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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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The series Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed pulls you in almost immediately. A newly divorced woman, played by Tatiana Maslany, finds comfort in an online relationship with a can boy. But that comfort is cut short by a frightening incident. Now, if you loved Maslany in Orphan Black, she's really, really great here, too.
And she's surrounded by a colorful cast that includes Jake Johnson and Murray Bartlett, with a sharp script that lives up to its hook. I'm Ayesha Harris. Joining me today on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour is culture critic Kristen Meinzer. Hello, Kristen.
Hi, Ayesha.
Great to have you. And also with us is entertainment journalist Christina Escobar. She's the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Latina Medio Putaco. Welcome back to you too, Christina. Happy to be here. So great to have you both here. So Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed stars Tatiana Maslany. as Paula, a fact checker living in New York City. Those are very rare these days.
Right off the bat, we're starting off strong. She's fresh from a contentious divorce from her ex, Carl, who's played by Jake Johnson. Things are still kind of ugly, though, because they're involved in this custody battle. Carl wants to move their young daughter to Idaho because his new wife, Mallory, has a job offer there. Mallory is played by Jesse Hodges.
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Chapter 2: What is the premise of Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed?
Seeking some emotional release, Paula's developed an intimate online relationship with a sex worker on an OnlyFans-like site. But during one of their video sessions, he's attacked by a masked assailant. Paula reports the crime to police, but Detective Sofia Gonzalez, played by Dali De Leon, dismisses the incident as a likely attempt by the sex worker to scam Paula.
Turns out Detective Gonzalez is wrong. Well, kind of. It's a lot more complicated than that, and Paula learns this the hard way. Maybe the hardest way possible. All the ways. So many ways that it's very, very hard. As things escalate, every aspect of our life comes under threat. And Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed is streaming on Apple TV now. So Kristen, I'm going to start with you.
There's a lot going on here, as I've already hinted. How did it all go down for you while watching this?
Yeah, you're not kidding when you say there is a lot going on. What's happening in the first five minutes is not the same thing that's happening in the next 10 minutes, which is not the next thing that's happening by the end of the first episode or the end of the second episode. And I loved it. I loved that it was fast-paced. I loved that it was propulsive.
I loved that it was so full of surprises. And I loved that this cast of characters are really good at doing the wrong thing most of the time in a way that was... So enjoyable. Like, please, somebody do something right. And that's not to say that everybody is a bad person in here, but even the good people keep doing things completely wrong. And special shout out to our lead, Tatiana Maslany.
She is so believable at trying her best, at wearing different hats, at trying to hold it together when everything's going wrong. I've loved her since Orphan Black, and she's really, really good in this show. Very different from anything I've seen her in before, but so, so good.
Yeah, yeah. I echo so many of your sentiments, Kristen. Christina, tell us how you felt about this.
I liked this show, but it's a little begrudging on my part. It definitely caught me. I was certainly rooting for Paula. My heart was racing. I was worried. I was concerned. I wanted to watch the next episode. But there were a lot of things... all throughout that just didn't make sense.
Plot holes that when I turned off and thought about it for a second, I was like, I don't understand how that happened. There were some relatively annoying characters in like her two colleagues that get a little bit better, but man, we spent a lot of time with them and they are very obnoxious.
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Chapter 3: How does Tatiana Maslany's character navigate her online relationship?
So first, as far as the co-workers go, Christina, I totally understand what you're saying. These co-workers are irritating, but frankly, so is almost everybody on this show. That's part of what makes the show interesting. Like, even the people who have funny lines, like the cops, are so irritating at times. Like, why aren't you doing your job better?
Some of the bad guys who are trying to fleece people or take advantage of them, a lot of them are so irritating too, just so irritating. flawed and driven by the worst instincts, incompetence, greed, infidelity, it's all there. All these people are terrible.
But as far as the younger coworkers, I thought it was a really useful thing to put them in there because the main cam boy characters who are trying to fleece people are the same age as these younger coworkers. And there are things that they seem to understand more about technology than than Paula does.
Chapter 4: What challenges does Paula face after the frightening incident?
She's in her late 30s. And that extra 10 years can make a difference when it comes to how adept somebody is, how much of a digital native they are, what they're keeping an eye out for. Paula, who she's by no means completely out of touch in the world. She knows how to go on to an OnlyFans type site. She knows what a cam boy is and how to interact with a cam boy.
Maybe she's not thinking about the same things as a 2020 two-year-old or a 29-year-old is thinking of when they're on technology. And I got to say, I relate to Paula here. I'm like, oh, man, could this happen to me? I'm definitely the person who is at risk of clicking on the wrong thing on social media, thinking like, oh, it's a coupon for shoes 90% off. I'm going to buy those shoes.
It's not a coupon for shoes, guys. It's not. So I'm like, okay, I get it. We kind of, in a way, need those younger characters who are so irritating because there are things they just get as digital natives in a way that maybe Paula's not quite a digital native in the same way her younger co-workers are. But as far as Jake Johnson, the ex-husband of Paula...
I don't know if I fully agree with you, Aisha, that I think that he's not a villain. I think he is a villain. Villain loosely. I think he and his new wife, who he was running around on Paula with, he was cheating on Paula with his coworker. Now he and this coworker are going to move across the country, literally onto the other coast, because she has a better job.
And that's more important than a child actually... being in their school district with their friends, with their mom. And so I'm like, you're a bad man. No, you are a weak, weak man who is just following around a woman who you think is authoritative. He thinks Paul is too flimflammy. So he's like, I'm going to follow this authoritative woman, even if her authority is dictating terrible things.
It doesn't match his moral compass.
Yeah, I hear you. I don't think he's a hero, but I don't think he's a villain either. He's trying, I think, to do what's best for their daughter.
Oh, no, he's not. He's trying to do what's best for his pants.
I think he wants to do what he thinks is best. That doesn't mean that's correct. Yeah, I kind of feel like that's like, If you take all of those things together, yes, he does really bad things. But there are moments between the two of them where you see he's at least trying.
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Chapter 5: How do the characters' flaws contribute to the show's tension?
But I do think that, as you said, Christina, what this show does a lot of is misdirect. And so within those two characters, the co-worker characters, there's this sort of commentary upon journalism and media because
a subplot occurs with specifically the Jerry character, played by Akira Hamagami Goldberg, where she is kind of like, Paul is divulging all of this information to her, and there's a way in which this character is going to maybe try and use that information to better serve her own career, right?
And then even Murray Bartlett's character, I think, who he's playing Dennis, who is involved with the scam on the other side of these things, he kind of starts off as just like, you know, this kind of bad guy in a way.
And I don't think he necessarily surpasses that, but he is, once we learn how he's connected and how all of these other things are connected, what I appreciated about this show and what it's trying to do is, as someone myself who has been so concerned and so obsessed with this idea of reality and truth and finding all of these things, and the fact that Paula is a fact checker is like,
a job that barely exists in media anymore. It's very hard to get that. It doesn't exist anymore, except in very few places. And the fact that we have a fact checker and then we have all of these sort of things that get uncovered throughout the season where we learn that this isn't just a small scam, this is a ring, and it leads to all these other places.
I kind of like the way this is playing with this idea of OnlyFans, this idea of sex work, but also how We all interact with each other. And just the idea of Paula not being able to actually find pleasure throughout the show. Maslany has talked about how one of the things that is crucial to this character is the fact that every time she seeks pleasure, it gets upended from her.
And the idea of a woman not being able to find happiness because of all these other things, that felt real. And I feel like the show does a really good job of driving that point home in many ways.
Yeah. Shout out to Hot. soccer coach dude though which that's some pleasure that presents itself to her but will she take it yes but can I just say one thing about the loads and loads of characters in this show there are a lot of them and even though I opened all of this singing the praises of the show saying I love this show it's great it's great it's great I will say
in the beginning, there are two camboys who I could not tell apart. And I should have been able to tell them apart. They are two main characters, but they are both thin white boys with floppy brown hair. And it took a second. I'm like, hold on, is this the same camboy? Is this a different camboy?
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Chapter 6: What themes of motherhood are explored in the show?
And like you said, Christina, she ends up in a different place than where she's at at the beginning of the show. And I think that's more than you can say for a lot of shows these days where oftentimes it feels like you're spinning wheels and not really going anywhere. And I think this is a pretty, yes, misdirect-y show, twist-y show, but it also is efficient and it is quite a ride. It is very fun.
Well, Up next, we're going to be talking about what's making us happy this week. So be right back. And now it's time for our favorite segment of this week and every week, what's making us happy. Kristen, I'm going to start with you. What is making you happy this week?
All right. What's making me happy this week is the book American Fantasy by Emma Straub. This is a novel about a newly divorced, newly demoted 50-year-old woman on a four-day themed cruise for fans that's a very thinly veiled version of New Kids on the Block. Okay. And we follow her as she navigates the meet and greets, the theme nights, the dance parties, the interactions with super fans.
And also we get to follow her as she overcomes her own self-consciousness and her own sense of judgment of these other people as she joins in with them and maybe taps into her own belief in herself and the things that she was embarrassed about before. with who she was.
So it's kind of a comical story, but it's also the story of personal growth and acceptance that I think is really beautiful and really funny. And I think anybody who's ever been a fan before will also appreciate the details of how they create fan experiences on the boat. It really is just a joy. So I highly recommend that. Again, that's the novel American Fantasy by Emma Straub.
Oh, man, that sounds actually right up my alley.
Oh, my God. Ayesha, you would love this. You, with your particular interest, Ayesha, I think you would love this.
Yes, yes. It reminds me of a time when I went to a Disney adult dance party, and it was a thing.
That sounds like a great story.
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Chapter 7: How does the show depict the impact of technology on relationships?
It's a different type of happy. Couples Therapy Season 5. It's streaming on Paramount Plus now. And yeah, that brings us to the end of our show. Kristen Meinzer, Christina Escobar, thanks so much for being here. As always, it was such a pleasure to talk with both of you. So fun.
So fun to be back. Thank you, Aisha.
And this episode was produced by Hufsta Fathima, Liz Metzger, Mike Katzeff. and edited by our showrunner, Jessica Reedy. Hello Come In provides our theme music. And thank you for listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR. I'm Aisha Harris, and we'll see you all next week.