Reviewer Rating: 4.35/5.0
4.35
While there are several shows that focus on relationships and sex, not many are as honest about assumptions about sex, female desire, or stereotypes as Starz’s “3 Women.”
The series is based on the #1 New York Times bestseller by Lisa Taddeo. While adapting a narrative nonfiction book is challenging, the series retains most key elements and only changes two major things.
The series follows Gia (Shailene Woodley), who plays the real-life Lisa Taddeo, who researched and wrote a book about relationships and sex in America. Taddeo believes adding Gia’s character and story will make her more relatable and other women might open up to her.
The series premiere introduces us to everyone’s story, starting with Gia’s.
Many episodes focus on one of the women’s stories, allowing viewers to understand how Gia interacts with each other and the details of each woman’s journey.
The show’s premiere aims to provide enough tantalizing details about Lena, Sloane and Maggie to keep viewers coming back for more.
Gia’s book isn’t going well, so she must enlist the help of her mentor, Guy Talese. He was outspoken and funny, telling her to sleep with married men and take note of their reasons for cheating.
But Gia didn’t want to write from a man’s point of view. She wanted to showcase women.
The concept for Three Women was based on women’s perspectives on sex and relationships, and it wasn’t until she traveled across the country that she saw the need to tell their stories.
Gia: Unlike many other people I’ve spoken to over my eight years, Lena, Sloan, and Maggie are not people who want to be watched. They are women who need to be seen.
Lena’s (Betty Gilpin) arc was the most resonant, and Gilpin’s performance was layered and tugged at my heartstrings.
Her marriage to her husband, Ed, was loveless and all she longed for was love and affection. It was painful to watch Lena approach him, watch him reject him repeatedly, watch her visibly flinch.
She just wants someone to kiss her and her husband is acting annoying.
Since we live in a patriarchal society, Lena is expected to be incapable of physical affection because her husband doesn’t like him sacrificing things like his cherished Colts blanket.
This isn’t even on the same wavelength.
In addition to a loveless marriage, her husband always inferred that her chronic pain was in her head and that she was crazy.
Frustratingly, the new doctor, Dr. Henry, shows more compassion and understanding than her husband.
He took the time to examine her and reassure her before diagnosing her with endometriosis and fibromyalgia.
While he suspected her heartache exacerbated her condition, he never suggested she was crazy.
He genuinely wants to help her feel better about herself, and he seems to flirt with her to boost her confidence.
The premiere then moved on to a different Sloan than the bestseller. In the book, she’s a white Upper East Side guy. In the Starz adaptation, she’s an exotic African-American woman in control of her own life.
Sloane was beautiful, but she didn’t believe it. She was always working out, and the other women despised Sloan for her beauty and sex.
Since 2008’s “Swingtown,” there haven’t been many TV shows about couples swinging. So it will be interesting to watch how Sloan plays the game.
She and her husband Richard seem happy, and he still desires her, but she craves attention, too. Maybe it’s her obsession with perfection and being seen as perfect.
Swinging is all about play and finding the right partner. Finding the ideal catch was satisfying, but she craved danger.
However, there are rules.
Sloan was not allowed to find anyone better than Richard. Even though their swing game worked in her favor, he still made the rules.
It looks like they’re content with their game until Sloan searches for a new oyster supplier and meets Will (Blair Redford).
He was stocky and hot, but not the type to take home to their games.
However, when she tasted one of his oysters, her face lit up and she hired him on the spot, hoping to see more of him.
Will quickly becomes forbidden fruit, as Sloane used to defer to Richard about their swinging dates, and suddenly she can’t stop staring at Will at the next cocktail party.
He challenges Sloan, especially when he reminds her that there is more to life than work. For a long time, Sloan has been living in expectations and imagination, and she longs to live for herself. DeWanda Wise and Blair Redford already have sizzling chemistry, and I’m excited to see how it all develops.
Maggie’s (Gabrielle Creevey) storyline happens all too often. Although she is now 23 years old, she had an affair with her English teacher as a teenager and has yet to get over the shadow of being groomed.
There was no one in her home state of Indiana either. People still laugh at her.
Maggie’s intro plays quickly, revealing too much quickly.
After learning that Aaron Knodel (Jason Ralph) was named Teacher of the Year, Gia reveals that after a trial, no one believed Maggie, even though Maggie had evidence that they talked once A few hours.
A flashback shows Mr. Knodel at school with Maggie. He was married and her teacher; no matter how much he cared for her, it was inappropriate.
Even though many years have passed, Maggie is still trying to move on with her life, and her friends are worried about her.
It’s not until Maggie thinks about Mr. Knodel hurting another young girl that she decides to confront him.
The ending montage is powerful, showing all three women taking back their power. Maggie emailed Mr. Knodel demanding an explanation.
Lena experiences her first orgasm in the car while fantasizing about her high school boyfriend, and Sloan gives up on her body image and finally enjoys a night swim in her pool.
While their stories are different, Three Women is about these women taking back their power and wanting someone to love them despite all their flaws.
We’ve only scratched the surface of Lena, Sloane, and Maggie’s journey. As the series progresses, we’ll learn more about Gia’s personal story.
Will you join us? Whose arc has intrigued you the most so far? What would you like to know about these women?
This series deserves some good discussion, so please leave a comment below.
