'Love Life' Episode 7, 8, 9, 10 Review: An average binge on the highs and lows of love
Spoilers for 'Love Life'
The last four episodes of 'Love Life' failed to impress as it continued on an average narrative on an attempt to show that actions have consequences using the highs and lows of Darby Carter's (Anna Kendrick) relationships. The series is a season anthology so we won't be seeing Darby in the next season (if there is one), rather we will be introduced to the 'Love Life,' of another individual.
Kendricks's performance does justice to the script, but we don't know if the series' conventional storyline might have done her talent justice. Over the course of Season 1, we were exposed to Darby's need to feel "loveable" as she tried to find a man that she could build a life with. We've not only seen this narrative before, but we're sure it's considered old school now. The series is a half-hearted attempt to give a very normal narrative a fiery edge.
The idea to bring to the forefront Darby's formative relationships sounds like a good idea until we meet the characters that the series brings to life. The series touches upon juvenile and adult perspectives on love and breakups as we see Darby climb up her career ladder while her relationships drag under her. Not to say the show didn't make very reliable points but dare we say they were too safe in exploring a narrative that could have had a better script?
The episodes follow a pattern of "here's Darby's new guy, here's how it ended" and while we see Darby grow as a character, some of her mishaps are too juvenile to ignore. Like we had earlier said, some of the "climax" scenes or "twists" were not only predictable but way too familiar to debut as a new narrative on a new show. We see Darby in various different positions in her relationships: committing too much too quick, falling for, and following the 'wrong guy' and the much-needed flashback to when we see her nurture nature phase where Luke Ducharme started this rollercoaster ride in high school.
The episodes try to cover months in just 30-minutes and we can't help but think that while the duration makes the series' an easy binge, a storyline that had better developments could have improved the narrative. 'Love Life' is considered to be a rom-com, which usually as movies have all the excitement and buildup leading to the climax done in an hour or so. It's hard to keep the viewer engaged in a rom-com as a series, and that is something we learned from 'Love Life.'
Each episode demands the unfolding of a story, and while 'Love Life' delivers a new story every episode, the story lacks gloss or excellence. It's almost like it's getting us to say, "Not this again," because either we've heard it before or have experienced it ourselves.
We'd also like to mention that the sex scenes and Darby's use of the word 'baby' were probably the most disturbing of the series. While we know that scenes like that are supposed to portray a relatable story and showcase the dynamics of a couple in their relationships, Darby's sex scenes seemed uncomfortable to watch due to the lack of depth in the character arcs and the zero chemistry they shared.
Not to mention, some scenes seemed a tad bit degrading. They needed a sex scene, so they put one in, but we can safely say that those scenes did nothing to redeem the series. The series was to serve one purpose — we were being told the story of Darby's love life from start to finish, and while that was accomplished, the series' lack of interest in supporting characters and their storylines made for a very dull watch. We were also hoping the comedy would bring a few laughs, but their cheap taste in cancer jokes may have not made for top-notch comedy.
For a series based on Darby as a central character, she remained a vague focus as her life was so closely tied with the men she interacts with. The fact that the series has a frustrating pattern of introducing a guy in every episode, didn't help give the show the edge it needed. The characters had no three-dimensional characteristics and were put in Darby's world as crutches to push what little of the narrative they had left, forward.
Our verdict? It's a watchable series, and an average attempt to push out a relatable story on the highs and lows of love in life.