By George & Josh Bate
The following is a NON-SPOILER review of all 10 episodes of Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed
Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed. It’s an ambitious title that promises a television series that will deliver entertainment and fun in spades. But, at this point, who’s to doubt Apple TV? The streaming service continues to be the most reliable player in the streaming space, prioritizing quality over quantity with an array of critically acclaimed and thoroughly original shows (this year alone has already seen the superb Margo’s Got Money Troubles, the exciting domestic thriller Imperfect Women, and the immensely bingeable horror-comedy Widow’s Bay. Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed simultaneously lives up to the expectations established by its title and its place on a premium streaming service populated by some of the best television out there as creator and showrunner David J. Rosen crafts a twisty, anxiety-ridden, and darkly comedic Coen Brothers-esque whodunnit destined to become your new television addiction.
Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed stars Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black, She-Hulk: Attorney At Law) as Paula, a recently-divorced mother employed as a fact-checker for a print newspaper. Amidst a custody battle over her nine-year-old daughter Hazel (Nola Wallace), Paula finds escapist pleasure with a young online sex worker named Trevor (Brandon Flynn), who essentially serves as her virtual therapist (between all the orgasms and clothes removal). During one of their risque video chats, Trevor answers his door and is viciously attacked by a masked assailant. Convinced that what she saw was not some Chatroulette scam, Paula embarks on an investigation that leads her to cross paths with a crime lord, cam boys, a truly villainous Murray Bartlett, and the deadliest can of tuna you’ve ever seen, while armed with her young daughter’s hockey stick.
Like the Coen Brothers’ Fargo and the series of the same name, Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed follows a troubled and unsuspecting protagonist as they are roped into a mystery ever-escalating in chaos and tension. While navigating a criminal conspiracy and finding herself as a murder suspect, Maslany’s Paula also faces the same kind of domestic challenges Coen Brothers’ protagonists face. She must unhold her standing as a gleeful soccer coach to her daughter’s team and remain composed as the new girlfriend (Jessy Hodges) of her ex Karl (Jake Johnston) tries to relocate them across the country. It’s this blend of routine family drama with heightened, at times absurd criminal activity that films like Fargo thrive with, and clearly Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed follows suit.
This blend also affords Tatiana Maslany with ample opportunities to shine and chew up the scenery. Anyone who has seen the Canadian actress play 17 characters in Orphan Black or bring great humanity and humor to a massive CGI green woman in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law will know that Maslany is a remarkably versatile and compelling performer, attributes that evidence themselves in abundance here. While mom figures are often sanitized in media, Maslany’s Paula is introduced to the audience as a woman who seeks intimacy (both sexually and emotionally) with a cam-boy. She’s warm and sweet at times, but also unhinged and messy at others. Maslany nails the task of crafting a protagonist that feels grounded amidst her troubles yet heightened enough to deliver no shortage of dark humor.
At times, Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed proves so stressful that it’s funny. As the mystery unravels and Paula finds herself deeper and deeper in a conflict bigger than she thought, the series does not pump the brakes when it comes to secreting cortisol from its viewers. Paula’s frenzy is mirrored by the filmmaking, which couples an energetic score with sensory over-stimulation of noises and narrative curveballs every step of the way. Sometimes, the energy and pacing of the series can be a tad too abrasive and the tone becomes a tad too unwieldy, although the whodunnit at its core remains so interesting that one can somewhat easily overlook these problems.
Like Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Apple TV had landed on another series that addresses OnlyFans and online sex work in a way that humanizes, rather demonizes, both its creators and users. Unfortunately, unlike that show or even HBO’s third season of Euphoria, the series exercises restraint in probing this underexplored facet of modern society much further. What needs are met through virtual sex-work? How do sex-workers, including male sex-workers, deal with judgment about their profession? The series never quite answers these questions, which are admittedly not the focus, but nonetheless represent a missed opportunity to couple engaging entertainment with thought-provoking commentary.
VERDICT: 7.5/10
Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed lives up to its ambitious title and standing on arguably the most premium streaming service out there right now by delivering a twisty, anxiety-ridden, and darkly comedic Coen Brothers-esque whodunnit destined to become your new television addiction. The series from creator and showrunner David J. Rosen excels in its portrayal of motherhood and womanhood that is neither sanitized nor crude. Tatiana Maslany continues her impressive run on television with a performance full of vulnerability and heart and perfectly attuned to the dark humor of the show surrounding her. The story itself unfolds much like a Coen Brothers crime tale, akin to Fargo or No Country for Old Men, as an unsuspecting protagonist stumbles on a mystery that never ceases to escalate with its frenzy and unpredictability. Cortisol is sure to spike as Maslany’s character embarks on a mystery that sees her cross paths with crime lords, soccer moms, her ex’s passive-aggressive new girlfriend, a vicious killer played by Murray Bartlett, and the deadliest can of tuna you’ll ever see to put screen. The mystery proves so engaging and satisfying that tonal missteps and erratic pacing become easier to overlook. Releasing in close proximity to the superb Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed examines the underexplored climate of OnlyFans and online sex work, but, unlike the other acclaimed Apple TV series, doesn’t take full potential in coupling engaging entertainment with thought-provoking commentary. But, overwhelmingly, Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed is guaranteed to bring pleasure to viewers, especially those with a proclivity for chaotic, comically-tinged whodunnits.