The relationship comedy is alive and well thanks to Colin From Accounts

A silly title couldn’t keep Colin From Accounts from emerging as one of 2023’s best romantic comedies. The winsome series, from real-life married couple Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer, began with a dark riff on the meet-cute as some shameless flirting led to an injured dog (that would be Colin). Throughout the rest of season one, med student Ashley (Dyer) and brewery owner Gordon (Brammall) found just as many reasons to be together as to stay apart—including a 10-year age gap—then chucked all that reasoning out the door in the face of their undeniable chemistry. A great supporting cast acted as a hilarious Greek chorus, when not driving storylines of their own, but ultimately, the show’s first outing was an incisive two-hander. 

The prickly leads remain apprehensive in season two as they navigate their new relationship and the cautionary tales that are most of the other couples they know. They have to clear some big hurdles in the premiere alone: retrieving Colin (last name From Accounts) from the horrible family they gave him to at the end of season one and dealing with an unexpected pregnancy. Things don’t get much easier from there, though they do get even funnier. Gordon’s brother Alistair (Justin Rosniak), noted “shit stirrer,” arrives, and Ashley’s self-obsessed mom Lynelle (Helen Thomson) rebrands herself as not just a man’s woman but a woman who is anti-women-who-are-anti-men. But all of these obstacles seem like mild inconveniences compared to the question that looms over their heads: Can they really make this work? 

As Gordon and Ashley’s journey becomes more complicated, Colin From Accounts moves from romantic comedy into relationship comedy, joining late, great series like Catastrophe and You’re The Worst in focusing on what “happily ever after” looks like. Like Rob and Sharon and Gretchen and Jimmy, Ashley and Gordon don’t make a one-time decision to be together. They have to keep choosing each other time and time again—after getting Colin back, or learning about the chasm between their sexual experiences, or realizing they have different visions for their future. True to life, things remain unresolved even after a great kiss or grand gesture, and the story is powered as much by the couple’s connection as their uncertainty. 

Brammall and Dyer, who once again split writing duties this season, know just how to build tension and defuse it. They throw outlandish scenario after outlandish scenario at Ashley and Gordon, but what really lingers is their sense of doubt. Everywhere they look, the couple see examples of what they don’t want to be. In season one, that was mostly Lynelle, who presented her willful ignorance about her creepy boyfriend Lee’s (Darren Gilshenan) predilections as some kind of high-minded acceptance. Watching her mother make excuses for her partner only made Ashley want to hold Gordon accountable for his missteps. And Chiara’s (Genevieve Hegney) queer awakening in the first season, while compelling, forced Gordon wonder if his attraction to Ashley was the result of a midlife crisis.