FX’s “Love Story”, a limited series streaming on Hulu, is a biographical romance based on the real-life relationship between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. Now that the first half has been released, we have a strong look at how the show is shaping up.
The series is set in New York City and takes place over five years, in which we see the beginning and end of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s whirlwind relationship. In these first five episodes the audience has gotten a glimpse of the dynamics within one of America’s most iconic couples.
Across the first half of the season, the audience gets to watch the dramatized real-life relationship of JFK Jr., the son of President John F. Kennedy, and Carolyn Bessette, a fashion publicist rising through the ranks at Calvin Klein.
These first five episodes cover the start of their budding romance and the early days of their relationship. They navigate love under the attention of the media and scrutiny from the public. The show highlights family dynamics, the pressure of fame and personal struggles that shaped their relationship.
Since this series is a biographical show, when it was announced that showrunners would be creating it, there was a lot of pushback from the public. Biographical shows can tend to misrepresent the subjects and add inaccuracies to gain drama and other elements that the original story may not have had. The writers of “Love Story,” however, did not do that to JFK Jr. and Carolyn.
Before watching the series, I only knew the glamorized version of the couple. He was America’s Prince, and she was the lucky one who finally captured him. They always had this perfectness surrounding them. But, in this series you can tell that instead of reducing the couple to tabloid headlines, they show both the public image and real-life vulnerability.
By showing their arguments, struggles and personal insecurities, the series is able to emphasize they weren’t just celebrities, but two people trying to navigate love under extreme circumstances.
This doesn’t diminish their legacy but instead deepens it while also reintroducing it to a whole new generation of viewers. Instead of reinforcing the typical stereotypes you see of this perfect and untouchable couple, it shows that even people put on pedestals experience the same doubts, struggles and pressure.
In the end, I would give the first five episodes of this series a four out of five stars. The series is starting to build to the height of JFK Jr and Carolyn’s relationship, and I look forward to the final four episodes to air so we as the audience can watch the rest of their relationship unfold.
