S01.E01: The Wives Are in Connecticut

[peachmangosteen]

Quote

Frustrated by the waning passion in her marriage, Billie starts journaling about — and obsessing over — her wild erotic exploits with ex-boyfriend Brad.

Airs June 25th.

[AnimeMania]

S01.E01: The Wives Are in Connecticut

Frustrated by the waning passion in her marriage, Billie starts journaling about - and obsessing over - her wild erotic exploits with ex-boyfriend Brad.

While viewing this show from the perspective of a male pervert, which is the only perspective I have, I have a lack of sympathy for the main female character, Billie. I know the show is aimed at women as the target audience, so there should be a lot of emotional craving that I wouldn't relate to. I am on the man's side during most of this episode, since I am not seeing traits I would like to see displayed that might sway me to Billie wanting to return to her old lifestyle.

There were many things that bothered me about the show, so I will just list them in no particular order:

Billie drinking while breastfeeding, she was shown having a drink on two separate occasions, but the amount was hard to determine.

Billie was shown as not having much energy or doing very much in the home during the day. Billie didn't even bother to put on clothes or even underwear while taking care of the children. This also brings up my pet peeve of Billie being so skinny after just having a second kid, they could have at least shown her as being active or actively exercising to maintain her figure, instead of lying around. I know she has to pretend to be around "24 years old" and around "32 years old" at the same time on the show.

The kid running around outside in fuzzy house slippers, they would have been ruined just running around on the grass and completely destroyed running around on grass that had been freshly mown. 

They made the husband Cooper too perfect, he works all day, comes home and mows the lawn and watches a football game. Billie was wrong to come in the room and disturb his game watching, since he clearly announced that is what he wanted to do hours beforehand. 

The kids seemed to conveniently disappear during the two sex scenes with Cooper.

The nightclub seems to be kind of "magical" being extremely quiet and uncrowded in the scenes where Sasha Snow decides to talk on the phone or have sex on it's pinball machines. Sasha Snow seems to have privileges like she is the owner of the place.

I would like to have known how Billie and Sasha Snow was paying for every thing they have, NY apartment, Grad School, partying every Saturday night. Billie mentioned dropping out of Grad School and having a job before marrying Cooper.

Sasha Snow sleeping around seems like an easy way for her to accidentally sleep with one of her students or someone in the College that might compromise her Professorship.

Sarah Shahi nudity is world class, showing everything, in great lighting, the first episode had more than enough Sarah Shahi nudity for the entire series. Which brings me to my first worry, men like variety, will other women be getting naked or will this only be the Sarah Shahi show. There is also a difference in being naked and being sexy and I didn't find Sarah Shahi all that sexy in the show. I wonder if they had more male input they could have made Sarah Shahi's seem sexier so that her disappointment in Cooper and her desire for wanting more would seem more justified. People who just wanted to see Sarah Shahi nude, shouldn't need to watch past the first episode. 

Right now I am siding with Cooper, is Billie's need for sexual satisfaction more important than stability for her and her kids. I guess if she didn't explore that option there would be no reason to make a TV Series. 

[bara007]

I do agree with almost everything you had said, AnimeMania.

And that is from a female point of view, I saw it just the same :)

 

I really have no idea why they decided to make this show.

It definitely wasn't no escapism - how they chose to market it - every scene seems to be being quite down-putting.

They did manage to make Sarah look unattractive in almost every venture - that is almost a miracle, I agree!

I actually just seen the first episode, skimmed through the second - and then the last one.

 

Would not recommend to watch.

Edited June 25, 2021 by bara007

[peachmangosteen]

I was hoping this would be fun bad but it was just bad bad. And Sarah Shahi was absolutely terrible lol.

[AuntieMame]

Well, I’m still watching. And I do have an understanding of the tension between passion and stability. True sexual passion is it’s own kind of love (unsustainable as Sasha tells us) and has an effect on us like sugar crack heroin. 
That said, my confusion was in the timing. I understand that stay at home moms can be frustrated, bored, overwhelmed and overworked, not that we saw a lot of that in Billie’s too perfect life but mothering and wifing is difficult. Even cosseted women are often dissatisfied when women’s stereotypical role as a slave member of a sex and reproductive class is made explicit. The only problem being that we see none of the difficulties that women actually face in this rendition of a wife mother. The subtext is all wink wink nudge “this spoiled bitch is complaining about nothing” when IRL, women do in fact have genuine reasons to be going full tilt crazy even in the gilded cage. It’s just not portrayed here. 

Its literally the physical timing that ruins the illusion for me. Billie has a baby still nursing and that looks to be between four and seven months old. Usually the issue in this part of the post-partum period is a complete lack of sexual desire (especially with the oxytocin levels inherent to nursing and other hormonal changes) with a husband panting after a months long dry spell and the conflict between the husbands needs and the baby’s needs.  This often brings problems to a marriage and the needs of the mother, sexual or otherwise are nowhere in sight. Most mothers at this point aren’t filled with desire hormones but love and bonding with the baby hormones. Yes, everyone is different, but my suspension of disbelief snagged here first. 
Finally, in some agreement with the first poster, Billie’s life with Cooper is too perfect. The children are cherubs. The house is practically type cast from the serious East Coast upper class American dream. Cooper is understanding and steady and good looking into the bargain. Cooper than tries to address Billie’s dissatisfaction. There isn’t enough conflict to justify yearning after the best lay of your life except as a masturbation fantasy. 

Im going to watch all of the episodes, but I’m going with great concept (women really do yearn for passion) but bad execution. Billie just comes off as a spoiled bitch whose beauty entitles her to everything and that is a very male view, even of the conflict explored. I’m wondering if whoever wrote this has ever met a woman much less the kind of woman who ends up in the top dating and marriage bracket. 

Bottom line? I would have been thrilled, thrilled to watch a show that explored the conflict between passion and stability in ways both serious and fun. That would have been summer tv yumminess. This show is emphatically NOT that. 

Edited July 10, 2021 by AuntieMame
Yet more explication of why this show is a good concept baad execution train wreck.

[Kdawg82]

The most unrelatable part of this show is that Sasha could wander through a club and have a consistent cell signal the entire time🤪

[Kdawg82]

On 7/7/2021 at 12:18 PM, AuntieMame said:

Its literally the physical timing that ruins the illusion for me.

After I posted, I read your post and I totally get what you're saying. I've been through it & it makes sense. I guess I'm either going "willing suspense of disbelief" here or the show is just trying to get us on the fast track to catch up to what's going through Billie's mind so they could show us more gratuitous sex scenes lol.

[peachmangosteen]

On 7/7/2021 at 12:18 PM, AuntieMame said:

I’m wondering if whoever wrote this has ever met a woman much less the kind of woman who ends up in the top dating and marriage bracket. 

The show was created by a woman, based on a book by a woman, and I believe all the writers are women. It's a real yikes lol.

[methodwriter85]

On 7/17/2021 at 9:41 AM, peachmangosteen said:

The show was created by a woman, based on a book by a woman, and I believe all the writers are women. It's a real yikes lol.

My issue with this is that she doesn't really pull off the Stepford Wife routine. Maybe that's the point but if I were the costumer I would have dressed up present-day Billie in a lot of Lily Pulitzer and carefully brushed her hair back- even a casual ponytail or something. Something that relays to us that her present life is a prim and proper suburban housewife who would be acceptable to Cooper's WASP parents. That would contrast with her "Wild Days" more and since we already have a woman trying to depict two periods of her life eight years apart, it would have helped with the visuals.

[AuntieMame]

On 7/17/2021 at 7:41 AM, peachmangosteen said:

The show was created by a woman, based on a book by a woman, and I believe all the writers are women. It's a real yikes lol.

Well that is one of the bigger ouches in the history of tv writing ouches. I’ve since looked up the books and even as a trashy summer hate read I can’t bring myself to buy the books and read them. Sigh. 

Edited August 16, 2021 by AuntieMame
Annoying autocorrect.

[LadyIrony]

On 6/26/2021 at 2:02 AM, AnimeMania said:

Sarah Shahi nudity is world class, showing everything, in great lighting, the first episode had more than enough Sarah Shahi nudity for the entire series. Which brings me to my first worry, men like variety, will other women be getting naked or will this only be the Sarah Shahi show. There is also a difference in being naked and being sexy and I didn't find Sarah Shahi all that sexy in the show. I wonder if they had more male input they could have made Sarah Shahi's seem sexier so that her disappointment in Cooper and her desire for wanting more would seem more justified. People who just wanted to see Sarah Shahi nude, shouldn't need to watch past the first episode. 

lol It is dull when a show becomes about "When is the star going to get naked" every episode.

[Meedis]

On 6/25/2021 at 11:02 AM, AnimeMania said:

Billie drinking while breastfeeding, she was shown having a drink on two separate occasions, but the amount was hard to determine.

Omg...thank you.  I just started watching this...I don't have much sympathy for Billie either.   But I was thinking to myself why is she drinking so much when she's breastfeeding.    I'm four episodes in so far and she's a hot mess.