Top 6 parts of One Day at a Time season 2

One Day At A Time production still. Photo: Mike Yarish/Netflix

Modern dating woes

Let’s be real, y’all. Dating is hard, especially when you’re gay or older.

We get to see the varying struggles in three different aspects this season — through Elena trying to figure out how to tell if someone’s gay or not, through Penelope trying to navigate the complications in dating with a full time job, school and kids, and through Lydia and Dr. Berkowitz figuring out their relationship. All of these are really important narratives that I loved.

Elena’s struggle is one I’m familiar with, because trying to figure out if someone else is even into your gender, let alone if they actually like you? It’s hard even for the most confident of us, and Elena is certainly not that. She’s confident in who she is, but she struggles to show that to the world in a way that makes them want to listen. Lydia’s advice on that was actually incredibly smart, and a way that many women who like women I know use to figure out if you’re even playing for a similar team. Then once you figure out that they are, you have to figure out how to tell someone you like them, and that’s just plain terrifying.

Penelope’s dealing with the changes in dating since the last time she tried it were a little hilarious, but also incredibly realistic. Dating is a completely different world than it was 20 years ago, and even 10 years ago. We saw that a little bit in the first season with the online dating, but Penelope going to Schneider for advice was actually a really great way to do this on a narrative level.

Lydia and Dr. Leslie Berkowitz have a very complicated relationship, and I’m really glad that Dr. B got to make his own decisions this season instead of just fawning all over Lydia like he did in the first season. I loved that Lydia got jealous, and that Dr. B decided that what he wanted was as much as Lydia could give him eventually. Also, I really loved the homecoming dance scene with them. It was awesome.