Secret Diary of a Callgirl S03E05 'Episode Five'

This episode almost exclusively focused on Belle and her developing relationship with her editor, Duncan. Are they on, are they off? It seems to take more twists and turns than most relationships, that’s for sure. It’s obvious in the opening, where they are discussing business, that she’s can’t get their previous dalliance out of her mind. She keeps having flashbacks, and I don’t think it was a coincidence that the word ‘cheap’ invokes a flashback. As he is very clearly trying to avoid the topic of the two of them (especially how he basically threw her out after they had sex) it would be natural for Hannah to feel somewhat used.


But he does come around to the idea, just as Belle seems to be completely going off the idea, mostly due to a conversation she had with a client. The client, Al, had asked her about relationships while she is still in the business. And although he never says it would never work, it seems as though Belle believes this to be true, and therefore conjures him up just after Duncan has apologised and they are about to get intimate. So she throws him out.

It only takes until the end of the episode for her to apologise for her behaviour. She had in fact, put him in quite an impossible situation. Telling him it bothered her that he doesn’t seem to mind what she does, and just to appease her he told her it does, and then her throwing him out because it has no chance of working then. It seemed completely unreasonable, and in fact, was meant to be. We saw Belle struggling with her past demons (her relationship with Alex). But the two are going to give it a chance, and again we get to see the dynamic of Hannah trying to juggle both herself and Belle. But this time it has an interesting twist – Duncan almost intimately knows Belle as he is her editor, and whereas Alex was mostly left in the dark, he has a complete understanding of the details of what she does.


In other news, Bambi and Byron announce to Ben and Hannah that they are engaged. Hannah immediately objects to the idea, telling them that it is a little strange that they met ‘for a shag’ and two weeks later, are engaged.
And although this in some part stems from the part of her that truly believes that a relationship while being an escort can never work, there is obviously more than a little truth behind the idea.
And it affects Byron and Bambi as well, because the next time we see them, they’re discussing all of their ‘favourite’ things in order to learn more about each other. And although they briefly skim over their family lives, they revert back to talking about their favourite super heroes. Neither of them have a relationship with their parents (Byron’s don’t like him, Bambi’s gave her away) and it seems as though the subject is almost too hard for them to talk about, that they simply cannot talk about something so personal with one another – so they go back to a much easier topic.


FURTHER THOUGHTS

- Belle finally divulges her magical number. 1036 men. I wonder if that includes the men Hannah has slept with? Logic says yes, but I guess it is murky ground.
- I feared that things will end up badly for Bambi, and with the announcement of her engagement to Byron, I’m more inclined to think it will. An underlying theme, not just in this season but throughout the whole series, is that it is almost impossible to have a relationship with somebody while you’re in this job. Even Stephanie confirms this.
- Find out Stephanie’s inclination is for women. That’s not either really here nor there, but provides more of an insight to a character than we’ve ever really had before.
- Belle’s unashamed love for the almighty pound also makes a resurface. We see what she actually does with her money (safe deposit box), and the issue of taxes is skirted around. I wonder just how much money she has stored away....

QUOTABLE QUOTES

“Love is overrated. And built on very shaky ground. Where as an affair with a wardrobe is solid, and it lasts forever.” Belle
“Number one unwritten rule of being an escort. You’re only allowed on lover. Money.” Belle
“What? I had to do it. He’s my editor and escorts can’t have boyfriends. Keep up.” Belle
“Sex, enthusiasm, respect, clarity.” Belle
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Secret Diary of a Callgirl S03E04 'Episode Four'

Three different relationships, three different outcomes. This episode focussed on love, heartbreak and moving on. The relationship between Belle and Duncan continues to be a focal point, and just as soon as the writers put the two characters together, they tear them away just as fast. It looked like Bambi and Byron were heading for the same fate, until the dying moments of the episode proved otherwise. And of course, Jackie and Ben’s relationship flame flickered and died before our very eyes.

Ben made it clear at the beginning of the episode that he wanted to end things with Jackie. It seemed somewhat clear from the start of this story arc that it could never turn in to anything serious. Aside from the fact that Jackie has a husband, Ben just didn’t seem to be ready to settle down. And in some way, they were both long to be something they could never have. Ben seemed to be merely substituting Hannah for her sister. It is clear that the two still have SOME sort of feelings for each other – and I’m sure that will be actively pursued further down the track. This was made clear to me with Hannah’s reaction to him dating her sister, and in this episode where Ben clearly stated he didn’t want to hear about Hannah’s sex life.

And I believe that Jackie wanted a taste of Hannah’s life. She wanted to know what it was like to not be married, to be free to make alternative choices and in some regards, to throw caution to the wind. Perhaps the breakup with Ben is what she needed for her to wake up. She has now gone back to her husband to try to work things out, and it is unclear as to whether she will be back.


Now that Duncan and Belle have finally had sex, it will be interesting to see what happens next. It seemed at the start of the episode where they are discussing kinkiness, that Belle was almost flirting with him through her broad minded sexual exploits. That he should be impressed that she has no fear in doing something kinky. And although we know this to be true through her past experiences, the way she repeated herself seemed a little attention grabbing. Almost like she wanted to be noticed by him for this. And of course he knows what she does in intimate detail. This may be an attraction to a degree, but the fact that she is a prostitute will come into play down the track, just as it did with Alex. Belle dished out this advice to Bambi in this episode and the one prior, so it’s not like she’s unfamiliar with the situation.....

Perhaps Belle herself is headed for trouble, trying to find love again.

I felt genuinely sorry for both Bambi and Byron. I liked these characters together, and when I saw them having the ‘talk’, about how things down the track are going to be different, that he may ever start to resent her because of her job. Although he denies it, it does sound like a valid concern – and Bambi almost tries to take a pre emptive strike. To end things before she gets herself too involved. But he shows up at the end of the episode and makes a grand gesture. A declaration of love that seemed a little out of character for the show, but completely befitting of Byron.

It was also interesting to see Belle/Hannah look on the two lovers longingly when they embraced. It reflected what her and Duncan have not shared, even though they have had sex, he seemed to almost brush her off afterwards.

FURTHER THOUGHTS

- Good to see Hannah and Ben back to being friends. It almost felt like there was something missing in this last few episodes where they were barely talking. This however, gave rise to Bambi, who I actually think might be my favourite character in this show.
- Was interesting to see the contrasting relationships. The beginning of one, the ending of another, and the tricky/complicated unsure stage...
- In a way, was glad to get rid of the sister. It was good to see that side of Hannah though, and who knows, family might come back into play soon. Would actually like to see Hannah with her parents at some stage too.
- It was nice to see a blossoming friendship between Ben and Bambi as well. When she’s lamenting about her situation with Bryon, with Hannah telling her its doomed, I thought it was a nice touch for Ben to give her a little bit of hope.
- Sploshing may be one of the weirdest sexual thing the show has ever covered..... Perhaps I live a sheltered life, but I’d never heard of it before
- Also notable that although Belle didn’t enjoy sploshing the first time, I think it almost seemed like she was doing it for the wrong reason. She did it because her editor asked her to pursue something kinky. But she gave it another go, and actually seemed to not mind it the second time when she really just let herself go. It seems like her thing with Duncan may be, to some extent (although some people may think this suggestion is a bit of a stretch) is interfering with her work.

QUOTABLE QUOTES

“Sploshing, the art of getting wet, and down, and dirty.” Belle
“He’s your editor, not your pimp.” Ben
“Who needs boys, when you’ve got girls and champagne.” Belle
“What is kinky? Something with kinks or twists. Well that’s all of us, isn’t it? It’s just a matter of finding who fits with your kinks. To be loved, unconditionally. That would be something.” Hannah
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Secret Diary of a Callgirl S03E03 'Episode Three'

Duncan the publisher. Duncan the coach. Duncan the admired. The writers have established the connection Hannah and Duncan share, however, in this episode they do seem to spell it out, for anyone that may have missed it. Although they do essentially work together, he reads the details of her very intimate adventures, Hannah states that it goes beyond a professional admiration for each others work, on her end at least.


And of course, when he gives her the task of going deeper with her writing, to get to the root of the desire and thoughts/feelings that both she and her client have, it is of course, opening up a can of worms, so to speak. Less description of the event and a deeper analysis to what lies beneath it. Hannah, or Belle as she is in this scene, states it as describing the subconscious. I have to admit I did think to myself this may be a bit of a tall order, on account of her not being able to pick up on the fact that she wrote about all three of her feet.

But she finds herself falling back into old habits when she is trying to write about her barnyard experience with Simon. A client, who hasn’t had sex for many years, because what seems to float his boat is women talking about and making barnyard noises. Of course, when people in college found out about it, he was ridiculed. This obviously had a psychological affect on him, and in this respect, I can see the appeal of going to a professional. He asks Belle when he first meets her if she meets a lot of perverts, and to me at least, it seems like he might be struggling with the definition, and where on the spectrum of ‘pervert’ he might fall. Although Belle might find this affliction a little strange, she doesn’t ridicule him, and goes out of her way to make him comfortable.

When she first meets Simon, he is very timid. And as the scenes go on, we see him gain more confidence, which is where Belle finds out about his love of animals. And acceptance Belle has of this, I think, is probably important to him and his sustained level of confidence. And of course, this in itself, can show you the merit of Belle’s profession. A lot of different people can like a lot of different things, and it is more or less Belle’s job to create their fantasy (going back to last weeks episode).

When Belle tries to write about this experience, she finds herself using a descriptive technique. She knows she can’t send this to Duncan, when he asked her to try to get to the crux of the situation, the raw desire of it all. So, what she does instead, is imagine sex with Duncan. And that is how she does it. He is obviously impressed with her newly submitted chapter. He even comments about her obvious connection with the client, who unbeknown to him, is actually himself.

So of course they are setting up an attraction between the two characters. But it is hard to analyse if it will actually go anywhere. For starters, he only knows Belle. In one regard, that is a good thing. He is already aware of what she does for a living, and who that side of her is. But he doesn’t know Hannah. He doesn’t know much about her really, besides her occupation. And it’s been shown before, in last season, that Hannah embarking on a relationship while still being a call girl can simply not work. So will the writers try again? Or will they make it unrequited love?



One of the two minor stories this week, involved the Jackie (Hannah’s sister) and Ben (Hannah’s best friend) story line. It would seem that they are more than sex, but the direction of the relationship is unclear. Jackie still is technically married, even if her husband is cheating on her. Does she even like Ben or is she just using him to get back at her husband? And it could even be speculated that she chose Ben because of her strained relationship with Hannah. I thought last week, that Jackie almost seemed jealous of the life Hannah led, even if she did try to ridicule it. Perhaps she is trying to take something of Hannah’s and put her mark on it.

She knows that Hannah and Ben have had sex. And when she enquires about her experience with Ben, she gives the impression she wants to almost make it into a competition as she tries to compare their experiences. Although Hannah at this point, walks off disgusted.

When Jackie cooks dinner for Hannah and invites Ben without telling her, she also walks out declaring she just can’t do it. Ben tells Jackie he should go after her, but Jackie states she just wants a reaction. In this scene, it’s almost as if she’s treating Hannah like a child – but judging by her previous actions, it really appears to be Jackie that is acting like a child.... (or perhaps that’s just me?)



The other storyline, which I actually thought to be the most interesting of this episode, was the developing relationship between Bambi and her client, Byron. It was clear last week that this storyline was going in this direction. She has developed feelings for him, and it seems he likes her too. It was also interesting to see the juxtaposition of Belle, and her almost business approach with Simon, to Bambi’s interaction with Byron – which seemed quite romantic.

Although, after talking to Belle, where she reminds Bambi that Byron is her client, not her boyfriend – she seems not to be able to help it. When she gets a phone call half way through her date, when Bambi tells Belle she is with a ‘client’, Byron walks off, seemingly hurt by being referred to merely a client. And that is where they each tell each other their feelings for one another. And I at least, as the viewer, felt genuinely happy for Bambi at that moment, because she does seem like such a sweet girl.

But I fear things are not to work out between the two, as the lines become more and more blurry. What will their future hold? When you seem the lovingly embrace each other while asleep, you can’t help but fear it’s going to end with a broken heart, or a choice between love and career.


FURTHER THOUGHTS

- Ben is not that great of a friend to Hannah really. When she makes it clear that she is uncomfortable with him being with her sister, he still spends the night at her place on the couch.
- Jackie really isn’t that much of a sister either, come to think of it. Hannah has made it clear she doesn’t want her at her house, this point is made excruciatingly clear after Jackie walks in on Hannah and a client (whom Hannah quickly states is sortve a boyfriend). The fact that she still sticks around AND flaunts her relationship with Ben that puts Hannah at such unease, seems a little cruel.

QUOTABLE QUOTES

“For the record, I do it better than I write it.” Belle
“We want to know about desire. How it works, what’s underneath it. What’s in your head. What’s in his head.” Duncan
“I’ve had more fun with you than with anyone.” Bambi
“You make me forget that this is your job.” Byron
“Give me an hour with him, I’ll give you a new man.” Belle
“I should have thrown them out the flat. Not myself.” Hannah






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Secret Diary of a Callgirl S03E02 'Episode Two'

The theme to the second episode of the season is fantasies. This is fitting, as Belle’s whole job revolves around satisfying someone’s fantasy. We see just that during the cold open – dressed in clothing from a time long ago, and even donning a wig. We see how much detail she goes to, to get things right. But then we see her afterwards, taking off her wig – it’s almost as though the scene is telling you that playing out fantasies can only last so long, before you know it, it’s back to reality. Where she is just Hannah, and everything is as it was beforehand.

The major storyline revolves around the arrival of Hannah’s sister – Jackie. She believes Hannah to hold a job as a secretary, and has no knowledge of either her line of work as a callgirl, or of her recent publishing of her first book. Hannah finds her real job t be hard to hide, it is so much a part of her now, that perhaps it can be a little hard to separate the fantasy of Belle, from the reality of Hannah. Her sister finds evidence of her occupation, an abundance of sex toys, she however dismisses it and merely believes her sister simply enjoys sex.

In order to draw out the more wild side of her sister, who seems a bit prudish from the outset, Hannah takes her to a fetish club. Her sister seems shocked, and more than a little uncomfortable about the scenarios that surround her and wants to leave. She however, finds someone to talk to about the act of betrayal, which leaves time for Hannah to have a look around for herself. It is here, that she runs into her ex boss, Madam Stephanie. As predicted in the earlier post, she questions Hannah about being the author of ‘Secret Diary of a London Callgirl.’ It doesn’t take Hannah long to fold in her original denial, and it’s easy to see the contempt she holds for Stephanie and the rubbishing she gave her in her book.

The madam returns in a later scene, shared with the young callgirl Bambi. Bambi knows she isn’t getting paid enough, but doesn’t yet have the profile or the client base to draw upon as Belle does, so cannot essentially go it alone. Although the madam takes a high percentage of the fees, she is a necessity as she has the connections to screen and obtain the clients. The madam in this scene is contemptible, as she explains to Bambi that she will never get a higher rate than what she is on now, because she is ‘black.’ Not only do we feel Bambi’s rage at such a statement, we also are further ostracized from the madam.

It seems as though that the fetish club did nothing to heighten Jackie’s sexuality. The ensuing confrontation the two have which shows the lack of respect for the way each of them live their lives is also pivotal. It is Belle’s book, however, that seems to do the trick. It is clear that she is quite turned on, and when Ben turns up, she displays at least some form of subtle invitation. This is quite a different version of the Jackie we have seen thus far.

While Jackie essentially ruined the liaison Belle had with a longstanding client by hitting her, and therefore giving her a black eye – Jackie on the other hand, has quite a successful time with Ben. As they drink more and more, it is obvious that they are attracted to each other. And the chemistry between the two actors is a lot more steamy than it is with Hannah and Ben, it must be said.

The final scenes show that Ben has now put a wedge between the already strained relationship of the sisters. Hannah turns to writing, and when she finds she cannot, she calls her publisher. This plotline will surely continue to develop, as it seems as though there is some mutual attraction between the two. But as we learned last season, with the relationship between Hannah and Alex, it was impossible for her to have a normal relationship. But perhaps something will happen between the two, as he does know what she does for a living at least....

FURTHER THOUGHTS

- The ramifications of Ben hooking up with Hannah’s sister will surely put a strain on the friendship
- Could it be possible that he is using Jackie as a substitute for Hannah?
- Is Hannah jealous of her sister?
- The whole fantasy Bambi is having with her client, seems to have been set up to end badly
- The comparison between Hannah and Jackie’s sexuality was quite well done, and essentially shows how different they are. It seems as though Hannah is quite comfortable with herself and who she is, wheras Jackie is not.
- Was nice to see the family dynamic come into play a little bit. Hannah’s family is barely mentioned, and Im guessing at some point, she will be publicly revealed, much like the real author was. It will be interesting to see the fallout.

QUOTABLE QUOTES

“We all fantasize to escape our ordinary lives. And in my line of work, I am the fantasy. Every encounter lingers like a ghost, following me all the way home, keeps me company. Someone to share the secret of who I am, and what I’ve just done.” Belle
“I don’t need loosening up, you need tightening up.” Jackie
“Under the cloak of darkness our fantasies can come out to play, but when the sun comes up, we all have a life to be getting on with.” Hannah
“The key to fantasies, is knowing that you’re in one. It’s when you start thinking things are real that things become complicated. Fantasy and reality, and never the twain shall meet.”

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Secret Diary of a Callgirl S03E01 'Episode One'

So the first episode back for Secret Diary of a Callgirl. I’ve been a fan of the show since it originally aired, and have even gone so far as to read the books. There are large discrepancies between the two, however, both are great in their own right. Of course the essential ‘coming out’ of the former anonymous writer of the Belle De Jour books, Brooke Magnanti, only taking place a few months ago proved to be free publicity for the show if anything.

This show has many female followers, as the area of topic is quite an intriguing one. A woman leading a double life; lady on the street, freak in the bedroom. To be able to do the book justice at all, the show had quite a challenge. They had to show the lives of Hannah and Belle, without making them completely cliché and stagnant. And I think they’ve achieved this, and will continue to make the character/s grow more in this third season. Of course, the show doesn’t lack male followers. It’s pretty raunchy, which will always attract male attention.



At the end of the second season, we saw that Hannah had written a book about her exploits, under the banner of anonymity, ‘Belle De Jour.’ It was unclear if she was going to keep going in her profession, or if she was simply going to rest on her laurels. It didn’t take long to find out that she was going to continue on with her old tricks, and what a relief that was. The show simply couldn’t work without it.

We see Hannah at the book launch of ‘Secret Diary of a London Callgirl’ in the disguise as a waitress. As the real author stayed hidden for so long, it was interesting to see how both Hannah and the publishing agent thought that this was a better idea than merely being a face in the crowd, so as not to draw attention to herself.
She however, is not please with the launch. By getting a porn star lookalike to read an excerpt from the book, she was both upset that this was meant to be a portrayal of her, and that it also cheapened the literary experience greatly.

The juxtaposition between Belle’s best friend, Ben, and herself in their respective sexual conquests is quite humorous. Ben is mistaken by a PR lady at the book launch as being the author. He fails to correct her, and we see them having sex later on. However, it is almost clumsy sex – and the PR lady realises this couldn’t possibly be the author of the book who has seemingly had hundreds of sexual exploits.

Belle on the other hand, has everything under control with one of her favourite clients. They both have a much better time than Ben and his partner, and they seem to have a genuine connection. This may be merely because they have had sex before, the client being a repeat customer. Or it may be because Belle is a professional, and knows the right things to do in order to create some sort of chemistry. Alternatively, they may just get along because they seem to actually like one another. Perhaps it’s all three?

One of the later scenes sets the pace for the entire third series. Her publisher requests her having a manuscript ready in three months to follow up the book she’s just published. It’s seemed to have garnered considerable media attention, and it would make sense to try an capitalise it by printing another book in the same vain as soon as possible. To do this however, Belle needs material, and to get material there is only one solution - get back to work.

Of course, in the dying minutes of the first episode, with her sister showing up is obviously going to cause trouble. Her family is unaware of her occupation, and with the buzz of the book and her need to go back to work – it will be almost impossible to do with her sister hanging around and not finding out the truth about Belle.

FURTHER THOUGHTS

- While there has always meant to have been a certain chemistry between Belle and Ben, I actually think it’s a bit hard to see. It almost seems like they’re too good of friends at this point to turn it into something more
- Belle’s madam, a recurring character, a former callgirl herself, who in her own way is quite amusing, due to the way that she takes the whole business so seriously suspects that Belle wrote the book. And Belle wasn’t exactly favourable in the representation of her, so I’m sure this storyline will be revisited in the future
- The differences between the two clients Belle had in this episode was also quite humorous. As discussed above, Belle seemed to have a genuine affection for her first client. The second, although he was very wealthy, seemed to be very plain, and made the whole affair seem very passionless. Belle seemed more like a prop than a partner in this scene which I thought was interesting
- Billie Pipe is really wonderful as the lead in this show, and looks amazing post baby.

QUOTABLE QUOTES

“If you want to stay on top, you need to be in control at all times.” Belle

“Get dressed then, shall I?” Ben

“Maybe I can fake it till I make it.” Hannah

“If I’m going to write a second book, I’m going to have to do some serious whoring.” Hannah

“Prostitute. Author. Sister. Shit.” Hannah

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