Swingtown "Friends with Benefits" (2008)

I'm not sure what's happening. I was originally okay with everything not being so sexually charged in all the different plot developments, but it just seems like we're not getting anything good out of the premise. We're slipping into general marital problems with the Millers and the Thompsons, making the Deckers they only real couple still swinging strong. I guess I can't blame the show, but it's just not holding my interest as much anymore. I delayed Swingtown from being watched live to being watched online and now the period is increasing when I watch the episodes. It just doesn't snap as it did in the beginning to hold your attention. I'm not saying it should be all sex, sex, sex but I just don't find the non-sex related problems to be that interesting.

Susan and Bruce are having issues regarding Susan's new personality change and how when Bruce wants to count on her for something she is not as willing to do it without question as she had originally been. Susan is supposed to be the heart of the show with her transformation from unsatisfied housewife into being her own powerful woman epitomizing the culture of this time period. I just don't finding her transformation warranting any intrigue. It's also nice to see Janice breaking out of her shell and trying to network with the social elite but now with Roger losing his job I'm sure there's going to be some bumps in the road for them just as it seems they were starting to loosen up on their own.

The Deckers continue to be the most fascinating with an ex-flame of Trina's meeting her by chance and joining her and Tom for a little swinging action. I'm not sure why this guy affects Tom so much as any other guy he's seen having sex with his wife. I guess it's the fact that they have a history and she may still have feelings for this guy, who I believe was her first real boyfriend. He takes it pretty hard, leaving in the middle of the good stuff and wanting to sit it out before Trina comes and brings him back in. I'm sure this spells doom for them as well with his increased time spent away from home and his decreasing reluctance in partying while away. I like the Deckers as they seem to have a pure relationship despite what their sexual proclivities may be and I would like to see more of them but I just don't find the rest of the characters all that interesting or worth sitting through just to get to them.

I can't blame the show for being bad but I will brand it as being too bland considering how it was advertised. The characters should be driving the story so sex doesn't need to be used as the tool to attract the viewers. But without the sex we just see how boring the characters are and how the show seems to be steering itself on auto-pilot. It's a shame because I'm sure the promiscuity factor will probably be raised now that all three couples are starting to fracture but I'm not interesting in continuing on to see how it will all develop. Unlike how I dropped Fear Itself which was just so appalling it didn't deserve another chance, I continued to hope for Swingtown for the last couple of weeks in hoping it would get out of its slump. It's with disappointment that I'm going to drop this show because I thought it would be some nice summer fun but failed to live up to the excitement that it promoted.

Favorite moment: Another signifier of a show that needs to be put to pasture, nothing stood out for me in this episode that really is worthy of special mention. It all sort of blended together and nothing comes to mind to put in this section. Sorry, Swingtown.