Hung is such a strange series. It manages to be awkward to the point of perverseness, but it also manages to be touching and sweet, even when dealing with the theme of prostitution. Tonight’s season premiere, “Just the Tip,” managed to be just that.
Case in point: pregnant girl Claire (surprisingly not played by Emilie de Ravin, who set the bar for pregnant girls named Claire). Claire was previously unimpressed with Ray’s services, which Ray later confesses is because her pregnancy reminds himself of a better, happier time, when he was still with his wife. However, Tanya encourages him to embrace that nostalgia, and in the end, both Ray and Claire end up feeling better about themselves, as illustrated in a scene that also illustrates how the actress playing Claire is definitely not wearing a fake belly.
Tanya, meanwhile, still has the crisis of self-confidence that has been going on since the first episode, mostly due to Lenore, who views Tanya as an obstacle in their shared business of selling Ray. Lenore is actually fairly business savvy, and Ray is aware of this — despite her grating personality, she actually knows what she’s doing, unlike Tanya. However, Tanya refuses to let go of Ray and his business, and decides to visit a local pimp, Charlie (played by the fantastic Lennie James, who you might know from his recurring role as Baptiste earlier this year in FOX’s Human Target). His advice was to essentially manipulate Ray into “wanting the leash,” of Tanya. What inevitably follows is Tanya’s manipulation of Ray — that surprisingly, she doesn’t screw up.
The episodes scenes featuring Jessica and the kids were slightly out of pace with the rest of the episode, though they were tied up with the bowling scene of the episode, which makes a Ray and Jessica reunion — or at least a revelation of the truth — seem very likely.
All in all, this was a good episode, and has me interested to see where the second season goes. B+
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