Never sickly, full of nuance and with a star turn by The Good Place’s William Jackson Harper, series two of this romantic anthology shows love in all its flawed, human glory
The first season of Love Life (BBC One) centred on Darby Carter, played by Anna Kendrick, and the relationships that defined her life. Some were loving, some were sexual, some were friendly, some a combination of all three, but each of the strands came together to form a neat and charming series about modern life and romance in an arty social corner of New York City. It was a great idea, executed well, and it had an old-fashioned spark to it. Kendrick, rarely unappealing in anything, sold it completely.
This second outing proves it wasn’t just Kendrick who carried the show. The format – most of the episodes focus on, or lead to, a partner of some description – works just as well when transplanted on to someone else’s love life. In this case, it’s Marcus Watkins (The Good Place’s William Jackson Harper), a book editor in his 30s who is married to a woman named Emily. Marcus is a guest at Darby’s wedding in 2016, at which point this forks off from the first season. The big difference is that this isn’t chasing the thrills of Marcus’s youth. Instead, he has already settled down – though there wouldn’t be much drama if his marriage were in fine fettle and each episode dealt with his and Emily’s domestic bliss.
