"When Cupid Is a Prying Journalist"
"I did want to ask, though, have you, have you ever been in love yourself?"
Dating site founder Joshua (Dev Patel) tells the story of his lost love Emma (Caitlin McGee) to journalist Julie (Catherine Keener). Julie herself tells him the story of her own "what if?" with Michael (Andy García).
Tropes in this episode:
- I Kiss Your Hand: Michael kisses Julie's hand at dinner.
- Ivy League for Everyone: Subverted; Joshua claims he's from Harvard to look successful before giving it up and admitting he didn't go to college.
- Love at First Sight: Sparks fly between Joshua and Emma at their first meeting, and Julie outright calls it this in her article.
- New Old Flame: Julie and Michael reconnect in middle age. While their meeting inspires Michael to work on his less-than-ideal marriage, Julie leaves her husband.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The original column was written about Justin McLeod, the founder of the dating app Hinge. Here he is represented by a man named Joshua.
- The One That Got Away:
- Emma is Joshua's; even after they broke up he still thinks of her and is shaken when he encounters her on the street.
- Michael is Julie's, as she took a memento of their summer together to every relationship and well into her marriage. Evidently she was his as well, as he comes to her book signing and later admits that she was his only old flame.
- Tech Bro: This episode has a subdued, romantic version in Joshua, the young, good-looking, charismatic founder of a booming dating appnote .
- Voiceover Letter: The excerpt of the article on Joshua Emily reads is in Julie's voice.
