Take Three: Love Life

Love Life: Season 1, Episode 3 “Danny Two Phones” (B+)

This episode didn’t feature Darby falling head over heels for someone, but I liked that since it felt more realistic. Not every relationship is a big deal, and not every hookup leads to a relationship. Darby running into Augie sent her spiraling, and going to a party with Sara was a good opportunity for her to focus on something else. She did not react well to Danny’s initial move of taking her phone out of her hands, but he had a leg up on her when he saw her peeing on the roof and watched her get cut by a nail. I recognized actor Gus Halper, who played Danny, and I think it’s from his role as Joseph on “Dickinson.” Here, he was hard to read at first, and when we found out that he wasn’t a drug dealer but instead a guy so obsessed with his ex that he was paying for a second phone to keep all her voicemails, his persona changed. Doing 100 chin-ups impressed Darby at first, but she sensed enough where it was going that she had to make up a story about moving to Cleveland to avoid him. I like that he came to the museum and stood up for himself when he understood what she was doing, which gave her enough power to realize that it felt good to be the one walking away for once. Knowing that Augie was stalking her on social media while planning to leave with his new girlfriend would surely delight her even more. I enjoyed Sara’s many references to Jewish terms and traditions, and she sure has a lot to think about when it comes to the relationship everyone is so sure she’s supposed to be in with Jim.