I Love LA: Season 1 Episode 8 – Recap and Review

I Love LA ends its first season in NYC, and leaves viewers with less so a cliffhanger and more of an ellipsis.

ByAmari Allah Hours Posted on

Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.

Additionally, some images and text may include affiliate links, meaning we may earn a commission or receive products if you make a purchase.

Episode 8 “I Love NY” Recap and Details

Just Trying To Be A Better Person: Dylan, Charlie, Andrew, Maia, Clare

While Maia is focused on getting what she needs to get done in NYC, this doesn’t mean Dylan isn’t on her mind. It’s just that both struggle to communicate what they feel. So, Charlie is sent to be an intermediary, but there is only so much he can do.

To be frank, he is still reeling over Andrew, so as much as he wants to support Dylan and Maia reconciling, Maia doesn’t make it easy for him. Plus, Dylan is nicer, listens to him vent, and while Charlie may verbally put degrees of separation between them, the two are friends. Heck, maybe even closer than Charlie is to Maia.

But in the end, the two men venting and confiding in each other doesn’t keep Dylan from sleeping with Clare, the girl Maia was worried about. However, Dylan’s conversations with Charlie does lead him to see Andrew in NYC, while handling a fashion emergency for Maia.

Alyssa May Not Have Been The Only One Seeking Escape: Ben, Tallulah, Maia

With being unemployed and maxing out her credit card for their hotel room, Ben offering Maia a job, and some penis, didn’t seem like a terrible thing. However, Maia comes to remember that Ben is a little twisted. Yes, he offers her a salary of almost $400,000, but he also likes to play up the power dynamics of their relationship, including when it comes to sex.

Mind you, Ben is married, and Maia sees his wife while she is having dinner, so neither seems to give a damn about this woman who may not know a thing. But, realizing she may be paid well but will lack the ability to pursue ideas and have autonomy, she feels uncomfortable with the idea of agreeing to the offer. Also, not for nothing, Tallulah doesn’t like Ben since he called her a small fish in a big pond.

Lies & Misperceptions: Alani, Leon, Ruth, Denise, Maia, Tallulah, Charlie

Alani came to New York City with Maia and Tallulah for moral support but also to see her parents. However, when she wakes up after a night of drinking with her girls, she runs into Denise. Now, to be clear, her dad, Leon, cheated on his last wife before meeting and marrying Alani’s mom, Ruth. So, him doing that again may not be a shock to the viewer, but it was for Alani.

Thankfully, Denise isn’t Leon’s mistress – she is his stalker. She is also crazy and stabs him before running off, but Alani is far more focused on her dad maintaining the perception she has of him than on his bleeding.

However, because of Denise, it complicates Maia and Tallulah getting to Antoine’s party. Note, before they are dressed, Charlie shows up, gives the dresses he bought from LA, and they have a small chat with Maia. He encourages her to lie to Tallulah about the job offer from Ben, which she does, and to work things out with Dylan.

Which leaves the show in an odd place since, with Denise’s attack on Leon shutting down streets, the episode ends with Maia and Tallulah heading to the Formé on the subway – with us not getting to know how it went.

New Characters in Episode 8

Leon (Keith David)

Leon (Keith David) and Ruth (Liz Benoit) – I Love LA Season 1 Episode 8 – HBO
  • Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
  • Character Summary: Leon is a renowned figure of the entertainment industry, Alani’s dad, and while a cheater in the past, he seems fully committed to his current, and third wife, Ruth.

Ruth (Liz Benoit)

  • Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
  • Character Summary: Ruth is Leon’s third wife, Alani’s mom, who was Leon’s mistress at one time.

Denise Howard (Whitney Rice)

Denise (Whitney Rice) – I Love LA Season 1 Episode 8 – HBO
  • Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
  • Character Summary: Denise is Leon’s stalker of 15 years.

Clare (Callie Hernandez)

Clare (Callie Hernandez) – I Love LA Season 1 Episode 8 – HBO
  • Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
  • Character Summary: Clare is Dylan’s co-worker who we met earlier in the season, that Maia clocked as someone who was interested in Dylan. She, and Dylan, denied there was anything

Review and Commentary

Highlights

Charlie Learning From Maia’s Mistakes [84/100]

It isn’t clear if Charlie is the same age or older than everyone else, but I will say it seems clear that Charlie recognizes that, as ambitious as Maia is, and a good person to know, she isn’t the best at relationships. Whether platonic or romantic, it can’t be discounted that Charlie has likely observed Maia just as he would any client to try to not only navigate their moods but learn from them.

The prime example is what Charlie sees in this episode. Yes, Alani may have called out Charlie for how he avoided truly communicating with Andrew during Lukas’ funeral, but I think it wasn’t until Charlie saw both sides of Dylan and Maia longing for each other, but not conveying that verbally that it hit him.

It forced him to realize how dumb he was being, how simple it would be to reconcile and while neither Maia nor Dylan were about to die, Andrew is in the US on a visa. So there is no time like the present to at least salvage their friendship as anything could happen in modern day America.

Charlie and Dylan’s Relationship [85/100]

If you didn’t know better, you’d think Dylan and Charlie knew each other before Maia came around. Charlie clearly has an investment in Dylan, beyond him being his best friend’s boyfriend, and while Charlie jokes about them having sex, I think, if anything, Dylan is like a brother to him. Someone he can be himself around, let his guard down, and in many ways, was his precursor to Lukas.

I mean, I will never forget earlier in the season, Charlie lying on Dylan, having a notably intimate moment, but it being so platonic that Dylan isn’t drawing boundaries, and no one bats an eye. I’d even add that Dylan is a bit of a nerd, and Charlie, someone who is quick to avoid situations that don’t benefit him, watched a whole documentary about the Vietnam War with Dylan.

Yes, he likely fell asleep halfway through, but that’s a kind of love I don’t think any other friendship on I Love LA has. For all the rest of them are about money, parties, or enabling one another – sometimes the worst parts.

Alani and Leon’s Relationship [83/100]

I believe the reason Alani is the way she is might be due to her dad now. If she really thinks the standard for men should be her father, and she likely starts off thinking they’ll be like him, until she learns they won’t live up to his example, that explains a lot. For as much as she idolizes her dad, I don’t think it is fully lost on her that he cheated on his last wife to be with her mom, and because that worked out, she leaves room for things to be messy.

So, as much as you could say she is willing to be vulnerable, to the point of being naïve, has her guard down to the point of being exploited, it could also be that she is conditioned to see the best out of people, for the man she loves the most isn’t a saint. The love that she has put on a pedestal was based on infidelity, so with those precedents, maybe what we see as red flags, Alani sees as signs of warmth?

If not, because her dad turned his life around, maybe she thinks, like her mom, she is capable of changing a man, bettering a man, or maybe discovering one after he worked his way through sowing his oats, being wild, and what have you?

Maia Seeing How Ben Really Is [82/100]

A part of me wonders if Maia leaving NYC for Los Angeles had more details than it being a COVID move that Maia, presumingly, was able to afford due to a stimulus check, and then moving in with Dylan? While it is pushed that this might be her first sexual encounter with Ben, it does seem she isn’t unfamiliar with how he likes to play with his power.

The way I see it, while Maia would never claim to be a victim of a #MeToo situation, she can recognize when a situation will not benefit her, and she needs to step away. Now, she may struggle a bit with being firm once she makes a decision, but that could be because of a litany of things. After all, we don’t really know much about Maia’s home life, how supportive her parents were about her going to NYU, and while it is clear she is insecure at times, how deep the root of that is hasn’t been fully explored.

What we do know, though, is just as much as she wanted Alyssa to respect her, see her potential, and allow it to be realized, she wanted the same from Ben. But, with Alyssa unable or unwilling to let Maia blossom, and Maia knowing Ben would just use up her youth before tossing her aside, it seems we got another sign that Maia has more emotional intelligence than sometimes given credit for. Granted, her morals are still trash, for knowingly wanting to sleep with a married man, but she does show some intelligence in other areas.

On The Fence

Dylan and Clare [74/100]

I feel very torn about Dylan sleeping with Clare. On the one hand, she is more his speed, so they make sense as a couple. But on the other hand, the whole “We were on a break” conversation is something I’m not looking forward to hearing, since it is such a tired excuse. Never mind, you can foresee the dramatics a mile away.

But, perhaps the biggest issue, to me, is that it feels out of character. Dylan hooking up with Clare feels like a way to quickly make him come off less perfect. I can even fathom, since Ben and Maia didn’t have penetrative sex, that it could be dangled as a means to push the idea that Maia isn’t as bad as Dylan, who we are left to assume went all the way.

It all just feels like drama for the sake of drama, and don’t get me wrong, Dylan being with Clare isn’t the worst thing, but a part of me does wish and believe Dylan would be the type to emotionally cheat, or explore, far before he did anything physical.

We Didn’t Get To See The Party [73/100]

Not getting to see this legendary party, which will probably be skipped as they do a time jump to start season 2, is frustrating. For one, Tallulah changed her outfit from what Antoine chose. The girls are traveling by subway, so the chance for a tear or something else happening is high, and who doesn’t want to get a hint of what’s to come from this party?

It feels like a make-or-break moment for Tallulah and Maia, and things are left with them on their way to the party. That doesn’t feel like a cliffhanger but like an ellipsis – it leaves you with something that feels very unfinished and it is immensely frustrating since you know, even without fancy visual effects and things like that, at the earliest, season 2 will come in the fall of 2026. That’s assuming, scheduling-wise, everyone’s available, and it doesn’t end up coming back early 2027.

Overall

Our Overall Rating [80/100]

While I Love LA has an imperfect season finale, there are still some things to appreciate from it. We got to meet Alani’s parents, Charlie seemed to learn from Maia’s mistakes and communicate with his loved ones properly, and Maia realized not all money is good money. Now, was much given to start piecing together what could happen in season 2? No. Was Dylan potentially having sex with Clare very out of character? Yes.

But, overall, while some of the decisions leave us with a mixed opinion, generally, this was a decent finale.

What To Check Out Next

Visit our main TV Show page to see past shows we’ve covered.

TV Shows We’re Covering This Season

Follow/Subscribe To Our External Pages

Sending
User Review
0/100 (0 votes)
Listed Under Categories:
Related Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Amari is the founder and head writer of Wherever-I-Look.com and has been writing reviews since 2010, with a focus on dramas and comedies.