It’s been a fortnight since The Five Star Weekend premiered on Peacock, and audiences are not only eagerly anticipating the news of a potential second season but are also captivated by the remarkable on-screen chemistry between Jennifer Garner and Timothy Olyphant.
Adapted from Elin Hilderbrand’s 2023 novel, the series features Garner as Hollis Shaw, who invites three friends from various phases of her life, alongside a new unexpected companion, to a girls’ weekend on the idyllic Nantucket, her childhood home. This gathering forces Hollis to face her deep-seated grief over the loss of her husband, Matthew, played by Josh Hamilton, while also reigniting old feelings with her former love, Jack, portrayed by Olyphant. The lingering attraction between them is palpable.
Their romance rekindles gradually across eight captivating episodes, with a pivotal moment arriving in Episode 5, entitled “Saturday Night: Nice Dinner Out.” Here, they share a poignant kiss after hearing “More Than Words” by Extreme on the radio. This song holds a special place in their hearts, leading Jack to step out of the car, urging Hollis to join him.
“Alright, c’mon. We’ve never not danced to this song,” he says, drawing her into a moment of nostalgic intimacy.
Yet, as their lips meet beneath the moonlight, the memory of Matthew intrudes, and Hollis abruptly pulls back, confessing to Jack that she “can’t do this.”
But Jack remains a constant, silent support system, picking up Hollis’ daughter Caroline (Harlow Jane) from the police station, and eventually, cleaning out her gutters. When Hollis catches him doing the latter in The Five Star Weekend‘s Season 1 finale, “Monday Morning: Departures,” Jack admits that he initially thought her intentions might not have been the most genuine, and that she was looking for a “rebound” following Matthew’s passing. However, he tells her that he found the message she had sent him a year prior, ahead of Matthew’s death, that solidified that she had been thinking about him for some time.
While Hollis concedes that she was the one who “ended” things between them so long ago, Jack thinks he wasn’t good enough for her at the time. However, times have changed. The tension between them finally culminates, leading to a hot hook-up, but more than that, a heartwarming reunion between two people who never stopped caring about each other.
The chemistry between Garner and Olyphant is apparent, and according to series showrunner Bekah Brunstetter, was fueled by a sense of comfort that she had with the actor. Brunstetter told DECIDER that Garner was instrumental in Olyphant’s casting, explaining that for both the actors playing Jack and Matthew, the 13 Going on 30 star wanted to “work with some people she had worked with before that she had a level of familiarity and comfort with.” In fact, Brunstetter said that Garner “floated [Olyphant’s] name early on because they did Catch and Release together years ago, which has a hilariously similar plot” to The Five Star Weekend.
“But he just, again, read the material and from the beginning was really just invested in it,” she continued of Olyphant. “And really, you don’t always find this. How cool it is to find a guy who just wants to play the love interest and and play like like not a tertiary character but like play a smaller part with these like five amazing women?”
Not only was Olyphant “generous with his time,” but also “so swoony,” according to Brunstetter.
“It’s like give the people what they want,” she teased. “Like he steps on screen and you’re just like, ‘Oh Tim,’ and it just gives you butterflies and reminds you of all the boys you’ve ever had crushes on. He just serves that and is also a really lovely guy to have around, so we felt really lucky to get him.”
The Five Star Weekend is streaming on Peacock.