TV: Tell Me You Love Me

So what is this one about?
HBO describes their show.

A provocative and honest exploration of intimacy, 'Tell Me You Love Me' offers an unfiltered look at three couples as they navigate critical periods in their lives. With a candidness that breaks conventional boundaries, creator Cynthia Mort examines the moments – both significant and everyday – that form the basis and language of each relationship.

Twenty-somethings Jamie and Hugo (Michelle Borth and Luke Kirby), experience the vitality of sex but realize their intimacy serves as a drug-like escape from their disparate takes on fidelity and commitment. Katie and Dave (Ally Walker and Tim DeKay), two happy parents in their forties, instead question why their love and devotion to one another hasn't translated into sexual intimacy in nearly a year. Meanwhile, mid-thirties couple Carolyn and Palek (Sonya Walger and Adam Scott), come to learn how much their efforts to become parents and their inability to conceive has strained the intangible connections between them.

Therapist May Foster, (Jane Alexander) works to carefully guide the couples toward healthier relationships and despite a few unresolved issues within her own marriage, she and her retired husband Arthur, manage to share a partnership that is both deeply loving and passionately sexual.

Capturing both the awkwardness and closeness of each couple, Mort opens a window into the complexities of modern relationships. Thought-provoking, raw and immediate, 'Tell Me You Love Me' teases out the unspoken dreams, hang-ups and fears that materialize when sex and intimacy connect – or when they diverge.

I know that is a long description, but instead of going with Netflix's (which didn't interest me) I decided it would make more sense to give HBO their say, since it was a preview on one of their discs that made me queue this bad boy up.

And how much did I pay to watch?
4 discs times 99.94 cents a disc = $3.99

And what did I think?
At first I thought there was way too much sex in the show. I mean, I guess the show is supposed to be about sex, but it seemed like it was at the forefront of everyone's life in an entirely unrealistic way. Once I got past that, maybe after the first few episodes (the sex didn't taper off, I guess I just got used to it), I really started to warm up to the show.

The storylines are really fascinating and I found myself tearing through the episodes. It sucked because I would watch three episodes (a whole disc) in one sitting and would then have to wait a few days for the next disc to come.

The writing and especially the acting was so nuanced and amazing. Especially the story and the acting in the Katie/Dave story. It was really like I was watching two real people and not actors at all. It was just extraordinary. However, as I was watching the show I kept thinking to myself, "um, so maybe I don't want to get married" because the dysfunction and heartbreak that the characters suffered just painted marriage and relationships in general in really, really unflattering light.

Oh yeah, and the music they used was really excellent.

So what is the rating? (out of 10)
I keep thinking about this show, I really want to watch it all again. I'm tempted to buy it, in fact, because it really is some high quality HBOness.

For a tv show to be as amazing as any really great movie I've seen (though TV tends to be more awesome because it is longer and has more time to explain and go in depth...) means the show deserves the highest score.

Thus, Tell Me You Love Me gets a 10.