Survival of the Thickest season 1 recap: Who does Mavis end up with?

Watch out world, Mavis Beaumont is here to slay! Netflix’s newest original comedy Survival of the Thickest follows the captivating journey of Mavis Beaumont, a remarkable woman who embodies strength, resilience, and unapologetic self-acceptance in an industry that typically doesn’t celebrate everything that Mavis represents as a black, plus-size woman.

As the show begins and we meet Mavis, it seems like she’s about to get her first big break in the industry as a stylist. After helping to save a high-profile photoshoot and with a glowing recommendation from her photographer boyfriend Jacque, Mavis gets the opportunity to be a lead stylist on a shoot with Lizzo’s Big Grrrls for Essense.

Unfortunately, Mavis quickly falls from the high she’s riding when she walks in on Jacque cheating on her with a model from the photoshoot. It’s here that our journey truly begins as Mavis embarks on the path to rebuilding her life, a path that finds her confronting a myriad of obstacles along the way.

Supported by her chosen family, best friends Khalil and Marley, Mavis sets out on a mission to not just survive, but to thrive in a world that often overlooks or undermines her worth. Across the season, she challenges societal norms, inspires self-love, and promotes inclusivity, serving as a beacon of empowerment for others who may be struggling with their own self-image.

Survival of the Thickest season 1 ending explained

Across the first season of the show, we get to witness Mavis come into her own as she begins to build her brand from the ground up. Her first big break comes when she lands a styling gig with 90s supermodel Natasha Karina. From there, Mavis is thrust into a crazy journey as she begins to come into her own as a stylist who celebrates her clients’ unique bodies rather than conforming to the norms society tries to push upon them.

While the true love story of the season is Mavis’s journey of self-discovery and not settling for fine, that doesn’t mean there isn’t romance in the mix as well! The show sets up quite a complicated love triangle between Mavis, Jacque, and Luca, a charming Italian man who works for a nonprofit that resettles refugees.

Mavis and Luca immediately hit it off and the two begin seeing one another, but when Jacque reenters the picture and attempts to win Mavis back there things get more than a little complicated.

As we near the end of the season, Jacque goes to Mavis’s dad and asks for permission to propose, just as Luca has to head back to Italy to return to work.

In the season finale, Jacque proposes to Mavis and, surprisingly, says yes which nearly derails her budding romance with Luca. However, Jacque’s colors eventually shine through and Mavis breaks things off with Jacque for good. While she tried to convince herself she should accept good enough at first, being in Jacque’s orbit again reminds her that they’re missing the thing that makes them soulmates as she sends him packing.

After breaking things off with Jacque, Mavis tells Luca about the whole ordeal with Jacque and how she realizes she’s fallen in love with Luca. Understandably a bit shaken by her confession, Luca tells Mavis he needs some time it looks like that’s where we’ll end things. However, there’s one final twist!

Shortly after ending the call, Luca hears a knock at his door and is surprised by Mavis, who used the plane ticket he gifted her earlier in the season to make a grand gesture and show up on his doorstep. As the two embrace one another in a passionate kiss, the season fades to black.

Hopefully, we’ll get a second season of the show, but if season 2 doesn’t end up being in the cards Survival of the Thickest season 1 does a pretty solid job of telling an amazing story that ends with a sense of fulfillment with the door left open for more adventures!

Survival of the Thickest is streaming now on Netflix.