‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’ Stars Talk ‘Bittersweet’ Farewell to Costar Reneé Rapp as Leighton Says Goodbye to Essex

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Sex Lives of College Girls, Season 3, Episode 2.]

The Sex Lives of College Girls officially bid Leighton (Reneé Rapp) farewell in Season 3’s second installment, making way for a new era of Essex students, while delivering a powerfully emotional sendoff.

After coming to terms with the reality of her situation, Leighton makes the tough choice that her educational future is more important moving forward, and she struggles to share that news with both her father (Rob Huebel) and her best friends Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet), Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott), and Bela (Amrit Kaur).

Breaking the news to her dad first, Leighton comforts the man who has many nostalgic memories surrounding his alma mater. Meanwhile, Leighton’s plan to transfer is uncovered by Jocelyn (Lauren “Lolo” Spencer) when she overhears Leighton exchanging books in line at the school store.

Max

When Kimberly reveals that the friends have scored a four-person dorm room, Leighton is even more reluctant to reveal her secret until it’s accidentally exposed. Leighton’s friends are understandably hurt, but when they learn about Leighton’s intentions of transferring to MIT, they quickly get on board.

Choosing to make the most of their time left together, the friends revisit their old dorm and party like it is freshman year all over again before parting ways the next morning when Leighton’s dad picks her up to head for Boston. “I was so glad that we got to do it in the way that we did,” Scott tells TV Insider. “It just made so much sense and ended on such a lovely note where it’s not a messy end of a friendship. It’s honestly, quite a positive and lovely one where you’re sending someone off into the world to do what’s best for them,” she adds.

When it came to filming the sequences for Leighton’s farewell, Kaur notes, “It was all real.” Any emotions the cast was feeling in that moment, Kaur says, “We put that into the work.” Ultimately, through Rapp’s exit, Kaur adds, “It is through the art that allowed us to have some loving conversations about our relationships off-screen as well.”

Still, as much as everyone parts on good terms, it didn’t make the goodbye any less painful. “It was bittersweet because we were like a family of the four of us,” Chalamet says. What made the separation easier to accept was knowing that Leighton was doing what was right for her future as Chalamet adds, “[Leighton] wants to study math. MIT has the best math program. It makes sense and also it’s great because she’s not just leaving for a girl, she’s leaving because she knows better what it is she wants to study.”

And sure, Leighton may not have been leaving for a girl, but fans can find comfort in the fact that she’ll be in the same city as her girlfriend Alicia (Midori Francis) who left in Season 3’s premiere episode to take a job with Boston’s mayor. And Scott makes a good point, “Obviously it was sad to say goodbye to her, but at the same time, we’re still friends. It’s not like she’s gone forever. She’s not like falling off the face of the earth. She’s right around the corner. I saw her [the other day]… It’s not the end of an era for our friendship, but more so the end of an era for our working friendship in that way.”

Whether Rapp will ever return should The Sex Lives of College Girls continue for a fourth season remains to be seen, but there is comfort in knowing Leighton’s not far from her Essex friends. What did you think of Leighton’s departure? Let us know in the comments, below, and stay tuned for the arrival of the show’s newest roommate in Episode 3.

The Sex Lives of College Girls, Season 3, Thursdays, 9/8c Max