If you've heard any of my dating stories, you'd probably think you were reading a script for a highly chaotic and extremely unhinged romcom.

There was the guy who I offered to drive home in two-hour city traffic after he broke up with me. There was also the relationship that essentially accelerated at warp speed because we were locked indoors during the pandemic, forcing us to decide if we could share a bed for life after only knowing each other for three weeks.

But if my (unfavourable) dating history has taught me anything, it's this: finding love is rarely straightforward. It's a tangled, loopy, confusing and at times frustrating knot of timing and compromise.

However, for as long as I can remember, television has tried to sell us a very different, heavily sanitised version of romantic relationships.

As Mamamia's resident dating expert and co-host of entertainment and pop culture podcast The Spill, I have watched countless onscreen couples navigate these glossy, predictably perfect storylines.

Which is exactly why the brand-new Paramount+ original series, Two Years Later, felt like such a shock to my system (in a good way).

This series is the first show I've seen in a very long time that captures the non-linear chaos and unfiltered realism of what it actually means to be emotionally, physically and practically involved with another human being.

The premise of Two Years Later immediately hooks you because it takes the idea of a romantic timeline and twists it on its head. Emily, played by Phoebe Tonkin, and Ryan, played by Brenton Thwaites, start out as strangers who take the same bus commute every day. Their unspoken chemistry is off the charts. Heavy eye contact, a "will they, won't they" tension, and most importantly… the two most good-looking people on the bus.

But then the pandemic hits and completely cuts their connection short before they've even said hello. When they cross paths two years later (see what they did there), Ryan takes Emily (and the rest of us) by complete surprise by proposing to her.

Phoebe Tonkin and Brenton Thwaites in Two Years Later. Image: Instagram/@wearehoodlum.

The rest of the episodes follow the pair as they set an eight-date countdown to decide whether they should get married. Each date unfolds across a single episode, making it dangerously easy to binge the entire season in one sitting.

And now that all eight episodes have dropped at once, it feels like we're right there in the middle of their romantic upheaval, watching it all play out in real time.

What follows is not a smooth ride to the altar. Oh no. Instead, the unique episodic structure acts as a high-stakes social experiment that happens when two adults try to merge their separate lives. Because each episode is dedicated to a single date, the show gives the relationship room to breathe, stumble and create tension.

Two Years Later is a brilliant blend of comedy and raw drama. Its concoction of serious life problems mixed with light-hearted antidotes makes the show not only enticing, but extremely cosy.

Watching this show made me reflect on the romantic relationships I had during the pandemic. Trying to date through lockdowns, press conferences announcing restrictions and the five-kilometre radius rules was… hard. Some relationships ended, others began and all of them unfolded in ways none of us were really used to.

That's exactly why Two Years Later hits so hard. Because it absolutely nails what it was like to find a connection with someone before the pandemic, only to be completely pulled apart for a few years while we all changed as individuals.

Two Years Later on Paramount+. Image: Instagram/@wearehoodlum.

The show reminded us that relationships are an unpredictable and non-linear mess, as well as glorious and worthy of risk-taking. All of the twists, turns and obstacles we go through are beautifully portrayed through the two main leads.

The show doesn't try to clean up that mess or wrap it in a neat little bow for the sake of being the perfect relationship. Instead, it isn't afraid to show the complicated realities of modern love in all its chaotic forms.

Whether you're happily partnered, navigating the trenches of dating apps, recovering from a situationship from hell, or have found that your own company is better than what any other person could give you, you need to add this show to your watchlist. Like, immediately.

All episodes of Two Years Later are now streaming exclusively on Paramount+.

Feature Image: Supplied.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH Paramount+

The highly anticipated Australian, eight-part original series, Two Years Later, is available to stream now only on Paramount+.