Another semester has come to an end for our favorite college girls with The Sex Lives of College Girls season 3 finale hitting Max on Jan. 23. It's been a challenging season for Kimberly, Whitney, and Bela as they said goodbye to their friend and roommate Leighton, who went off to Boston, and said hello to their much different new roommate Kacey.
Going into the season finale, the girls had each been tested in their own way. Kimberly continued to feel overwhelmed by the prospect of her future goals and how her current actions could have an impact. Whitney struggled with her status as a college athlete and her mental health. Kacey grappled with the loss of her virginity, and Bela pushed against conventions to accept her sexuality.
But after watching The Sex Lives of College Girls season 3 finale, fans might be wondering whether the Max original series will be back for season 4. No spoilers yet, but the finale didn't feature any major cliffhangers that teased a potential season 4. In fact, the season finale felt a lot like it could have been a series finale. So, what happened in the finale, and what is the showrunner saying?
Warning: Spoilers ahead from the season 3 finale!
The Sex Lives of College Girls season 3 ending, explained
Compared to the penultimate episode of season 3, which featured a ton of setup to get us to the events of the finale, The Sex Lives of College Girls season 3 finale was an excellent episode of television complete with laughs, heart, and genuine surprise at some of the choices the characters made.
Between a jail cell, an athletic revolt, a coming out journey, and an emotional musical number, the finale, "Essex Strong," had everything. Here's a breakdown of what happened for each of the girls!
Kimberly gets arrested after protesting
Feeling the push and pull between doing the right thing and keeping her record clean for her future goal to be on the Supreme Court, Kimberly wants to do something to stop bigot Nathan Riggs from making a speaking appearance at Essex. She decides to risk it and join a protest, where she runs into Eli (Michael Provost) and meets Noah (Trevor Flanagan-Tordjman). When the protest is broken up, Kimberly comes up with a plan to break in and destory the school's internet servers. The group ends up in jail, where Kimberly gets closer to Noah... but Eli comes to bail her out.
Whitney creates change and wins the championship
Still feeling the aftershocks of quitting the soccer team, Whitney receives unwarranted pressure from her coach, the athletic department, and former teammates about her decision. Everyone really wants to win the championship, which would be a first for the Essex women's team, and they're blaming their decreased chances on Whitney. However, when she opens up to the team about her struggles, they reveal that they have been unfairly pushed past their limits and complain as a unit to the board. In the end, Whitney rejoins the team and they celebrate their big win.
Kacey overcomes her heartbreak
After losing her virginity to Cooper, Kacey goes all in on their relationship. She's bringing her mom to campus to meet him and rearranging holiday plans to make sure that he will be able to join her family. It's all too much for Cooper and he breaks up with her. Inevitably, Kacey's heartbroken and quits her role in the play. The girls help her feel better about her regrets about losing her virginity to a man who dumped her. She puts her heartbreak all on the stage when she takes over her role and sings a deeply moving cover of "Never Enough" from The Greatest Showman.
Bela comes out as bisexual
While working on new material about her sexual experiences with men to perform at a storytelling performance, Bela gets closer to Haley (Belle Adams), its organizer and her new friend. Since they met, it's clear that they have had an instant spark and connection. The more time Bela spends with Haley, the more she feels it. In the finale, she kisses Haley and realizes that she's bisexual. She plans to come out during her storytelling performance, but when her mom shows up, she pulls back. During Kacey's performance, she holds Haley's hand, leading to an accepting embrace with her mom.
The Sex Lives of College Girls season 4 could still happen
As you can see, The Sex Lives of College Girls season 3 finale didn't end with any cliffhangers, apart from the introduction of a new love triangle for Kimberly. There are no huge questions left over that desperately need to be answered in season 4, which could cause some concern among viewers who are hoping for a season 4 renewal.
According to showrunner Justin Noble, the decision to eschew a cliffhanger ending and give the girls something of a happy ending this time around has nothing to do with a looming cancellation. Noble told TV Line that the execs even questioned if he should include a cliffhanger, but he decided that after a challenging semester, the girls needed a win.
In another interview with Variety, Noble shared that while Max hadn't decided the show's fate at the time of the season finale's creation (or airing), he didn't put worries about being canceled into the decision to end with joy. Comedies often employ a cliffhanger in season finales that take a few episodes to unravel in the next season. He wanted to avoid that, too.
"The choice to go positive at the end of the season was purely a creative one, but we haven’t gotten a phone call about a Season 4 yet. We’re hopeful for one — if we don’t get one, you can rally everyone and take them to the streets and demand it."
Even though there might not have been a handful of jaw-dropping moments to keep us hooked and waiting for season 4, the show will always have stories to tell so long as these girls are in college and still figuring out who they are. That being said, season 3 wasn't super well-received by fans, but it remained popular. We'll have to wait and see what happens with a potential season 4.
Watch The Sex Lives of College Girls only on Max.