The second season of Amazon Prime Video’s Modern Love that tells tales of love and longing, inspired by the personal essays from the New York Times' popular column of the same name, takes a more diverse approach from the earlier season. The stories—all inspired by true events—provide narratives around relationships, revelations, betrayals and more, wrapped in a sugary delight of happy endings. It almost shies away from depicting the harsh realities associated with love. Each episode, however, successfully creates a cathartic mush out of the viewers.
Here are all the eight episodes of Modern Love Season 2 ranked from the best to not all that great.
1. On a Serpentine Road, With the Top Down
The stand-out of the eight stories has to be the opening episode. We follow Dr Curran (Minnie Driver) as she struggles to make the tough decision of selling her late husband's vintage sports car. The story not only traverses through a love that is grieving still with deep heartache, but also makes room for the protagonist’s second tryst with love in the form of her extremely supportive second husband, who is able to unconditionally comprehend her despair. The pain is given enough time and depth instead of rushing through, and the theme of family is represented with care, along with a sincerely moving climax. All of this is achieved through an inanimate object—a car.
2. How Do You Remember Me?
The story trails through a crossroad where two past lovers—in an unexpected rendezvous—are slowly walking towards each other, the screenplay unfolding their momentary tale. We are shown different perspectives of the same story through the eyes of the two protagonists. It is an ode to every short-lived, what-could-have-been that the circumstances bring to a conclusion. That how we remember an incomplete romance is not the point, that we do keep them in our memory is.
3. A Life Plan For Two, Followed By One
The first of the two teenage love stories of the lot provides a far better exploration of the emotions they are attempting to depict. Two best friends, an unrequited love, a predictable conflict, and the growth of the protagonist falling out of the rose-tinted love spectacles—all seem too familiar but are presented with earnestness, great casting, and a certain longevity to the story.
4. The Night Girl Finds a Day Boy
The second instalment of Modern Love follows the unlikely love story between a textbook editor with a sleeping disorder and a school teacher leading a regular, conventional daytime life. His bedtime is her early morning, her breakfast is his late dinner. Charming night-time dates where the city is sleeping and they are “the only ones in the world” soon turn into inconvenience but find a fairytale-esque ending with a very quick resolution. The story tries to be different, which can be felt, but suffers a swift falling.
5. Strangers on a (Dublin) Train
Staying true to the philosophy and programming of love stories, Modern Love had to revisit a good-old meet-cute in the train where there is an instant connection between the protagonists who are poles apart—Paula (Lucy Boynton), a medievalist, and a self-embarrassed advertising guy (Kit Harrington) in the guise of a tech dude. It ropes in the pandemic and the lockdowns with old fashioned ways of love. It's cheeky and cheesy at the same time. It is both—recycling of the trope and a satire on it. But it fails to add any new addition to the long list of Before Sunrise like love stories. The meet-cute song in the train, however, is annoyingly cute.
6. Am I ...? Maybe This Quiz Will Tell Me
The second story dealing with the teenage years is less of a love story and more of a hastened journey of self-realisation. The adolescent crisis of self-identity and sexuality lacks depth and is under-utilised. The DMs, the BuzzFeed quizzes, and the Harry Potter and anime references seem a bit forced. It is a sweet drive through first realisations and middle-school crushes nonetheless.
7. A Second Embrace, With Hearts and Eyes Open
The last episode tells the tale of a separated couple slowly making their way back to each other, only to discover that fate has other plans. A sudden terminal disease and a serious absence of any back-story to their separation make it difficult to digest what could have been a decent addition to the anthology. The chemistry between the protagonists is the only saving grace.
8. In the Waiting Room of Estranged Spouses
A war veteran who treats every little thing in life as a mission is jolted when he finds out that his wife is having an affair. A chaotic romance that seems doomed before it starts is developed between the two betrayed spouses while they are in the waiting room for their therapy sessions. The nuances of divorce, betrayal, angst, and new love are not done justice to in the least. Even PTSD is blanketed under romance. The coming together of the two protagonists seems artificial.
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