Is ‘I Love LA’ the Most Chronically Online Show Ever? Yes.
Rachel Sennott has built a career on embodying the specific, often cringeworthy, anxieties of being young in the digital age. From the claustrophobic cringe of Shiva Baby to the chaotic friendship in Bottoms, she has a unique talent for making you laugh while you squirm with recognition. Now, with her new HBO series I Love LA, Sennott moves from star to creator, and she’s crafted a show that feels like the culmination of her entire comedic identity. It’s a witty, self-aware, and sometimes unsettling look at a Los Angeles shaped entirely by internet culture.
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On paper, I Love LA sounds familiar. HBO describes it as a story about a tight-knit, ambitious group of friends navigating life and love in a big city. We’ve seen this formula before in shows like Girls and Broad City, which masterfully explored the messy realities of millennial relationships and self-discovery. But I Love LA quickly sets itself apart. While those shows focused on the internal dynamics of their friend groups, Sennott’s series is more concerned with an external force: the city of Los Angeles itself, which acts less like a setting and more like a main character with the power to build you up or tear you down for sport.
The story centers on Maia (Sennott), a 20-something talent manager whose life is upended when her former best friend, Tallulah (Odessa A’zion), re-enters her orbit. Tallulah is now a rising social media star, complete with a designer bag and an army of followers. Maia takes her on as a client, blurring the lines between friendship and business. Their circle includes Charlie (Jordan Firstman), a stylist desperate to climb the social ladder, and Alani (True Whitaker), the token nepo baby who explains away life’s hardships with astrology. Rounding out the cast is Dylan (Josh Hutcherson), Maia’s grounded boyfriend who serves as the audience’s voice of reason amidst the chaos.
What makes I Love LA so compelling is its refusal to pretend it’s above the culture it’s satirizing. The show understands that for many Gen Z and millennial viewers, Los Angeles is a theme park for influencers and micro-celebrities. Instead of shying away from this, the series dives headfirst into the absurdity. When a major career setback happens on Maia’s 27th birthday, Alani calmly explains, “27 is the start of your Saturn return, so everything that feels bad right now is actually good.” The script is filled with references to niche internet trends and Gen Z status symbols that might fly over some heads, but that’s the point. The show isn’t just winking at internet culture; it’s speaking its language fluently.
The series is a perfect vehicle for Sennott’s brand of humor. Her character, Maia, is driven and deeply insecure, hyping herself up in the mirror with affirmations like, “Hustle until your idols become your rivals.” You can’t help but root for her, even as her choices are guided by ego and a desire for digital validation. The characters are flawed, often ridiculously so, but their motivations feel honest. They are products of an environment where a 30-second TikTok video can genuinely change your life.
I Love LA is a comedy for anyone who grew up “chronically online.” It captures the surreal experience of pursuing success in a world where your relevance is measured in likes and shares. While it shares DNA with its coming-of-age predecessors, its unique focus on how a city defined by the internet shapes its inhabitants makes it a refreshingly modern story. It’s a sharp, funny, and deeply relatable series that solidifies Rachel Sennott as one of the most important voices of her generation.