Reviewing the latest Netflix original
Love is something that surrounds everything in the 21st century. It’s on every t-shirt, in every song, and on every TV show. It’s something that is talked about profusely and joked about often.
Netflix’s new original series, Love, features, like most love stories, a guy and a girl. The girl, Mickey Dobbs, is played by Gillian Jacobs. Mickey, however, is not your typical romantic comedy protagonist. She is loud, aggressive, and does a lot of drugs. She works at a radio station. She has an awful taste in men and the men in her life seem to turn on her constantly. The guy, Gus Cruikshank, is played by Paul Rust. Gus is punctual, shy, and kind in every way possible. He works on a TV set as a tutor for a bratty teenager. He doesn’t date a lot, but that changes over time as he develops a more one-night-stand attitude.
The two of them meet at a local gas station. Mickey is hungover and trying to buy a coffee and cigarettes, but had no money. Gus steps in and pays for her. He then obsesses about her until he gets invited to attend a party with her. He shows up three hours before anyone gets there and ends up helping the hosts clean off their patio furniture. When Mickey finally arrives, Gus has made friends of his own and the roles then become reversed as Mickey begins to obsess over him.
Love takes the typical love story and flips it around. It’s full of rude comedy, sex scenes, and binge drinking. This show opens the door into what it’s like to have a relationship in the 21st century, with all the entanglements of “just hanging out,” flings, and the pitfalls of technology. Love is a must watch for those who love romantic comedies and raunchy movies.