What Happened To Olivia On On My Block?

On My Block’s season 1 cliffhanger left us with questions about who survived Olivia’s quinceanera, which was crashed by the Prophets, a gang looking to kill Cesar. Ruby and Olivia were dancing together when the Prophets, lead by Latrelle (whose life Cesar had just spared) rolled in and began shooting. Both Ruby and Olivia were shot, but last we saw, they were both alive.

Based on promotional clips and posts, I’m pretty sure Ruby is alive and Olivia is dead. Here’s how we know:

The cold open for season 2 and trailer for On My Block show several main characters dressed up in black, including Ruby’s chaotic good grandmother, Ruby, Cesar, Monse, and Jamal. Ruby’s abuelita carries a tray of food to the fridge in her black mourning clothes, suggesting that their family perhaps hosted the funeral or some part of it. Ruby’s mother and grandmother are seen looking at a photo of Olivia and Ruby, and starting to cry.

While most of the cold open seems to want us to think Ruby is dead, the clip ends with Ruby opening his eyes. The trailer that dropped a week later showed our favorite short king alive and starting his sophomore year of high school with all his friends, so he definitely survived the shooting. But why would his relatives cry over a photo of him and Olivia if both of them survived? They wouldn’t! Olivia has to be dead.

Neither promotional clip for Season 2 shows Olivia, aside from the aforementioned photo. Maybe this is some sort of Jon Snow situation where the showrunners really want us to think a character is dead, but I really don’t foresee a red witch resurrecting Olivia.

Olivia is a sympathetic character. She went through a lot, moving in with Ruby’s family, who she apparently didn’t know, after her parents were deported. She was a good friend to Monse, and was always nice to Ruby despite his ham-handed advances. When she realized that Cesar had feelings for Monse, she gently broke up with him. She was almost too good to seem real. From a purely emotional standpoint, Olivia’s death would be tragic.

But for the benefit of the show, Olivia’s death would be the right thing. The Ruby-Olivia romance was the weakest storyline of the first season, given the weirdness of a fourteen-year-old boy pursuing a girl who lives with his family. And don’t get me started on their lack of chemistry — that quinceanera kiss was the worst.

Plus, Olivia wasn’t given much of a personality aside from being nice, hot, and tragically separated from her parents. Where would their romance even go? Would we be forced to watch them navigate dating while living together in Ruby’s parents’ house? Call me old-fashioned, but I think that early high school relationships are for sneaking around, not cohabitation.

Ronni Hawk, who plays Olivia, hasn’t promoted Season 2 on her social media. If she were still on the show, wouldn’t she be required to do that? Additionally, Buzzfeed reported last April that Hawk angered On My Block fans with pro-Trump tweets. Hawk is white, and plays a Latina character, which is problematic on its own (and surprising for a show that otherwise provides effortless representation).

The revelation that Hawk is, or was, a Trump supporter had fans demanding that Hawk be recast or written off the show. Perhaps the creators listened.