Love Life: Season 1 Episode 1 “Augie Jeong” [Series Premiere] – Recap/ Review with Spoilers

“Love Life” comes off like someone stretched out the montage we see in romantic comedies of all the exes the lead had before meeting the one.

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Creator	Sam Boyd
Director(s)	Sam Boyd
Writer(s)	Sam Boyd
Based On	N/A
Aired (HBO Max)	5/27/2020
Genre	Comedy, Romance, Young Adult, Anthology
Audience	Romantic Comedy Fans Fans of Anna Kendrick Those Who Enjoy Anthologies
Introduced This Episode (Character | Actor)
Darby	Anna Kendrick
Augie	Jin Ha
Sara	Zoe Chao
Mallory	Sasha Compère

This content contains pertinent spoilers.

Plot Overview

Thanks to how her parents handled co-parenting after divorce, Darby has always had a difficult time making meaningful connections. Which perhaps is why she moved to New York, alongside the desire to work at a notable museum. But, in 2012, things shift for her upon meeting Augie Jeong. At 24 years of age, she meets what becomes her first serious boyfriend, and so begins Darby’s journey of love.

Highlights

Anna Kendrick

There is a reason Anna Kendrick is consistently pumping out content, or appearing as a lead across multiple platforms. Simply put, she is fun to watch. Especially within comedies and romantic comedies since Kendrick has burrowed her way into a nitch. One which makes her the Meg Ryan or Julia Roberts of her time. Meaning, yes, she is playing a similar character each and every time, but it strangely hasn’t gotten old yet.

On The Fence

The Co-Stars Don’t Really Make Themselves Notable

While Sarah seems nice, as well as Mallory, the only thing that makes them come off notable is that they aren’t white. Not to downplay Mallory possibly being queer or how Sarah seems to be the maternal figure of the household but, the first episode doesn’t present you anything that makes you fiend for more information. They’re welcome additions, yes, but don’t yet feel like assets.

Darby’s Relationship With Augie Was Cute But Not Butterfly Inducing

I like Augie and thought he and Darby were cute together. But, considering Kendrick’s charisma, I’m sure you could put her with someone who looks like they’ve been through hell, and her charm could make them look cute together. However, one thing Augie and Darby didn’t seem to have was chemistry. Which I’m not sure if that was on purpose or not.

After all, the idea with this show is to explore the hookups, casual relationships, and few long time relationships, before you find someone you could possibly spend your life with. So should Augie just be seen as a warm-up? Maybe an idea for the standard of men we’ll see? It’s too soon to tell.

Overall

Continue To Watch? – Put On Watchlist

First Impression: Optimistic

I’m biased and I’ll admit it. Kendrick is the driving force of the show, and the supporting characters are decoration. But, I think, with time, they could grow on you. Now, do I think this is a launch title worthy show? Not really. Like Kendrick’s “Dummy” on Quibi, this is a cute show, with an interesting idea, but it isn’t that IP that will grab and keep subscribers.