What I’m Watching: Modern Love

Modern Love: Season 1, Episode 5 “At the Hospital, an Interlude of Clarity” (B+)

I enjoyed this episode a lot. It felt like this half-hour was even more intimate than previous installments, focused so much on these two people that didn’t really know each other at all but got very close as a result of some unexpected circumstances. It wasn’t clear at first what their relationship was exactly, and I like that we got to know them as they got to know each other. I recognized John Gallagher Jr. immediately from his charming role as Jim on “The Newsroom,” and here he played someone who was just as awkward and naturally ended up slipping and seriously hurting himself while trying to be flirtatious. I didn’t know Sofia Boutella, though I guess I did see her in “Star Trek Beyond.” Their chemistry was very sweet, and I like that Yasmine insisted that he answer with a preference rather than just have her give him whatever she decided. To me, this is what this show is supposed to be about: unexpected love stories that come about in strange ways. We’ve seen platonic relationships and ones tinged with crucial diagnoses, and this one felt very simple in that it was just a first date that turned into something much more. It was odd for me to watch it immediately after attending a screening of the upcoming movie “Queen and Slim,” which also finds two people who haven’t yet even officially started a relationship drawn together by events far deadlier than just falling on some glass. Both are good, but they’re totally different.