Thursday, 18 November 2010

Shoot from the Lips.

And lo, bereft are we after the finale of Lip Service; a series with the worst bagpipe solo theme music in history. This series has allowed us to voyeuristically peek into the lives of a group of lesbians living in Glasgay as they love, fuck, argue, make up and break up... much like The L word before it.


It is a classic guilty pleasure. Frankie / Elanor / Shane from the L word played by Ruta Gedmintas only has to bat her predatory eyelashes to seemingly straight women and they're whipping their knickers off for her; completely forgetting they are attracted to men and have never behaved in such a sluttish way at the office / in a morgue / on the street before.


Shockingly Frankie is a photographer. A cliche lesbian job that allows her to photograph attractive women who suddenly pounce on her at any given chance. So strong is her sapphic, mesmerising charisma that I'm surprised she ever leaves the house through fear of a stampede of women racing down the streets after her. When Frankie isn't sleeping with whatever randomer is in her radius she is hanging out with her friends in various cafes and bars in Glasgow or harassing her ex girlfriend Cat.


Cat is an architect who needs to create a blueprint to to construct volume in her incredibly flat hair. In fact this show is shamelessly stereotypical in having lesbians with slick hair and butch jobs. There's Cat the Flat, Sam the police officer and the un-memorably named electrician... who my girlfriend claims has "rapists hair". The only women with any volume are the ditzy yet loveable Tess and her TV presenting bi-sexual, short lived lover Lou.


While this group of women were suspicious of one another, cheating on one another and getting their hearts ripped out by one another there was also the bewildering side story of Frankie's past. Apparently her Uncle's her Dad and her Mum was involved in a stabbing or glassing which got her covered in blood and then some other family members died including the original Frankie who was taken over by Elanor who was given the name Frankie. Confused? So is everyone else! Not only is it confusing but also a big waste of time, giving nothing to the TV series.


Another element of confusion was how Frankie and Cat ever got together in the first place. I know they met at school and were best mates but they're just so incredibly different it makes you wonder what they ever had in common. In the final episode Cat and Frankie finally get it on (didn't see that coming from 100 miles away) and the series ends with Cat torn between her best friend and the new woman in her life. Cat is definitely more suited to dull, reliable Sam but I must admit given the choice between the two I would pick the sultry, floppy fringed Frankie any day. 


Lip Service is undoubtably filled with faults. It is brimming with predictability, cliche's and unrealistic storylines. It also tries too hard to be gritty and cool for the masses with it's drug story lines and explicit sex scenes but all the same it is one of the few TV series made for lesbian women and it is no worse than the mighty L Word before it. Roll on series 2!

1 comment:

  1. This rating is by far outrageous and out dated the insulting comments towards how the show drives on has some truths but then again take into consideration that other shows such as californication rescue me are hits and there all based off of sex and drugs. What drives people to this show is curiosity and drama mixed with of coarse sex and drugs to keep it interested. This show has a lot of potential but lost it when they killed off one of the main characters that built of the drama and beauty of the show. Now they have left it with nothing but Tes chasing a non existent relationship and frankie goes back to the states which eliminates both basically. If they really wanted to "fix" this show they could easily add in some details left out of previous episdoes and lead the viewer on a trail of bread crumbs to frankie finding out that lexy was involved in kats accident and sam slowly finding out as well teaming them up to avenge her death. Another thing is that they could bring back Jay who also kept the show interesting with his influence and persona. And lastly to the critic that wrote this page this show has plenty going for it and can be built up on the basic ideas of sex love drugs and freinds like every other show. There a plenty of examples that i could use but frankly i dont feel like wasting my time on someone whos as narrow minded and judgemental of shows that show great potential but is drownded by insults and people who cant handle a show drawing attention to gain viewers and respect.

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