Modern Love (TV Series) So He Looked Like Dad. It Was Just Dinner, Right? (2019) User Reviews

It was... ok

[trimblecali · 6/10 · 24 October 2019]

I love Julia Garner but I just couldn't figure out what this episode was trying to be. Clearly she has daddy issues but at times she seemed attracted to him. It was very unclear what her motives were.

Who's Your Daddy?

[deborah-99172 · 6/10 · 23 October 2019]

Julia Garner is a phenomenal actress. (And whoever played Genius did a good job too.) She's beautiful, smart, and can be anything she wants to be. Seriously, her face lights up the screen like nothing I've seen in a very long time. She's luminous. I confess I thought about Kimmie during this episode (that's the character she played in The Americans). There were some parallels.

Here's what I wondered: Who was that hard partying girl who had that birthday party? This woman in the office was like a total other being. Conservatively dressed. Oxford shoes. I was a bit baffled by that. The "climax" moment of the story was uncomfortable -- did this woman *really* believe this guy was not interested in her sexually? I mean, that makes her kind of delusional, no?

And the ending! Sometimes with print versions of Modern Love, I feel like the story has been edited to fit the word count and things end mid-air, so to speak. Or else they end with one line that wraps up the whole essay, and it feels forced. Like maybe the original essay went on longer but the editor or author or both cut it back to fit the space and tagged some line on at the end. The last line of this episode felt like that to me. For whatever reason, it made me mad.

Anyway, this is a highly discomfiting episode with great acting but an icky story.

Dad issues, confusing, good acting

[MovieQween-33622 · 7/10 · 21 October 2019]

So this was confusing for me in the sense that I didn't know how to feel about it. And I suppose that's what the female character feels so that makes sense. She is someone who doesn't have a dad and yearns for the unconditional love and acceptance that dads give. She is young and trying to understand these feelings. Good acting!

The real point of this episode is..

[kayichoucc · 7/10 · 4 August 2020]

Yes, it is very cringy. Yes, it is very uncomfortable to look at. But it is part of reality. The vulnerability, the unfulfilled part of life, the insecurity within oneself. If it is not with a dad character like in this show, it may be a differeny character, a friend, or something else that happened in history.

The point is, everybody wants to be part of something they didn't have and wants yet to experience it. Doesn't matter what it is. And none of this is comfortable to talk about and look at - because we're afraid of being judged by our issues. But it's okay, as long as you acknowledge it.

This episode portrays it perfectly.

awkward at first

[ChrisaRafa · 7/10 · 29 October 2019]

Well, obviously the girl has issues that she has not dealt with. And I find that the whole approach was a kind of superficial. We have a 10 years gap that we know nothing about. And I'm sorry but those of us that liked/like older men WE DO NOT have this kind of issues.

Julia Garner is the next big thing!

[itschristinejames · 7/10 · 21 October 2019]

If you are a fan of Ozark and came to see Ruth, you may be sorely disappointed. However, having said that, this was a standout performance by Julia Garner. It shows her versatility, taking a step away from rebellious Ruth and stepping into a softer, gentler role. This episode was extremely uncomfortable to watch, and with any other actress I may have given it a lower score, but because of her amazing acting ability, anything lower than 7 stars would be insulting.

What did I just see?

[Zett76 · 1/10 · 8 November 2020]

I don't mind the premise. But that woman is one of the most unlikable characters I've ever seen. Watching her was just uncomfortable, start to finish. And: Blaming him for not "seeing" that she wants a daddy?? Just stupid.

Social taboos aside...

[pliten · 9/10 · 28 October 2019]

If you put social taboos aside, and remove your (ie the viewer's) judgemental gaze away, you will still see that, while uncomfortable in some respects (and deliberately made so by the writers), this is one of the most tender episodes of the season. Fatherly love, love unfulfilled, vulnerability at its highest, inexplicable love, or just attraction (non sexual, yes they do exist...non romantic even), between two strangers. Put aside gender and age roles, just listen to the dialogue, put yourself in the characters shoes, and stop judging too much!

Nowhere near as bad as everyone is making out

[acroghan67 · 7/10 · 28 October 2019]

Not the best but still wellade with great acting all round.

Creepy

[MsRachelMo03 · 3/10 · 20 October 2019]

This one was just weird from the start. I blame the girl entirely. She played that man, and she has serious daddy issues. Really weird one.

Beautiful and touching

[raquelmachadofernandes · 9/10 · 28 October 2019]

I think this might be my favourite. I understood that girls mind and felt true empathy for her. And his character was so honest. There is no right and wrong here, just two people exposing their weakness. It was beautiful and touching.

Started it...stopped it. Creepy.

[tbrech · 4 November 2019]

Not my cup of tea. Good actors, bad idea. The young woman/older man thing is not new but the dynamics here just turned me off.

Daughterly Love

[nightringer-76840 · 7/10 · 24 October 2019]

This one is the tough episode to take in. At one side, tons of potential to hate the characters who both try to fill the void in their lives with each other. The ending breaks the higher point in my book coz it does break the norm

No Thanks

[aebernard · 1/10 · 24 October 2019]

I have absolutely loved this series - and then I came to this episode. Ugh. It is just so bad in so many ways. The premise is creepy and confusing, the dialogue was often painful to listen to, and I found zero redeeming qualities in the protagonist. There didn't seem to be any point to this story, except that an immature, self-centered young woman believes that her relationship with the older man she works for should be entirely self-serving in a myriad of different ways. If you love this series and want to keep loving it, I highly recommend that you skip this episode.

Good Acting, Good Editing, Weak Storyline

[craigakepler · 6/10 · 7 March 2023]

Spoiler warning.

Julia Gardner is amazing in this. However, try as she might, there is no explaining how her character could possibly misconstrue the very clear signals she is sending to the man. The writing fails to explain this in any plausible manner. It ends up being a hodge-podge of what could be a sweet December/May romance, mashed up with a half-baked character study of a lunatic young women harboring profoundly off-the-mark daddy issues. This is hands down the weakest episode in Season 1, despite valiant efforts by the cast and crew. It underscores the importance of a strong storyline.

Daddy issues and confused romance

[samanthawhite · 7/10 · 8 October 2022]

Maddy has some serious Daddy issues going on here and so she looks for that missing father figure in the older guy at work that fits her image of her father who she lost when she was 11.

Fair enough he looks at it as more than just Daddy Daughter time, no denying of a seriously big age gap but age is just a number after all. I personally don't understand how a much older man could see a long lasting relationship working with someone much younger than he is and vice versa but that's not to say it couldn't work.

I didn't really find it creepy or uncomfortable, it is odd and to actually live in that would be very strange, I mean his daughter was a similar age and she has a son so now Maddys new Dad is also a Grandpa! Wow.

I liked the end, it left it open for the viewer to decide what they are comfortable with. Which in reality, are they happy? Yes. Is anyone psychically in harm? No. So shut up and let them be, they don't have to ensure strangers are comfortable with whatever their relationship is.

Not for me

[holleyakers · 2/10 · 29 May 2020]

I'm going to give it 2 stars because the acting is good. But honestly after the look on her face with the whole stuffed seal at the zoo - I turned it off. She kept his socks....

Hey Everyone, Get a Grip

[smartinezmd · 10/10 · 5 November 2019]

I gave this episode 10/10 stars simply because I believe that it is worth more than the 6.3 /10 stars that it currently has. The acting is very good. And the gist of this episode is subtle and multi-directional. I would like to preface the rest of my review with the personal fact that I have never been with an older man and it really disgusts me when I see this person or that person with someone 25, 30 and, even, 40 years older. In our patriarchal society, it is often the man who is older. It has been that way for a millenium and more. The name of this series is "Modern Love" and, well, this episode - like all the rest - an exploration or a depiction of how humans love each other. Multi-faceted. Limitless. No two stories are ever the same regardless how similar they look when you scratch the surface. I managed not to cringe all the way to the scene in the park when she struggled to give up her stuffed animal and cringed mightily when she reacted angrily to his attempt at a kiss. I gave her a lot of slack because she had lost her father when she was young...yada-yada-yada...I had a father and he was a hard-working and never home with three jobs and weekends devoted to poker all so that he could earn a buck. I kept feeling that I had grown up with a lot less with my two parents due to our socioeconomic level. I like this episode because it takes something as old as time and delves into it rather deeply and with significant subtlety and a twist from what we might expect of this scenario. On some level, this episode is a #metoo for older males...or a #hetoo for hims. The fact that so many people cringe through this episode is a statement to how well the two of them act. She especially. And the chemistry between them is just absolutely perfect. It really is there while being not there which is the entire premise of this episode. A fine job of casting.

Next level daddy issues

[erikanowak · 2/10 · 21 October 2019]

This episode was cringey. And painful. And uncomfortable. Skip this one.

A good dad

[Skylight77 · 8/10 · 11 August 2020]

This one is a little bit uncomfortable, but thanks to the series, it doesn't go a creepy road. A young woman suffering from her dad's absence is trying to feel this long lost fatherly love. However, she doesn't do it the right way, so the man is confused. But in the end he's not a bad guy, he understands he shouldn't have assumed it would only be sexual. That's a problem in our hypersexualized society, why not also be friends or family-like to others? Love exists in different shapes and sex is not always involved.

Great show but very creepy episode!

[entej · 2/10 · 14 July 2021]

It was very uncomfortable to watch.

After she got out of the bathroom and the guy was waiting for her in the bedroom, on his bed... It just got very rape-y, so cringy watching that moment. This episode is taking daddy issues to the new level. I mean she took his socks home and then was playing with them? Madam who wrote script for this episode is one creepy perv.

Worst Episode of the Show

[darerkpotter · 3/10 · 10 November 2019]

The female character makes the older man feel bad for her issues and makes it feel like it's his fault for something that is not is fault and something that is her issues that she think he can fix for her with out taking about it when him fully. The episode will make you mad and confused.

Very strange but very beautiful

[jperrotta-89923 · 9/10 · 21 October 2019]

As the title says. Strange and beautiful. Vulnerable, if you will

So uncomfortable and wrong on so many levels

[jooseparro · 1/10 · 23 August 2021]

Literally had to make an account to rate this episode specifically. The girl is so horribly manipulative and so uncomfortable to watch. This seems so wrong on so many levels that I wish I could somehow unwatch it.

Unconventionally Beautiful

[nandaprachi · 10/10 · 11 May 2020]

The characters are so raw and honest that it really makes you see the beauty in a very unusual story. Out beyond our ideas of right and wrong, there is a field - this story meets you there!