Submission

3 Stars

Summary

Entertaining show with decent sex scenes, but both production quality and the depiction of BDSM lifestyle are lacking at times.

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Showtime has a new original series: Submission. The plot summary from IMDB describes the show:

This tantalizing new series chronicles the sexual awakening of the beautiful but unfulfilled Ashley, when she discovers the popular erotic novel “SLAVE” by Nolan Keats. However, her fascination with the mysterious Mr. Keats leads her into a sexy but dangerous love triangle, where not everyone is who they appear to be and where fantasies are no longer just words in a book. Part romantic drama, part mystery, this tale of seduction, obsession and sexual power from acclaimed writer/director Jacky St. James will leave you breathless and begging for more. What’s your safeword?

For someone who engages in BDSM or lives a BDSM lifestyle in real life, 50 Shades of Grey–and shows like this that try to emulate 50 Shades of Grey–seem a little silly at times. As with anything that gets transformed into a pop culture movement and big screen movie, there is some artistic license involved and the result doesn’t necessarily reflect reality.

I don’t want to give too much away, but the central Dom in Submission–like Christian Grey in 50 Shades of Grey–sometimes lacks dominance. In the early episodes the character who is ostensibly his submissive steps over the line many, many times with very little in the way of correction.

Granted, as a Dom in real life I understand that being in a D/s relationship and/or trying to live a D/s lifestyle sometimes presents challenges. For what it’s worth, I do think that the characters and stories in Submission are a more accurate reflection of BDSM and D/s than 50 Shades of Grey.

If you’ve watched other original series on Showtime–like Weeds, Californication, Shameless, House of Lies, Homeland, Ray Donovan, or even The L Word–you expect a certain degree of quality. Setting aside BDSM lifestyle elements, the show itself is lacking in terms of plot, dialogue, acting, and production quality. Submission is essentially a soft-porn series that seeks to capitalize on the spike in interest in BDSM resulting from the popularity of the 50 Shades of Grey books and movie.

The show is good enough to be worth watching. The plot and storylines are engaging and entertaining. You just have to be able to get past the poor dialogue and acting at times. There is gratuitous nudity and sex, so you at least have that to look forward to.

Submission doesn’t live up to the reputation Showtime has with shows like Homeland and Weeds, and I don’t expect it to be taking home any awards. If you like 50 Shades of Gray, though, you’ll probably like Submission. Even if you don’t like 50 Shades of Grey, you should give Submission a try.

Check it out and let me know what you think in the comments below.