What "Au Reservoir" captures so well is how the changes in how the law is implemented affects its different characters. The show has got characters in just about every role that would be affected by porn and prostitution: the prostitutes, the pimps, the johns, the porn directors, the businessmen, the cops... And this means it's in a great place to show the effects these dramatic changes in the 1970s had on people, and what different people stood to gain or lose from it. Even the NYPD find ways to benefit from prostitution going indoors.
For the businessmen, money is raining down and they're finding every way possible to increase their profit, even coming up with private masturbation rooms. But what's more interesting is how much of a step up it is for the girls who were working on the streets. Now, they can work in a safe indoor environment and they can earn a larger proportion of their money from porn. Candy and Lori are the ones to watch. Both have their future roles hinted at in this episode. At first Lori struggles with being a pornstar. She probably feels used. But Candy shows her how to enjoy it and you can see later how delighted she is to reveal to the men in the sex shop that *she* is in that movie they're queuing up to watch. Far from being some whore, Lori has taken control of her body. And Candy shows her potential as a director in her interest in the scene setting, but more importantly in how she encourages Lori to enjoy it, resulting in more genuine porn.
But while those girls and cops are making the most of new opportunities, the pimps are left out. What's their role anymore? Their future looks uncertain. One of them tries to show his control by forcing Melissa out of the grill but ends up getting himself killed.
Despite so much happening, it's hard to work out what the plot actually is and where it's heading. Yet it manages to be so engrossing. This is the most fascinating thing about "The Deuce"- how it dismisses conventional storytelling, throwing aside the idea that a drama always has to be heading towards some end point. Instead, it serves as a deep, multi-layered study of realistic characters, and how their lives are shaped by the flow of money.
For the businessmen, money is raining down and they're finding every way possible to increase their profit, even coming up with private masturbation rooms. But what's more interesting is how much of a step up it is for the girls who were working on the streets. Now, they can work in a safe indoor environment and they can earn a larger proportion of their money from porn. Candy and Lori are the ones to watch. Both have their future roles hinted at in this episode. At first Lori struggles with being a pornstar. She probably feels used. But Candy shows her how to enjoy it and you can see later how delighted she is to reveal to the men in the sex shop that *she* is in that movie they're queuing up to watch. Far from being some whore, Lori has taken control of her body. And Candy shows her potential as a director in her interest in the scene setting, but more importantly in how she encourages Lori to enjoy it, resulting in more genuine porn.
But while those girls and cops are making the most of new opportunities, the pimps are left out. What's their role anymore? Their future looks uncertain. One of them tries to show his control by forcing Melissa out of the grill but ends up getting himself killed.
Despite so much happening, it's hard to work out what the plot actually is and where it's heading. Yet it manages to be so engrossing. This is the most fascinating thing about "The Deuce"- how it dismisses conventional storytelling, throwing aside the idea that a drama always has to be heading towards some end point. Instead, it serves as a deep, multi-layered study of realistic characters, and how their lives are shaped by the flow of money.
