Ana and the rest of the family discuss why Julio doesn’t want to celebrate his birthday. Ana says that he hates himself and where he is in life, and that he thinks he deserves to suffer on his birthday. Luis is determined to make him have a good time today, even if it means doing things Julio doesn’t want to do. ..
On his birthday, Julio receives no messages from Maggie. He texts her at the dentist’s office, where he apparently prefers to spend his birthday. ..
When Payne calls Julio into work for an emergency, he finds out that it was all a trick by Luis and everyone at Hugs Not Thugs. They were planning on throwing Julio a party, but now that he’s there, they’re just going to have fun without him. ..
Luis booked it again, this time to go lie in bed at home, where he dreams about Maggie. However, the others won’t let him off easy. They drag him to a bowling alley for a proper party. ..
Julio nearly sneaks off from there as well–until he runs into Maggie and her date (another Julio) at the bowling alley. They start talking and Julio quickly realizes that he has a lot in common with her. They share a few laughs and soon they’re on a date.
Julio then decides to stay, and he seems to thrive off the pain of seeing her with another man. He makes a point to beat other Julio’s scores at bowling–even though they’re not playing each other. He seems to be having fun, almost, but he ruins the party for everyone when he smashes his face into his cake. ..
Maggie confronts him in the bathroom about how he’s been acting. He says she could have texted him back. She just wants him to admit he misses her. She says she knows what he wants–to kiss her. ..
He confesses that he does want to kiss her, and that he misses her. Maggie congratulates him for admitting what he wants, then leaves. ..
The Episode Review
Julio is teased by Maggie in an unfair manner, but if anything, I think this episode reveals how much Maggie knows Julio better than anyone. There certainly are some self-worth issues that Julio needs to work through. But it’s not just that Julio thinks he deserves to feel pain; he has kind of a kink for it–and Maggie gets that.
This episode was a little bland (apart from that amazing opener). But it does well to dig into Maggie and Julio’s non-traditional relationship, which gets more interesting as it’s unpacked more. At this point, it’s hard to tell if they’re toxic for each other, or if they may just be what the other needs. ..
