I didn’t know what to expect when sitting down to watch Judd Apatow’s new show, Love, over the weekend. Freaks and Geeks, which he executive produced in 1999, was honest and fun. Undeclared, which he created, was much more of a traditional comedy series. He then predominantly turned to film, creating more outlandish, and far more commercially successful content like The 40 Year Old Virgin and Bridesmaids. So the question was posed: would Love be the former (only evolved to exploit the lack of limitations that Netflix offers over traditional broadcasters), or the latter?
What we got is actually a quirky, modern series that spends far less time on the titular concept that you might imagine.
The story follows Gus (played by Paul Rust) and Mickey (Gillian Jacobs), who meet by chance after Mickey forgets her wallet at her ex-boyfriend’s cult gathering while high on pharmaceuticals.
The ‘will-they, won’t-they’ tale that follows is unique in that the blossoming relationship between the pair doesn’t often take centre-stage. In fact, they rarely share screen time after their initial encounter, at least until the second half of the season. Instead, the show emphasises the character’s positions in their respective worlds; Gus as the friendly nerd who works as an on-set teacher, but really wants to be a writer, and Mickey as the radio producer with a list of addictions as long as her list of exes. It’s fun, sure, but it relies heavily on tropes whilst giving us few reasons to care about the actual premise.
Love is classified as a ‘dramedy’, a genre that seems only to exist in order to explain how The Martian won Best Comedy at the 2016 Golden Globes (a decision that, interestingly enough, Judd Apatow publicly criticised). It lives up to the term, with scenes like the one where Mickey struggles desperately not to succumb to her vices intercut with incidents from Gus’s goofy date with Mickey’s roommate, Bertie (performed incredibly by Aussie Claudia O’Doherty). In this episode especially, the results are wildly uneven. It’s hard to understand what Love‘s creators actually want audiences to feel at times like these. Sure, these moments have purpose, but I have the distinct feeling that if I hadn’t binge-watched the show, this purpose would have alluded me.
Which is a shame. Love has moments of greatness that remind me why I was so excited to see Apatow involved in a show like this in the first place. The supporting characters are great (Bobby Lee feels especially underutilised), and many of the cliches only serve to bolster the show’s initial charm.
That said, the main issue is that Love takes too long to get where it wants to be, and when it does, the show hits a controversial low.
In the final episodes, the characters inexplicably devolve into assholes. This is true for Gus in particular – a decision that seems to relate to a moment in the very first sequence of the series, when his girlfriend calls him ‘fake nice’. By the end, almost everyone has turned against him because of his selfish, arrogant, and, frankly, insane actions. This is epitomised by the final moment of the season. Without spoiling it, Gus makes a decision that serves to enable Mickey’s habits as she is trying to reveal why they shouldn’t be together, and the show really seems to want the audience to cheer for that fact in traditional rom-com fashion.
It made me sick.
Season two has been announced, and I don’t know how I feel about that. Perhaps Apatow and co. can make up for the deeply flawed ending of season one. Even if they do, I’m not sure if I’ll be watching to find out.