With Love Season 2 Spoilers Ahead
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Gloria Calderón Kellett’s seasonal gem, With Love, starts strong during its debut season and grows exponentially better in its sophomore run. The show’s wholesome approach to romances and its unquestionable love for families and inclusivity remains its greatest strength. Moreover, its efficient means of simultaneously subverting expectations deserves incredible praise. It’s hard to trust television when it comes to romance, and it’s especially tough to trust how long LGBTQ+ relationships will last, but With Love Season 2 admirably takes on both, showcasing some of the year’s most notably romantic moments.
With Love Season 2 is a love letter to romances and an exploration of growth. It takes everything we think we know in the show’s debut season and flips them to exhibit how far our characters need to go to find lasting hope. At the same time, the show does a marvelous job of reminding the audience of the authentic challenges people in relationships find themselves in, effectively moving away from the contrived drama we often see on TV. Instead of exploring frustrating cliches, With Love Season 2 allows its characters to embrace the mess to find direction.
In truth, I was hesitant about With Love Season 2 because I knew where Santiago and Lily’s relationship would go. (I shipped it, yes.) Yet, despite my initial feelings, the series charmingly confirms that it’s not always about what we want, but sometimes, it’s about what we need. I thought I needed to see their endgame, whereas what I really needed to see was the thoroughly engaging unraveling of the friends-to-lovers trope between Lily and Nick.
And despite how frustrating love triangles often are, the show allows viewers to see why it’s necessary to understand how Lily’s mess hinders her growth. For once, the love triangle serves a character’s journey instead of boiling down to an overdone trope that affects everyone in all the wrong ways. It’s clear that Nick is the right choice here. It’s clear that he and Lily are incredible together; thus, how Season 3 will explore their relationship could only (and hopefully) lead to better places.
However, the best part of With Love Season 2 is how Sol and Miles’ relationship continues to grow. It’s easy to root for them initially in Season 1, but given how TV shows handle LGBTQ+ relationships, it’s hard to hope—even on a series like With Love. Yet, Season 2 beautifully proves that their partnership is not only here to stay, but it’s one of the healthiest depictions of a romance on TV. The choice to portray how Miles continues to learn in this relationship while simultaneously showing that they have each other’s back through everything is nothing short of excellent.
It’s especially significant to point out that the “give and take” we consistently see with the two come in equal measure. Miles learning about his sexuality by understanding binaries better while concurrently ensuring that Sol knows they’re always going to be safe with him makes for the perfect dose of romance. This poignant exploration of sexuality is one thing, but how the series ensures that their trust in one another isn’t going to fumble is where it’s admirable. Because even in 2023, it’s still so heartbreakingly rare to see a Black transgender person on screen in a happy, wholesome relationship. There’s also much to be said about Miles’ insistence to learn Spanish, which brings a sweet way to bond with Sol’s grandparents.
This leads us to another detail that With Love Season 2 handles gorgeously: the relationships between parents and grandparents. For a show about love, there truly is plenty of it to go around, and showing the audience every bit of it with everyone continues to make the series stand out. How Abuelo Luis’ early dementia diagnosis unfolds while we continue to see every beautiful facet of the ever-growing love still glistening between him and Abuela Marta is a genuine treasure in the series, especially for those of us missing our grandparents a bit.
Finally, since this season is ultimately Jorge and Henry’s journey to their wedding, we need to make it abundantly clear that With Love Season 2 brings to our screens one of the best gay weddings ever. The fact that we see every little detail in the wedding planning is a whole lot of fun, but the vows knock everything out of the park, reaffirming why they’re so perfect together and how they can be a safe space on TV. Theirs is a story of two people learning how to grow and become better to be stronger partners.
And with Jorge’s choice to pick up a magic trick, knowing it’s exactly what Henry would appreciate, their love becomes fully cemented through an ardent adoration. Throughout the entire series, the Diaz siblings are tough at times, with both stuck in their stubborn ways, but With Love Season 2 harnesses their love for one another to show why they need to evolve for the better. The show isn’t about changing one’s ways but about ensuring that characters understand where they need to compromise and when they should stand their ground. It’s about having people in their corners who’ll be truthful with them when necessary to break through the walls no one else can crack through. In doing this, it allows Jorge to see what being a selfless partner is like, leading to the type of perfectly evocative tear-jerker wedding.
The final few moments of With Love Season 2 bring most arcs full circle beautifully by showing the transcendent joy in inclusivity. Watching a series like this that focuses on wholeheartedly loving Christians as a Christian is purely joyous in an indescribable way. For viewers to see such tremendous love bursting through every character during the dance numbers is a sheer gift. This is how we should always celebrate love on and off screen.
With Love Season 2 is now streaming on Prime Video.