The positive is that his record was officially expunged, meaning colleges won’t have to know about “that embarrassing day” he got drunk and crashed a car. The episode opens with some bittersweet news from Benji’s father. That said, we’ve started to see small cracks in Benji’s perspective and personality through his tutoring sessions with Rahim, and this episode expertly (finally, crucially) dives into how he’s handling the breakup. I always felt as though it took way too long for Benji to become a fully fledged person - for a while, his entire character profile seemed to just be “dreamy, swoopy-haired barista and musician who’s much more experienced than Victor.” I didn’t really react when we finally met his parents or learned about his sobriety in season two because I didn’t have many thoughts about his life or identity beyond him being Victor’s crush, catalyst, and occasional pressure source. Maybe it’s because we’re finally seeing Benji as a person instead of just Victor’s unattainable crush or on-off boyfriend. Maybe it’s because it clocks in at only 24 minutes or because there’s such a specific focus on Victor and Pilar’s lives that we don’t even get a glimpse of Mia or Lake. It’s starting to feel as if almost every chapter of season three is about the same thing: Victor’s increasingly desperate attempts to move on from Benji.
