Bonding: Season Two, Episodes One, Two and Three

 This time I'm not blogging the whole thing in one sitting, probably wisely.

 

Episode One: The Kinks

"Domme 101..."

Overall, considering Tiff and Pete were seemingly in very srious trouble at the end of last season, they seem to have got off rather lightly, with Tiff merely having been banned from using any of the dungeons in town and ostracised from the local BDSM community- which seems fair enough, given the litany of faults recited by Mistress Mira, a character I really like already; Nana Mensah is truly impressive here, and frankly the best performer in this.

It's an entertaining premise, with both of them having to go back to BDSM school before Tiff can even think about being a domme again, let alone a dominatrix. And we also have some promising character stuff, with New Year's Eve falling a bit flat as Doug's ex turns up while Pete's boyfriend turns out not to be out to his wanker frat boy friends. For a series with such short episodes this sets things up rather well.

 

Episode Two

"It's cause I have a big dick."

I'm enjoying this second series earlier on than I did the first; it doesn't need to establish the characters or premise so it can get on with things. It also helps that, with episodes being just eighteen minutes long, there's only a certain amount of plot per episode so we can still take time to savour the characterisation and witty dialogue.

I love the submissive bloke getting off on the humiliation of bombing on stage, like Andy Kaufman. And there's some nicely nuanced stuff on Pete's reaction to Josh being to some extent still within the closet. There are also hints, making a lot of sense, that Pete may actually be submissive. And there's some clever character stuff around puppy play. There's a lot going on here.

Episode Three

"May I hold the German?"

The BDSM class proceeds, this time through a rather entertaining montage, but the plot thickens. Tiff is doing well in class, blossoming as a fin sub- and is the financial submissive actually Josh's "conservative" dad or am I being misdirected? But Pete, as Mistress Mira has noticed, is taking things rather less seriously. Hence the beginnings of what is perhaps an inevitable rift between between him and Tiff. 

Meanwhile, the spotlight turns to Frank, and his worries not only about supporting his regnat wife but his (rather gendered) self-esteem as a man. Meanhile there's also some contrasting development for Doug, who may himself befeminist enogh to teach other men about the Patriarchy, comes to realise aspects of his own unexamined misogyny. There's a lot going on, again. Moreover, he and Tiff, with shades of McLuhan, are unable to communicate their feelings to each other well. This is good stuff.