LOVE, VICTOR

series 3, final (Disney+)

The sweet gay teen movie that became a sweet gay teen series is ending with series

3. It finishes on a good note, but not without sadness because the characters have been good company.

Straight actor Michael Cimino has proven he’s a real ally, never forcing things as the gay Victor, struggling in his first steps toward a love life. Anthony Turpel, as Victor’s straight mate Felix, continues as solid support, and George Sear as Victor’s on-again-off-again bf Benji is strikingly handsome, if not much chop as an actor.

By far the real star of the show is Victor’s mum, Ana Ortiz as Isabel Salazar, whose initial equivocation upon discovering her son was gay is overtaken by an urgent desire to demonstrate her new-found acceptance.

This includes taking the family to a gayfriendly church, after she’s had a stand-up row with her current minister that’ll have you cheering. She becomes the moral backbone of the show and knows a thing or two about standing up for her kids, even when Vitor’s dad says she’s going “too far”.

The characters are growing older, ready to move away from confusion and self-doubts, which means the story either has to change tone or find new directions. So, it explores the stories of two of the girls at high school, one we know already, who tentatively fall into a samesex relationship.

Meanwhile, Rachel Hilson, brilliant as Mia, has little left to do other than try to define her own life as separate to her single dad’s. We could’ve done with more of her.

Teenage torment is making way for grown-up grace, but not without one or two wry lines as we bow out. Benji is stricken with love loss but gets words of wisdom from Mia’s bf: “I’ve always found the best way to get over somebody is to get under somebody else.” It’s a nice line, but a little out of character for this show. Oh well, we all get older. (PG, 8 x 30-min episodes, plus 20 previous eps)