Only two episodes into season three of The Sex Lives of College Girls Whitney, Kimberly, and Bela found themselves saying goodbye to Leighton, whose expected exit from the series found her leaving Essex for MIT, where she got to join her girlfriend in Massachusetts and follow her interest in advanced math. Afterward, the season mostly followed Bela, Whitney, and Kimberly's individual journeys over the course of the season. Whitney struggled to balance her academic schedule with the overwhelming pressure and expectations of being on the soccer team. None of her school-related problems were helped by falling into a love triangle between Canaan and Isaiah, where Whitney ultimately got back together with Canaan.
Meanwhile, Kimberly undergoes two main romantic relationships over the course of the season, where her singular focus surrounds not doing anything that could hurt her goals for her future. Given how any choice she makes as a young adult could remain on social media forever and haunt her chances of becoming a Supreme Court Justice one day, Kimberly's plot line tends to veer more toward her aim for a squeaky clean record. Elsewhere, Bela's plot line mostly surrounds her falling for nice guy Arvind before ultimately re-finding her love of comedy with a brand new voice that ends her romance with Arvind but results in Bela having a few personal realizations of her own.
To make up for Leighton's absence, The Sex Lives of College Girls introduces two new characters, Kacey and Taylor, to help fill the void Leighton leaves behind. But did it work? Season three still has its quick back-and-forth dialogue but struggles to withstand the same comical quality that the two previous seasons provided. It was still a fun show, but due to the main characters mostly being separated by different storylines, it did not allow for as many fun scenes between them as there had been. This show is at its best when the series leads are spending time together and bouncing off of each other, something that is clear whenever The Sex Lives of College Girls allows them all to be in the same room for long enough.
For as much as The Sex Lives of College Girls is about the romantic or sexual relationships they get involved with, the heart of this show sits with the friendship and found family dynamic between Kimberly, Bela, and Whitney, along with Leighton, or Kacey's involvement as the fourth main member. Kacey is a fun addition to the show, and it was a good move by the writers to avoid making her come across as being identical to Leighton. Meanwhile, although Taylor spends most of her screen time with Bela, Taylor and Bela's dynamic is still enjoyable and worth investing in.
The season three finale, "Essex Strong," gives these characters a little bit of everything. Kimberly's desire for a clean record comes to an abrupt end when she is taken into custody with her co-conspirators, whose goal was to cut off the ability for a politician who advocates hate speech to get his message across the campus. Whitney watches as her ex-soccer teammates, as well as other student-athletes, step up to the school board to demand better treatment.
Bela returns to comedy with a new perspective and discovers she is bi-sexual, which also results in a new love interest and a heartfelt moment with her mother. Bela's coming out to Whitney, Kacey, and Kimberly is joyful, loving, and accepting as well, as they congratulate Bela before quickly moving on to discuss the importance of breakfast foods. Kacey proves her theatre professor wrong by belting out her rendition of The Greatest Showman's "Never Enough." Taylor escapes her own demons by revealing that although she bought a bottle of alcohol, she resisted temptation and remained sober.
Rather than relying on a cliffhanger ending, The Sex Lives of College Girls stepped away from a similar uncertainty brought about by the two previous seasons. "Essex Strong" instead offers its main characters an ending with peace and happiness. Instead of creating a gimmick to force intrigue for a new season, this conclusion feels more like the form of television where if the show is renewed, audiences will return because they love the characters and want to see what occurs next in their lives and not because they feel they have no choice because of how the season has ended.
Although "Essex Strong" does not feel like a series finale, as there is still much more ahead regarding the journeys of these characters, it is an ending where the audience can step away from the show satisfied that in the event the series is renewed, they will have more of these characters. But, if MAX were to cancel the show, the unintended series finale would still offer celebration and closure.