The Girlfriend Experience – S2E3/S2E4

Previously on The Girlfriend Experience

Erica & Anna

Erica’s and Anna’s stories reveal the roles of escorts in the upper echelons of power; a tale as old as time. Erica continues to use her connection with Anna to take down political opponents and divert their money where she’s wants it to go: to her candidates. Her job is not without its very real dangers, especially when blackmailing opponents.

Erica’s story blends perfectly into today’s political climate. They pay to play between businesses and legislators influencing government for personal gain, the next billion to be gained is the ultimate goal.  And we get to see the unending symbiotic relationship between donor and politicians, the endless negotiations, and closed-door conversations.

These episodes explore the relationships with the women in their lives; relationships which all exist with an underlying hint of manipulation. The was they live their professional lives essentially is the same way they run their personal lives, and that is not a sustainable model.

I appreciate the different body types we see and the realness of the sex scenes. In episode three we get to explore a woman being the paying customer with Anna, instead of just the standard male to female relationships expected within The Girlfriend Experience.

Bria

Bria’s story takes place within a different circle. She has fallen from the peak of glamour and influence, and now, under an alternate identity, is using all the manipulation she can muster to crawl her way back up to some semblance of her former life.

We get to explore her creepy relationship with Paul, a greasy manipulative life coach who gets off on controlling and getting people dependent on him, to her increasingly toxic relationship with the agent tasked with acclimating her to a life of normalcy . The line quickly blurs between them, and there’s really no one to feel sorry for other than Bria’s fake daughter.

Bria’s story is also complicated as all get out. From her relationship with her agent, her fake daughter, and the randoms she sleeps with for money, it’s all a mixture of control and desperation for her. In order to survive she had to die, leaving behind her old life but she still has a taste of the finer things. Something being an informant doesn’t afford her.

The Girlfriend Experience, with all its sexuality tied to power, is a show trying to tell a different story. Sometimes it’s easy to mock many of the over-the-top scenes (and I do), but human beings can be over-the-top as well, especially when it comes to sex and ambition. These episodes did a better job of telling the story Amy Seimetz and Lodge Kerrigan are trying to tell, and I am hoping they’re able to stick the landing at the end of this season.