Swingtown "Cabin Fever" (2008)

I was a little disappointed with this episode. First off I expected it to be steamier than it actually was. The episode description had the Millers, Deckers and Thompsons enjoying a little quality time at a cabin, Laurie invites her teacher over for dinner in the parent-less house and BJ, Rick and Samantha sneaks into the Deckers' pool while they are away. Now I know last week I said that the show if not just about swinging but the outcomes of embracing such a lifestyle but I still expected a little more than what actually happened. Only one of the three stories made any headway as the two focusing on the Miller children continue to tread water since last week. The trio who break into the pool results in Rick getting drunk and passing out and BJ and Samantha spending more time together and falling asleep in pool chairs. Laurie on the other hand gets her teacher to spend more alone time with her watching Double Indemnity and after the kiss she plants on his last week, ends this week holding his hand and telling him "this works". I guess this guy has an attraction to her or he would never have gone to the house for her dinner invitation. Hopefully we'll either see him embrace this relationship or cut her off soon and not this continuing middle ground where they hang out and at the episode realize "oh right, she likes me" and have an awkward scene.

The only story that does seem to push ahead is the parents in the cabin although this is also starting to take on a repetitive nature. Just as the Millers and Deckers look like they are about to reenact their first night together, the Thompsons show up and everything blows up. Trina and Janet continue to bicker and put Susan in the middle to sort things out. It is refreshing to see take-charge Susan again after she debuted at the housewarming party last week. Tired of Janet and Trina's incessant fighting and discovering that Bruce has outed their experimentation to Roger, Susan tells both of the women to lighten up and stop pushing buttons respectively and demands that Roger speak to her outside. I was resentful of Roger this week and his judgmental attitude towards Susan which he blamed on the fact that he was worried he and Janet wouldn't fit into her and Bruce's new lifestyle. His attitude had less to do with his worry over the loss of a friend and more to do with petty jealousy as he is obviously harboring feelings for his best friend's wife. Susan's rush to comfort him and assure him that they were still friends had me sighing in disgust as he was just obviously trying to play her. He should take a page from Bruce and Susan's new honesty pact.

Is it just me or is everything with the Deckers so sexually charged? It constantly appears as if these two couples are only moments away from jumping into bed together again. Are there no platonic activities these friends can participate in? The romantic entanglements continue to grow however as we see Janet begin to lust after Tom and Bruce is obviously attracted to Trina. With the Thompsons starting to open up to the Deckers and Tom being forced to spend more time away from home these attractions are only going to continue to grow and it'll be interesting to see the pairs start to split off instead of being together all the time. I think this is both a natural progression of the storyline and a necessity as I stated before the couples drama is becoming repetitive. It would be refreshing to see these characters start to grow closer away from their spouses instead of following the same groundwork laid since the premiere.

Favorite moment: The scene with Bruce and Tom fishing and Trina and Susan sunbathing shows that the couples can hang out without the constant appeal/threat of sex looming over the bunch. It was good to see them interacting in this manner and it's evidence that the couples have a growing friendship and they're both not simply attracting to the prospect of having another swinging session. Of course it ends with a proposed shower sharing session and just as the two couples are about to get going the Thompsons show up and ruin all the fun. Still a good scene despite the inevitable way it was going to end.