Secret Diary of a Call Girl - Season 2: "Episode 4" Review

February 9, 2009 - Last week Belle had a crisis with one of her clients' wives, and now she's dealing with her own ball and chain. The only problem is that she can't decide if she's tied to Ben or Alex. Ben is her best friend that speaks to her as if he's her boyfriend and Alex is her boyfriend that has no idea who she really is. Throw in a '70s disco dancing bar owner for a threesome and you've got the most awkward episode of the season.

Awkward isn't necessarily a bad thing for this show. The Belle-Bambi-disco dude combo was among the most comical, uncomfortable couple of minutes yet. Granted, the whole thing was bound to go sour as Bambi was the organizer, but Belle did well with what she had to work with, considering the tub of lard and crimson madam that formed the rest of the threesome. However, Bambi's tricks and consistently deprived set of circumstances are starting to take away from Belle's charm.

For some reason the writers have decided that Bambi's formula is to promise the world, f&#% up and then come crying to Belle. She exists merely to point out Belle's strengths and examine the flaws of the trade without compromising Belle's charm. But now that Bambi has become a main player, she is extracting all that is good and new about this show and incorporating all the stereotypes and fallacies of a show about prostitution (think of 'Kit' from Pretty Woman). We get it, Bambi is weak and disappointing -- either wipe her out or help her grow some nerve. We're tired of the newbie that has nothing good to say; we have enough of those in our own lives.

Bambi aside, Belle is starting to lose it herself. In the first episode she made a point of distinguishing her two halves. Belle and Hannah are polar opposites and the two never meet. They explained this early on by their shared flat. One half was covered in feathered boas and lacy thongs and the other ridden with cotton tees and tea caddies.

Now the two worlds are merging and I'm just not sure if they are going to turn around the set of lesser stories that have evolved out of the last couple of episodes. Sure things are new and curious with Hannah's new boyfriend, but Billie Piper has only got so many pouty faces to toss around and the 'Oi, I don't know if I can handle a job and a boyfriend' flout is starting to fade into 'Oi, I'm bored with cyclical writing.' Perhaps next week's episode will bring the story to a crux and she'll finally bring Alex in on her big secret, but this week was a sad disappointment as I feel nothing happened and the preview only gave me false hope that Ben was going to tell Alex something a bit more than he prefers wine to beer on a Sunday afternoon.