Sugar Rush, Season One, Episode 3

"Are you on something?"

"No."

"Then why are your hands on my tits?"

The tension now ramps up with both it strands- Stella's affair and Kim's unrequited passion for Sugar, and things start to get seriously uncomfortable. There's a change of tone, and a fair bit of non-linear storytelling.

There's a more serious tone. We learn that Sugar's mum tried to kill herself "when Dad pissed off". There's real darkness beneath the chirpy exterior, and sex is cheap for her: she's always "too pissed to remember." This does not indicate a particularly filling sex life.

We see plenty more of Stella's mid-life crisis affair with Dale, with spliffs, wine and cunnilingus. Matt has an accidental overdose. But the episode ends with the tension unresolved.

Sugar Rush: Season One, Episode 2

"I hope your pubes turn ginger!"

In a sense, this episode is still setting stuff up- the alienation between Kim and her parents being symbolised by Kim's knowledge that her mum, oblivious to her dad, is having an affair, and also of course by the theft of her parents' credit card. There's also the usual wit, and some very nice use of dream sequences. Even the plot structural things are witty and a bit meta.

The most blatant sign of Kim's alienation from the not-exactly-maternal Stella is their failure to connect even during their "mother and daughter day" at the spa; she'd rather be with the object of her desire, Sugar, who unfortunately has yet another useless male lover, Ray. Instead she has her misfit parents and Matt, the worlds oddest brother.

We end with Stella blackmailing Kim with the prospect of divorce if Kim spills the beans. These episodes are very short but this allows for a lot of playfulness. Still great so far.