Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Episode 4, “I Love You” Spoilers Ahead
In an episode aptly titled “I Love You,” Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette delivers the kind of storyboard chapter that’s all about foreshadowing, quiet intimacy, and the haunting reality that boundaries simply do not exist for anyone famous. I suppose it’s even hypocritical in a way to produce and watch a show like Love Story when we know that the press was a large part of the problems the renowned couple faced.
Alternatively, the episode, and by extension, the show continues to floor me with the level of grace given to JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. The series is deliberate about highlighting who the villains in their story are, and it’s especially careful about painting Carolyn in the respectful light that she deserves. It’s adamant to showcase that the crosses she carried in the years of being in the spotlight at once robbed her of her agency and simultaneously broke her along the way.
In the midst of this, Love Story Season 1, Episode 4, “I Love You,” also deep dives into a beautiful display of intimacy that underscores how nuanced and layered romance actually is. Sneaking around and ravenous kisses are ultimately and often followed by arguments, heartache, and sincere apologies. Love is never one-dimensional, and as an examination of real people who are a part of our history, the series understands this matter closely. It touches on it with every scene, every performance, and every careful directional decision.
Ten Paces Ahead
Sneaking around isn’t ideal for any couple, but the way a forbidden/secret romance is often crafted is too delectably angsty to ignore. It works—almost always—to guarantee that there are real, worthwhile feelings to explore that no one else should be privy to. It’s the calm before everything is taken away from them.
And here, pulled into an alley or in the safe space that’s found near both their apartments, they have choices. They can choose each other. This. Us, as Carolyn emphasizes during the morning after. In every way we look at it, a romance is only happening between the two people who share it, and the public took full advantage of that. But where the show gives us these moments, it underscores the authenticity of how quiet beats could never fully be exposed. It’s left fully to our imagination and credit where it’s due, the showrunners have tapped into something genuinely special by giving us versions of them that are carefree, goofy, and desperate for each other. There’s a vulnerability and simplicity in every interaction that makes it so easy to appreciate what the adaptation is trying to capture.
In any given relationship, these are the moments where there are very few expectations other than the longing that’s catapulting them both into each other’s arms. These are the moments that are theirs and theirs alone, before anyone—including John—briefly pops their bobble. In addition, the choices of needle drops in Love Story are typically diabolical (complimentary), but giving them a slow, sweeping moment to dance while Sade’s “No Ordinary Love” plays is icing on top of the cake.
Simultaneously, giving us a visual of John taking care of Carolyn in the most simple means a man could make himself vulnerable by gently helping her into her skirt while paparazzi vultures pry on them, then later use that moment to taint everything, is as heartbreaking as it is tender. Because every in-between beat with them makes the arguments twice as harrowing.
The Carelessness of Man
It does actually appall me how little men truly take into consideration because the events that start to plummet after John introduces Carolyn to his friends and then invites her to his sister’s birthday without fully disclosing all the information about the “party” is genuinely outlandish. A woman would never. And the fact that he doesn’t even suggest flowers or wine or something that his sister would like is equally wild. It’s not only embarrassing for Carolyn as the woman he’s seeing, but it’s so disrespectful to his sister, too.
I’d hate to think of how this moment could’ve panned out if Carolyn weren’t as quick on her feet or maybe even a little shy and awkward, because she’s the one who saves it all by openly telling Caroline she wasn’t given all the information. It’s fitting that Caroline is also quick on her feet to mention that she knows her brother well enough and fully gets that this is something he’d do. In retrospect, how Love Story Season 1, Episode 4, “I Love You,” sandwiches the various plot points with adoration eclipsing all the turmoil is exactly what makes it so excellent. It’s also worth mentioning that watching John thrust himself into one awkward situation after another also makes it easy to understand the fact that he isn’t sitting with his privilege nearly enough, and he still doesn’t grasp the intensity of what Carolyn is signing up for. But, really, would any man?
The conflict that then arises from the letter—which I’m almost glad we don’t know who sent—leaves room for both Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Anthony Kelly to deliver completely outstanding performances. How Pidgeon wears a full range of emotions on her face while John does most of the talking is so effectively transcendent that it’s in this moment where we get a clear sense of just how little she wants this. More often than not, the public (and people in all spaces) will scrutinize women far more than they will men. We’re fully aware of this, and we’re not going to pretend that it doesn’t happen in spaces where people should know better, like discussing film, TV, or books.
A woman isn’t allowed to make the same mistakes as a man—she’s expected to be perfect all the time, and her complexities are only acceptable in theory. In the hands of careless writers, it’d also be present in the screenplay, but that’s thankfully not what we’re seeing with Carolyn Bessette. Instead, we have an unambiguous showcase of the fact that John is fully in the wrong here because his expectations of her are entirely unfair. We also see the insensitivity in Calvin (Klein) when he fails to understand why Carolyn understands how Kate Moss feels and why picking up a camera when a woman is clearly uncomfortable is actually sinister, no matter how simple or harmless the act might seem.
Carolyn Bessette clearly values her privacy and normalcy. It’s in the way she sits on the floor eating dinner with her mom and sister, and despite her glowing, downright intoxicating confidence at work—it’s apparent that tranquility matters to her. The stillness. The quiet. The freedom. And she has a right to all of it, in the same way that every person in the spotlight does, but it’s haunting to remember how the brunt of scrutiny rested on their shoulders (the women in the Kennedy family, especially), like glass shards of suffering falling every time they made a move. It makes you question so much of this industry, and in truth, I’m speaking for myself here, too.
Still, the light the show paints Carolyn Bessette in is thankfully the polar opposite of all the toxicity we’ll get incoming and how it’ll all get worse now that their photos are out.
“This is where I begin, if you’ll let me”
John F. Kennedy Jr. might make some alarmingly careless decisions in Love Story Season 1, Episode 4, “I Love You,” but every word that comes out of his mouth in his apology is fully sincere. “Everything for me right now is all question marks, except for you. You. This. This is where I begin, if you’ll let me. I love you. I love you so much, Carolyn. I never thought I could love someone like this. I couldn’t until now. Until you.“
Body language talks, and one of the things that was always painfully obvious in photographs from the real couple’s time together was how deeply JFK Jr. adored Carolyn Bessette. He was fully transfixed by her and so in love, which in turn allows every beat of the series to stand out because we have proof of this in the thousands of words captured throughout time. In addition, both Kelly and Pidgeon bring their absolute A-game to strip the characters of their armor and fully give them a chance to own up to every decision they’ve made. To reclaim their agency, even if it’s for a moment.
Based on his confession, it’s easy to understand that the momentary fear that Carolyn could be hiding something would thrust JFK Jr. into a volcano of doubt. Given his inability to process things fully because there’s so much more he’s told than matters that he himself sits with and marinates on, his actions are completely human. Additionally, Carolyn’s anger and pain are justified as well, so it speaks volumes that the scene effectively contrasts with the one of them in the morning after.
He isn’t holding any part of himself back here, and neither is she. Trust is a delicate thread for both of them, for different reasons, yet they’re the same in how they confront it. They’re the same in how they shape all their interactions around all the walls they have piled up.
The desperation, anguish, and sheer awe-struck confession that rumbles out of JFK Jr. in breathless pauses is a marvel to bear witness to from Paul Kelly. The way tears free-fall from Carolyn as she fully hears him and pockets his words is an absolute masterclass in vulnerability from Sarah Pidgeon. To leave us with these moments of understanding and quiet intimacy right before launching Carolyn (and us) in the trenches of the photo’s release is such fine craftsmanship that it’s almost maddening. But that’s exactly what makes this episode so riveting.
Stray Thoughts
- I said it on my Twitter, but the choice to parallel their first and last love declaration with a forehead kiss is such a devastatingly beautiful choice. Because the softness and warmth of a forehead kiss is so different from any other kiss, and it does such a gorgeous job of fully emphasizing that the person in front of you is worthy of caretaking, gentleness, and real devotion. It’s a lovely reminder that they’re your person, and the fact that John also speaks those exact words to Caroline nearly broke me.
- The outfits on the show are obviously intentional, but I keep racking my brain and the interwebs trying to see if we have JFK Jr. in a red jacket, white T-shirt, and dark jeans, or if that was the costume department’s homage to James Dean and Rebel Without a Cause. Expect the lengthiest essay from me if it’s the latter because ooh, boy. 😭
- The old sketch of airplanes from John is actually so wildly haunting, and if I think about it for too long, I might have a full-blown breakdown. But I can almost imagine how gripping this can be to someone who’s somehow living under a rock and has no idea of the history. If that’s even possible.
- If you know anything about me, you know that The National is my favorite band, so to have Bryce Dessner compose the score is literally everything. Their main theme is the most stunning track I’ve heard in a long time, and every time it drops, it’s like a bat single to my tear ducts.
- The concept of a woman being the one to stand up for a woman in a table full of men, wondering if another woman has ulterior motives, is such a moment to respect.
- Giving us one parallel where JFK Jr. wakes up before Carolyn and watches her sleep, and ending the episode where she’s doing the same? Who in the writer’s room is an actual romance author because this is next level. And let’s talk about the actual, legitimate yearning of a man waking up to an empty bed, leaning over to her side of the pillow to get every inch of her scent back before he starts his own day. And here I thought Anthony Bridgerton was unapologetically obsessed and in love.
- There’s something especially compelling and downright swoon-worthy about the way he says “Come here.”
- Did anyone else’s brain immediately go to Midge Maisel and Lenny Bruce in the post-drinks borrowing her cigarette scene? The intimacy and comfort of that scene and the fact that once again, he can’t seem to get enough of her at any given moment are so wildly intoxicating.
- I’m so used to slow dances on TV, but the fact that John and Carolyn’s is both slow and a little goofy is so gorgeously telling of how he’s his truest self around her. How he lets his guard down and opens up in a way that’s so easily healing, you can see so much of his pain momentarily pause. It’s so intimate and soft, and it makes my heart squeeze every time I think about it.
- I also just can’t help but think of any time they’re in a dimly lit space, Carolyn is still illuminated by some sort of light, visually showing us that she’s brought the sun back into his life. Ask me if I’m doing okay.
- There’s also something about the way they both wrap themselves around each other every time they hug, like they can’t believe the other person is real. They have to get as humanly close as possible. They have to hold on for dear life. The finale is actually going to destroy us to the point of no return.
Now streaming on Hulu: What are your thoughts on Love Story Season 1, Episode 4, “I Love You?” Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: ©FX/Hulu