Why Love Life Season 2 Changed The Narrator

Love Life season 2 changes its narrator, going from Lesley Manville to Keith David, a surprising move for audiences but one with a good reason why. In season 1 of the romantic comedy series, created by Sam Boyd, audiences followed Darby Carter (Anna Kendrick) as she searched for her soulmate. Over the course of 10 episodes, Love Life chronicled Darby’s most significant romantic relationships as she moved through New York over the years. It also shed light on the character’s familial bonds and friendships, which were often just as complicated. The narration of Lesley Manville, an Oscar-nominated English actress, accompanied Darby in her journey. More often than not, Manville’s commentary was used as a way of providing comedic relief for the situations that Darby found herself in.

Love Life season 2 brings in The Good Place‘s William Jackson Harper as the new lead actor. In the role of Marcus Watkins, Harper plays a thirty-something book editor. Unlike Darby, when the series begins, Marcus is already in a stable relationship. He’s been married to his wife, Emily (Maya Kazan) for more than four years. But he feels, in his own words, stuck. When he meets Mia (Jessica Williams) at Darby’s wedding, the encounter leads to the end of Marcus and Emily’s marriage. Marcus reluctantly finds himself reentering the dating scene, with the narration of Keith David joining him as he attempts to navigate the waters he thought he’d left behind.

The reason that the narration shifts, along with the lead character, is due to the nature of Love Life being an anthology series. In spite of the loose connection between Marcus and Darby, given that Mia knows both, each season of the HBO Max show centers around a new protagonist’s search for love. Given that the character has changed, it only makes sense that the narration changes as well to reflect the brand-new story and set of characters. Along with the changes in front of the camera, Love Life season 2 has seen shifts behind the camera as well. Boyd now serves as co-showrunner, along with Rachelle Williams and season 1’s Bridget Bedard.

Elaborating on the decision to select David as the voice of Love Life season 2, who has lent his vocal talents to Ken Burns documentaries such as The War and Muhammad Ali, in addition to voicing iconic characters like Spawn, Williams noted they’d considered several options. At one point, there was even some discussion of selecting a British narration in the style of Love Life season 1. But, ultimately, as Williams told ET Online: “‘Duh. Keith David. He’s fantastic.”

In reviews of Love Life season 2, some critics questioned whether the narration device was needed. They argued that it leads the series to come across as a fairytale when it’s actually a more grounded and occasionally harshly honest depiction of a certain type of modern romance. Darby and Marcus, for all their differences, are both deeply flawed. The series, to its credit, doesn’t shy away from highlighting that. It could be said, then, that the narration is a way of softening the show’s rough edges. And, certainly, it’s a good excuse to use estimable talents like Manville and David.

About The Author

Abdullah Al-Ghamdi
(1121 Articles Published)

Abdullah Al-Ghamdi joined Screen Rant in August 2019, focusing on movie and television news. In January of the same year, he wrote a 3500+ word piece on why Primo Colón is underrated. He considers it his finest work. When he’s not arguing for the merits of his favorite wrestler, he can be reached at: [email protected].

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