It's a delight to return to Gus and Mickey's loveable, dysfunctional relationship.
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Love treads the delicate balance between comedy and drama with perfection. It’s genuinely funny – unlike a lot of the completely soppy romcoms you get on telly these days – but at the same time, feels far more meaningful. Through good writing and good acting, Gus and Mickey come to life as a realistic couple, and you become more invested in them than you do for most TV romances. Most importantly, it examines the enigma that is ‘love’ more accurately than a psychological study ever could; with heaps of heart.
In true form to the realistic nature of the show, Season 2’s first moments instantly shatter what seemed like the cliché, sickly-sweet romantic cliffhanger of the previous episode. In many other shows, Gus (Paul Rust) and Mickey’s (Gillian Jacobs) gas station kiss would have marked the end of a painstaking ‘will they, won’t they’, but the romantic hue of their reunion is quickly removed by writers Rust, Judd Apatow and Leslie Arfin. A car horn interrupts them with a loud blast – they are stood in the middle of a gas station forecourt, after all, a very impractical place for making out – and Mickey berates Gus for not letting her take time away from love to find herself. Despite Mickey’s best efforts to escape to her bed, she’s constantly screwed over by the universe, which seems determined to push her and Gus together.
Setting the episode over one night is a clever tool that captures the claustrophobia of a new romance – in almost real time, we see the awkward, jagged edges of Mickey and Gus’ relationship, as well as the loveable quirks which make them so well matched. Rust and Jacobs slip seamlessly back into their characters. Both Gus and Mickey are three-dimensional, and are a delight to spend time with. They are funny, they are loveable, they are real – and going into Chapter 2 of their relationship, I can’t wait to see what twists and turns are lined up for them next.
Love‘s second season is available on Netflix now. You can also catch up on Season 1; check our reviews of its premiere and mid-season episodes.
