There is nothing on television quite like Vida. Set on the Eastside of Los Angeles, the half-hour Starz drama is a probing look at the kind of neighborhood that’s at risk of being gente-fied. More importantly, with an all-Latinx cast and a slew of strong female voices behind the camera — including creator Tanya Saracho — Vida truly feels like it’s made for and by a community that rarely sees itself so wonderfully represented. At the heart of the show are two sisters, no-nonsense Emma (Mishel Prada) and laid back Lyn (Melissa Barrero). The show opens when the two have to reconnect after the death of their mother, all the while trying to sort out their own personal dramas. Such a description, though, doesn’t quite do the show justice.
You can only truly get how queer, how sex-positive, how radical, and how female-centered it is once you watch it in full. Just in time for its second season, which will drop at the end of the month, Starz is offering the first three episodes of its six-episode first season for free. So if you were curious at all about this groundbreaking show, now’s your chance to catch up! Find them all below.
Episode 1
Estranged sisters Emma and Lyn return to their Eastside Los Angeles neighborhood for their mother’s funeral. The bombshell revelation that their mother Vidalia had made a life for herself in her later years with another woman rattles Emma in particular, who now has to try to honor her mother’s wishes and maintain the emotional distance that had protected her in the first place.
Episode 2
Dismissing the rumors about bad business practices, Emma investigates selling the bar quickly to Nelson (Luis Bordonada), a developer keen on acquiring the property, and returning to her picture-perfect life in Chicago. What she discovers makes it near impossible.
Episode 3
Emma tries to get a handle on the family business while Lyn creates chaos for them both. Eddy (Ser Anzoategui) withdraws into herself as she mourns Vidalia while anti-gentrification activist Mari’s (Chelsea Rendon) weakness is revealed.