Yeah, bad guy who becomes victim.

Steph, I forget if you have a position on Colin Firth, since you sometimes have boy-related opinions that perplex me (Christian Bale), but if you'd enjoy seeing baby-faced Colin Firth in an incredibly slashy stalky relationship with Hart Bochner, rent Apartment Zero.

Yeah, bad guy who becomes victim.

I liked him. I don't think I've seen him in anything else, but I liked him in this episode.

Steph, I forget if you have a position on Colin Firth, since you sometimes have boy-related opinions that perplex me (Christian Bale)

Heh. Not so much a position as -- I can never remember what he looks like. I always confuse him and Clive Owen.

It would've been nice to see some acknowledgment that an attraction to S&M doesn't necessarily imply some hidden trauma.

This is true. I guess I had on my see-what-you-want-to-see goggles. Which was that I kept hearing people say to him, "Don't be so judgmental, Paul!" and took that as the voice of the show.

Apartment Zero added to Netflix queue.

Which was that I kept hearing people say to him, "Don't be so judgmental, Paul!" and took that as the voice of the show.

I mostly heard the voice of the show as "None of these people have a clue what they're talking about. (Except Brandt, and he's not telling.)"

And as soon as Brandt turns out to be innocent, everything the characters have said about what they think they understand about BDSM goes out the window. I don't think the show said anything about BDSM in the end, because it turned out not to matter to the case. They were following the wrong guy.

Tep, what was the throwing-the-remote line? Was it the "stronger" line or the "what makes you think he was in control?" line or another one I'm forgetting entirely?

Tim writes snark so often that it's clear he either is snarky or desperately wants to be. I can tell things like that.

I always confuse him and Clive Owen.

Oh God. It's like I don't even know you.

Tep, what was the throwing-the-remote line? Was it the "stronger" line

Oh, you're right -- it wasn't the final line. It was the "this will make you stronger" line. While I understand that Rebecca's intent (and, by proxy, the intent of the show) may have been to say "Look, you *will* survive this, and be stronger for it," the overall impact it left with me was to conflate S&M with sexual violence, which is all kinds of wrong.

What Brandt said was specifically and ONLY about consensual sexual activity; having Rebecca refer back to that statement, using the same wording he used, in the context of completely non-consensual sexual violence, ends up linking S&M and sexual violence.

I have a big problem with that.

What Brandt said was specifically and ONLY about consensual sexual activity

well we know it's consensual, but brandt had some issues with determining consensus. chaining Becky against her will, without any discussion of limits, that's not cool. Brandt discussed "safe words" but he only gives those rules lip service, which is why he was probably booted from the club. you have to have the conversation first. Brandt never did. Bad top. No biscuit.

After Rebecca says it will make him stronger she says "believe me." My take is that she is speaking from her experience. I think the implication is that what Brandt's games do is give the illusion of strength. What he has just experienced is the real deal.