I’m Still Missing Renee Rapp On Sex Lives Of College Girls, But I Think I Found My New Favorite Character
I'll always miss Leighton, but I have a new favorite Essex student!
Season 3 of The Sex Lives of College Girls finally arrived in the 2024 TV schedule in November, and with it came a lot of changes. It was no secret that this season would mark the end of Reneé Rapp’s tenure on the show, but it was still incredibly emotional watching her say goodbye to the girls who became her best friends.
Leighton was my favorite character, so to say I miss her is an understatement. Thankfully, the show accounted for her loss by introducing viewers to some new cast members and giving minor ones more prominent roles. It’s a move that’s certainly worked for me as I’ve come to love Lila (Ilia Isorely), one of the supporting characters who has been around since Season 1.
Lila started out the show as Kimberly’s (Pauline Chalamet) coworker/manager over at Sips, the college’s coffee shop. In the first season, she’s a bit of a confidant for Kimberly, who has the hardest time adjusting to college life. Little by little, Kimberly started introducing Lila to her roommates, and they all began to support and encourage one another. Her character began to get more fleshed out in the second season. Now that there’s more time to spare with Leighton leaving Essex for a spot at MIT, fans have gotten to know Lila even better.
One of the reasons Lila is my favorite is because she hardly has any drama going on. While the other girls are busy juggling college and their sex lives — as aptly suggested by the show’s title – Lila is busy making the most of her time in Essex. She doesn’t get overly stressed out as Kimberly and Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott) do, and she rarely finds herself in deep trouble like Bela (Amrit Kaur) always does. Instead, her plots often add some hilarious antics to an otherwise dramatic episode.
It also started with the second episode of Season 3 where she hosted her own fashion show for the line of men’s underwear she created. Of course, she didn’t tell anyone that’s what the fashion show was for, which made for some hilarious reactions from the girls. Her shenanigans have only gotten more entertaining as she waged war against the school’s delivery robots, which she fears will replace their jobs and steal their tips.
However, it was Season 3’s Halloween episode that truly cemented her as my favorite character. While Bela was dealing with FAF troubles, Kimberly struggled to fit into her new law symposium, and Whitney attempted to be friends with Canaan again, Lila had a mission of her own: finding the cute delivery person whose name she didn’t get last time.
Of course, this is easier said than done, and she spent the entire episode ordering random supplies for Sips in the hopes of getting the right delivery person, only to keep getting the wrong one. In the end, she does find the man she was looking for but the hurdles she had to endure to get there are great.
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While I think I’ll always miss Leighton, it’s nice to have another fun character to root for, especially as things seem to be getting bleaker and bleaker for the rest of the cast. You can catch up on The Sex Lives of College Girls with an active Max subscription, and don’t forget to tune in every Thursday night for new episodes.
Danielle Bruncati is a writer and pop culture enthusiast from Southern California. She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Television Writing and Producing from a top film school. Her goal is to one day be the writer on a show/movie covered by Cinemablend, but for now, she's excited to be a Freelance Writer here.
Danielle watches just about everything, but her favorite shows and movies often land in the YA and romantic comedy spaces. When she's not writing, she can be found wandering around Disneyland or hanging out with her laughter-hating corgi.