After That Ending, ‘Sex Lives of College Girls’ Doesn’t Need a Season 4

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The Sex Lives of College Girls

By Claudia Picado

Published Jan 27, 2025

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Image via Max

Editor's Note: Spoilers ahead for Season 3 of 'The Sex Lives of College Girls'The Sex Lives of College Girls Season 3 finale wasn’t intended to be the series finale, but if you watched the final episode thinking the show had just come to an end, you wouldn’t be the only one. As series co-creator Justin Noble recently told TV Line, the episode wasn’t written with the show’s potential cancellation in mind, but more so with the intention of avoiding cliffhangers by giving the girls a positive, joyful end to the season. It's true Bela (Amrit Kaur), Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott), and Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet) went through a lot this season, dealing with breakups, academic hurdles, and mental health struggles, so it’s nice to see them end the season on a high note.

But the sentimental final moments of Episode 10 felt all too much like a farewell. After a tumultuous season that saw the departure of Leighton (Reneé Rapp) and the introduction of two new major characters in Kacey (Gracie Lawrence) and Taylor (Mia Rodgers), The Sex Lives of College Girls ties up nearly every loose end in a rushed season finale that just doesn’t necessitate another.

'The Sex Lives of College Girls' Season 3 Finale Wasn’t Meant to Be the Series Finale

The Season 3 finale of The Sex Lives of College is a whirlwind 35 minutes that offers some breakthrough moments for Bela, Whitney, Kimberly, and Kacey, culminating in a heartwarming ending that, should the series not be renewed for a fourth season, would serve as a satisfying conclusion. Justin Noble, who co-created the Max original series along with Mindy Kaling, didn’t write the Season 3 finale with this in mind, telling TV Line, “I got excited about this kind of symphony of wins that all of these girls could have together, and then it felt antithetical to that to tack on a cliffhanger for logistic TV-writing purposes.”

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The Season 3 finale does notably avoid ending with a cliffhanger like the previous two season finales but also introduces and resolves new storylines for multiple characters that could have very well been stretched out throughout several episodes, making for an overstuffed finale that rushes through Kacey’s breakup and Bela’s coming out story. The girls are still in the midst of their sophomore year, so if the series is renewed, there’s plenty of room for these characters to grow, but considering the finale wraps things up so neatly, does it really need to continue?

'The Sex Lives of College Girls' Season 3 Finale Ties up Nearly Every Loose End

By the end of The Sex Lives of College Girls Season 3, Episode 10, every central character turns a corner in their way, punctuating a chaotic season with some real moments of growth for Bela, Whitney, and Kimberly, and its two new characters, Kacey and Taylor. Kimberly realizes that becoming a Supreme Court justice may not be her dream anymore and reconnects with her ex-boyfriend Eli (Michael Provost), while Whitney takes a stand against the athletic board’s exploitative system that prioritizes winning over the well-being of their students. Bela finally finds her comedic voice and comes out as bisexual after kissing Haley (Belle Adams), and Kacey is devastated when Cooper (Roby Attal) dumps her soon after she loses her virginity to him, but it's her resilience that carries the episode to its heartwarming conclusion.

Ending the season with Kacey’s performance of “Never Enough” from The Greatest Showman was a wholesome way to reflect on how far the girls have come this season, each relating to the song’s lyrics in different ways. It provides a full circle moment for Kacey, who struggled with her self-esteem throughout the season and, through heartbreak, found the emotion she needed to deliver a powerful solo when it mattered most. Everyone in the audience is moved by her performance, and throughout the song, we cut to some familiar faces in the crowd looking on proudly, including Lila (Ilia Isorel?s Paulino) and Kacey’s mother (Missi Pyle). This gives the ending a real sense of totality that makes it feel like the show is taking its final bow, despite the possibility that The Sex Lives of College Girls could be renewed for a fourth season. And the final shot, which shows Bela, Whitney, Kimberly, and Kacey hanging out and laughing together in the dorm, really feels like a farewell.

Though the fate of The Sex Lives of College Girls Season 4 has yet to be announced, the lack of a cliffhanger ending and the resolution of every character's Season 3 journey doesn't leave any looming questions after the finale to keep us invested in its return, and considering the inconsistency of Season 3, maybe it's best to end the series on a high note.

All ten episodes of The Sex Lives of College Girls Season 3 are now available to stream on Max in the U.S. Watch on Max