Summary
Modern Love Season 1, Episode 3, “Take Me as I Am, Whoever I Am” is a near-perfect chapter, presenting a character dealing with bipolar in an impactful story.
This recap of Amazon Series Modern Love Season 1, Episode 3, “Take Me as I Am, Whoever I Am” contains significant spoilers. You can read the recap of the previous episode by clicking these words.
If anything, what I’d like Episode 3 to do is to give anyone with bipolar disorder the confidence to speak openly about their condition. “Take Me As I Am, Whoever I Am” is a hard-hitting story about a woman called Lexi (Anne Hathaway) who suffers from bipolar, and the episode takes the audience through her highs and lows.
The start is entertaining but exemplifies someone who is peaking on their high. Lexi wears dazzling clothes to the supermarket to match how she feels, and the entire scene feels like La La Land, with dancers swooping around her. Of course, this isn’t La La Land; the singing and dancing and the energetic narration is an indication of how she feels. Lexi feels f—ing fantastic, and she achieves so much in this positive window — even landing a handsome man named Jeff (Gary Carr) for a date.
Their official first date doesn’t go too well. Jeff rings Lexi from outside her house, but her high went to a deep low nights before, and she stayed in bed, consumed by darkness. She half-heartedly leaves her bed to go on the date, which is a disaster, and with Jeff not knowing the reality of Lexi’s situation, he assumes she felt obliged to go on a date.
Work is tough for Lexi too — with 50% of her days on highs, and the other 50% on lows, the HR department has already picked up on her poor attendance. Her manager likes her, which makes the situation harder.
And then the next day, Lexi is feeling high again, instantly ringing Jeff to make amends and secure that second date. She agrees for it to be at her house, and she will cook. After spending an entire day cooking and cleaning, as Jeff arrives and presses the buzzer, darkness looms around Lexi again, and she slumps to the bathroom floor unable to move. This scene was horrific to watch, as she begs her inner self not to jump into a low, talking to herself in the mirror.
There is a salient message in Episode 3, “Take Me as I Am, Whoever I Am”, which comes in the form of Lexi’s manager. After getting fired, Lexi joins her manager for a coffee at a cafe. Here, Lexi breaks down and finally confides in someone — she tells her now ex-manager that she had bipolar disorder, and describes how the highs and lows impact her life.
This is a hard-hitting scene, as Lexi is reaching an end to one of her lows to show real sadness. Lexi realizes at this moment that giving people the chance to know her truly, to be completely open about her disorder, will help her maintain relationships, rather than easily discard them and lose countless jobs. Lexi gained a friend in the cafe, and from here, she was able to be assigned a prescription that helps settle her disorder and be back on the dating scene.
Modern Love Season 1, Episode 3, “Take Me as I Am, Whoever I Am” is incredible television, and shows off Anne Hathaway’s range — when she is at her best, her performances are unbeatable. I hope this episode does as intended, and gives inspiration and hope to those with bipolar disorder.
You can read the recap of the fourth episode by clicking these words
