Episode 1
Episode 1 of Love You To Death begins with Raul about to undergo an operation. Turns out he has angiosarcoma, which is basically heart cancer. These cardiac tumours are incredibly rare but unfortunately, the mortality rate is very high too. The doctor is hoping that with aggressive chemotherapy they can overcome it, but it’s a big wake-up call for Raul.
With Raul reeling, his girlfriend Gina doesn’t seem too fussed and ends up taking him to the garden center. She has an emotional coach and eventually she decides they should break-up because Raul’s condition is just too much for her to handle. In fact, she even leaves him with a plant, stranded at the garden center too.
Meanwhile, we cut across to our wild child partygoer, Marta. She’s not very reliable, barely works (although she’s part of a creative advertising firm) and gets by on a heady cocktail of drink and drugs. She also has a funeral to go to as well, relying on her sister Ana to hep her out. They have an estranged relationship and in fact, Ana is about to have a baby shower and hasn’t even invited her own sister there.
We soon see what happens when she is invited. A heated argument takes place between Ana and Marta, with the latter sporting a pretty negative view on parenthood and not wanting to be stuck with a “boring, monotonous life”. It all kicks off at the baby shower, with Ana’s mood swings very much up and down the whole time.
Marta basically ruins the whole thing, and she even rips into Ana to their mother for having a “dumbass” husband (he has Asperger’s). She doesn’t feel like she fits in here but similarly, is protective of her sister, even with their issues.
Raul is picked up up by his friend Edu outside the garden center, who encourages him to try and live a little. However, they both end up at the same funeral that Marta is attending. She shows late and happens to be waving a pregnancy test around. It turns out she’s pregnant. So after all of that talk about parenthood, she’s about to get a taste of her own medicine!
Marta makes a big scene during mass and is forced to speak up, where she rips into David (the deceased) and his life. However, she does end it with saying that nobody’s perfect and maybe he just did the best he could.
Marta definitely intrigues Raul, who decides to invite her out for a drink. She accepts and away the pair go.
Episode 2
Episode 2 of Love You to Death, picks up with Raul and Marta discussing their jobs and what they do. Here, we also learn that Raul works in HR at a car dealership. They trade some banter and she leaves her number behind for him.
Back at work, Marta shows off her latest campaign. She gets a good reception but her boss, Ivan, is a complete wet blanket. In fact, he usurps her campaign and decides to tweak aspects of it for herself. Marta doesn’t stick around though given she ends up being sick, as her pregnancy is starting to progress. When she speaks to the doctor she finds out she’s 12 weeks pregnant.
To try and understand children better, she heads to the local park and stares at the kids. It’s pretty funny, especially when one of the parents there accuses her of being a child predator. The dialogue is dark and pretty witty to be honest, and it eventually ends with the mum and child heading home.
As for Marta, she returns to her apartment, where Ana visits. She reminds her sister how irresponsible she is and how her being pregnant would be disastrous. When Raul messages, Marta doesn’t reply until she’s had a bit of a chat with Ana. While she’s influenced by Ana’s suggestions, including questions like “are you an adult?”, Raul meanwhile is influenced by all the men at the dealership, who begin chanting “fuck or die”. The cleaner gets involved too but in a hilarious turn, he gets shut down for this.
The pair agree to see each other that night, and Edu encourages Raul to live a little and have sex then bolt. Either way, the pair head out for drinks (pineapple juice for Marta) but Edu is here as “emotional support”, working undercover to try and give his friend some encouragement.
They eventually end up clubbing, where the pair kiss. After, they go to the bathroom where Raul, who was earlier slipped drugs by Edu, starts to feel the effects. Marta obviously recognizes this and takes him to the hospital. She helps out and eventually the pair open up and discuss who they really are.
Marta and Raul admit that they’ve both been putting on a façade and now that Marta is pregnant, she knows she needs to settle down. The pair hug goodbye, but it does seem like they’re going to see each other again. Otherwise there wouldn’t be much of a show, right?
The Episode Review
So the first two episodes get off to a pretty decent start, with wicked humour mixing in witty dialogue and dark scenarios, working surprisingly well. There are some genuine laugh out loud moments too, like when the doctor at the end of episode 2 wants to go partying with them, and the incident outside the park with the kids too.
However, it’s hard not to feel bad for Raul. He’s your typical nice guy who finishes last, and although he’s swept up in this scenario with Marta, it feels like she’s only really getting involved with him because she needs to find a dependable guy to settle down with after having all her fun.
As far as the characters themselves go, there’s a nice ebb and flow to the series and so far, we’ve seen their lives and how different they are. It’s your typical “opposites attract” romcom and Love You to Death has done a pretty good job of it. Hopefully next week’s chapter will continue this decent start.
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