Flesh and Bone Episode 4: Boogie Dark

Trigger Warning for everything y’all. References to sexual abuse, self-harm and incest.

The episode opens with Bryan lying on the floor next to Claire, watching her sleep. She tells him that he needs to be gone by the time she gets back from rehearsal.

Daphne tells Jessica that she got the $250,000 from her father as a one-time donation (but we know it’s really from Sergei the strip club owner).

Meanwhile in rehearsal, something is up with Mia. She seems to have an issue with fine motor skills (girl, I have been there) and has to bribe another dancer to stitch her shoes. Her neck is also continuing to hurt her. Kiira is popping pills. Claire is clearly uncomfortable with the sexual nature of the some of the moves. Afterwards, Claire stabs herself in the scalp with a bobby pin, continuing the self-harm theme of the show.

Back at home, Bryan is sitting on the steps smoking. Romeo talks to him about the end times coming and it freaks Bryan out. He storms off, forgetting his Steelers jacket. Romeo keeps it.

Ross practices for Paul, who is clearly unimpressed with his dancing. When Paul touches Ross’s naked stomach, there’s a sexual vibe. They talk about Toni, and Ross majorly kisses Paul’s ass, telling him everyone likes him better than the new choreographer (which is totally untrue). Then there’s more covert fondling. When Ross leaves, Paul is clearly frustrated because he knows Ross is playing him. In this case, Sascha’s bad acting actually works for the scene.

Claire approaches Sergei about a job. He refuses to hire her and offers to give her money. She won’t take it and tells him she’ll just go to another club. He eventually relents.

Paul and his lover, Eduardo, watch old movies of Paul dancing back when he was a star. We learn that Paul was injured and that’s why his career faded. We also learn he had a shitty childhood. Eduardo clearly feels like they’ve had an emotional connection, but when he wakes up the next morning he finds that Paul has left him cash on the pillow like a prostitute. He repays Paul by taking a shit on the same pillow.

Bryan comes back looking for Claire to let him in, but she’s gone (working at the strip club). Mia lets him in and hits on him, basically telling him that Claire is an awful sister and that she (Mia) will take care of him. She asks him about his combat experience, which he clearly gets off on telling her about. Then, while she thinks they are about to make love, he hog ties her with her rope-belt and masturbates on her back. He leaves her tied up and leaves.

Claire works her first shift as “Angel” the stripper. On her way home, she runs into Bryan and tells him again that she wants him to leave. He tells her that it’s always just been the two of them and he’s broke, stuck taking care of their sick dad, and got kicked out of the marines. She gives him her money that she made working at the club. He tries to give her a book he bought for her and she rejects it. She tells him she has a boyfriend and he leaves.

The next day Paul removes Ross as the male lead in Rubies (ostensibly) for leading him on or something. Toni approaches Paul about Claire being “frigid” and scared. Because Paul is THE ACTUAL WORST, he calls Claire into his office while he’s being massaged, and basically says “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, figure it out” while pointing to his penis and telling her that a dick is nothing to be scared of and she should go find one and do whatever she needs to do with it to get over her fears

When Claire is back in the club, she’s in a private dance room with one of her regulars when Bryan shows up. He found a voucher or something for the club in the wad of cash she gave him. He creates a scene and gets thrown out. The bouncers beat the shit out of him while Claire watches. She returns to her customer and starts to have sex with him, then falls apart sobbing while he holds her.

Elyse:

So I have to ask myself why I keep watching this show since, quite honestly, none of these characters are likeable. I think that this was supposed to be a show about a broken woman-child finding and owning her own sexuality, but it fails in execution.

Obviously they’re trying to make a point here about Claire being safer at the strip club than at the ballet company. Maybe that point is,”Don’t judge sex workers because women are being exploited everywhere.” I’m not sure. Maybe the point is that the classical arts are just as objectifying of the female body as the pole arts. Maybe the point is this is all Romeo’s crazy dream and he wakes up in his supposedly imagined post-apocalyptic world clutching an orange.

I feel like maybe the showrunner had some good ideas, and then some dude in a suit walked into the writer’s room and was like “Yeah, but what if her brother masturbates while talking to her on the phone and fondling her ballerina figurine,” and they had to go with it because he’s a dude in a suit even though they died a little inside. (I hope that’s what happened).

I think my issue here is that this is a show (possibly) about a woman finding agency and reclaiming her body, but it’s so male gaze heavy that even the feminist themes feel exploitative. And it’s dark. Claire doesn’t have a good, hopeful moment, and we’re halfway through.

So why am I watching it? Crazysauce y’all. I mean HELLA CRAZYSAUCE. This episode alone had ballet company machinations, pillow dookie, THE FUCKING FUNNIEST MONOLOGUE EVER BY ONE OF THE STRIPPERS, and Mia’s smug ass getting hogtied by a crazy dude.

Honestly, I’d watch this episode just for Kiira telling Trey, “If you drop me, they will never find your body.”

RHG:

MORE DANCING LESS SHENANIGANS (but, hey we got actual dick, so….)

Mia is like, the WORST roommate. Clearly something was wrong between Claire and Bryan, right? And I know that Mia doesn’t like Claire, but in the interest of keeping DRAMA out of your apartment, Bryan’s gotta go.

Seeing the shit getting beat out of him by the bouncers was delicious, to be honest. He’s a rapist, and who knows how many other things? I loved the bouncers looking at Claire for direction at how far they should go, and I loved her being like, “As far as you want. No skin off my ass.” But it is skin off her psyche.

I really hope that things pick up next week and we stop spinning wheels- there’s so much that COULD happen, but it comes to a screeching halt while Paul chews some scenery and murders some baby birds and parades his dick around (lit and fig).

Um, I hate Balanchine and I don’t like his choreography. WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT THAT PAUL.

This is clearly some very strange television. Are you watching? What do you think? Still on target or is it completely off the rails for you, too?