Love Life Season 2 Review: William Jackson Harper’s Performance transforms the Rom-Com Genre like never before

Rating: 4/5

There have been umpteen romantic slapsticks we have seen in the past and enjoyed. Nothing seems to elicit much a meaningful change in our perspectives but the second season of Love Life meanders quite a lot from the trodden path.

Marcus Watkins a 30 something Manhattanite is kind of undergoing an evolution of sorts in his outlook and as a result is quite confused and he doesn’t know what is it exactly that he is on the lookout for. He makes a living as a book editor at a mediocre publishing house and is living in with his woman Emily (Maya Kazan).

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He gets himself involved sexually and emotionally with Mia Hines (Jessica Williams), who has an emotional baggage of her own and kind of sees this fling as an escape from what she calls a “sad-burro marriage”.

In the aftermaths of their straying with each other, it is not just Mia’s marriage that is in doldrums, Marcus too bears the heat as Emily won’t take it lying down! This premise is as age-old as the city it is based in.

What impressed me is that the premise is so assertive that, unlike other films and shows of the same genre, it doesn’t end up being overtly funny. In all this though Mia’s character becomes shadowed. She is just remaining the unapproachable friend. There are so many questions that would swirl in your head while you watch Love Life 2. Harper’s tour-de-force performance would take you on a rollercoaster often confounding ride of emotions. He makes sure that he grabs the opportunity given to him via Marcus’ role and gives the rom-com genre a twist that was absolutely unexpected.