SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for It’s Not Like That Season 1, Episode 7.

With the season almost over, It’s Not Like That has to get to certain inevitable story points. The viewers have had a general idea of where the Wonder Project show’s story is going since the pilot. But “The Lori Thing” feels all too commonplace because of it.

The whole point of the season is for Malcolm Jeffries and Lori Soto to confront their unresolved feelings for each other, so audiences know that their respective relationships have to come to an end. But how the script gets there has been done before: the awkward meet-up between the two couples, the fact that they happen to be sitting at the same table at the school gala, the new love interests taking notice of the chemistry between Lori and Malcolm. It’s all straight out of the rom-com playbook.

What’s far more worthwhile is the continued character development for Lori’s ex-husband David, wonderfully played by J.R. Martinez. David has probably had the most transformative story arc of all the main characters across Season 1. He has a great scene supporting Malcolm’s daughter Flora as she performs at the gala. He’s able to maintain his sobriety, and he seriously apologizes to Lori for the way in which he left their marriage in a scene that doesn’t go on long enough. It would have been too easy to make David a villain—and on a lot of other shows, that’s what he would have been. But he has been given the chance to grow, and the reveal that he and Lori end up in bed provides some pre-finale shock value, not because it seems like they’ll get back together but because of what it will mean emotionally for both characters.

Elsewhere, the episode is a mixed bag. The teenagers’ storyline feels repetitive because it’s more of Dakota trying to come between former best friends Penelope and Casey… this time out of spite, because Pen’s injury caused Dakota to also hurt herself in cheerleading practice. At least Casey stands up for Pen, but this is more of the same. “The Lori Thing” also features a cliffhanger ending that viewers will see coming from a mile away: a drunk Merritt tries to make amends with Flora and ends up getting them both in a car crash, their fates left open-ended for the finale. It’s familiar and there’s not a huge sense of jeopardy, as it would be highly unusual for the show to write either one of them out when the characters are just moving on from Jenny’s death.

It’s Not Like That has found incredible depth in its characters and stories, and it really has tried to go in new directions, as far as its approach to subjects like faith, grief and in this episode, sex outside of marriage. The best thing about this show has been it having those talks without pushing a particular point of view. But “The Lori Thing” lacks that same depth, just because it has somewhere it has to be by the time the credits roll. The script gets to its destination in more obvious ways than usual. Hopefully, the finale will be a little more creative, since this series definitely deserves a Season 2. Even in their most predictable moments, these characters are worth spending time with.

It’s Not Like That streams Thursdays on Wonder Project on Prime Video. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios.

Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.