On Katy Keene season 1, episode 3, Valentine’s Day approaches at the worst time for Katy, K.O., Josie, and Alex, all of whom are having major relationship issues (even if Josie and Alex aren’t technically a couple).

Katy Keene season 1, episode 3 kind of captures the Riverdale-esque romantic drama by putting all of the couples in situations that aren’t necessary, came out of nowhere, and were specifically written with the intent to tear them apart in this single episode. While it’s still a strong episode, I don’t necessarily like the choices that were made.

In my opinion, Katy Keene season 1, episode 2 remains superior. But, the episode was a good outing nonetheless for this blossoming series.

‘Katy Keene’ season 1, episode 3 review

I’m hoping Katy Keene continues to distinguish itself from Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina by writing more depth to their relationships (romantic and otherwise) because, so far, most of them have been quite one-dimensional. Katy Keene season 1, episode 3 relied heavily on fans even caring about the two major relationships they’ve introduced, which was a big risk to take so early on in the series.

For Katy and K.O., it paid off, but not as much for Josie and Alex; however, that’s mostly because Katy and K.O.’s relationship has been a primary focus of every episode so far, while Alex could fade to obscurity much easier.

As I said before, I think this was a really strong episode, but I am also invested in these relationships already. If I wasn’t, I’m not sure what I would think. But, once again, Jorge’s story fell flat, while Pepper’s incredible story continued to capture my interest.

The price of moving in together

Honestly, a lot of the drama between Katy and K.O. on Katy Keene season 1, episode 3 didn’t feel like it fit. We’ve been told repeatedly throughout these three episodes that K.O. is the perfect guy, their relationship is perfect, and they’ve been so incredibly happy for the better half of a decade, but there’s, like, no proof of that? Every episode has seen unnecessary drama between the two to prove otherwise, but this episode was especially bad.

With K.O. relatively spontaneously moving into their small apartment, I understand Josie and Jorge being upset about losing the last bit of space they had. But the way they treated K.O. simply for being a nice guy (like trying to make them food or cleaning up the apartment) was unacceptable, particularly from Jorge. All they did was exacerbate the problems Katy and K.O. were having and create more unnecessary problems because they were annoyed with his presence — Jorge specifically.

For Katy never having lied to K.O., which he said to her on the episode, she sure did it fairly easily, like it wasn’t the first time, too. She kept unnecessary secrets from him that created problems, and there wasn’t any real reason for it. There were many more ways to explore the topic of Katy not being quite ready to live with K.O. yet than to have these issues come out of nowhere.

It didn’t make sense why everything was such a big deal between Katy and K.O., or why moving in together caused problems that would have existed before. Like, K.O. completely understood why Katy missed his match for a work event, so why did she lie to him?

There are problems that arise when moving in together that were barely touched on, but the issues that were focused on just painted Katy out to be a terrible girlfriend. For a couple that we were told to be the golden standard, they sure had a lot of communication issues right from the start. It’s hard to believe they were ever “perfect” if they fell apart so easily.

In short, I’m definitely Team K.O. in this mess because Katy and her crew treated him terribly. He’s literally done nothing except be the perfect boyfriend, and while it’s perfectly acceptable for Katy to not be ready to take that step, and her friends to have little issues with him, what the episode focused on was just how poorly they treated him for no reason whatsoever.

Jorge and Buzz

Oh boy, was this my least favorite part of Katy Keene season 1, episode 3. As a gay man, I understand the story they were attempting to tell, as gay men are notoriously bad at labelling their relationships. But, in reality, the story they told just painted Jorge as one of the most — if not the most — desperate men on television.

Imagine sleeping with someone almost every night of the year without your friends meeting them even once. (Like, they even questioned if this “mystery man” existed!) Imagine considering yourself in a “long-term relationship” with someone who has no interest in coming out of the closet and being with you publicly. If this were a story told decades ago, it would be one thing, but in today’s society, it’s completely sad and pathetic that Jorge was satisfied with this for so long.

For someone who the walking personification of “out of proud” and has the confidence to perform in drag, it doesn’t make any sense why Jorge would want to be with someone like Buzz, other than the fact that he’s unbelievably desperate.

It’s nice that Jorge hit it off with his hot firefighter, but even that doesn’t seem meant to last from what Bernardo’s personality appears to be, but I suppose that’s the point. Regardless, it doesn’t feel like the writers have a clear sense of who Jorge is.

Josie and Alexander

On Katy Keene season 1, episode 3, Josie finally stepped up and determined that she would have no more distractions. After all, she came to New York City to pursue her music, something she dreamed about doing before she even left Riverdale.

While the chemistry is great with Alex (could have done without the Archie Andrews reference, they were together for two minutes), I really want to see Josie focusing on furthering her career. On all two out of three of these episodes, Josie’s story has been in support of Alex’s, when he’s the supporting love interest of her story. She’s the star that we should be following; I could do without anything regarding Alex, his sister, or his business. It’s not interesting and feels like a knock off of all of the annoying Lodge drama on Riverdale.

As for Josie alone, I did enjoy that she met another aspiring musician and quickly hit it off to work on a song together. We need more of that, for sure. It’s a shame that, once again, Alex ruined something for her, but at least it was something to make someone else’s dreams come true, which I applaud Josie for being supportive of, as heartbreaking and depressing as it can be.

Additionally, I love Josie and Katy’s friendship. They’re focusing a lot on developing those two and that relationship, and it’s probably my favorite so far. Josie is so kind and compassionate, helping Katy to work through her issues and asking the important questions, as we’ve seen on the last two episodes. Katy better start appreciating her more!

God, how I wish this show was just about Katy, Josie, and Pepper.

Pepper Smith, Escort

I don’t know what I expected from Pepper’s past, but it was definitely not a history of being an escort. With Katy Keene season 1, episode 3, Pepper just proves herself to be more and more interesting, and Julia Chan is definitely gearing up to be the breakout star of Katy Keene.

We still have little idea who Pepper actually is because she’s unreadable, and all of her various conning skills leave much to imagine. One thing I’m concerned about going forward is how much Katy and Jorge actually know about Pepper. Her entire life seems to be a facade, other than the fact that she’s a gossip columnist with connections, but does she actually tell them the truth? I doubt Katy would invite Pepper to Lacy’s if she knew that a scam was commencing, which could potentially put her job at risk.

Lastly, I don’t think there’s a better con artist on television. Period.

‘Katy Keene’ season 1, episode 3 final thoughts

Katy Keene season 1, episode 3, as I said before, was a strong episode for what it’s worth, but I wanted more. The relationship drama is what we can partially expect considering the genre, but I really hope the writers balance the relationships with the careers. This show has so much potential, and I am really excited to see how the characters and their (platonic) relationships will grow. Also, let’s get some flashbacks to how Jorge, Katy, and Pepper met, please!

I’m very disappointed that Katy and K.O. broke up, and I feel like all of this is happening too soon. The series started with him proposing to her, but we’ve gotten very little background on their relationship, other than Katy calling K.O. the perfect man and him seemingly doing everything perfectly. They’re really rushing through content, and please, just slow down a little. I want to see Katy and K.O. together to see if they’re worth rooting for.

Katy Keene continues Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW!