“We need another Sex and the City!” “We need more complex female characters!” the people shriek into the void. Yet whenever Hollywood decides to indulge our demands, we spit it right back out. “No, this is not the same!”
After taking a backseat to drama for a significant period, 2025 has been a strong year for the revival of the Comedy series. The success of Overcompensating, Nobody Wants This and The Paper prove that audiences yearn for light-hearted and funny stories, as much as they ever did. As a chronic rewatcher and huge Rachel Sennott fan, I was beyond excited to hear that she was going to grace us with her own take of the 20-something-female-friendship comedy, à la Sex and the City, Insecure and Girls. And with HBO no less! What could possibly go wrong?
Well, seemingly something. Reviews thus far have been a mixed bag. While it has a pretty decent 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, its IMDb rating stands at a modest 5.8. Personally, my TikTok FYP has been cluttered with lukewarm reviews, with similar opinions echoed in the comments. I Love L.A. has been criticised as shallow, overdone and having nothing to say. All takes which have left me wondering; am I losing my fucking mind?
At the point of writing this essay, currently only the first episode has been released. Granted, being promoted as Gen-Z’s answer to Sex and the City is going to raise expectations, but the speed at which this show is being written off by audiences is frankly terrifying. Of course the first episode of a brand new series won’t encapsulate the emotional rollercoaster of six seasons of a beloved comedy series. Have we become so overly familiar with characters through watching and rewatching, devouring think-pieces and content about them 20 years after the show airs, that when presented with someone new, we cannot fathom that we’re not hit over the head with every aspect of their person in one episode? Are we so accustomed to instant gratification through short-form content that we can’t even allow a new series a chance to take off?
How quickly we forget, the first episode of a new series is often a rough ride. In these early days post premiere, comparisons have been made to Lena Dunham’s Girls. As I recall, the pilot episode of Girls is nothing short of nightmare fuel. (I audibly said “Jesus fucking Christ” alone in my sitting room when we first see Hannah and Adam sleep together). The entire first series of Parks and Recreation? Kind of a drag. Season 1 of The Office (U.S.) is borderline unwatchable at times.
All of this said, I did not consider this a bad episode at all. I had a great time. Upon hearing some of the negativity around the episode, I went back and watched it for a second time, just to check that I hadn’t been swept up because I just really like Rachel Sennott’s other work. Perhaps I hallucinated the whole thing. Turns out, not the case! It holds up. It’s rich in fantastic one-liners, perfectly encapsulating the classic weaponization of therapy-speak and backhanded compliments we associate with L.A. Rachel Sennott’s signature dry-yet-absurd tone permeates the dialogue. The characters appear to be well-defined, and while they’re certainly caricatures of the L.A. Influencer personality, there is nuance and clear chemistry across the different relationships. Most of the exchanges come off as two absolute spoofers blatantly lying to one another and going along with it, despite both of them knowing the other is talking nonsense. Personally, I found the whole thing delicious to watch.
Another criticism I’ve noticed is that this satire of L.A. is overdone, surface-level and cringe. If you’re at all familiar with Rachel Sennott’s work, I would hope you realise that THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT. Yes it’s been done. But it’s being done well. Sennott has a strong tongue-in-cheek approach that rings clear. I’m more than happy to watch this satirized look at Gen-Z hustle culture through her lens. In the same sense that “New York is the fifth character” of SATC, if L.A. is a character in this series, couldn’t this be a deliberate move?
As far as the criticisms of being “shallow” and having “nothing to say”, I couldn’t disagree more. We get a strong introduction to Maia’s strained friendship with Tallulah; a nuanced portrayal of envy and reputation. All of the intricacies of a friendship on the rocks are strongly executed, showing Maia’s vulnerability and insecurity bubble to the surface in a relatable way. Seeing an Instagram post and having it ruin your whole day? On your birthday no less? Girlhood. We immediately get an insight into Maia’s impending identity crisis, her friend Alani brushes off as “Saturn’s Return”. On that note, it’s refreshing that the root of Maia’s insecurity isn’t her love life. Rather, it’s her professional career and comparison of her success (or lack thereof) to her now estranged best friend, Tallulah. The episode is essentially a 30 minute version of Charli XCX’s “Girl So Confusing”. Both of which are bangers.
My takeaway from the middling-to-poor reviews, is that if you did not enjoy the episode, that’s absolutely fine. Humour is, after all, subjective. However, that does not make it a “bad” show. For fans of Girls and Sex in the City that were let down by the first episode, I implore you to give it a chance to get going. If we want to see more complex female leads and new woman-centred comedy, we can’t afford to reject every new release before we let the story unfold. Sennot’s vision is clear, at least for the chronically online. I’m excited to see where it goes and will absolutely be tuning in every Monday.
I Love LA premiered in the UK on Sky Comedy on the 3rd November. This series is 8 episodes and each will be released every Monday.
Dearbhla Finn (Instagram: fearbhla) is an Irish screenwriter based in Bangkok. She graduated with an MA in Writing for Script and Screen from Falmouth University in 2025. She aspires to work in television and loves all things comedy, particularly sitcoms.
