Lovesick tells its romance backwards, and that is the whole trick

The premise is off-putting by design: a man is diagnosed with chlamydia and has to contact every former partner. Each episode flashes back to one of those relationships.

Why the structure matters

Because the real story is not any of those relationships. It is the friendship running underneath them, and the show reveals it in fragments across the flashbacks — a look in the background of a scene about someone else, a conversation you did not register as important.

By the time you understand what the show is actually about, you have already watched it accumulate for several episodes without noticing.

What it gets right

The friend group feels real, which is rare. They have history, in-jokes and genuine irritations with each other, and the show does not resolve every tension.

It is also generous to its characters. Nobody is a villain, the exes are people rather than obstacles, and the show declines almost every opportunity for humiliation comedy.

The caveat

The original title was considerably cruder and the first two episodes lean on the premise harder than they need to. Push past them.

Tone and commitment

Warm, funny, a bit melancholy. Three short seasons, about twenty minutes an episode — roughly eight hours for the whole thing, and it ends properly rather than trailing off.