Behind the Scenes of ‘Overcompensating’: Benito Skinner and Mary Beth Barone Are Back with ‘Ride’

If you’ve been wondering whether the world of Overcompensating could live up to the hype, fear not: Benito Skinner and Mary Beth Barone are back, they’re still chaotic, and they’re officially entering their video podcast era with Season 3 of Ride.

Overcompensating, the Amazon Prime dramedy created by Skinner, dropped on May 15 and immediately turned into a cult favorite. At the center of it is Benny (played by Skinner himself), a closeted former jock navigating his freshman year at the fictional Yates University. 

Along for the ride (!) are his sister Grace (played by Barone), Grace’s himbo boyfriend Peter (Adam DiMarco), and Carmen (Wally Baram), Benny’s ride-or-die outsider bestie. While the premise may sound like your standard coming-of-age setup, Overcompensating is anything but formulaic. Think: a queer, cringe-soaked fever dream dipped in millennial nostalgia and set somewhere between a 2016 Tumblr dashboard and a black box theater.

The fan edits, the finale, and the fallout

In the premiere episode of Ride Season 3, aptly titled “50 Shades + Stating the Obvious,” Benny and Mary Beth immediately get into the emotional aftermath of launching Overcompensating. “I’ve been so overwhelmed in such a good way,” Skinner says. “Thank you all so much for watching this show. And I can’t believe some of you have watched it again. I mean, I have seen it a hundred times and I still laugh.”

And suppose you’re wondering whether the emotional intensity you felt watching the finale was mutual. In that case, you’ll be pleased to know that Benito confesses he went into a spiral watching fan edits of the show’s most gut-wrenching moments. “So all I do is watch fan edits,” he admits. “But here’s the thing: I was watching so many… I was going to bed and I’m like, why do I feel so heartbroken right now?”

One fan-favorite moment? Grace’s wigged-out, eyeliner-heavy eye-rolls in nearly every scene. “Eye rolls are back,” Benny declares. “They’re so back.”

“It’s one of the most powerful things women could do. It’s the most fun a woman can have without taking her clothes off,” Mary Beth adds.

Also back: the discourse. From Reddit critiques to unsolicited direct messages, both hosts delve into the chaos of internet commentary. “The world’s confusing, but I think we’ve all been told to hate ourselves and hate each other so much,” Benito says, “I can’t fault anyone.” 

Do they care what people are saying about their age? They do—but not in the way you think.

“We wanted it to feel like a kind of nostalgic bubble, and that’s kind of the vibe,” Benito explains. “We wanted it to feel pre-pandemic, pre-Trump, pre-COVID.” 

And Mary Beth is done with the thinkpieces about 30-somethings playing college kids. “You can watch zombies, but you can’t watch people in their 30s play college kids? Figure your shit out,” she snarks.

Behind-the-scenes tea you won’t find on Amazon Prime

Beyond the fan reactions, Benito and Mary Beth share hilarious behind-the-scenes moments, like the now-iconic finale scene where Grace performs My Chemical Romance’s “Black Parade” in a bar. Benito wasn’t even supposed to be on set that day. “I show up to set and then I’m talking with Desiree [the director] and we’re about to do the scene,” Benny says. “It was actually this very special moment where she came over and she’s like, ‘That’s your best friend. You should just go talk to her.’” 

Mary Beth’s side of the story? “I was really nervous that I wasn’t gonna be able to deliver on it,” she says. “They had the wrong track and I had to sing the song with AirPods in… and all the actors in the room were hearing silence and me singing.” Wally Baram’s stunned expression was entirely genuine. “She looked at me like, ‘Oh, this bitch is going feral.’”

And if you were wondering: Yes, Mary Beth’s character, Grace, was low-key played as gay. “That was not a conscious choice,” she admits, “But look. You make a piece of media, you put it out in the world, and people see what they want to see.” 

Soundtracks, sex closets, and straight-up chaos

Of course, because it’s Ride, Benny and Mary Beth get into what they’re riding for this week—specifically, the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtracks, which Benito and Mary Beth defend like sacred texts. “We can’t talk about Fifty Shades without talking about ‘Love Me Like You Do’ by Ellie Goulding,” Mary Beth says, prompting a full-on sing-along moment.

Best friends, onscreen and off

If there’s one thing this episode cements, it’s that Overcompensating is more than a show—it’s the lovechild of two best friends who believe in each other more than Hollywood ever did. “I’ve been underestimated in every job I’ve ever had—except by you,” Mary Beth tells Benito.

“There could be a hundred gay guys in a room and 99 of them don’t believe in you,” she continues, echoing the Lady Gaga meme, “and all you need is one.”

Benito replies: “And hey—you’ve got two here today: me and Jackson.” (Jackson is their podcast producer.)

Overcompensating is now streaming on Amazon Prime. Binge it. Rewatch it. Then listen to Ride Season 3 and let Benny and Mary Beth remind you why we need original soundtracks, emotionally deranged fan edits, and best friends who’ll hold your hand while milk drips out of your mouth.