Top TV of the Decade: Lovesick

Welcome to The Indiependent’s Top TV of the Decade! Writers across all sections of the paper are contributing to this 20-part feature, discussing their favourite shows from 2010–2019 — will yours make the list? Regular Opinion contributor Emma Penney kicks us off with Netflix’s Lovesick…

Lovesick first hit our screens in 2014 under its original title, Scrotal Recall; as it followed the story of Dylan, a man diagnosed with chlamydia who must revisit his former sexual conquests. While the premise may not initially make you think so, Lovesick is possibly one of the most beautiful and real depictions of modern love ever to grace our screens.

The series introduces Dylan, Luke and Evie, three friends living in Glasgow, and flashes back to their friendship over the years. The chemistry between Dylan and Evie is both mesmerising and heartbreaking, particularly when we are told that Evie is now engaged to someone else. While the first series focused more on Dylan and Evie, the next two look further into all kinds of love, and the grief and pain that loving people can bring. The show gives us male characters capable of deep emotion, and complex and interesting women.

While Dylan and Evie’s love story is the main focus, I think the most perfect representation of love comes in the friendship between our characters. The three actors show that real friendships aren’t always rosy; they all hurt each other, and make stupid mistakes, but that only makes them more real. There’s no American sitcom-style perfection, just honest and raw reactions. Quite simply, they care about each other, and support each other, even when one of them has done wrong.

Lovesick is a show about love and about life. It is difficult, irrational and can sometimes only last a night. It presents all the different kinds of relationships as equal in importance and reminds us that love is worth all the time and money and wasted days. Life is messy, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find joy in it. It can be confusing, and often when we watch films and television, we become wrapped up in this idealistic idea of what our lives should be like. Sometimes there isn’t a love at first sight moment, sometimes love isn’t dramatic, sometimes it is slow and gradual. Lovesick reminds us of how everything can be awful, but there is always hope for the next day.

Words by Emma Penney

Originally published at https://www.indiependent.co.uk on December 9, 2019.