TV Review - Love Life: Season 2

Despite efforts from networks like CBS to increase the diversity on-screen, particularly among its comedy series, there's a supreme lack of diverse TV shows in the comedy series category. Through a series of bizarre rules, this series might not be eligible for that Outstanding Comedy Series category at the upcoming 74th Primetime Emmy Awards. It will instead be put into the Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series category. There used to be a time back in the 90's where the TV landscape, particularly the broadcast TV landscape had a significant number of comedies featuring African-Americans as the lead or casts that were predominantly African-American.

There were plenty of comedies that depicted the romantic pursuits of African-American men, shows like Martin (1992), The Wayans Bros. (1995), The Jamie Foxx Show (1996) and Malcolm & Eddie (1996). There were even shows where African-American women were the protagonists, such as Living Single (1993), Moesha (1996) and Girlfriends (2000).

Yet, as we entered into the 2000's, those comedies started disappearing. Those shows hardly ever got recognized. Sometimes never! Yet, as we have passed into a second golden age of TV, as it's been described, as well as more of a push for diversity, one would expect the pendulum to swing back in the direction of more African-American comedies, being produced and being recognized. Unfortunately, such hasn't been the case.

Shows like Black-ish (2014), Atlanta (2016) and Insecure (2016) have been the only examples. Orange Is the New Black (2013) and Master of None (2015) could be included, but that's it. That's why this series, created by Sam Boyd, is such a refreshing surprise. It's particularly a surprise because the series originally centered on a White woman named Darby, played by Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect and Up in the Air). The first season focused on her relationships with about a half-dozen different men in New York City. This season passes the baton to someone else who is connected to her but is living his own separate existence.

William Jackson Harper (The Underground Railroad and The Good Place) stars as Marcus Watkins, a book editor at a publishing company. We meet Marcus at Darby's wedding reception in 2016. At that time, he's married to a White woman. As a Black man, his interracial relationship has presented some issues, but they don't start to affect him in any kind of profound way until the night of this reception where he starts to question everything. At that point, he's been married for seven years. Interestingly, the series proceeds to follow Marcus for the next seven years, starting in the last year of Barack Obama's presidency. The series then goes into the pandemic and beyond to see how exactly Marcus' life gets affected.

Jessica Williams (Booksmart and The Incredible Jessica James) co-stars as Mia Hines, a Black woman who works at an auction house. She has a boyfriend. She's in fact dating a NBA player. Yet, it's unclear how serious that relationship is because she's not above flirting with other men, including Marcus. Later, the series delves into Mia's family life, such that it was because she comes from a broken home where she pretty much had to be supportive of her single mother instead of the other way around. Her father was an absentee parent, which likely affected her interpersonal relationships. Yet, the series doesn't depict her relationships. We mostly see her in relation to when Marcus sees her, which for the first, five episodes is practically not at all.

Marcus goes through five other women before it pivots to Mia who becomes a main character by the sixth episode. It starts though with Marcus' wife, Emily, played by Maya Kazan (Sleepy Hollow and The Knick). The first episode makes a lot of the fact that their relationship being interracial is the problem. He begins to examine the idea of how he's perceived as a Black man. The idea that he's perceived as safe and nonthreatening is offensive to Marcus. That somehow connects to Marcus being involved with a White woman and her not understanding his feelings about his identity and how that identity's perceived. However, the series never deconstructs Marcus' marriage in a way that's on balance, meaning we only see the breakup. We never learn what it was that drew them together.

There's then four women who follow who seem as if they're only there for comical effect. One woman is too young for him. Another one has baggage that he doesn't or can't handle. Another seems to be a placeholder with whom he's not physically attracted. Marcus literally suffers from erectile dysfunction. TV shows or even films will regularly employ erectile dysfunction as a way of indicating a man isn't attracted or in love with someone. This series goes through the typical beats of having Marcus' partner try various things to no effect. Unless a man is actually suffering from a physical ailment or ED as a real condition, this use of it in narratives like this feels nonsensical, which I guess works for a comedy.

There are also two story lines in this series that are powerfully shocking, but they feel like cop-outs in several ways. Leslie Bibb (Iron Man and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby) plays Becca Evans, one of the last women with whom Marcus is involved before Mia. Something shocking happens with her, which has the potential of derailing Marcus' life or certainly changing the direction of it. Yet, that story line gets abandoned, which to me feels like a cop-out for what is building to a happy Hollywood ending. Arian Moayed (Succession and Madam Secretary) plays Kian Parsa, the best friend to Marcus. Something shocking happens with him, which undermines Marcus in a supreme way. It ties back to his relationship with Emily but in a way that doesn't really illuminate what that relationship was.

Harper gives an incredible performance though. He's funny. He's charming. He's sexy. He can also be incredibly heartbreaking. His work opposite Williams is practically perfect and lovely. Despite its issues, it is by far one of the best series of the year.

Rated TV-MA-LS.
Running Time: 30 mins. / 10 eps.

Available on HBO Max.