Titling your new Netflix rom-com series “Too Much” is the sort of move that comes off as either a provocation or an easy set-up. It’s as if co-creator Lena Dunham is inviting critics to assess whether her show and her heroine are, indeed, too much. And given the decade-plus of fevered discourse around her last semi-autobiographical TV series, “Girls,” it makes sense that Dunham would not only be prepared for outsized reactions, but ready to take them head-on. But ultimately, “Too Much” isn’t a defiant, confrontational show; it’s an intimate exploration of how falling in love can seem to heal us, but also expose how we’re broken.

The show opens with Jessica (the hilarious, if sometimes overly schticky, Meg Stalter) moving to London for a work project in hopes of getting over a devastating breakup with her live-in boyfriend, Zev (Michael Zegen). He has quickly moved on with a stunning knitwear influencer named Wendy (Emily Ratajkowski), and Jessica has become obsessed with watching Wendy’s social media videos, responding to them in emotional videos posted to her own private Instagram. But in London, the die-hard romantic Jessica, fueled by visions of meeting her own Mr. Darcy, immediately falls in love with Felix (Will Sharpe), a brooding indie musician. The show follows them as they fall in love, confront demons from their pasts, fight, break up, and find their way back to each other.

In short, this series has all the trappings of a classic romantic comedy, despite its fractured rom-com episode titles (“Nonsense and Sensibility,” “To Doubt a Boy”). Yet “Too Much” has the signature Dunham sharpness — crackling banter, precisely observed skewerings of modern archetypes, sweet moments punctured by humiliating or gross realities. Like “Girls,” “Too Much” puts the flaws of its characters under a spotlight, including those of its winsome lead. But it’s gentler, more forgiving, even a tad sappy at times. Perhaps, Dunham seems to say, these imperfect people, with their self-delusions and their petty cruelties, can still find ways to love and be loved.

In this episode, we talk about the legacy of “Girls” and the perils of continuing to make art after an unexpected debut classic, our favorite and least favorite things about “Too Much,” Jessica and Felix’s emotional journeys, Zev’s villain edit, and more. Hope you enjoy!

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