Emma Freeman’s “Love Me” explores the struggles and ironies of modern romance through the journey of three individuals from the same family who belong to different generations, all of whom pursue a little feeling called love. In the story, there is a 64-year old father, Glen Mathieson (Hugo Weaving), whose wife, Christine Marie, met with a car accident two years ago, in which she lost her leg, and has been bedridden since then. Christine has little will to live another day, yet Glen tries to keep the hope and little romance alive. But one can see a man struggling to make his wife happy while handling the household chores in the best possible way. Glen is slowly getting exhausted and eagerly needs some love in return, but never complains.
Glen and Christine have two children, Clara (Bojana Novakovic), 38, and Aaron (William Lodder), 17 years old. Clara works as an anesthetist and has dedicated her entire young life to becoming a medical professional, never daring to shift her focus to something as futile as love. But at the age of 38, spending life alone scares her, and thus she tries to try her luck in modern dating culture but only faces disasters. While Arron, on the other hand, pursues romance from the perspective of a young teenager, making some really impulsive decisions and failing to notice or understand the nuances of his own complex feelings. Hence, no matter what generation one belongs to, love is always a challenging pursuit, yet it is one of the most beautiful feelings in the world. The question here is, are these three characters willing to take the risk of falling in love with someone and walk all the way to the end to make it worthwhile? Let’s find out.
Major Spoilers Ahead
‘Love Me’ Plot Summary
The series begins with Clara Mathieson, who gives yet another try to the modern romance culture and meets a man named Greg, who wants to sleep with Clara and thus tries to convince her through his divine knowledge of polyamory, only to find out in the end that she is the wrong person and not the one whom he met on the dating app. The date ends in a disaster, and Clara becomes more skeptical that she will never be able to find a true romance in the hook-up culture.
Meanwhile, Clara’s father, Glen, buys a tour package, “Secret Love Romantica,” to surprise his wife, Christine “Chris,” on their 40th anniversary. However, soon it is revealed that Chris is bedridden due to a tragic accident that happened two years ago and thus needs proper attention and medical care. This keeps Glen busy, but he is willing to do anything for his wife. Their youngest son, Aaron, on the other hand, is studying law in college but spends most of the time with his passionate girlfriend, Ella, who aspires to be a DJ.
Aaron reflects the possessiveness of young-age romance and thus desires that Ella be around all the time; hence, he doesn’t quite understand the concept of giving space to one’s partner. Aaron and Ella are not the perfect matches for each other, as Ella, quite the opposite of Aaron’s possessiveness, is fun, outgoing, and ambitious, and wants a separate identity of her own, which Aaron fails to become a part of and quite doesn’t understand.
To celebrate their 40th anniversary, Glen invites his kids to a family dinner and cooks dinner for them, but the peaceful family time soon gets tense as Clara and Chris enter into a heated argument whose roots lie deep in the past. As Clara leaves the house, and Aaron sneaks out to meet Ella, Glen puts Chris on the bed, trying to comfort her after the argument. He brings tea for her, only to find out that she is already dead. Glen is left distraught in a lonely house as he fails to understand what he is going to do after his only purpose in life has left the roof.
The Struggles of Weary Lovers
After every disastrous storm, there is a rainbow to soothe the weary heart. But to experience the beauty of love, one has to go through the pain. In Glen’s case, he had found his existence in looking after Chris. It is hard to contemplate whether Glen did everything in these two years for Chris or for himself, because for Chris, her life ended or became miserable soon after the accident. She, indeed, had no will left to live, which her family failed to understand. Nevertheless, after Chris’ death, Glen tried to cancel the “Secret Love Romantica” tour package but failed, and hence, Clara advised her father to go on a solo trip because he deserved a holiday break after their mother’s death.
Though Clara understood the pain her father went through in these two years, Aaron, being a self-centered teenager, couldn’t quite understand why his father was going on vacation. He believed that his father didn’t care for his mother, or that no one did. The reason behind Aaron’s rage was his teenage insecurities that made him believe that the world revolved around him and that everyone should feel what he was feeling.
On the trip, Glen met an eccentric woman, Anita, who had won the trip through an essay competition. Anita, through her spontaneous and extrovert nature, reminded Glen of everything that he was missing in his life and he soon became attracted to her, leading to an unusual romance between them. Glen made a quick decision to move into Anita’s house soon after his return from the trip. That irritated Aaron further, and when Glen revealed his decision to marry Anita, Aaron couldn’t possibly believe it and burst on his father.
Meanwhile, Clara met a model, Peter K., who lives near her apartment, and after a sudden encounter, went on a date with him. However, as soon as she learned that Peter was a model, her insecurities kicked in, and the years of dating disasters influenced her decision not to meet Peter again. She assumed Peter was looking for something casual, and why wouldn’t he be with so many hot models vying for his attention, but when Peter confessed his feelings for Clara, she decided to give it a shot. Clara thought her dreams had come true and she had finally met the love of her life when Peter abruptly revealed that he had a 16-year-old son and had only moved to the city to care for him. What Clara feared finally came true, and she wasn’t ready to become a mother to a 16-year-old kid, but after a bit of convincing, she decided to give it a “try.” It was when Peter told her that he wasn’t willing to give anything a try, not at this point in life, and really wanted to settle in with someone who had the courage to face the problems together and not just bolt someone out because they have their own insecurities. Clara and Peter’s relationship went through a roller coaster of emotions where Clara, whose past life has wired her to not take chances in life and live in a secure cocoon, finally undergoes a transformation to realize that one has to open their heart frequently to let the light come in.
Aaron, on the other hand, found out that Ella was leaving for a gig tour suddenly after Aaron took a clerkship at a law firm. The thought of separation made Aaron more insecure and made him react in a way that wrecked his relationship completely, and as a consequence, Ella slept with someone else. As she confessed her infidelity to Aaron, he broke all ties with Ella and started ignoring her, while in the meantime, he found out about his best friend, Jesse’s feelings for him. At this point, Aaron felt that Jesse was the perfect match for him when suddenly Ella revealed that she was pregnant and that it was possibly Aaron’s child. It was hard for Aaron to accept these new revelations, yet Clara advised him that whatever he does in life, just make sure that he doesn’t become an estranged father, or he would feel guilty about it in the future.
‘Love Me’ Ending Explained
Soon after Glen met Anita, he was haunted by his own consciousness that appeared in front of him in the form of his wife, Chris, and condemned his inclination towards a new woman immediately after his wife’s death. These minute interactions were the confusion of Glen’s own mind, who, instead of accepting the grief, tried to run away from it and made Anita an escape. He even tried to impose his organized routine on Anita, trying to change her or mold her into his life instead of letting her have her own. For a while, this created a misunderstanding between Anita and Glen. Finally, through Glen’s consciousness, he realized that he loved the spontaneity in his relationship with Anita. So why was he trying so hard to make it mundane? As soon as Glen realized his mistake, he made amends and the couple prepared for their wedding party.
To make a speech at the wedding, Glen sent Clara a small passage with a Rumi quote at the end, and that brought about a change in Clara’s heart. She understood the importance of being more receptive to love instead of being afraid of these feelings, which compelled her to finally confess to Peter that she was ready to take the risk even if the end of it all would break her heart, yet Peter would always be worth it. She finally visited Glen and Anita’s wedding with Peter as her better half.
At the party, Aaron revealed the truth about Ella’s pregnancy to Jesse, who was still weaving her world with him. Aaron was in love with Jesse, but after he delivered the truth, he knew that nothing would ever be the same between them. He consciously made a choice because he had a responsibility toward Ella, from which he couldn’t just walk away. It was hard for him to let Jesse go, but indeed, it was the right thing for both of them.
In Glen’s case, a surprise awaited him. No one so far had an idea about what happened to Anita’s husband, and Glen didn’t possibly ask, or maybe he thought that he was dead. At the wedding, a strange man showed up, and from the change in Anita’s expression, it could be surmised that it was her ex-husband. It was a big surprise for Anita as she didn’t expect him to come, but he saw Anita’s social media post about her wedding invitation and might have thought to give his blessings to the new couple. Glen only shared a look with this man, but he noticed Anita’s unusual behavior around him, who introduced everyone except for this man.
If “Love Me” Season 2 happens, then it will possibly explore the struggles of these lovers further. Glen and Anita may face some trouble as soon as Glen finds out about her ex-husband or whatever secretive relationship Anita has with the man who showed up at their wedding. Peter’s son, on the other hand, hasn’t accepted Clara as his new mother, and this may cause some new conflicts in their relationship. Clara wants a child of her own, and conceiving at this age can also be a conflict that can be further introduced by the writers to raise the stakes and amp up the drama. Meanwhile, Aaron is in a really complex situation by the end of the ‘Love Me,’ as he loves Jesse but has a responsibility towards Ella. In this case, only if Ella decides to part ways on mutual grounds, then only Aaron can hope for a better future with Jesse. But will she accept him after knowing the truth? ‘Love Me’ Season 1 ends, leaving behind a lot of unanswered questions and unfinished storylines, but if this is the end of an affair, then it can also be surmised that love is indeed a complex feeling where there is no definite ending. It’s always vague, and that’s the most beautiful part of it.
“Love Me” is a 2021 Romance Drama series directed by Emma Freeman.
