The first season of HBO’s I Love LA concluded with its characters scattered between coasts and their relationships in serious question. The finale, titled “I Love NY,” left viewers with a major cliffhanger centered on the future of Maia and Dylan’s partnership. While the couple entered the episode on a mutually agreed break, actions taken by both have made their path forward uncertain.
The finale splits its time between Los Angeles and New York City. Maia, along with her friends Tallulah and Alani, travels to New York for a high-profile fashion dinner that could boost Tallulah’s influencer career. Back in Los Angeles, Dylan is reeling from the separation, with their friend Charlie checking in on him at Maia’s request.
In New York, Maia’s attempt to embrace single life and professional opportunity leads her to a fraught encounter with Ben, her former colleague. Ben offers Maia a job with a high salary but creates a sexually charged and manipulative power dynamic, which ultimately makes Maia realize she does not want to work for him. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, a heart-to-heart between Dylan and Charlie reveals Dylan’s core issue: he feels increasingly invisible as Maia’s ambitions grow.
The episode’s final moments deliver two parallel shocks. In New York, Maia and Tallulah, racing to the dinner via subway after a city-wide traffic jam, are insulted by a stranger. Maia quietly says, “I miss L.A.”. Simultaneously, the scene cuts to Dylan waking up in bed next to Claire, the co-worker Maia had previously been jealous of, revealing he was not honest about who called him the night before.
Officially, Maia and Dylan were on a break. The separation was initiated by Dylan in the previous episode after he expressed feeling diminished by Maia’s relentless focus on her career. In the finale, both characters clearly missed each other, but also both chose to be with other people during their time apart.
The critical issue is not simply that they were with others, but who they chose. Maia was with Ben, a former boss from her industry who represents a toxic work environment she wants to escape. Dylan was with Claire, the specific person Maia had expressed insecurity about. These choices complicate a potential reconciliation, as each would likely view the other’s hookup as a particular betrayal.
The actors have explained their characters’ motivations. Rachel Sennott, who plays Maia, shared that her character’s actions stem from a feeling of having missed out on experiences by settling down. Josh Hutcherson explained that Dylan’s choice came from a place of frustration and feeling unseen, not revenge.
“Neither of them [is] necessarily the bad guy because they were on a break,” Sennott told TV Insider.
The finale ends with both characters keeping their encounters a secret from each other, setting the stage for major conflict if the truth emerges in a potential second season.
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While Maia and Dylan’s relationship is central, the finale also moved other stories forward:
All eight episodes of I Love LA Season 1 are available to stream exclusively on HBO Max. The series stars Rachel Sennott, Josh Hutcherson, Odessa A’zion, True Whitaker, and Jordan Firstman. HBO has greenlit a second season, though a premiere date has not been announced.
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