Why the JFK Jr. ‘Love Story’ Series Finale Is So Perfect

This week:

• The amazing Love Story finale changed me.
• I can’t believe this story wasn’t true.
• The most “dad” movie of all time.
• The only celeb videos I want to see from now on.
• Maybe famous people shouldn’t comment on everything.

I’m Obsessed With JFK Jr. and Carolyn

It’s been a harrowing few weeks in New York City.

I was leaving work last Thursday, and was nearly run over by a twentysomething biking down the street wearing a backwards beret. The shades of blonde hair I’ve witnessed in slicked back buns, drinking prosecco in the West Village…truly upsetting. The Indian restaurant that my friends and I would go to when we were freshmen in college, 21 years ago, because it was cheap and they let you bring your own alcohol, is now a major tourist destination.

In some cases, it’s awful. (Let’s not retraumatize ourselves by revisiting the photos of the delusional people at that JFK Jr. lookalike contest.) But I also completely understand it.

This couple was so hot and so famous in a way that simply doesn’t exist anymore. Literally, a producer of the series said it took so long to cast Paul Anthony Kelly as JFK Jr. because there were so few men who auditioned who had chest hair.

While I can never endorse men’s ’90s fashion returning—any woman who wants to look as chic as Carolyn, go for it—I totally get the obsession.

I just watched the series finale, and I am a puddle. I am also more obsessed with this couple and their romance than ever before, which, sure, is the point of the show. But the glimpse into their last days together before the fateful plane crash was, even though they were living apart at the time and trying to figure out how to repair their relationship, strangely aspirational.

(A quick side note, because I just watched the episode: Grace Gummer, who plays Caroline Kennedy, and Constance Zimmer, who plays Carolyn Bessette’s mom, are spectacular in the finale. They absolutely destroyed me. Emmy recognition, please!)

We’re in weird times. I’m pushing 40 and, based on the news this week, wondering if I’m going to have to go to war. Squirrels are vaping. Sharks are doing cocaine. Everything is just unsettled.

But each week, I got to watch an intimate look at this love story. I’m craving nostalgia and romanticism, and that’s what this incredible window into this couple’s love, warts and all, gave. It’s been an escape, but also a reassurance—a reminder that, hey, maybe that kind of fiery connection, despite the world that surrounds it, is still in the cards.

John and Carolyn’s love was impossible. Every moment seemed like a wildfire disaster, from how late he was to their first date to the famous fight in the park to, in a recent episode, how they handled their KFC takeout containers like aliens who had never seen fast food before. But, at least, as it was dramatized in this season finale, they made it work anyway.

The episode shows how being open about the barriers in their relationship actually reunites them, rather than forcing them further apart. They realize how strong their love is because they acknowledge how hard the other person makes it to be in love. That sounds like it shouldn’t be romantic, but I think it’s actually beautiful.

He comes with the baggage of intense fame and scrutiny, and cares about how their relationship comes off in the press. She’s stubborn and skeptical, and because of that, the media burden is amplified even louder than it already is. But they sit at a bar and have a drink together. They smile at each other. The electricity is overwhelming. They’re irresistible to each other.

No couple had more “stuff” surrounding them, but it didn’t matter. I find that kind of amazing to think about today, when we have our own versions of the “stuff.” The apps with so-called better options just a swipe away. Social media distracting us from actual connection. The economy being such that you don’t know if the person you’re flirting with is impossibly wealthy, drowning in debt, working a fake-sounding job, or, god forbid, knows what crypto is.

But maybe, just maybe, there’s still going to be a connection, one so undeniable that, like John and Carolyn, you can’t fight it. You can’t rationalize it, just as you can’t resist it. I think that’s why this show has become such a huge deal—it’s, according to reports, FX’s most-watched limited series ever on Hulu and Disney+. Of course, this couple had a fame that none of us can imagine experiencing. But they also had a love that we can all relate to—or at least hope to.

I’m a tough sell as a partner. I value being asleep for as many hours as possible a day over possibly any other life experience. When people ask how I’m doing, I will actually say “bad” if I’m feeling bad, which seems to really throw them off. I will have a full imaginary fight with someone in my head and then hold a grudge in real life because of how they acted during it. And, should it get that far, when I get married, I will insist the DJ only play Glee versions of songs.

But maybe that’s just my “stuff.” Maybe there’s a spark that will be so strong that it will drown all that out. Maybe, as in the series that I was so skeptical about but ended up loving, there’s a Love Story in the future to believe in.

I’m So Upset

As someone whose family watched the movie Homeward Bound roughly every third day while I was growing up, I needed the story of a pack of dogs escaping from being kidnapped and embarking on a 10-mile journey home together, led by a brave corgi, to be true.

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Not because I want there to be a world in which dogs are being kidnapped. But who doesn’t want an inspirational story to melt your heart and make you feel hopeful these days? And I’m so tired of fake AI videos, stories, and news that if this wasn’t real, I was going to really lose my mind.

Alas, of course, the details behind the video that went viral weren’t true. The dogs just happened to live in a village where roaming around is normal. Good for them. It sounds like a nice life. But I’m so tired of being duped!

Call Your Daddy

They have finally done it: They have made the most “dad movie” to ever exist.

A trailer was released this week for Pressure, which stars (one of my favorite actors) Andrew Scott as the meteorologist whose job was to deliver the weather report for D-Day, so that the army could plan its invasion.

Yes, it is not just a movie about World War II, but about the weather.

My only confusion is why the release date isn’t Father’s Day.

The Content I Crave

After watching this utterly captivating video of Mariah Carey grocery shopping about 12 times this week, I’m not sure why this isn’t its own genre of content. Give me Beyoncé in a Food Lion. Martha Stewart at a Costco. Gwyneth Paltrow being told for the first time what a Piggly Wiggly is. Enough with celebrities eating chicken wings. Show me them buying chicken wings.

Maybe He Should’ve Sat This One Out

I’m thinking that maybe not everything on the internet needs to be “addressed.”

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More From The Daily Beast’s Obsessed

The trailer for the new Harry Potter TV series is out, and I have mixed feelings about it. Read more.

SNL alum Bobby Moynihan told me an amazing story about when Daniel Radcliffe hosted the show after the last Harry Potter movie. Read more.

Inside the year’s most haunting romantic ghost story. Read more.

What to Watch This Week

For All Mankind: This might be Apple TV’s best show. (Now on Apple TV)

Daredevil: Born Again: This is one of the only superhero series that I genuinely like. (Now on Disney+)

America’s Culinary Cup: I’ve been really enjoying this. It is basically just Top Chef. But why turn down two Top Chefs? (Now on CBS)

What to Skip This Week

Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen: That title basically describes what will transpire if you press play on this show. (Now on Netflix)