There’s tragically no music video for Charli XCX and Lorde’s remix of “Woman, so complicated.” But when there have been, I think about it might look lots like I Love LA‘s first episode.
Rachel Sennott’s HBO comedy follows a Los Angeles-based good friend group, on the middle of which is junior expertise supervisor Maia (Sennott) and her bestie and rising It Woman shopper Tallulah (Odessa A’zion). Whereas the pair ultimately resolve to take L.A. by storm, their relationship within the sequence begins in a a lot frostier place, one harking back to the unstated resentment and insecurities in Charli XCX’s authentic model of “Woman, so complicated” from brat.
On that monitor, the singer wonders whether or not the goal of the track — first implied, then outright confirmed to be Lorde — likes her or hates her. “Cannot inform when you wanna see me / Falling over and failing,” she sings, a sense that applies to each the pressures of the music business that she and Lorde are navigating and to fraught friendships generally.
Working example: Maia and Tallulah. The pair have been initially meant to maneuver from New York to L.A. collectively, earlier than Tallulah bailed on the plan. Within the years since, Maia has primarily skilled Tallulah by way of social media, watching Tallulah’s star rise as she books high-profile initiatives like a Marc Jacobs Heaven marketing campaign. Within the early moments of the present, Maia obsesses over Tallulah’s Instagram posts, though she’s had her muted. She’s obsessive about the picture of Tallulah’s success, and likewise with what Tallulah thinks of her — or if she even does anymore.
Rachel Sennott and Odessa A’zion in “I Love LA.”
Credit score: Kenny Laubbacher / HBO
Maia winds up blocking Tallulah as an act of twenty seventh birthday rebelliousness. Little does she know, Tallulah is on her strategy to L.A. at that very second to shock her for her birthday. From that time on, it is hell for Maia. Tallulah hijacks her day, begging for a seaside journey, inviting herself to dinner, and later getting a resort suite for a celebration Maia did not even need. (So as to add insult to harm, Tallulah will get the suite by saying it is her personal birthday — that approach she will be able to publish about it in alternate for a free occasion.) All through, she flaunts her success in New York, her wealthy boyfriend, and her Balenciaga bag. It is Maia’s worst nightmare: Her school good friend seemingly made the precise name in abandoning her, whereas she’s caught in a stagnating profession.
As Maia spirals, she cooks up lies to make it seem to be she’s doing much better than she actually is. She claims she acquired a promotion when she did not. She brags that she and her boss Alyssa (Leighton Meester) are thick as thieves, when Alyssa barely provides her the time of day. The lies and Tallulah’s antics pile up till Maia cannot take it anymore, leaving her and Tallulah to battle it out within the lavatory at her party.
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Right here, the reality comes out: Tallulah’s been mendacity, too. She’s broke, her boyfriend dumped her and kicked her out, and he or she hasn’t landed something on the extent of the Heaven marketing campaign in a yr. Similar to Maia thought Tallulah was killing it, Tallulah thought Maia was killing it, and he or she was harm by her coldness all through the weekend. To paraphrase Lorde, each ladies believed one another’s projection, and now they completely get the place the opposite is coming from.
Tallulah’s revelation is a shocking reversal, one which prompts an sincere reconciliation between the chums. They entered the toilet yelling at one another in anger, however they go away squealing with pleasure at what the long run holds for the 2 of them.
Following a whole episode’s value of passive-aggressive stress, the scene gives the identical catharsis as listening to Lorde bounce on “Woman, so complicated” and declare she and Charli XCX ought to “work it out on the remix.” Previous to the discharge of the remix, individuals have been frothing on the mouth for drama, making an attempt to determine who the track was about, then questioning how Lorde would really feel or reply. The remix proved a way more joyful conclusion, an sincere apology of how one’s personal insecurities can hurt relationships with others.
Equally, earlier than the toilet scene, I used to be prepared for a knock-down, drag-out battle between Maia and Tallulah. And after solely seeing issues from Maia’s perspective for a lot of the episode, I used to be simply as infuriated with Tallulah as she was. (A number of occasions throughout my first watch, I simply wrote down, “Ugh, Tallulah.”) Nonetheless, seeing the 2 air their grievances and instantly come crashing again into their friendship ended up being way more releasing and rewarding than any catfight. And whereas “Woman, so complicated feat. Lorde” does not truly characteristic in I Love LA, its spirit shines by way of in Maia and Tallulah’s make-up.
Which may not be all for Charli XCX within the sequence, although. Sennott has spoken about desirous to solid her in future seasons of I Love LA, telling co-star Jordan Firstman in an Elle interview that “it might be enjoyable to have Charli [XCX] on as one thing so completely different from herself.” The pop star has already performed herself on Overcompensating, with hilarious outcomes. Might she full the 2025 zillenial sitcom trifecta with future roles in I Love LA and Adults?
New episodes of I Love LA premiere Sundays at 10:30 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.
