Note: The following story contains spoilers from “The Sex Lives of College Girls” Season 3, Episode 7.
It hasn’t been an easy time for Alyah Chanelle Scott’s Whitney in “The Sex Lives of College Girls” Season 3, though she finds some clarity for herself in Episode 7’s shocking twist.
After forgiving both Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet) and Canaan (Christopher Meyer) for hurting her with their relationship — which ended rather quickly — Whitney and Canaan have moved on to become friends, which has provoked some jealousy for Whitney’s new fling, Isaiah (Devin Craig), including an uncomfortable confrontation at the campus gym. Even as things progress with Isaiah, Whitney can’t shake Canaan, leading her straight to his door to kiss him.
“It’s that reversion to old ways and lasting curiosity to be like, ‘Well, if we fix the things, if I’ve worked on myself and I learned that I don’t have to control everything, and if he’s learned his lesson and made his mistakes and is actually sorry, then maybe this can be good, now, maybe we’re fixed,’” Scott told TheWrap. “We’ll see if that’s real or not, but in that moment, they deal with the things that were issues for them, and they’re like, ‘actually, let’s give it a go,’ because we do care about each other.”
Her love life is just one of the areas where Whitney has faced issues this season as she struggles to balance her social life, classes and soccer, which has prompted her to think about exploring Essex’s mental health services, though she stopped short of actually pursuing help.
Below, Scott unpacks Whitney’s reluctance to pursue therapy, Isaiah’s donation to her lab and Whitney’s journey in reshuffling her academic priorities.
TheWrap: How do you feel about Whitney’s journey this season?
Scott: I love how much she’s taking on and I love how hard it is for her to deal with it — I think there’s comedy in there and there’s also truth and reality in that. And as hard as it is to watch, sometimes it’s very refreshing. I feel very seen sometimes by how much she struggles. That much is great and silly and weird and cathartic, but then also the parts of it that are tough are just sometimes watching her make these decisions. You want to shake her, you want to say, “Girl, wake up,” but you know she’s going to do what she’s going to do, and I think the Canaan thing is indicative of that, and indicative of what it’s like to be a young person who has lessons they’re trying to learn and hurt that they’re trying to heal, and looks for it in many places and gets it.
Why has she been reluctant to go seek mental health services?
I feel like it comes from the pressures of the environment that she’s been around and grown up in — she’s watched her mom and been like, “Wow, she handles everything with ease and poise,” even though, that’s not the truth probably. That’s the expectation — that she’s meant to just take everything on the chin and deal. So there is this embarrassment when she’s like, “Well, no, I’m not sleeping and I’m really stressed. I’m not eating, but I’m fine, it’s OK.” And everyone’s like, “No, honey, you’ve got to deal with the thing.” I appreciate that it’s hard for her to deal with, because I think it’s realistic. I think there is a lot of shame. We like to think now that conversations [about mental health] are so much more popular and common. And while that is true, I think also, when you’re in a friend group where no one else is talking about it, it’s really hard to be the first one to say “I have anxiety,” or “I’m going to therapy,” or “I’m struggling.” To watch her struggle in that moment, to try to come to terms with it, I felt was handled very cleverly by the writers, and I’m glad that I got to do it.
She also started a relationship with Isaiah, who she’s realizing might not be the best match. How do you understand their relationship and how Whitney feels about him?
I think he does something so good for her and so necessary for her, in that she just has a sense that she can control everything, and that she can set parameters and everything’s going to be on her page. He’s someone who is like, “OK, I don’t really care — it doesn’t have to be anything if you don’t want it to be anything.” And that breaks her brain, and she’s like, “Oh, right, I think I’m taking everything too seriously and this can just be fun. and I have not had a moment that’s just fun, and not the most high-stakes situation.” Getting to see her enjoy something is nice, and then also getting to see it run its course and her realize, “I’m not getting from this what I wanted to get from this” is very realistic, and I think good to show.
He also donating a massive amount to her lab. What did Whitney make of that?
She’s certainly someone who’s stubborn and takes on more than she can chew and thinks she can — and honestly, probably can — get there on her own. She has the stigma of having the mom who’s successful and being a nepo or whatever, and not necessarily needing to work, but wanting to work and wanting to get stuff on her own. So I think there is this added chip on her shoulder when a guy comes in and is like, “I’ll just give it to you.” She’s like, “No, no. That discredits everything that I’ve set up and I’m trying to do — how do you not get that?” I think there is that added layer of wanting so hard to prove herself and work for herself and not be handed anything, which I relate to in ways — I want to prove that I’ve earned the position that I’m in. And I think she’s in doing that, and when Isaiah has that moment, it undermines the hard work that she’s put in.
Has she still had feelings for Canaan during this time?
I don’t know that she’s let herself think that far into it. I think she was more hurt by her friend than she was by the boy, because she let the boy go — there was something there that she felt she could make peace with and walk away from. And then when the Kimberly situation happens, I think it reopens a door for her into being like, “Was I actually done with that? Also, I thought we were friends, I thought that you cared about me, and I thought that you would have at least talked to me before you did that?” And so she deals with the friend thing, and when the friend thing’s dealt with, I think then the question in the back of her mind, and the issue with her and Canaan is that they get along very well, and they have good chemistry. That was always the thing, and all of these other issues got in the way — her trust issues from her past relationship, his kind of shady behavior — all of that sort of added to a conversation that was kind of good. And so when all that goes away, I think there is still that underlying chemistry and curiosity, and also there’s some shit that they have to deal with too. They haven’t had the conversation of, “why did that happen?” Or “I was hurt.” So I’m glad that we get to see them do that.
It’s also clear she’s going through a reshuffling of her priorities and her studies. Why is she initially hesitant to Africa American studies and why does she get pulled back in?
It’s a classic experience that I feel like we don’t get to see a lot, and it’s an experience that I feel like I had, which was sort of separating my racial identity from my college life, and trying to exist in the same way that everyone else is existing. But wondering why something’s not happening the way that I wanted it to, and not realizing that there’s another part to who I am as a person that I need to accept and come into in an adult way, in my own way that’s not tied to the way my parents did it. Watching her learn that lesson and navigate that like this is an experience that is unique to me and some other people who look like me, and that’s important, and that’s not irrelevant to what I want to do. It’s actually very relevant to what I want to do and to anything that I do. It’s cool to see someone learn that in real time and not just expect that it’s an innate thing that everyone knows when you get to college — that’s just part of it. You really have to find it for yourself. I know that’s what I had to do, so I’m glad that that’s what she gets to do this season.
What can you tease about how the rest of the season unfolds and how she navigates the messiness between Canaan and Isaiah?
I think she does the best she can with the situation. I actually think she handles it pretty well. I think she’s grown, so she’s very upfront and honest.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
New episodes of “Sex Lives of College Girls” Season 3 drop every Thursday at 9:00 p.m. ET on Max.
