Underneath all of the sexual angst, Sexual Healing is another interesting exploration of teenage identity through this whole alien metaphor. Liz and Max want to pursue their feelings for one another, but each feels like they’re abusing or being abused by the other. A lot of the scenes with our guys going at it feel a little less exploitive here, instead feeling like a satisfying expression of this episode’s theme.
For Liz, these strange feelings becoming more of an issue in terms of being taken advantage of. How can she know that Max isn’t just out for the same thing all guys are, or even worse, just using her for answers. Are his feelings for her real, or are they driven by something else? It’s a truth that’s explored interestingly by straying over to Max’s side of things, where he feels like pursing these clues feels like a cheap way to use Liz.
Liz also faces the same troubles that almost every other young girl faces around this time in her life. Her mother desperately tries to stop Liz from following her feelings and crossing a line into adulthood. But Liz is finally feeling like woman, someone who’s a lot more comfortable in her own skin; she doesn’t need her mother telling her how to govern her body. It’s another case of the show finding new ways to explore this whole coming-of-age, identity crisis mantra that it’s going for.
The episode itself doesn’t necessarily get any place really exciting, though Jason Behr with his shirt off is pretty close, but it does feel right at home in this first season of personal and character driven drama.
7/10
No comments:
Post a Comment