HBO Max’s Love Life is Too New to Judge Yet

Well HBO Max is officially here. Debuting this week, the new app on the block is late to the party, but still coming in before competitors like Peacock and whatever is coming from CBS/Viacom. Of course, there’s a large collection of older shows and movies, but the draw of any of these new streaming services will be their original content. HBO Max has a ton of content announced but right now they’re limited on their original shows. So far, Love Life is the top of their cornerstone content.

“Darby Carter embarks on a journey from first to lasting love, which includes the people she meets along the way.”

Starring Anna Kendrick, Love Life at face value looks like it’s trying to be this generation’s Sex and the City. At the initial launch, HBO Max only released the first three episodes and was supposed to be released weekly after that. With early reviews strong for the show, it appears the streaming services will release episodes chunks at a time, likely to take advantage of the quarantine and need for early content.

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After just three episodes its hard to get a true feel of where the story is headed. Of course, there will be the ups-and-downs of the dating game. Three episodes and Darby has already been through three separate relationships.

I’m sure Love Life will eventually balance out to season-long story arcs where Darby finds “the one” but of course it’ll drag out to the relatable and laughable mishaps along the way.

The Verdict?

Love Life has both a Sex and the City vibe, but it also runs like an independent movie with the way it’s narrated. Early on, it won’t be your favorite show but it has a promise going forward. Despite investing in the relationships built in the first episode, there’s little to draw the audience in. So far the lone draw is how strange the relationships are, and how they eventually dissolve into nothing.

Since the show is still young, character-building takes up a large portion of the story. Hopefully, there’s a little more substance by midseason otherwise this show will have a hard time making it out of the first season. The stalled sense of failed relationships will either need to become a lot funnier or cause audiences to be way more invested. If viewers had a favorite or dark horse to win over Darby’s affection then there’s a long-term investment. If not it will get old quick.

Love Life isn’t a new concept, but it’s definitely a newer take. It’s not a total fail, but we’re not 100% sold either.