Harlots

Surprisingly addicting. Game of Throne-esque betrayal, alliances, bribery, coercion, corruption, politics, sex, and revenge.

Harlots surprisingly inspires empathy for the plights of the heroines - the brothel madam and her youngest daughter. You really root for the madam's struggle to keep her girls from harm and rise up through the ranks of brothels to move up in station and compete with the Queen of Whores.

Harlots touches on racial and class issues and even features the occasional gigolo, during a time in which one if five women in old London make their livings as whores. It shows how religious zealots, the law, and the masses can be manipulated as pawns in the political, carnal, racial, and socioeconomic power struggle that is the Game of Brothels...

SO far I have only watched 3 episodes but they were all watched in a row as I first just started watching to see if it was any good. Well 3 later and I am hooked. I think Harlots has some good writing and is not at all gratuitous in any way for a show about prostitution. People on here that are trashing it are probably holy rollers that are so uncomfortable with their own sexuality that they cant bother to see it done by others. Other than that I really started watching because of Jessica Brown Findlay. I really enjoyed her in Downton Abbey and was excited to see her in another television series. Well she has not disappointed. Neither has the rest of the cast. I will enjoy the rest of the season and future seasons to come. Very worth your time!!

Sex. Drinking. Swearing. Romance. Comedy. Tear-inducing drama. I'm totally in love with this series. Chock full of throughly loveable characters and equally detestable characters. The whole cast are outstanding from the household names like Samantha Morton, Lesley Manville Dorothy Atkinson & Liv Tyler to the lesser known but just as superb Hollie Dempsie, Eloise Smyth & Jessica Brown Findlay. I've recommended this to many friends & family and every single one of them has thanked me for it. I urge everyone to guve this a go. I guarantee you will be hooked after the first episode. I'm holding out for series 4 to be commissioned by a major network soon!

Superficially, one might think that this show is a bawdy romp in Georgian England (18th century), but it is so much more. Written and directed by women, this show depicts the harsh realities for women during the 18th century, when they had few options but to be a man's property. Refreshingly, this show features women at center stage of the entire show, with men being the side characters that support the stellar female cast.

Rival whorehouses battle each other out to be the top house in London, with plenty of sharp tongued-lines, none-too-romantic depictions of sex, and here and there, hints of humor that break up this fierce drama. Sex is portrayed similarly as it is in HBO's "Girls": in all of its awkward and unromantic glory.

What will keep you watching is the secrets and twists, strong family ties, and heart-wrenching decisions that the women in this show have to make to survive. We are constantly reminded that no matter what, if women join men in marriage, they become legal property rather than human beings (strikingly similar message as found in The Handmaid's Tale, if I do say so). You sympathize with the characters who chose the path of harlotry as a bit of freedom and coin rather than be owned and controlled for the rest of their short lives. Overall, well-written, gritty, dark, but suspenseful and entertaining with a hint of humor.

Edit: That review was for season one, where they hinted a deeper romance between two women characters among other great storylines. Season two was great, but dropped the same-sex romance suddenly and inexplicably. Can't help but notice that sex scenes between men and women are graphic and plenty, but they shy away from showing more than women kissing each other as if we aren't allowed to see two women have sex because it's too risqué in 2019. Not fitting with the theme of the show AT ALL and makes me think there's some double standard there. Women's romantic relationships with each other are teased, never fleshed out. Wish they'd rethought that approach.

What also made me drop my review 3 stars is that in season 3, suddenly men are at the center of everything (two brothers who are new in town), and Charlotte, a feminist, empowered, bisexual, free woman gets hot and bothered for one of them, a man who treats women like property and is basically a misogynist, which makes no sense at all. The writers bombed this season hard, likely because they felt they needed to amp up the tension and drama and ran out of ideas. Also, a major character ends up leaving the show so they have to abruptly write that in. It was poorly done, and we didn't have enough of a powerful frontrunner to replace this character, so the rest of the season felt empty. I can understand why the show ended after season 3. Honestly, they should've ended it on a high note after season two rather than crashing and burning on the way out.

I started watching this, as I had no other series lined up, saw a trailer and quite like Samantha Morton as an actress. The first episode left me a little nonplussed, as I thought it seemed a little more lightweight than I was expecting. Perhaps even gratuitous and shallow. But I stuck with it, and by episode three was hooked. Easily as good as Peaky Blinders, which is high praise indeed from an avid watcher. The characters seem to develop well and the casting is excellent. The portrayal of the Bawds from both Samantha Morton and Lesley Manville are magnificent, and a superb supporting cast brings the piece to life. It seems odd that ITV in the UK have hidden this gem away as I can only assume that it is an expensive series to produce. A mainstream channel release is surely overdue, and a budget increase for the second series must be imminent.