'WithLove shines bright in some narratives and falls disappointingly flat in others,' writes carolineframke
Any show juggling multiple relationship dynamics gives itself the gift of possibility and the challenge of balancing it all at once. While it gets to tell several stories instead of relying on just one, some characters can easily fall through the cracks, or else become far less compelling when weighed against the others.
Over five episodes, each unfolding over the course of a different holiday, “With Love” follows four interlocking couples as they fall in, out of, and back in love. Connecting them all are members of the Diaz family, a sprawling but tightly knit group with a lot of love, and more than a few codependent dynamics. The season details almost a full year of their lives, from an eventful Nochebuena celebration where Jorge Jr.
When “With Love” is at its best, though, it’s usually when focusing on its two queerer couples. Javier and Lily’s cousin Sol is a genderqueer oncologist whose flirtation with their coworker quickly blossoms into the real thing.
That does not, however, hold true for Lily and Santiago, who are ostensibly meant to make up the show’s most compelling will-they, won’t-they couple. The way “With Love” portrays their relationship is so strange as to become downright confusing. It takes almost three of the five episodes for them to have a meaningful conversation, and when they do, it’s a knockdown argument about how differently they see the world, popping the bubble of their sexual tension in ugly fashion.
Complicating matters even further is that Toubia has much more chemistry with Desmond Chiam, who plays Javier’s himbo best friend Nick. Though Lily insists she feels no romance towards Nick, watching them interact with such flirty ease versus Lily and Santiago’s prickly disdain doesn’t serve the show’s clear goal with them at all. It’s beyond frustrating that this pivotal couple just doesn’t land — but at the very least, “With Love” gives us three other ones that make it work just fine.
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