BBC Babble – Adultery in the UK

When I read about Mistresses – BBC America’s newest hour-long drama – I have to admit, I wasn’t jumping for joy. Four chicks whining about their unfulfilled relationships with men seemed like an overabundance of estrogen. I’m not one to dismiss a show without giving it a watch, so I took in the premiere last Friday night, stiff drink in hand.

Any time a series opens up with a funeral, you know you’re in for something interesting. Bodies in caskets aside, the debut featured assisted suicide, an office sex scene, and lesbians. Now that’s how you get out of the blocks quickly. I hope the writers didn’t blow their wad after just one episode. Not to worry. It appears they will be able to get some mileage from this collection of philandering birds.

The series centers around four friends: Katie, the doctor; Trudi, the 9/11 widow; Siobhan, the lawyer; Jessica, the whore, er, project manager. Together, they swap tales of conquest and provide one another shoulders to cry on. However, these Chatty Cathies also have deep, dark secrets that could further complicate their already convoluted lives.

So far, we know Katie was having an affair with one of her patients, John, who just died (hence the funeral). John’s son is convinced his father was cheating on his mom and is determined to discover the identity of the hussy. I smell trouble.

Trudi just received a million-dollar check for being the widow of a 9/11 victim. She also has an eye on a divorced father she met at her daughter’s school. You go girl!

Jess, the wild one, is banging her married boss, but she’s attracted to a lesbian whose wedding she is planning. Very nice.

Then there is Siobhan. She and her hubby are trying to conceive a baby using the always sexy “vaginal temperature” method. She may appear prim and proper, but that hasn’t stopped her from flirting with a co-worker. Oh, behave!

I equated the show with Sex and the City in last week’s Babble, but that was an unfair comparison. Sex and the City is silly and unwatchable. Mistresses has potential. The Brits aren’t as sexually hung-up as America seems to be, thus they aren’t afraid to push the envelope and be adult. Despite my initial reservations, I’m hooked for the foreseeable future.

I still haven’t given up on Dollhouse Fridays at 9pm, so I’ll have to add this saucy soap to my DVR list. I do have other duties here at the Babble; I won’t be providing weekly reviews, but I will use this space to check back on our fidelity-challenged foursome if warranted. Will Katie be exposed as a husband-stealing harlot? What will Trudi do with her settlement check? Is Jess really going to bed another woman (played by Anna Torv from Fringe?) Will Siobhan throw away her marriage for a dosage of hot office sex?

Ooh, the anticipation. Stay tuned for the next episode of Mistresses.

Clacked by Scott Tunstall
on Feb 25, 2009 @ 14:00 EST5EDT