‘I Love LA’ Season 1 ending explained

I love Los Angeles and so does the cast and crew of I Love LA. At least that’s what the Season 1 finale of the show asserts.

**Spoilers ahead for the entire first season of I Love LA, now streaming on HBO Max**

Who knew that a mid-twenties crash-out could ever be so comedic? Apparently, the answer to that question is Rachel Sennott. After seven episodes of hilarious and depraved West Coast shenanigans, the first season of Sennott’s HBO comedy wrapped up on Sunday night and left us in desperate need of a second season.

While we await Season 2 — which could be coming as soon as this time next year, if we’re lucky — we’re taking a look at the Season 1 finale and all that it entails. Do Dylan (Josh Hutcherson) and Maia (Sennott) get back together? Does Charlie (Jordan Firstman) go after Andrew (Augusto Aguilera) in New York? And what happens with Tallulah at the Formé Dinner?

Keep reading for a breakdown of the I Love LA Season 1 finale.

I Love LA Season 1 Ending Explained:

After a blow-up in Episode 7, “Divas Down,” resulting in a trial separation, Maia (Sennott) starts Episode 8, “I Love NY,” in New York alongside Tallulah (Odessa A’zion) and Alani (True Whitaker). While Maia and Tallulah are headed to the Formé Dinner hosted by Antoine (Tim Baltz), Alani is planning to surprise her mom and dad, who are making a stop in the Big Apple upon returning from their anniversary trip. Maia is also still reeling from Dylan’s decision to take a break amid the chaos in her life.

Back in LA, Dylan is all but broken over the separation from Maia, so much so that Maia asks Charlie to check in on him. During his stop-in, the two connect over their shared heartbreak –Charlie is still thinking about Andrew — and they ultimately land on Dylan and Maia both being equally regretful and wanting to make up. They just need a little bit of time, first, they agree.

While out in New York, Maia and the gang casually run into Ben (Colin Woodell) — Maia’s sleazy former coworker — who leaves his credit card at the bar and says he will come to Maia’s hotel room the next day to pick it up. During their encounter, Maia also casually mentions that she no longer works at Alyssa180, leaving Ben to proposition her into sex and workplace domination. Mind you, he did this while his wife was mere feet away from him at the restaurant, but that’s beside the point.

Unfortunately, Ben leaving his credit card only enables Maia and Tallulah to get so drunk that they go under the needle for matching tattoos, Tallulah’s in the center of her back. Had Tallulah worn the simple black dress Antoine picked out for her to wear to the Formé Dinner, she would have been okay; Tallulah, however, could not stand Antoine calling her messy and trying to dress her in something underwhelming, so she stole a green dress meant for someone else.

In a panic, Maia and Tallulah return the green dress and grab the original black dress, which Tallulah initially refused to do, positing that she wouldn’t make a splash in something so boring. Luckily, it’s not their only option, but we’ll get back to that in a second.

Just before Maia is getting ready for the Formé Dinner, Ben swings by her hotel room and the two don’t exactly have sex — Ben actually just makes her touch herself as he watches — but he also offers her a job at his company. Included in that offer? Oh, only a $380,000 a year salary. It’s certainly nothing to turn your nose up at, but Ben’s overall demeanor makes Maia realize that if she were to accept the job, she would be essentially working for Alyssa180 again, where her ideas aren’t hears and there’s now a weird sexual tension with her boss.

Elsewhere in Manhattan, Alani wakes up to find a woman in her dad’s shower, presumably his girlfriend. This woman tells Alani that they’ve been together for a while but that they’ve just been waiting for the right time to bring it up to her mom, and when her parents finally arrive at their apartment, it turns out that she is nothing more than his stalker who he has a restraining order against. The woman slashed him with a knife before fleeing, leaving Alani and her mother to call the police for help.

Charlie, now in New York thanks to Mimi Rush (Ayo Edebiri), stops by Maia’s hotel room to bring last-minute dress options for the Formé Dinner, and tells her to lie to Tallulah and say that Ben didn’t offer her a job, as well as to call Dylan because he is not doing well without her. When she ultimately goes to call him, however, everyone’s favorite golden retriever boyfriend is in bed with Claire, the woman he swore up and down that Maia did not have to worry about.

In Charlie’s own personal life, he opts to find Andrew and chase down his man, owning up to the mistake of letting him go. As a show of good faith and personal growth, he even brings Din Tai Fung. See, he can be basic, too.

Meanwhile, just as Tallulah and Maia are about to be late to the dinner thanks to the stalker on the loose who stabbed a famous actor (something a bystander tells them, not knowing it’s Alani’s dad), Maia and Tallulah opt to run to the subway and get on in order to make it in time. As they ride the subway, a man tells and Tallulah that he thinks they look beautiful but that his pet rat thinks they “look like sluts.” Maia remarks that she cannot wait to get back to LA and the show cuts to credits, teasing even more trouble in Season 2.

I Love LA Season 1 is now streaming.

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