Binge Watching: Which Show Is Your New Black?
Binge watching TV series has become a national pastime now that so many of us have access to programming “on demand” and companies like Netflix stream an entire new season of a show the same day. Thus far I’ve managed to maintain immunity to the concept of staying up all night or spending an entire weekend devouring every episode of a series, even though friends have urged me to get with the binging times and purge my way through the complete backlog of episodes of House of Cards and Orange is the New Black.
I’d like to view at least some of the New Black prison drama primarily to see the transgender hairdresser character Sophia, who is played to much acclaim by Laverne Cox (who is transgender). But I prefer my dark drama with an eyewink of comedy (as in the recent series adaption of the Coen Brothers’ Fargo). Besides, I’m afraid I’ll get hooked on New Black, and then I’d never make deadline for another column…or my day job.
My resistance to binge watching has taken a hit this summer after a friend recommended that I check out another series with the word black in its title. Nearly every night John and I find ourselves watching at least two episodes of the BBC America series Orphan Black (now midway through its second season). This intricately plotted thriller offers a delicious dose of noir humor and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The twists are nonstop and the casting is spot on.
Jordan Gavaris, a 24-year-old Canadian actor, portrays young gay artist Felix Dawkins, and Tatiana Maslany, 28, plays his foster sister Sarah. Maslany also plays a frazzled, frustrated soccer mom named Alison, a dreadlocked lesbian scientist named Cosima, a seemingly demented Eastern European immigrant named Helena and a police detective named Beth. Then there’s Rachel and Katja, and the list goes on. I’ve frequently seen actors take on two (even three) roles in the same production, but nearly a dozen? Never until now.
The series is about a group of human clones who stumble upon one another and struggle to discover who is monitoring their lives and why someone is trying to kill them one by one. Maslany successfully prevents the audience from confusing the genetically identical women—well, at least most of the time. Their interchangeability is a big element of the fun and is at the center of many of the storylines. Thus far, Maslany’s work has earned her a Golden Globe nomination and the Individual Achievement in Drama award from the Television Critics Association—and that’s just for season one.
My favorite character on Orphan is Felix, and Gavaris plays him with contemporary hipster flair (and a cutting-edge neo-vintage wardrobe) as well as a refreshing nonchalance about sex that seems just about right for many young gay urban males today. He’s brave in battling for his sister and bold in sex. He’ll turn a trick for a favor or for fun though he’s always searching for Mr. Right.
A few critics, especially one straight entertainment blogger, have carped at Gavaris for making Felix too “stereotypical” and flamboyant. It’s a charge that incensed the actor, and Gavaris’ response is probably the best I’ve heard on the subject of how gay people should be represented on TV or in films: “You cannot collectively, as a society, decide that you are only going to represent one part of a minority. It’s like saying that you’ve represented black people on television because you aired an episode of The Cosbys. That is not true. It’s just like you can’t put one episode of Modern Family on and say you’ve represented the LGBT community. It’s unfair, it’s exclusionary and it’s irresponsible.”
Gavaris suggests that TV should stop bending over backwards to make it look like all gay people are straight-appearing successful lawyers (though Eric Stonestreet might disagree that his role on Modern Family is that of a straight-acting professional).
Gavaris’ character is a complex one and, as he notes, “There are clichés and non-clichés in everything…. There are so many more interesting things to Felix than who he’s sleeping with.”
He is one smart young actor.
Speaking of complex characters, HBO’s prime-time soap opera Looking, which chronicles the relationship difficulties of a handful of gay male friends in San Francisco, has been renewed for a second season next winter. I wasn’t immediately sold on the show because at first the characters seemed so unlikeable, albeit credible. It was hard to find a hero to cheer. Perhaps I was disappointed because the advance hype indicated that the series would be the gay version of Lena Dunham’s witty and insightful Girls. I didn’t find much funny in Looking, which seemed to focus on relationships that were failing for obvious reasons. A longer title, Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places, might have been more appropriate.
The series gradually grew on me, especially when Jonathan Groff as video game designer Patrick struggled to be a good boyfriend to Raúl Castillo’s wrong-side-of-the-tracks barber Richie. Some of their soul-searching conversations were truly moving. Of course, in classic soap style, temptation to stray was not far away, and Patrick’s boss, Kevin (Russell Tovey), has not been one to give up easily. Which brings me back to my problem with Looking: For a series with such a cutting-edge approach to gay men’s sexuality, including its seamier edges, the show still strikes me as formulaic. Too soapy, too whiny. A few more laughs would help a lot, too. After all, guys, you are gay. We’ll see how it goes in season two. I am intrigued enough to continue looking.
In other gay-related TV news, this summer we will say goodbye to an old friend, Lafayette on HBO’s True Blood. After seven seasons, the best vampire series ever says farewell in September. And Lafayette, played by Nelsan Ellis, is no small reason for its long run. A sarcastic, cross-dressing, flamboyant short-order cook in the rural Louisiana setting’s Merlotte’s diner, Lafayette has kept us laughing through all sorts of mayhem and madness, even the death of his boyfriend and numerous attempts on his life. Nothing could keep Lafayette down for long.
Finally, Girls cast regular Andrew Rannells, who starred in the smart NBC sitcom The New Normal, and was Elder Price in the original Broadway cast of The Book of Mormon, returns to the New York stage in August to take over Neil Patrick Harris’ starring role in Hedwig and The Angry Inch. It is likely a thankless task to try to measure up to Tony-winner Harris, but Rannells has the chops to do it. Whenever he’s on Girls, it’s one of the show’s best episodes, and now he gets to be one. Well, to come within an inch of being one.