'Dorm Life' Packs It Up With Heartbreaking Season Finale

I’m usually not one to get sentimental, but I think I cried five times during the Dorm Life: Season 2 Finale, which premiered today on Hulu. The Streamy Award nominated web series, which we have also confirmed is ranked as the most popular web series on Hulu, is a comedy mockumentary that follows the lives of several college students thrown together on the same dorm floor.

The two-part season finale, which takes place during the last days of school before summer, provides the perfect setting to resolve the rich character development which sets this series apart from the otherwise played-out Office-style format.

Full of mischief, adventures, rivalries and romance, Dorm Life offers an insider’s view of the rocky and often awkward road to adulthood. The ten students of “5 South” span the spectrum of characters; we have the overly excited, fun-loving Steph (Jessie Gaskell

), the self-conscious bully RA, Marshall (Brian C. Singleton), the frustrated, pretentious artist (Pancho Morris), average-guy Mike (Chris W. Smith)—but I stop myself because these characters, through a combination of brilliant writing and improvisational performance, continuously break free of these clichés to expose the deep, human complexities that make them real people.

Indeed, writing and performance are truly the hallmarks of this brilliantly produced series from Attention Span Media, the social media studio behind Dorm Life and documentary Behind the Lyrics. ASM presented Dorm Life at the OnFronts in New York, having scored a sponsorship deal with Carl’s Jr. for their 26 episode Season 2. The new season premiered on March 2 of this year after a special mini-series where the characters left the familiar floor and ventured out into the world with their own video cameras during Spring Break.

According to the show’s creators, a large proportion of Dorm Life‘s audience comes from college and high-school students, who spread the word about the show among on-campus friends and through social media platforms. “Dorm Life superfans on several campuses even received birthday phone calls from the cast, and in two instances fans asked Dorm Life character Gopher to be their prom date. Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts prohibited him from accepting the offers,” said Josh McHugh, ASM President. Yesterday at a Santa Monica steakhouse I ran into a bearded Jack De Sena (who plays Shane Reilly—it was his voice that gave him away), who told me he gets spotted all the time at UCLA.

The end of Dorm Life will leave many, I among them, feeling heartbroken and abandoned (like Lacey—oops! spoiler alert!). “Dorm Life‘s fans were vocal and demonstrative in their desire for season 2—some almost to the point of violence,” added ASM creative director Brian Singleton, one of Dorm Life‘s co-creators. “But when they discovered that the new season was actually happening, their hearts were filled with joy and they laid down their pitchforks.” For everyone’s sake, let’s pray that Season 3 is in the works.

Giveaway! We have some autographed Dorm Life posters and a $25 gift certificate to Hardee’s. First five to answer correctly in the comments below will win. What is in the box that terrifies the students of 5 South?