"Bonding" course corrects in season 2
I enjoyed the emotional arcs in the first season of Bonding, Netflix’s BDSM black comedy, but even I, a total square, could tell that it wasn’t an accurate portrayal of the BDSM community. The show received plenty of blowback for its (potentially dangerous) inaccuracies, especially its murky depiction of consent.
Luckily, though, the showrunner and stars have taken the criticism to heart, and Season 2 attempts to correct a lot of its mistakes, hiring a BDSM consultant to help with their story, and taking the show’s characters to task for their unacceptable behaviour. And yet it still finds plenty of room for sweet, nuanced, and complicated emotional stories throughout the eight episodes.
This time, Tiff (aka “Mistress May”) and Pete (aka “Master Carter”) have been blacklisted from every dungeon in town, and are forced to take a BDSM 101 course to earn they way back (this is “where Mistress May” is chastised for wearing a collar that’s meant for a slave, not a dom). Tiff is still in a relationship with Doug, though she’s loath to admit it, while Pete realizes that his boyfriend Josh is still in the closet at work. And as their commitment levels to the BDSM community begin to differ, Tiff and Pete begin to drift apart as well.
Nobody in this show is a full villain or a full hero — when Doug’s ex-fiancée shows up, she’s quickly revealed to be a full person with her own virtues and faults, rather than a demon meant to come between Doug and Tiff. And when the inevitable blowup between Tiff and Pete finally occurs, it’s hard to fully agree or fully disagree with either of them. Leads Zoe Levin Brendan Scannell have great chemistry together, and a special shoutout to Micah Stock as Doug, who began season 1 seeming like a douchey meathead and is now one of the real hearts of the show.
I’m not an expert on the BDSM community by any means and I’m sure that Season 2 doesn’t get everything right, but it’s refreshing to see creators accept and validate criticism of their work and put in the effort to make things better going forward.
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That’s all for me today, gorgeous! Talk to you soon.
Love,
Kat
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