Film

Forget About The Boys, Stormy Is The Only Character That Matters In ‘To All The Boys 2’

"Let's go STORMY NATION."

by Michelle Rennex  18 February 2020
to all the boys: p.s. i still love you stormy

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In case you missed it, the rom-com world’s most-anticipated sequel, To All The Boys: P.S I Still Love You, came out last week.

P.S I Still Love You is the second instalment in the series, which was one of Netflix’s most popular original films ever. At the end of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, we saw Lara Jean Covey and Peter Kavinsky finally turn their fake relationship into a real one. But when everything looked like it was going to be all good and dandy, John Ambrose McClaren, one of Lara Jean’s letter recipients, came back into the picture.

So naturally, To All The Boys 2 was all about exploring the new love triangle in Lara Jean Covey’s life. But unfortunately, P.S I Still Love You quickly undid everything that made people fall in love with the film film.

*Spoilers ahead*

Peter Kavinsky Is Actually… Kinda Shit?

If we’re being honest, To All The Boys didn’t really need a sequel. The good thing about a rom-com is that they often have a pretty closed story — that is a conflict that’s resolved by the end of the film. Plus, romantic comedies have satisfying conclusions and happy endings, which is why we last saw Lara Jean and Peter happily kissing in a field.

The problem with romantic comedies having sequels is that in order for a story to continue, writers must unravel this happy ending and leave something open-ended. This is why we were forced to navigate Lara Jean’s dilemma in having to pick between her now-boyfriend and her childhood love in To All The Boys 2. 

During the 102-minutes of the second film, the audience finds out that Peter Kavinsky is actually kinda shit. Basically undoing everything the first instalment taught us, To All The Boys 2 simply paints Peter as a selfish liar, even if that was never the writer’s plan.

From his secret rendezvous with his ex, Gen, all the way to taking back LJ’s locket, Peter looks like an asshole while John Ambrose looks like a saint. Which is why it was so confusing that Lara Jean ignored all of Peter’s shortcomings and ultimately chose him at the end of the film.

Fans of Peter from the original To All The Boys were shocked that Lara Jean didn’t pick super-sweet John Ambrose. In this way, To All The Boys 2 didn’t have a satisfying ending or really feel like a rom-com at all. The film was filled with couples quarrels and set up John Ambrose to merely act as a stepping stone in Lara Jean and Peter ironing out their issues as a new couple.

The Saving Grace Of The Film Is Stormy

A lot of To All The Boys 2 created opportunity for stories to be explored in the confirmed final chapter, To All The Boys 3. The final part of the series will likely explore the budding romance between Dr Covey and Ms Rothschild, and explore whether Lara Jean and Peter will survive as a couple through to college.

But the only character anyone is worried about after To All The Boys 2 is Stormy, the sassy resident at Belleview, the nursing home that Lara Jean and John Ambrose volunteer at together. Played by the always brilliant Holland Taylor, Stormy is the sense of reason in Lara Jean’s highly-confused journey of teenage love.

The ex-stewardess and Bloody Mary fan provided some much needed comedic relief in what would otherwise be a very sad love story, but also gave LJ sound advice time and time again. Not only did the queen totally call Peter Kavinsky out for stealing his Valentine’s Day poem from Edgar Allen Poe, she still supported Lara Jean when she decided that Peter was the one she wanted.

Stormy acts as a wise mother-figure to Lara Jean when she needed it most — and never did so with judgement. With Lara Jean’s sister in Scotland, her best friend busy with her own love interest, and her actual mum not here to help, Stormy was exactly the person LJ needed.

But while mature in her years, Stormy is no prude. She’s somehow more carefree and young than 16-year-old Lara Jean is, and constantly pokes fun at her surrounds and references her past run-in’s with men. Holland Taylor brings so much joy to the role.

Basically, Stormy is the best and I, along with the rest of the internet, can’t wait for the day that we become her.

To All The Boys: P.S I Still Love You is currently streaming on Netflix.