Alice & Jack is the latest TV love story that spans several years. The Masterpiece on PBS series premieres on March 17 and follows the 15-year relationship between the haunted, thorny Alice (Andrea Riseborough) and quirky, sensitive Jack (Domhnall Gleeson). Their connection the moment they meet is something they can’t ever shake. Through marriages, a child, and deaths, Alice and Jack move in and out of each other’s lives.
Sounds a lot like One Day, right? Well, Alice & Jack feels like the moody and jaded older sister in the enduring love stories family. One Day and Past Lives give off serious middle-child energy with all that yearning and Love, Rosie is the whimsical, funny youngest kid. Meanwhile, This Is Us is both mom and dad.
There’s not a bit of rom-com in Alice & Jack, and that’s a good thing. It’s messy and raw. Alice and Jack aren’t always the most likable characters. Alice has a knack for pushing Jack (and everyone in her life) away. She can be her own worst enemy as she seeks to protect herself from getting hurt, and Jack remains in Alice’s path even when it costs him. (We’ve all been that person or know that person.)
Humans are flawed, and relationships can be confusing and difficult at times. As Riseborough tells TV Insider, Alice & Jack is about “two people who are getting things so horribly wrong and really causing such a mess in their wake but are unavoidably linked.”
And we need to see more of those love stories on TV. Rom-coms and Hallmark romances have their purpose. We know exactly what we’re getting, and we know what we want to see when we watch them. But sometimes what you want isn’t exactly what you need. Enter: Alice & Jack.
With Alice & Jack, One Day, and even This Is Us, these kinds of love stories show the sheer power of human connections and how love transcends time. But love can also hurt, whether it be through breakups or loss.
Time is a finite resource, and in this life, you may not meet your person. Or you may not realize your person until years down the road. Enduring love stories like Alice & Jack give us that constancy in relationships that we all crave, both romantic and platonic. Yes, there’s the yearning and will-they-won’t-they elements, but we’re drawn to how one person can bear witness to different versions of ourselves, yet they remain in our orbit no matter what.
And just like a happy ending, there’s nothing like watching two characters who just can’t quit each other. Love always finds a way.
Alice & Jack, Series Premiere, March 17, 10/9c, Masterpiece on PBS
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
