Back in 2023 when the first season of Survival of the Thickest first dropped on Netflix, I was surprisingly smitten with the results. Cut to this year, when I finally got around to watching the last two seasons. In fairness, a lot of time passed between the first and second seasons, so the fact that I only just now got around to finishing it doesn’t make me feel too bad.
I will also admit that I don’t remember much of the specifics of the first season, so finding Mavis in Rome to spend time with her love, Luca was a bit of a memory jogger. Honestly, I don’t remember much of Luca or other Mavis love interests, so her short time there wasn’t that impactful to me. It was to Luca, though. Even though they love each other, he has lost trust in Mavis after she almost became engaged to her ex. I don’t blame the guy. I also don’t blame Mavis for being completely heartbroken. Life is confusing sometimes!
What I did like about this conflict happening early on is that it gave Mavis the chance to re-focus on what the show was initially all about. In an effort to get a leg up as a stylist, she’s able to help out a celebrity at a popular festival. This, along with the financial support from Marley, allows Mavis to open up a boutique that caters to big girls who want to look stylish. This has her clash with a designer who falsely advertised designs for plus sized women, but the conflict does hlep Mavis take another step forward.
In fact, it also helps Mavis start to dream a little bit bigger and start taking the steps to becoming a designer. She’s lucky she has the support of her friends along the way. That desire to become a designer spills over into the third season, as well. And while Mavis’ accomplishments can be obtained by others out in the real world, I did feel like a lot of her successes are unattainable by most people. I do think this showcases the importance of putting yourself first, being nice, and making meaninful connections. She ends up in Essence Magazine by the end of the series!
Her career isn’t the only thing that takes off. She rekindles her romance with Luca when he moves back to New York, and they move quickly. it’s good to see them work through relationship hurdles together in a more mature way. And as Mavis approaches 40, she realizes that she wants kids. This plotline is something that I can see being relatable to a lot of viewers, especially those that struggle to get pregnant. It also tackles the emotional toll it takes on both women and men, as well as explore the other options out there to start a family. It’s this plot point that also causes the most friction between her and her best friend, Khalil.
Khalil is hands down my favorite character in this show, and I just love his friendship with Mavis. They are truly ride or die, and in fact they are so close that they are practically brother and sister. They are each other’s closest confidant, and they are honest when no one else is. I do love that this older. more mature friendship helps them resolve their conflicts more quickly, too. Something that felt strange was the complete absence of Marley in the last season. They note that she’s in Portugal tending to a broken heart in the first episode and then never talk about her again. Who knows what happened behind the scenes. But it did feel weird to not even have her mentioned in some of the more milestone moments throughout the final season.
All in all, this was a well-rounded, fleshed-out series that brought attention to plenty of minorities. And while it tackled most things with humor, it didn’t shy away from more serious subjects. Similar to Somebody Somewhere, this show just made me feel good watching it, so you might as well add this to a future watch-list, too!