‘Overcompensating’: Benito Skinner & Wally Baram Break Down Season 1’s Shocking Cliffhanger (VIDEO)

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Overcompensating Season 1.]

Overcompensating’s first season goes out with a jaw-dropping bang. A chaotic college party at Yates University turns into an emotional battleground for Benny (Benito Skinner) and his best friend, Carmen (Wally Baram).

Benny spends Season 1, out now, navigating his queerness and figuring out how to come out after portraying a straight façade to his friends and family. His coming out journey is derailed when he stumbles upon Carmen kissing his crush, Miles (Rish Shah), at the party. Carmen rushes after a heartbroken Benny and accidentally outs him in front of his sister (Mary Beth Barone) and his crush. Benito Skinner and Wally Baram spoke with TV Insider about that shocking Season 1 ending and what it means for Benny and Carmen’s friendship.

“I think my thing is that it’s still a college show, and I think I was like, this feels real and messy and honest and, also, I want you to be back next season,” Skinner said. “I think when you’re coming out, it is this push and pull and secrets and dishonesty and hiding, and [it] just felt like we kind of had to end it that way, partially inspired by my own experiences of coming out and some people knowing and some people not.”

Skinner, who created the show, felt it was necessary to “take the rug out from under some of these characters, and I think the Benny-Carmen relationship felt so solid right before then. I think there’s going to be some beautiful healing in the future if we’re allowed to do it and even more problems.”

Baram acknowledged how much of a “gut punch” that cliffhanger was for Benny and Carmen fans. However, she admitted that the scene is a “really great projection of what happens in college” and life in general “when you engage with a version of yourself that’s dishonest, and you’re not validating yourself, and you’re making decisions from a place of really low self-esteem. Things get messy.”

Overcompensating hasn’t been renewed for Season 2 yet, but Benny and his friends have plenty of semesters to go. After a plethora of Season 1 guest stars — including James Van Der Beek, Megan Fox, and Bowen Yang — Skinner and Baram are already manifesting their next dream guest star: the one and only Pedro Pascal.

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Baram pitched the idea of Mr. Pascal playing Carmen’s father. TV Insider threw out the idea of The Last of Us star playing a sexy professor. Maybe he could be Carmen’s father and a professor. Anything can happen in the world of Overcompensating.

Watch the full video above to see Skinner and Baram break down the Halloween episode, the Peter situation, and more.

Overcompensating, Season 1, Streaming Now, Prime Video