What I’m Watching: Love Life

Love Life: Season 2, Episode 3 “Destiny Mathis” (B+)

This episode felt a bit like the season one installment that found Darby going back to the suburbs for a funeral, one that put her way too much in the limelight when it shouldn’t have been her moment to shine. It was great to see Janet Hubert, best known as the original Aunt Viv on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” as Marcus’ mom, who was very supportive of her son but not always in the ways that he most needed. The mere mention of Destiny was enough to compel him to reach out to her, which ended up being an enjoyable enough night that she didn’t necessarily want to lead to anything. He couldn’t do much to control the situation when his mom invited her to the party, but he could have tried a little harder than not bothering to speak to her and then not taking the opportunity to be alone with her when he was explicitly given the chance. Offering to drive her home felt like the right thing to do, and he paid for his missteps by nearly getting beaten with a baseball bat while the rental car incurred most of the damage, not to mention the fact that he missed his dad’s big speech. Ida had her own relationship troubles, namely her displeasure with her girlfriend going over a little too well with her family and using that goodwill to try to sell her soaps. I like that she gets a focus too and that her love life is also on display.