Stream: Lovesick (Seasons 1 & 2)

After finishing Goliath on Amazon, I was perusing all of the streaming sites for a new show. Netflix recommended something called Love. I watched three episodes and hated it. Apparently my taste in movies and TV often maps to the word “love” because the next show they suggested I try was called Lovesick. 

The premise of Lovesick is that 20-something Dylan learns he has chlamydia and his doctor recommends he get in touch with every person he has slept with to share the news. Any good plot has an element of tension and Lovesick has plenty of it right from the get go. 

The show was created and written by Tom Edge, who was also a writer and producer on The Crown (which I was obsessed with). 

Lovesick’s story centers around Dylan, played by Johnny Flynn, and his two roommates, Luke and Evie. Luke, played by Daniel Ings, is plagued by the loss of two recent relationships, sending his pendulum swinging completely to the other end, sleeping with anyone who will let him. Evie, the third musketeer, is played by Antonia Thomas. 

Each episode is named after one of the girls that Dylan slept with and is trying to get in contact with to share his STD news. I love how the TV critic at Slate summarizes the premise, “At the start of the show, Dylan, a sweet and large-hearted young man with an inexcusable hairstyle—call it the teased Bieber—discovers that he has a venereal disease. Being an upstanding and gentle soul, he decides to personally inform all of the women he has slept with, which he does so with all the adorable bumbling of Hugh Grant and none of the smarm.”

What surprised me about the writing is that often times we never see Dylan with these women in the present day when he unloads this burden, but rather, we flash back in time to learn how and where he met her and what kind of impact she had on his life. 

In a review in Paste Magazine, Roxanne Sancto writes, “Lovesick thrives on gawkily funny and often sexually charged situations, handled in such a down-to-earth manner it doesn’t feel like your typical, canned-laughter comedy. Instead of being overly in-your-face with punchlines, the series relies on its well-defined protagonists for humor, and by introducing new characters and environments in every episode, Lovesick feels more elaborate than your average sitcom, allowing for the occasional surprise (see the episodes “Abigail” and “Phoebe”). By spanning the protagonists’ storylines over a period of seven years, we get to know the people and circumstances that shaped them into who they are at present. We witness various fashion trends and phases in their lives, personal issues and career triumphs, forging a bond with the characters that carries into their current situations.”

Some of my favorite trysts include Agata, a woman Dylan communicates with through hand motions because she doesn’t speak English. He thinks she is Danish and it takes them arriving at a party together for him to learn (through a friend) that she is actually German. I also laughed through the episode about Bethany. She and Dylan host her brother for dinner and within two minutes of him arriving, Dylan accidentally gropes his behind. 

While the sense of urgency to find all of these women keeps the plot moving, the true story and the reason I kept watching is because over the course of the last seven years, Dylan and his roommate Evie have had feelings for one another, but always at the wrong time. Their “Will they? Won’t they?” dynamic reminds me of the Rachel Green and Ross Geller romance on FRIENDS. 

Lovesick has two seasons so far. Each episode is 30 minutes long. The first season has six episodes and the second season has eight. Because they are so short, you could easily watch the whole series in a weekend. Bonus: all the actors have British accents! 

I was thrilled to learn Lovesick has been renewed for a third season. I simply have to know if Dylan and Evie get together. 

*Images courtesy of E! Online and Netflix.