Satisfaction

USA would like you to believe that this is their Thursday night sexy and erotic soft-core porno about marriage dissatisfaction. The commercials made me (an early 20s male) not want to see the show at all. If not for a friend's recommendation I would not have watched one of the best pilots I have seen this year.

Satisfaction is not afraid to ask the hard questions. What is the point of the American Dream? What is living a worthwhile life? Neil Truman has reached the pinnacle of the working mans dream. He has everything a man could want and yet he still can't see the point. Why work so hard making money, when you don't get to spend any of it with the ones you love? His wife is living the "perfect woman's life". She has nice things, a daughter, and a job. The one thing she wants is more attention from her husband. Their daughter Anika, goes to a great school, has a family with money, and everything society says will make her happy. And she too is dissatisfied. It is sad that all three just want each other and instead go elsewhere for satisfaction. Funny enough the highly paid male escort is the only person who seems happy. The pilot goes on to be full of twists and turns as each character fights to find satisfaction in their own way.

I connected with satisfaction because I too ask the question, am I content with the "perfect" life society sells us. Why am I going to college? I am getting in debt just so that I can get a piece of paper, which allows me to get a job. So that one day I will make money, have a family, retire, and die. What is the point?

Are you satisfied with the life you are "supposed" to live?

Matt Passmore, Blair Redford, and Michelle Deshon were fantastic. Each had several scenes that I enjoyed. Matt Passmore plays a strong lead character; Blair Redford played a male escort that I found myself rooting for on more then one occasion. Michelle Deshon had a brilliant scene at her school talent show. I unfortunately cannot say the same for Stephanie Szostak. For some reason she never seemed believable to me, and her performance annoyed me.

Writing 8/10 Cast 8/10 Directing 10/10 Production 10/10

I look forward to seeing if they can keep as high a production value for the following episodes.

The well-titled "Satisfaction" is about a couple who believe that there is something missing from their basically contented, affluent lives. The show begins with something out of a dream: having discovered that his wife is paying an escort, the husband takes his rival's phone and decides to take up the business. His wife's infidelity does not sadden him so much as it provides not only a motive but an opportunity, presented here in a very ingenious way, as the husband follows headlong into another life. His wife, too, despite being far too stunningly gorgeous to be paying for sex, has her own power as a character, though she is offered a kind of international compensation at the end that is highly implausible. The show's very interesting, plausible view of the complications and kinks of husband and wife will be exciting to anyone who has experienced married life, though the same cannot be said of its view of parenting; the daughter and her boyfriend are utter bores.

One good, interesting and intriguing series and that one they cancel? What are they thinking with? The wallet of course, but why not do some better advertisement and give people a chance to learn something new and get rid of their wrong preconceptions.

I suppose the Americans have a little double standards in their thinking - they think its OK with violence, rape and drugs in movies. But when it comes to mutual accepted and agreed sex inside and outside the marriage THEN they are horrified and appalled.

They are like the three monkeys - see nothing, here nothing say nothing - then everything is OK and I don't have to learn anything new.

Or am I wrong?

The bottom line is - I'm sorry this series was canceled.

"Satisfaction" begins with Neil Truman (Matt Passmore) having a terrible day. To top it off, he happens upon his wife, Grace (Stephanie Szostak) getting it on with another guy. Neil discovers that the other man is a paid escort, Simon (Blair Redford).

Neil comes into possession of Simon's phone, including all his contacts. On a whim, Neil takes a call and manages to fill in for Simon with a client.

Neil's heart belongs to his wife and his daughter, Anika (Michelle DeShon), who is having her own issues. But he has dipped a toe into forbidden waters and he is fascinated. He meets a modern day madam, Adrianna, played strikingly by Katherine LaNasa. She offers him a job working for her, which he declines.

As Neil juggles the various aspects of his life--and dabbles in Zen meditation to cope--things get more complicated. He knows Grace is lying to him. He is lying to her too, but she doesn't know it. The web of deception allows them to seek answers outside the marriage while they try to save it. Can that approach work? "You never really know where enlightenment will come from," he says in a voice over.

I find the story, after two episodes, to be well written. This is a sexy show. And there is an air of mystery surrounding the entire storyline. The acting is good.

On message boards, I have seen comments about the characters not being likable, but I disagree. Though they may be confused, they truly care about each other. The dilemmas they face are real and not uncommon. They are living in a world that is recognizable to many who work in high-pressure jobs, who lose sight of what their family needs, who wish to find a balance that promotes happiness for themselves and those they love.

So far, the story is in a state of imbalance. It is difficult to know what will develop and how Neil and Grace will achieve some equilibrium in their relationship. At this early stage in the story, I am interested in watching to find out.

Update 8/22/14: As the story lines expand to include other characters, the show is getting more interesting.

The pilot of Satisfaction was very good. In its 65' feels more like a movie than an episode of a series.

Neil, a successful investment banker and a family man, has an epiphany and thinks he's living a life without meaning. He decides to do something about that, to speak the truth, to take matters in his own hand, but... the results are far from what he might expected! After the end of the pilot everything seems completed though. Most of the characters did their circle and any farther reference to them anymore seems futile. But it's a show, not a movie! So these characters keep coming back. Their story didn't end but now they seem totally unnecessary.

Just finished watching the second (42' this time) episode and now my initial good review is changing to the worst. The editing is now avoiding crucial parts of what is happening. The script is making the characters more wooden and predictable. I, as a viewer, now care less about them.

The show unfortunately turns into a sitcom. There are even some elements of comic relief, like with a Buddhist "Monk" (another character who completed his circle in the pilot, but he is still present in the 2nd episode) who's pickpocketing a cellphone to send a SMS.

Also in the second episode we get to see the title sequence, with a nip-tuck version of Satisfaction (by the Rolling stones), that I really truly wished not to be the music theme of series, but in vain.

Overall: See the pilot. If you question yourself after, "Where the show goes from here?" skip the rest of the series.