Rewatching On My Block And Realizing That Mario Had Wasted Potential. He Obviously Had His Own Tiny Subplot

Rewatching on my block and realizing that Mario had wasted potential. He obviously had his own tiny subplot with the whole baby thing but I genuinely think they could have done more with his character. What I really think would have been cool would be to have further explored his relationship to Oscar. You’re probably thinking “Benny they had like 2.5 scenes together, what relationship?” It’s very obvious in season 2, episode 5, that they know each other somehow. They openly talk to one another at the store counter when Mario is buying snacks and stuff for Ruby. Mario is open about what’s going on and about his concern for his little brother. Oscar asks if the snacks are for his baby mama, indicating that he knows about her. He even laughs and listens when Mario expresses his concern. Those topics of conversation are not ones that you have with strangers or even just because your siblings are friends. They know each other someway. Whether because they went to school together or because Cesar and ruby have been friends for a while. This point is also solidified later at the party when they have that drink together Oscar also doesn’t seem to have any issue about Mario being there even though we haven’t seen them hang out before this. At this point, Oscar keeps to his people and only really lets ruby come to the party because he feels responsible for the pain ruby is going through. Oscar would have said no had it been anyone else but allowed Mario to come and had no issue with him being there at all. Either way they know of each other. I think it genuinely would have been a fun avenue to explore in allowing Mario and Oscar to be childhood friends that had fallen apart due to Oscar being a Santo and having them sort of come together again as we watch the parallel of Cesar’s relationship with ruby, monse, and Jamal go through the ringer. It could have been this really cool way of showing that the kids were gonna have to grow up and it would be possible that even though you get older, things aren’t always easier or change all that much. It could have also been a reflection point for them in realizing that, despite how most teens feel, the world isn’t ending and we all go through similar shit at times. We’re all trying to get it figured out.