Little Things has gone through a lot of changes since it started out on YouTube. It went from a light-natured, playful look into the lives of a millennial live-in couple to an exploration of how two people living together grow and change, both as individuals and as a couple. The third season takes that exploration a little further, with Dhruv (Dhruv Sehgal) and Kavya (Mithila Parker) dealing with a long distance relationship and, eventually, changing priorities.
When Dhruv moves to Bangalore for a research project, both him and Kavya have to deal with learning to spend their time apart. That ends up taking more of a toll on Kavya than she realized and by the end of the first day, she breaks down into tears when Dhruv calls her. There are other moments, such as her birthday two months later, where she expects Dhruv to do a grand romantic gesture and surprise her, and is disappointed when he doesn’t do that. As a series that has always been about details as opposed to gestures, the story builds on this thread as both of them explore what makes them happy, and what they expect out of their lives.
Loneliness is a big theme this season, and it isn’t always the kind of loneliness that comes from staying apart.
After her father’s retirement, Kavya’s mother notes that her me-time was going to be much smaller now that her husband will be home all the time. Dhruv’s mother is also constantly seen alone, although that’s partly because Dhruv refuses to interact with his father due to him selling their house.
Dhruv Shehgal handles his writing duties well enough, mostly focusing on small skirmishes between the couple that, instead of building to an eventual fire that consumes the relationship, are portrayed more as reminders of the work one needs to put in to maintain a long term relationship. He portrays the frustrated Dhruv well enough, although his anger and insecurity flare up one too many times. Once he returns to Mumbai, he’s constantly harping about Bangalore being his happy place and when he’s not doing that, he’s freaking out that Kavya has adjusted to living without him and has made new friendships in the meanwhile. That’s a significant adjustment for both of them, as they were so used to operating as a single unit.
Mithila Parker’s Kavya is still spirited, but she’s noticeably more mature, often picking up on the environment around her.
Her emotions still get the better of her at times, and but her maturity shows during arguments, where she’s often on the backfoot, trying to deal with an (often irrationally) angry Dhruv, trying to work through their problems instead of exacerbating them.
While there are some significant arguments, they mostly play out as tense conversations where Dhruv and Kavya are figuring out the changes happening to them and around them. Sometimes, the pacing suffers from this. At eight episodes, the season almost flies by, but at the end, it feels as though not a lot has happened, even though there have been several significant developments in the last episode alone.
The ending is rare in the sense that, although it feels like their relationship has reached a natural endpoint with both of them wanting to pursue other avenues, Dhruv and Kavya reaffirm their trust in each other and agree to face the changes in their lives together even if they are physically apart. It’s, in a sense, beautiful that they are comfortable enough with each other that they see a future with each other, even though neither of them want marriage at this point in their life. As it is, the final episode can work as a series finale if it needs to. Nevertheless, it will still be interesting to see Dhruv and Kavya grow older together and deal with the growing pains that process brings.
Little Things was never a head over heels romance story like La La Land is, nor was it a sober (and mean-spirited) deconstruction of love like Blue Valentine. It takes place in the middle, like most love stories are in real life, and that’s comforting to watch.
While the show doesn’t always handle the expanded scope brought by Netflix’s involvement well, it balances its sensibilities competently enough to stick the landing.