Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Sweet Life: Los Angeles’ Season 2 On HBO MAX, Where It’s More Dreams And Dramas For This Group Of Fashionable Black Friends

Insecure is no more. But Issa Rae’s connection with South LA and HBO Max continues with her role as co-executive producer of Sweet Life: Los Angeles, which returns for its second season. The group of twenty something friends at the center of the reality series are still navigating their work lives and love lives out loud. They’re also interacting with a few new faces, and facing up to some drama still festering from last season.

SWEET LIFE LOS ANGELES: SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: “I’m so excited to link up with my girls this summer,” Tylynn Burns says. “We all just been trying to scale our businesses, make a name for ourselves, and so we haven’t been able to really hang out.” Ty is joined on the rooftop deck at Hotel Erwin by Amanda Scott, Becky Magett, and Briana Jones.

The Gist: As Sweet Life: Los Angeles returns, everyone’s excited for Briana. Buttrd by Bri, the line of organic skin care products she started as a side hustle, has picked up speed and become her main focus. There’s a re-launch party on the horizon, curated with the aid of Tylnn’s event planning outfit House Party Creative. But before that can happen, drama with boys rears its head. P’Jae Compton’s talent management career has ramped up, too, but when he drags the girls in the group during an appearance on Power 106, they’re confused as to who he thinks he is. And that puts pressure on Amanda, because her boyfriend Rob has gotten closer to P’Jae while he helps foster Rob’s burgeoning comedy career. Amanda doesn’t mince words in a confessional moment. “How close Rob and P’Jae have gotten is lame as fuck.”

At a barbecue hosted by Tylynn and her boyfriend Jaylenn, talk of the simmering beef between Jerrold and Keilan surfaces. It seems that Jerrold threw a party at a club, and after some commotion on stage, the latter was tossed out by security. Jerrold swears (rather unconvincingly) to his girlfriend Cheryl that it wasn’t his doing and he’s past the whole thing, anyway. It’s probably not a big deal at all that Keitan and Amanda have history dating back to high school formals. Sure, that’s not going to be a problem. Speaking of high school, Jaylenn’s old buddy Marcus surfaces at the barbecue, and his reputation as a ladies man precedes him. Marcus proceeds to hit on somebody’s mother, but the whole crew can at least come together to enjoy Uncle Chunky’s cooking and dance to “We Can Freak It” by Kurupt.

It’s the night of Bri’s big launch party, and everyone’s arriving in their boudoir finery. There are hugs, there are kisses, there are selfies, and there’s plenty of drinks flowing. And nobody wants to ruin Bri’s big night. But there are dramas to confront, and the whole room is alive with side chatter. Cheryl has invited her friend Myami, who the other ladies consider a troublemaker. Marcus gets one look at Briana in her outfit, which appears to be a lattice of artfully arranged strings, and leads her away from her friends so he can ask her out on a date. And P’Jai, just arrived in his purple silk, uh, PJ’s, is called out for his comments on the radio, when he said that “the girls’ reactions, they was a bit extra.” Nobody likes that, obviously, and a rising crescendo of voices leads to pushing and shoving.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? In its editing, its LA glitzy locations, and its central theme of twenty somethings reaching for what’s next in their lives, there’s a strong sense of Vanderpump Rules in its early years. But ultimately, all of these aspirational reality series look to their true leader, the Real Housewives franchise.

Our Take: Everybody’s always dressed in Sweet Life: Los Angeles. Even if it’s just casual at a barbecue, it’s not casual casual – it’s considered casual. That kind of sharp visual sense fits well with the LA locations, whether it’s a Venice Beach rooftop or the upscale Inglewood bar Nile. After all, not all of us can live in California. But escapism aside, what really fuels SL:LA – and this is true of so many shows in its line – is drama, drama, drama. The drama phone is ringing from the moment the first episode of season 2 begins, and there’s no question that’ll keep ringing off the hook for the nine episodes to come. Is Tylynn really the unspoken leader of this group, as Rob suggests? And if so, is there anyone looking to topple her from the Iron Throne? And what about Rob siding with P’Jae, his new talent manager, over the concerns of Amanda, who he just got done scolding for dragging her feet on moving in together? P’Jae might be a manager, but he’s a shit-stirrer, too, and when the arguments start at Briana’s launch party, the drama quickly becomes weaponized. Everyone in Sweet Life: Los Angeles says they’re walking on eggshells. Seriously, it’s said at least twice in this first episode. But it seems like what they’re really looking forward to is breaking some mother-F-in eggs.

Sex and Skin: With the help of Tylynn and House Party Creative, Bri has made lingerie and lounge wear the theme for the re-launch party of Buttrd by Bri. Everyone’s out here wearing their bare essentials and lacy wraps to Members in West Hollywood, where a lot of the guys show up in shimmering silk robes, some shirtless.

Parting Shot: The P’Jae drama has officially boiled over, and the Buttrd by Bri launch party is now a caterwaul of shouted insults, self-righteous clapbacks, and assorted shouldering and gestures. “P’Jae got me hot, though, real talk,” Jaylenn says in a confessional cutaway. And some of the last words you hear in episode one is the phrase “I will slap the shit out of you, bro!” Yikes!

Sleeper Star: Uncle Chunky! Tylynn and Jaylenn host a barbecue at her uncle’s Westchester home, and as the drinks and laughs and side dramas pop off, the grill man stands resolute before his cooking surface. And man, does that meat look good.

Most Pilot-y Line: “Marcus is just lost in the sauce of my outfit,” Briana says of the evening at her launch party. “You could see my whole ass. But I’m not dating anyone, so I might see what he’s talking about.” With sales of her product line increasing and her hot girl summer life thriving, it feels like Bri’s storyline might thrive this season. She knows Marcus is dangerous. But he’s giving her attention. “And attention,” she says, “is my love language.”

Our Call: STREAM IT. Like so many reality shows of its ilk, Sweet Life: Los Angeles brings all of the drama, all of the time. It also cuts that with some great Cali locations and young people generally striving to live their best life. When they’re not arguing, that is.

Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges