Review: Young Love “Jingle Love/Lost Love/Game Love/Chicago Love”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Jingle Love

After Lil Ankh disses his beats, Stephen begins to work for a questionable marketing firm, while Angela pretends to be rich to impress a new client.

Lost Love

Facing an uncertain future, Stephen contemplates quitting music, while Angela struggles to find her true passion, and Zuri attempts a career as an oracle.

Game Love

While Stephen succumbs to the allure of video games, a skeptical Angela joins forces with Gigi to fight back against a shady pyramid scheme.

Chicago Love

While Stephen and Angela attempt to make the most of a rare free day, Amir drags Zuri on a rule-breaking adventure.

Our Take:

Unsurprisingly, Young Love got off to a respectable start with its first four episodes. Yes, I did say “first four episodes” because the series took an interesting approach of debuting four episodes per week instead of two, which is Max’s usual release strategy. So expect me to finish this series faster than you can say, “Spread love, not hate”. The first four episodes did a great job introducing its concept while retaining the heart and charm of the award-winning short film. So now we see whether the remaining season can continue this streak.

This week’s episodes continue the sitcom misadventures of the Young family, ranging from Stephen working for a marketing firm to Zuri and Amir breaking the rules. But, of course, they don’t lose sight of the parents’ struggles to maintain their careers, especially Stephen in “Lost Love”. That episode has Stephen facing an inner conflict about his future as a musician because Lil Ankh doesn’t give him credit for producing his music.  

Out of these four episodes, “Lost Love” is the best one I’ve seen. While the show further displays its formulaic narratives, this episode is another example of providing character-driven beats as Stephen moves on from being Lil Ankh’s producer to making his own music. We also learn more about Russell’s past as a drummer for a funk band, which helped Stephen learn not to give up on his passion. However, I would also mention that “Game Love” is the weakest of the bunch due to its direction toward the plots and messages involving bullying, with Zuri and the bully being friends after getting in trouble during its conclusion.

These episodes offer another delightful series of events full of charm and heart, even though the narrative quality is lacking during specific moments. Despite its formulaic sitcom storylines and hit-and-miss humor, the episodes continue to deliver their heartfelt moments for the characters. The scenes between Zuri and Amir are prime examples of this, mainly in “Chicago Love”, where they made a graffiti mural art for Amir’s late father. It also didn’t slow down on its commentaries, including racism in “Jingle Love” and the pyramid scheme in “Game Love”, even though the execution isn’t as memorable as Stephen’s sick beats. Let’s hope the final four episodes give Young Love the love it deserves to finish its season strong.