S02.E02: There’s an Art to This

[LoveLeigh]

By late 1977 and into early 1978, The Deuce’s women ache to break free from men pulling the strings or from society itself.

[MCMLXXVII]

Glad that Candy has a mentor now.

Pleasantly surprised to see Ashley back as a feminist advocate, this should be interesting.

I want  things to work out well for Lori and her career. I dunno, I get a bad vibe there, hope it doesn’t go “Star ‘80” for her. That bleached hair is giving me “tragic blonde” foreshadowing-Marilyn, Dorothy Stratten.

[Armchair Critic]

Fig from Orange Is The New Black is the agent!

[Traveller519]

Nice to see the wheels finally rolling!

I may have gagged a little at the "Coney Island Whitefish" discussion. Good gawd, New York must have been absolutely disgusting in that era!

I am very much okay with the show pushing Vinny and Frankie to the side in order to focus a little more on the roles the women take on this season. Frankly it seems to me that the brothers' story would feel more or less complete with the advance in time. They've staked their claim to the neighbourhood. Candy is going to have the most interesting climb. Lori and Darlene seeking independence will be interesting. And I LOVE that Ashley is back. She was a low-key star of the first season. I wouldn't want to be Cece with her back in town.

[sadie]

I was worried after last weeks premeire but gratefully happy to say My Deuce is back! Glad to see where we’re headed, last season (IMO) was all about women being a victim to the men around them. Well honey times they are a changing. I find almost every female character fascinating in where they are to finding their empowerment. Candy remains my favorite, just watching Gyllenhaul’s (sp) ability to see the wheels turning in her head is awesome! And Fig OITNB was simply made for 1977! Even tho Lori is probs gonna end up dead.  

[yellowjacket]

Very solid episode.  They really have the period right with the hair/clothes/dialogue.  Haven't heard "Coney Island blowfish" in a long time!

Liked seeing that Candy has a relationship with her son.  Loved the Ashley surprise.   Looks like we're going to have a bit of a 70s-80s feminism theme, which I am here for.

[EtheltoTillie]

Gee, for me this show has jumped the shark a bit.  I particularly disliked the Coney Island scene, the worst kind of talking exposition.  In the last five years he never talked to her about his childhood visits to Coney Island/Neponsit? 

[MCMLXXVII]

2 hours ago, sadie said:

And Fig OITNB was simply made for 1977!   

I know! I love the actress, but find the “high maintenance” Fig look to be oddly unflattering on her. Her 70s look is amazing.

Does anyone know if the blonde at the dressing table with Lori (Midnight Blue conversation) was supposed to be a real person? 

Edited September 17, 2018 by MCMLXXVII

[tennisgurl]

Fig was made for 1977! I am so here for all the ladies finding more strength, and seeing the growth of the porn industry, and how its actually giving some of the women more independence. Even the pimps are getting in on it! Growing market and all that. "Its like girls are going to their guidance counselor and saying they want to plan a career in porn". 

Love Candy finding a mentor, and her trying to make her porn more artistically interesting, and to find better actors and production values. And Ashley has returned as a feminist activist with a super cute new late 70s wardrobe! Excited to see her thrown into the mix again! That is something I actually do often like about time jumps, you get to see characters in whole new points in their lives. And while its great seeing Lori finding her way in her new career, I am also really worried about her. I dont see things ending well for her. 

Yeah, I figured letting dudes at peeps shows grab women was going to end badly. I mean, duh. 

[BingeyKohan]

This season feels off to me so far. I don’t totally get the point of the time jump. Other than Candy’s swaggering club entrance in the premiere most actors seem to be inhabiting the mood of their characters as if mere days or weeks had passed since the Season 1 finale, not years.

Even Candy (does she go by Eileen now?), looking around and noticing she hasn’t come as far as she’d like -wouldn’t she have already reached that conclusion a year or so in?

The women’s empowerment stories feel organic to me when we’re following Candy and Lori, but center them around whatever Abby is up to and they start to feel forced and didactic.

[txhorns79]

Quote

They really have the period right with the hair/clothes/dialogue. 

I think they have the hairstyles right, but some of the wigs they are using, particularly with the guys and Abby, are just awful. 

Quote

This season feels off to me so far. I don’t totally get the point of the time jump. Other than Candy’s swaggering club entrance in the premiere most actors seem to be inhabiting the mood of their characters as if mere days or weeks had passed since the Season 1 finale, not years.

 

I agree the time jump hasn't necessarily worked in all areas.  The characters don't seem to act as though a large amount of time has passed in how they interact with one another, and it feels like we've skipped from one extreme to the other with some of them.

Though I did smile at the idea of some starry eyed kid who drops out of college to make it in the porn industry.  It's like some afterschool special gone very wrong. 

[Moxie Cat]

Was Candy's mentor Dagmara Dominczyk? I saw her name in the credits but whatever role she had in the Deuce isn't on her IMDB profile yet.

[Fretful]

On 9/18/2018 at 5:40 AM, txhorns79 said:

 

I agree the time jump hasn't necessarily worked in all areas.  The characters don't seem to act as though a large amount of time has passed in how they interact with one another, and it feels like we've skipped from one extreme to the other with some of them.

 

Five years seems like an awfully long time to be a street hooker in the 70's.  Those girls didn't look any worse than they did at the end of season 1.  They should all be looking a bit harder.

[thuganomics85]

Sorry, Frankie, but anyone with a working brain; including your brother; would pick Big Mike over you when it comes to job responsibility and management.

Looks like Candy has found herself a mentor and is now going to try and make a porno version of Little Red Riding Hood.  A tale as old as time!  I do wonder if Harvey is going to finally start getting with the program or be left behind if he doesn't adapt.

Things seem to be going well for Lori, so I'm basically waiting for something bad to really happen to her.

Alston was coaching that kid to claim it was self defense, right?

So, Bobby has a child with one of the prostitutes?

Abby is secretly meeting up with some kind of advocate group and it includes Ashley!  This should be fun!

[DangerousMinds]

On 9/18/2018 at 8:40 AM, txhorns79 said:

I think they have the hairstyles right, but some of the wigs they are using, particularly with the guys and Abby, are just awful. 

I agree the time jump hasn't necessarily worked in all areas.  The characters don't seem to act as though a large amount of time has passed in how they interact with one another, and it feels like we've skipped from one extreme to the other with some of them.

Though I did smile at the idea of some starry eyed kid who drops out of college to make it in the porn industry.  It's like some afterschool special gone very wrong. 

Reminds me of the girls that dropped out of college in the 90's and early 2000's to be in Playboy. Feminism took a real dive there.

[Milburn Stone]

On 9/18/2018 at 6:40 AM, BingeyKohan said:

This season feels off to me so far.

Me too.

Last season I felt lots of the characters were in jeopardy, which kept me involved. This year, the only character I'm worried about so far is Paul.