, living the dream they were meant to live together, only she’s nearly miserable and thinks Tallulah’s living the life back in New York.
Charlie, Maia’s gay best friend, suggests Maia block the girl, because she shouldn’t be dipping in and out. It’s Maia’s day, so she decides to go ahead and block the girl, all while the third of the trio, Alani (real life and I Love LA nepo baby), says it’s a bad idea. Additionally, Maia is so ready for a promotion at work, and she thinks today’s the perfect day to talk to her boss (and principal), Alyssa. But that doesn’t go well, especially when she brings up that she used to manage Tallulah, who is now an actual IT girl but doesn’t follow her despite Maia claiming they’re best friends. Clearly, Maia is desperate for this promotion, but nothing’s working because, to be a manager, you need to have experience as a manager.
But to make things worse, when Maia goes home to tell Dylan what a bad day she’s had and crash, she’s hit with a shocking surprise: Alani’s flown Tallulah to LA for a little birthday surprise (ouch). You know when an introvert and an extrovert walk into a room and the latter instantly grabs all the attention? That’s the vibe you get with these two even though Maia herself is such a magnetic personality. Dylan immediately tells her he’s there for her, but he’ll let the girls catch up (he knows). You can tell from Maia’s face that she’s utterly disgusted that Alani would pull such a stunt, but it appears that she just can’t say no to Tallulah. When the latter suggests they go partying, Maia’s immediately wrapped up in a new outfit and ready to head out to a club where apparently no one dances because the 19-year-old LA crowd is boring and prefers to stand and listen to the music (eww). Oh, and Tallulah gets them into the club in like half a second, because she happens to bump into the owner right then.
Despite repeatedly saying no to drinks, the next day, Maia wakes up with a terrible hangover, even though that was supposed to be the day of celebration. Charlie’s salmon bagels being left untouched is giving me such pain, but when the two of them are alone, Maia admits that Tallulah has hijacked her birthday, and she’s not having it. Alani tells her something about how Tallulah is her karmic connection, and she did this for her sake, before Tallulah shows up in a fresh bikini, ready to go to the beach. Now, because of Tallulah’s plans, Maia has to ask for a table an hour later than what she’s reserved, which is really annoying, so she cancels on the beach, claiming conflict at work, and it’s only Alani and Tallulah who end up going anyway.
Why Do Maia And Tallulah Become Friends Again?
When Maia and Dylan arrive for dinner (looking hot, might I add), all Maia can do is complain about this girl who stole her thunder, but Dylan, being the green flag voice of reason (for now), tells her that Tallulah’s just insecure, and that’s why she’s trying so hard. I mean, this isn’t entirely true, but kind of. However, they’re surprised yet again when Tallulah moves their party from a dinner table to a room. It’s supposed to be an exciting surprise, but instead it just leaves Maia sour, and she finally breaks when the cake comes out and it says mallulu on it because they had to pretend it was Tallulah’s birthday. Oh, might I add, Alyssa and another friend from work are there too, specifically because Maia’s been saying Alyssa and she are basically best friends (uff).
At the end of I Love LA episode 1, Tallulah follows Maia into the bathroom and says she’s been mean to her ever since she arrived. Maia finally cracks then and admits she’s jealous because she’s poor and in LA and can’t even get a promotion, while Tallulah’s all rich and happy in New York. Oh, it’s funny how Tallulah focuses on the fact that she lied about the promotion, but make of that what you will. Anyway, this is when Tallulah breaks it to Maia that she’s not rich, her rich boyfriend was a creep, so she left him too, and so now she’s basically been living out of a bag. This is when it hits her that she can just stay back and they can work together like old times. When the girls come out smiling and excited, Alyssa’s enjoying some time with the stripper who was called in for Maia. Tallulah tells her that if she wants her, then Maia needs to get that promotion because she’s her manager now, so I guess it’s all happening, but will it last? Why do I feel like the pictures Maia’s taken of Tallulah with the stripper will come back to bite them, but maybe I’m just overthinking it? Anyway, the episode ends on a high note, but I can’t imagine it’s going to be all fun and games.
