Three best friends in a London flat. Luke, the playboy who spends his days chasing girls. Evie, the girl who’s in love with her best friend. And Dylan, the best friend that only realizes his feelings for Evie now that she’s engaged. It’s no wonder this Netflix original series is called Lovesick. This British sitcom follows Dylan after he tests positive for chlamydia. Each episode takes you on a trip through Dylan’s sexual past as he recalls his former relationships and notifies them of his current STI status. The premise is offbeat to say the least. It’s quirky, uncomfortable, and downright hilarious. Johnny Flynn is so perfectly awkward for the role of Dylan. His unkempt hair and big heart make him lovable and the mission he leads truly pitiful.
The premise of the series is set up in the first five minutes of the pilot. The plot moves just as quickly through the remaining five episodes in season one as we meet each of Dylan’s conquests. The bulk of the story is told through flashbacks. By the end of each episode, the story of one woman comes to a close as we head back to the present to see Dylan break the news to her.
The stories of Dylan’s relationships are used as a baseline to further the audience’s understanding of the three roommates. The episodes aren’t in chronological order, so we are shown the recurring characters at various points in their lives. It takes a few episodes for the storylines to click into place, but once they do, you’ll feel entirely committed to the friendship between Dylan, Luke, and Evie.
None of these characters have it together. They’re full of youthful uncertainty and are running on lust. The sexually charged dramas they find themselves in are often created by their own missteps. It’s a daring ode to the chaos of young adulthood. There’s only one way to enjoy this show—don’t take it too seriously. It feels like the type of TV you could make with your friends, but it’s entirely endearing in the case of Lovesick. The emotionality of these characters is often buried by an extra-thick layer of British humor, but enough peaks through to make this a story you can feel connected to. I’ll certainly be tuning into season two—which has already been released on Netflix—for more absurdity, laughs, and disastrous tales of lost love.