Editorials
Boo, Bitch Limited Series Review – Erika Vu Is a Terrible Best Friend
We’re living in a world where nostalgia, specifically ’90s and early 00s nostalgia, permeates everyday life.
Boo, Bitch is, without a doubt, a limited series geared at Gen Z’ers, but there might be some jokes that almost go way above their heads — unless they’ve seen Mean Girls, that is.
The series, minus the whole dying aspect, is quite literally the plot of the Lindsay Lohan-led rom-com, right down to the “you can’t sit with us” quote. Of course, the Burn Book is swapped for a video time capsule, trending online, and TikTok, the modern-day interests of high school seniors.
At the center of it all is the new Cady Heron, Erika Vu, played by Lana Condor.
I had high hopes for this series given Condor’s work in the All the Boys I’ve Loved franchise, and, don’t get me wrong, she did not disappoint.
Condor poured her soul into the role. She understood the assignment, took the material, and delivered a compelling, jarring, uncomfortable, and actually quite terrifying performance that showed off her range and versatility as she changed beats and personalities at the snap of a finger. One minute she was, essentially, Lara Jean, and the next, Cady of social media steroids.
What did disappoint, however, was the plot and the uneven pacing that brought us such varying versions of Erika, to begin with. The conclusion lacked a fulfilling end to Erika’s whole “Main Character” transformation.
When the teaser for the series first dropped, I was intrigued, but the fun supernatural concept with a hint of teen spirit quickly fizzles out and the series takes a dark turn that it truly never bounces back from.
There are some unexpected plot twists that are delivered effectively, but it all gets muddled in a series that tried way too hard…. just like Erika Vu.
Erika begins the season as a likable and semi-nerdy character who is so scared of existing that she hasn’t done anything that makes her feel alive. She’s the type of girl next door character that you can find yourself rooting for, even if she made a few missteps along the way and fell into the popularity trap that all too many teen rom-com movies and shows use as a crutch.
Her sidekick is Gia, (Zoe Margarett Colletti), who turns out to be the lifeline of the show. Gia may not be the most popular girl in school, but she remains as constant throughout the entire series, No matter what she endures and no matter the twists that are thrown her way, she never changes. She’s herself to the fullest form; she’s a wacky, lovable, and most importantly, caring and dedicated, friend.
When it’s revealed that *plot twist,” Gia is the one that was hit by a car and subsequently crushed to death by a moose — brutal! — instead of Erika, everything changes. There’s a tonal shift in the series, but it still feels justified at first.
Erika can’t seem to figure out who she is, but since she’s dying, she has nothing to lose so she attempts to go out in a glorious fashion and starts doing all the things that truly scare her, including pursuing a relationship with Jake C. It’s all understandable given her predicament, but then, she takes it too far and then even further, morphing into her own worst enemy, Riley, in front of our very eyes.
Instead of making the best of her final days with the people she cares about and leaving behind a legacy, she picks up the worst characteristics and becomes a walking nightmare. In an attempt to clear her own karma, she somehow misses the point and ensures that she’s the most hated person around.
There are obnoxious Tiktok dances, influencer-type shenanigans, speaking in acronyms, and much more as Erika clings on to any and every bit of “fame” with the zero personality that she has left. Everything that made Erika Vu unique, the part of her that gained Jake C’s attention and mustered up the courage to stand up to Riley, is gone as she becomes a shell of herself. Much like Gia, you quickly regret ever giving this power-hungry monster the chance to evolve.
Credit: Netflix/ Boo Bitch
And that’s not even the worst part. The worst part about Erika is that she feels absolutely no remorse. Even the realization that her best friend is dying doesn’t snap her back into reality; Her spiral into influencer demon only intensifies.
Admittedly, it’s not great to allow your BFF to believe she’s living on borrowed time (it isn’t fetch, okay?), but one can appreciate that Gia made the decision out of love. She didn’t want the only time Erika decided to live to be plagued by the memory of her best friend’s death. She was scared Erika would recoil and undo any progress once she found out the truth, so she kept up the lie in hopes that her best friend would finally live a fulfilled life.
It was a problematic decision, sure, but it was also incredibly selfless. And selfless should be Gia’s middle name because, throughout the whole series, she sacrificed her happiness at every turn for Erika. She knew her days were numbered and yet, she watched Erika prioritize her new relationship while allowing herself to be pushed to the side and treated like a nobody.
Erika’s anger toward Gia would’ve been justified for a day or two, but any person, upon finding out that their best friend is a walking corpse, would realize the bigger picture and forgive them.
Erika didn’t. Instead, she continued to put herself first, waving off Gia at every turn, and even asking her, at her weakest moment when she began glitching, to help with some insignificant and inconsequential request, which, might I add, Gia still delivered. Erika didn’t deserve it, but it’s proof that Gia’s a boss.
When Gia finally flipped out on Erika — a more than warranted reaction — Erika didn’t even seem to understand the problem and brushed it off.
It got to the point where Erika didn’t realize for a full 30 days that her best friend was a literal ghost. People couldn’t see, talk to, or feel Gia, and Erika never picked up on it, which quite frankly, is the most telling thing about Erika.
Now, I know that eventually, Erika does have a come to Jesus moment, but it all just feels a little too late.
Despite Gia finding the light, the series never actually finds the emotional hook again after Erika’s spiral. The end feels so forced and abrupt. When Erika realizes at the last moment what she should’ve known this whole time, the resolution doesn’t feel deserved or justified.
Even in the end as Gia tackles her unfinished business — attending prom with her bestie and a cute guy — and moves on, it doesn’t actually seem like Erika has learned her lesson.
In a moment that Erika also makes all about herself, she gives a heartfelt speech about her BFF. Gia ascends and her photo appears on everyone’s phone for a mere few seconds before they get back to the party as if nothing ever happened.
And that’s it.
Gia’s whole existence, which was already muted so that Erika could shine throughout much of the series, was just over in the blink of an eye. It was reduced to an impromptu apology that weaves in how great she was to a crowd of people who, much like Erika, barely even knew she existed.
The series has so many potential endings and possibilities that could’ve really resonated with audiences and tapped into lessons about life, loss, grief, second chances, and friendship in a comical way that was fitting for the series, and yet, this is what they chose.
And I get it, everyone makes mistakes, especially teens, but in this case, Erika’s never held accountable. She’s basically told that it’s okay to treat people like they are disposable and rack up massive amounts of debt (those poor parents) for the sake of being popular and known.
She barely even shed a tear over her best friend’s death, nor did she seem impacted or altered by the death, which should’ve been profound considering that Gia was her one and only friend and confidant throughout much of high school. A ride or die, if you will.
It was a shallow end that handed Erika a version of the “get out of jail free” card, while Gia was dealt a terrible hand from start to finish. What did the poor girl do to deserve this treatment? Surely, she wanted more out of life than this. I’m sure she had her own dreams, plans, and ambitions for a legacy. Her parents weren’t even around while she dealt with the fact that she was dead and attempted to preserve her own body while Erika lived it up. She was all alone — though, Gavin was a saving grace.
I can’t be the only one who thinks that Gia deserved so much more. She deserved that Main Character energy!
Erika deserved better, too. She started off as such a strong and promising character, and while we all lose our way in life, the focus of at least a few episodes should’ve included her trying to find her way back and make it up to Gia before their time ran out.
Gia deserved that, at the very least. She deserved an apology; she deserved to be treated like a priority for a day. Unfortunately, the friendship that was rock solid at first barely got a fitting conclusion in the end.
The reason Mean Girls remains such a beloved cult classic to this day is that, at the end of the day, the Plastics all learned their lesson and truly paid the price for their hostile actions. It’s not glossed over or rushed — it’s a big turning point in the film. There’s accountability, remorse, forgiveness, and a season of change that turns the one-dimensional bratty characters into well-rounded women deserving of love and acceptance.
We never actually get any of that with Erika. She wastes precious time prioritizing all the wrong things in life while the people that really matter and deserve her attention are an afterthought till their dying breath. Literally.
And maybe that’s a thinly veiled hint that we prioritized the wrong show too.
And the murder mystery continues on YOU Season 4 Episode 2.
Joe, er, Jonathan, has been going above and beyond to figure out which of the members of the elitist circle could be the murderer that’s trying to frame him, but it looks like he’s being played at his own game.
Honestly, it’s kind of refreshing to see Joe on the other side of things for once—running around terrified like a chicken without a head and trying to put together the pieces of a puzzle.
He’s not in a city that’s familiar to him, and he’s definitely not in his element. And while he fell into a friends circle of some of the most insane and damaged people on earth, his charm isn’t working on them or in his favor in the same way that it has countless times before.
And what’s making this all the more disturbing is that there’s someone out there that’s actually more deranged than Joe. Joe pales in comparison to the person that’s stabbing people left and right and keeping body parts as tokens of some sort, likely to frame Joe in the long run by planting those body pieces on his belongings or in his apartment.
The person is hiding in plain sight and utilizing all common and familiar murder mystery tropes, including that the second victim is always the first suspect.
The crimes are gruesome and terrible, but it’s also hard to feel bad for any of the victims as the whole bunch—maybe aside from Rhys—is genuinely unlikable. Mostly everyone in the wealthy group has no redeeming qualities, and most of them don’t even seem too phased by the deaths in their inner circle because the truth is that none of these shallow people actually like or care about each other.
YOU does a great job at making us question Joe’s sanity and then immediately introducing people who are even worse than him, proving that the world seems to be full of unhinged people everywhere you go.
Joe doesn’t have much to go on at the end of episode 2 as every single person he’s come across could potentially be the killer. He has, however, seemingly figured out some kind of connection between Malcolm and Simon’s deaths, though it’s unclear if that has any bearing on their deaths.
Blackmail seems to be a common thread, with Malcolm likely blackmailing Adam, who fancies himself a golden shower from the bus boys at his establishment, while planning to take down Simon, a fraud who stole artists’ work to pass off as his own. Joe learned the truth about Simon from his assistant, who crashed the opening and threw red paint at him (he had it coming). She also confirmed that Malcolm was trying to expose him, and while she definitely has the motive, I don’t think she would stoop that low. She wanted to make a statement—she didn’t want to be the statement.
You. Aidan Cheng as Simon Soo in episode 402 of You. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2022
At this point, the only person who stands to gain anything from the destruction of both men is Kate as she was in a relationship with Malcolm and a gallery partner with Simon, whose secrets threatened her career. But I’m not convinced that she’s responsible. She genuinely seems like one of the only good and level-headed people in the group, not to mention she’s also concerned about Malcolm’s disappearance meaning she likely has no idea he’s dead.
It could’ve been Adam to keep his sexual kink a secret, but I don’t think he’d have it in him.
The timing of Roald’s arrival was suspect, as was his immediate distaste for Jonathan, so I’ll keep him on the list. Joe may be the new guy, but he shows up right before the second murder.
If I truly had to put my money on someone, my prime suspect is still Rhys. There’s just something off about him, plus, he carries himself as if he’s above them all, so it would make sense if he was trying to make them pay for their sins or something. He’s also very observant, thus, he’d be knowledgeable about all of their deepest and darkest secrets, which could be used against them. It would also make sense that he used his status and smarts to dig up dirt about Joe.
The killer seems to be having an absolute blast toying with Joe, even beating him at his own game by figuring out his identity.
Hello, Joe.
It sent a chill down Joe’s spine—and I didn’t think it was possible to freak Joe out. In an attempt to stay ahead of the killer, Joe is somehow trying to play catch up.
What if it’s Marienne? What if she’s turning the tables on him? It seems like the killer is using Joe’s psychological warfare against him, which means that they have a lot in common. It has to be someone that Joe has connected with on a personal level already, so aside from Rhys and Kate, that leaves Nadia rounding out the top three suspects. She’s been helping him figure out the murder mystery genre, which might be a clue as to her involvement. Plus, we find out that she had some kind of personal relationship with Malcolm, though it’s unclear if it was sexual.
I really hope that she’s just a genuine person helping her teacher, but at this point, we can’t rule anything out.
And finally, there’s the possibility of Adam and Phoebe’s security guard, Vic, who is silent but deadly. He sees everything that’s happening (he ticks off the observant box for sure) but doesn’t say anything, though we know he’s not above blackmail because when he catches Joe snooping around, he takes a lump sum of money to remain quiet.
What did you think of the episode? Who do you think the killer is?
Levi is back in 10,000 B.C.!
On the February 14the episode of La Brea, titled “The Return,” Nicholas Gonzalez’s character did just that, jumping through space and time, okay, fine, maybe just a sinkhole, to make his way back to the prehistoric era.
Gavin was rather shocked to see him, and rightfully so, especially considering Levi’s altered appearance—he aged 10 years. Levi explained that while they last saw him in 1988, just a few days ago, for him, a decade passed, and he’s coming from 1998.
The passing of time is a crazy concept on this show, but it allows them to play around with timelines and fun twists.
Levi’s return doesn’t come from a place of longing for Eve either—he has a goal to kill James to stop the sinkholes that have continued causing issues in 1988… and even led to the death of his wife, who was his co-worker at the DOD. Another shocking development that we’ll surely dig into in future episodes.
James has taken everything from Levi at this point—his wife and previously, his shot at happiness with Eve, so he’s a man scorned.
To get close to James, Levi is going to require Eve’s assistance, but will she help him? Only time will tell.
You can read our in-depth review of La Brea Season 2 Episode 10 now.
Original article published — 2/7/23
La Brea Season 2 returned from its midseason hiatus on Jan. 31, but fans were quick to point out that one major character was missing from the double-dose of episodes: Levi Delgado (played by Nicholas Gonzalez).
Immediately after the episode aired, questions began to pour in with fans asking what happened to Levi and if we’ll see him again.
The answer—maybe….possibly. After all, anything is possible on La Brea, right?
As for what happened to Levi, well, if you’ll recall during the La Brea fall finale, Levi and Eve (Natalie Rea) parted ways in 1988. Eve’s heart has been torn between Levi and her estranged husband, Gavin (Eoin Macken) for quite some time, especially after it was revealed that Gavin’s visions—the one that led to their split and pushed her into Levi’s arms—were real all along. This caused a lot of guilt for Eve, and that guilt eventually played into her decision to leave Levi behind and follow her family back to 10K B.C.
In the final moments spent in 1988, Gavin’s mother informed him that they had to go back to 10K B.C. to upload a virus that would shut down the portal that was causing catastrophes like the sinkholes, including the one set to open in Los Angeles in just a few days.
LA BREA — “The Hunt” Episode 103 — Pictured: Nicholas Gonzalez as Levi Brooks — (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)
Of course, if they damaged the time machine, they would never be able to leave 10K B.C. again, which meant everyone had a pretty tough choice to make. Except for Eve, who didn’t really have a choice. Choosing to stay behind with Levi meant that she would be turning her back on her family and potentially never seeing them again. All her kids have ever wanted was the family back together, so her decision was made with them in mind. While I’m sure on some level, she also considered her relationship with Gavin, she ultimately made the jump back to keep her family intact.
And that meant leaving behind Levi, who decided he was going to stay in the ’80s and make a life for himself. If you think about it, it was the only decision that made sense for him considering there was a slim chance of living a decent life in 10K B.C. And it wouldn’t be wise to go back down there and risk your life with a woman who was one foot into the relationship and one foot out. It would be a huge sacrifice to make for Eve without any guarantee that they’d end up together.
Both Levi and Eve seemed in agreement that their romance was over and they parted ways graciously.
At the time of the finale, fans were under the impression that Gavin, Eve, and co. were going to destroy the time machine, which meant destroying any chance of ever seeing Levi again. This was a permanent goodbye in their eyes.
However, once they got back down to 10K B.C., Gavin couldn’t go through with uploading the virus after seeing a vision of Eve dying. His father, James, convinced Gavin that he had a way to fix the portal so that they could use it without causing any more harm to the environment, which also meant that he had a chance at saving Eve from death in the prehistoric ages. Gavin’s love for her has always been very evident, so it’s not surprising that he chose this route.
But his decision also keeps the door open for Levi to return down the line in future episodes.
If there is still a portal to travel between time periods, Levi may not be out of the game just yet.
It’s unclear how or why he would come back to 10K B.C—maybe he’ll come back with more information about the sinkholes and portal, maybe he’ll return after feeling guilty for leaving his friends (Gavin included) behind, or maybe he’ll miss Eve so much that he takes the leap at the first chance he gets.
It’s even possible that Eve finds a way to communicate with him while he’s in 1988, which would keep him around but not in the same time period. Talk about a long-distance relationship.
The point is, I wouldn’t count Levi out just yet. The actor was a huge draw for the show, and while not everyone loved his romance with Eve or the love triangle, I don’t think they’d write him off so quickly, especially without giving Eve and Levi proper closure. If it really is over, Eve needs to be sure of her decision, and again, she only chose to return to 10K B.C. for her family.
There seems to be a hint about Levi’s return with the upcoming episode, set to air on Tuesday, Feb. 14, called “The Return.” The title seemingly alludes to Levi’s return, but the synopsis makes me think that it’s a surefire guarantee.
Valentine’s Day can be celebrated in all sorts of different ways.
Some people bake cookies, others go out for a romantic date, while some do a fun activity with their significant other.
However, this is the first Valentine’s Day under COVID-19 restrictions, which means that you likely don’t have as many fun and romance-filled options as in years prior.
That’s where TV comes in! Regardless if you’re spending February 14 with a significant other or your besties, these are some of the sexiest and steamiest shows to watch on the day that’s all about celebrating L-O-V-E (for friends, family, significant others, and, most importantly, yourself!)
Bridgerton
Romance, scandal, drama… Bridgerton has it all! Dubbed the Regency-era Gossip Girl, Netflix’s smash hit and most-watched series is a brilliant and entertaining period piece with enough sex scenes to make you blush. And Regé-Jean Page isn’t bad on the eyes.
Emily in Paris
Emily in Paris, which was just surprisingly nominated for a Golden Globe, hails from Sex and the City creator Darren Star. It’s an airy flick about a millennial named Emily who travels to Paris for a dream job and becomes enamored with the City of Love and the men that want to show her all that it has to offer.
Modern Love
Falling in love requires you to be open, honest, and vulnerable. The American rom-com anthology web series, based on a weekly column published by the New York Times, explores themes of love (romantic, platonic, friendly) with a star-studded cast. The 30-minute episodes are standalone and easily digestible, which makes them the perfect viewing on a night like Valentine’s Day.
Younger
What happens when Liza, a 40-year-old single mom, decides to be 26-years old in order to re-enter the working world and falls in love with not one but two very different men? An exciting journey through the world of publishing and heartbreak. As Liza tries to find herself, she does everything in her power to hide her true self from those she’s become most intimate with. It’s another whip-smart Darren Star creation!
Good Girls
Two sisters, Beth and Annie, along with best friend Ruby find themselves embroiled in a dangerous life of crime after robbing a grocery store. Beth, specifically, falls victim to a crime of passion with one sexy “gang friend” that pulls her further and further into his world.
Elite
If Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars had a baby, it would be this Spanish-language drama. A private school becomes the scene of a murder after a clash between the rich and poor students. There’s plenty of sexual tension and unexpected turns as detectives try to narrow down the list of suspects.
** Article originally published in February 2021**
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