Modern Love is a quiet, small-scale anthology series that tries to capture the messiness of love in all its forms. It’s based on The New York Times column of the same name, adapted into eight half-hour episodes per season. The show ran two seasons on Prime Video, premiering October 18, 2019, and ending August 12, 2021. Each episode tells a standalone story about love — romantic, familial, platonic, and self-love alike — and draws on true events for its inspiration.
Trailer, via Prime Video.
What the Show Promises
The premise is simple: love comes in many forms, and Modern Love wants to explore them all. The first season focuses on stories set in New York City, while the second season expands to other locations. That shift is the show’s biggest risk, and it doesn’t always pay off.
The Cast
The show leans heavily on star power. Anne Hathaway, Tina Fey, Dev Patel, and John Slattery headlined the first season, alongside a roster that included Julia Garner, Andy García, Cristin Milioti, Olivia Cooke, Andrew Scott, Shea Whigham, Gary Carr, Sofia Boutella, and John Gallagher Jr. That lineup gives the show a serious pull factor.
Jesse Eisenberg joined the second season, which added actors like Gbenga Akinnagbe, Lucy Boynton, Minnie Driver, Kit Harington, Garrett Hedlund, Anna Paquin, Jack Reynor, and Miranda Richardson. Sophie Okonedo and Tobias Menzies rounded out the cast later. It’s a remarkable assembly, and it mostly delivers.
How the Episodes Land
The show’s strength is its willingness to be messy. These aren’t tidy love stories with clean resolutions. They’re about missed connections, awkward conversations, and the ways people stumble through relationships. That honesty is the show’s best asset.
But the anthology format means each episode is a new entry point, and some land harder than others. Some stories feel thin, stretched across their allotted runtime. Others are sharp and memorable. The inconsistency is the show’s biggest weakness.
The Second Season’s Problem
The move away from New York City in the second season is where the show stumbles. Stories set in other locations lose some of the intimacy that made the first season work. The city itself became a character in those early episodes, and removing it removes a layer of texture.
The casting additions in the second season are strong, but the material around them isn’t always as rich. The result is a season that feels thinner overall, even when individual episodes succeed.
A Quiet Success
Modern Love isn’t trying to reinvent television. It’s trying to tell good stories about people who care about each other, often in complicated ways. On its best days, it succeeds completely. The writing is sharp, the acting is committed, and the subject matter is relatable.
On its worst days, it’s forgettable. The anthology format means there’s no ongoing narrative to hold onto, and some stories don’t earn their runtime.
Key Facts Box
- Premiere: October 18, 2019
- Final episode: August 12, 2021
- Seasons: 2, 16 episodes total
- Network: Prime Video
- Format: Anthology, 8 half-hour episodes per season
What Remains
The show’s best episodes stick with you. They’re the ones that find the exact moment a relationship shifts, or the quiet conversation that changes everything. The worst episodes are easy to forget, and that’s the difference between a good show and a great one.
Modern Love is a solid, often moving anthology series that peaks in its first season and coasts in its second. The cast is top-tier, the subject matter is timely, and the commitment to messy, honest storytelling pays off more often than not. It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a consistently good watch.
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