Poll
Peter & Carmen in ‘Overcompensating’: Should They or Shouldn’t They (Officially) Get Together?
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Overcompensating Season 1.]
The heart of Overcompensating may be the friendship between college freshmen Benny (Benito Skinner) and Carmen (Wally Baram), but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of romances at play. While Benny spends most of Season 1 pining after classmate Miles (Rish Shah), Carmen pursues an affair of her own with frat boy Peter (Adam DiMarco).
It starts out as an awkward hookup about halfway through the season, but their romantic potential becomes obvious as they spend more time together. It seems like a perfect match — as long as you forget that Peter’s technically still dating Benny’s sister, Grace (Mary Beth Barone).
Peter wrecks his relationship with Carmen — and Grace and Benny — by the end of the season, but after seeing their chemistry in Season 1, it’s hard not to hope they find their way back to each other. In an interview with TV Insider, Skinner teased that a Peter redemption arc isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
Overcompensating hasn’t been renewed for a second season yet, but we’re already thinking about Peter and Carmen’s lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers potential. Naturally, we had to put them through Swooon’s Should They/Shouldn’t They rubric. See all of their pros and cons, and tell us if you think they should get back together in the poll below!
Overcompensating, Season 1, Streaming Now, Prime Video
PRO: They have a natural dynamic.
After bonding over their shared love of the “Slut Slayer” video game, Peter and Carmen slip into an easy relationship. Every time they play together, Peter’s annoying frat persona falls (for the most part) and is replaced by a softer, more genuine side.
They didn’t have nearly enough scenes together in Season 1. We were giggling and kicking our feet during every single moment they shared — at least before things went bad. We’re dying to see more of their banter and heart-to-hearts in a potential Season 2 (after Peter redeems himself, that is).
CON: Grace and Carmen’s new friendship is already in a bad spot.
When Carmen goes home with Benny for Thanksgiving, she ends up becoming friends with Grace. At a bar, the trio interacts with people from the siblings’ high school — and Grace wasn’t exactly popular with that crowd back in the day. They went as far as to nickname her “Disgrace.” Carmen sticks by her side throughout the night, and Grace’s hard exterior melts as they open up to each other.
It would be such a shame to see their burgeoning friendship suffer even more if Carmen gets back together with Peter. The end of Season 1 finale already left their relationship on a sour note, with Grace finally revealing that she knew Peter cheated on her with Carmen. (Grace pretended like she didn’t know at first, in order to protect her friendship with Carmen. How sweet and sad is that?)
PRO: They have intense chemistry.
Even though Peter and Carmen develop a strong friendship through their gaming sessions, there’s no question that it’s pretty steamy, too. Peter may struggle to do the deed with Grace, but there’s plenty of passion whenever he’s with Carmen.
We’re still thinking about that time he asked Carmen to come over in Episode 5 (IYKYK. Watch this fan edit if you don’t). We’re also choosing to ignore Carmen’s diss in the finale that she only finished once with Peter. He’ll get there eventually!
CON: Carmen needs to repair her relationship with Benny first.
Grace’s reveal wasn’t the only messy thing to happen in the finale. An emotional Carmen somehow ends up being kissed by Benny’s crush. Naturally, Benny feels betrayed, and the two get into one of their explosive arguments… and Carmen outs Benny in the process. You can tell by her reaction that she didn’t mean to, but it’ll likely take some time and work for Benny to forgive her.
Skinner told TV Insider that he wanted 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.”
Skinner even told NPR that their duo is “the love story” of Overcompensating — so Carmen needs to focus on Benny before even thinking about getting back with Peter. In that case, it’s likely that Peter and Carmen’s transition from enemies back to lovers will be a really slow burn.
PRO: Peter actually opens up to Carmen.
We got glimpses of Peter’s insecurities throughout the season, which makes him a complicated character. Skinner told TV Insider that DiMarco “brought so much heart to that character and you can feel how much pain is there,” which we definitely agree with. While he kept many of his struggles to himself, he does let Carmen in more than anyone else. During one gaming session in Episode 5, Peter even opens up to her about his modest background and the difficult year he’s having.
After Carmen, Benny, and Grace’s confrontation with Peter in the season finale, it’s likely that the latter will become even more closed off, with his behavior getting worse before it gets better.
CON: Peter has a lot of apologizing and growing to do.
On that note, Peter needs to put in the work before he and Carmen can enter relationship territory. Despite his awful actions — like leaking a slideshow that called Carmen an “orphan slut” — Peter shouldn’t necessarily be categorized as a villain.
“This is a kid in college that’s trying to figure his life out,” Skinner told TV Insider. “I think there’s so much more to all of these choices that people are making and I think there are bigger things at play.”
