There’s Not Much to Love About Hulu’s Wedding Season

Since the runaway success of Rian Johnson’s star-studded comedic murder mystery Knives Out in late 2019, Hollywood has been on a mission to pump out more and more projects that blend the two popular genres. It’s happened often enough to be called a trend, but it’s also one that hasn’t yet reached the point of oversaturation. One of the reasons for this is the versatility of the murder mystery, as the formulaic genre can easily be adapted to fit a specific story and style. The success of each project is therefore measured by its ability to reinvent and surprise. Unfortunately for Hulu’s Wedding Season—which attempts to set itself apart by doubling as a romantic comedy—the show quickly wears out its welcome, relying on too many clichés to feel anything but tired.

The eight-episode series starts off promising enough. Rosa Salazar stars as the enigmatic Katie McConnell, an American living in the U.K. who is suspected of murdering her new husband (George Webster) and several members of his smug, wealthy family on her wedding day. The murders occur just hours after Stefan Bridges (Gavin Drea), a British doctor helplessly in love with Katie, interrupts the nuptials in an attempt to convince the bride to marry him instead. This public profession of love naturally makes Stefan and Katie—the latter of whom flees her wedding reception immediately after her in-laws croak—the main suspects in the case, inevitably sending them on the run together.

As they flee from the authorities, the series flashes back to pivotal moments in Katie and Stefan’s brief relationship of three months (yes, really), all of which revolve around a different wedding. Despite a series of apparent red flags—notably Katie’s seeming indifference to carrying on an affair with Stefan knowing he has feelings for her, while she’s engaged to marry another man—Stefan can’t help but be enamored of the woman who randomly appears in his life in what he believes are fated meetings.

For a series that so badly wants and needs us to believe these two people harbor deep romantic feelings for one another—the entire premise of the show relies on viewers buying into the idea that Stefan loves Katie enough that he’s willing to follow her on this dangerous adventure even though he’s not entirely sure she’s not a murderer—there is little chemistry between Salazar and Drea. Of course, it’s difficult to say if others would have fared better given the thinness of the characters. But Stefan is undoubtedly charming, in a Ted Mosby kind of way. Unfortunately, Katie is no Mother, despite having the required level of mystery about her.

And yet, the show’s biggest crime isn’t that its central romance is somehow less endearing than How I Met Your Mother before the wheels completely fell off, but that the reveals about its heroine’s backstory and the storytelling twists the show implements throughout its run have been done already (and done better), leading to a predictable, lackluster mystery on top of a so-so rom-com. Without saying too much, this is mostly a story we’ve seen before, and no one involved seems properly equipped to be able to elevate the series beyond the material, though the supporting cast does do a lot of emotional heavy lifting in addition to serving as comedic relief (Ioanna Kimbook and Callie Cooke are both wonderful as Stefan’s friends Suji and Leila, respectively).