Spoiler alert: this recap launches after The Deuce airs on Sunday nights in the US on HBO. Do not read unless you have watched episode two, which airs in the UK on Sky Atlantic on Tuesday at 10pm.
Art v commerce. Not the sort of argument you expect to crop up in a reconstructed history of the porn industry, but there it is. Candy is out there trying to make films that are about more than just a money shot. But those around her, most notably the ever-shrinking Harvey Wasserman, don’t entirely agree. Harvey prefers to give the punters what they want: an opportunity to masturbate. What will come from this creative tension (if you’ll pardon the pun)?
In this week’s episode we see more of how porn is being legitimised. It turns out there’s an awards ceremony for the industry and Lori, the rising porn star, is nominated for best supporting actress for the film Family Head. Candy is also nominated for her directing. She is aiming higher, however, and aspires to the work of slash-movie director Genevieve Fury. After arranging a lunch with her idol, Candy is given some stern advice: ditch your camera crew and never hire sex workers. “They’re dead around the eyes,” Genevieve says.
If Candy were to follow that advice, there would be difficult choices ahead; choices that would involve Lori and Darlene, porn stars who still “work” outside filming hours. This in turn poses problems for their pimps, CC and Larry. Lori has already observed to CC that nonworking girls are more and more common in porn and that it’s a different world now; a “free” one (she later has discussions with a female manager who advises her to ditch CC straight away). Larry, meanwhile, is so conscious of the way the wind is blowing that he is determined to become a porn star himself.
Away from the movies, we get to spend more time with Vince and Abby. I deduced the subtext of their subplot to be: just how tight a couple are they? On the one hand, we have Vince, the street-smart barman who is approaching middle age (not that he looks it). On the other we have Abby, the twentysomething daughter of Connecticut who likes hanging around with punks. The pair are in love, but have an open relationship, and this week we spy tensions beneath the surface.
Abby’s flirtation with a charismatic musician inspires Vincent to take her to Coney Island and the beach where he used to spend his summer holidays. Once there, he is inspired by sentiment and waxes lyrical about the simple joys of family life. Abby appears to buy it, but soon has to rush back to Manhattan and all its temptations. Later, she blows out Vincent’s offer of dinner after receiving a mysterious phone call.
What we know and Vince doesn’t is that the call came from Ashley, the sex worker Abby helped escape from the city last season. Will Vince’s jealousy make him jump to conclusions before he learns what happened?
While Vince is out reminiscing, the various businesses he oversees for the mob are facing challenges. The sex shop run by twin brother Frankie has a problem with its new automated peep show. The shutters, introduced to encourage groping, keep closing on punters’ arms. Paul’s gay bar has also run into difficulty after a rival mafia family’s bid to offer protection (their argument, which stands up, is that the current arrangement offers no protection as clientele keep getting assaulted). Finally, the sex parlour – nominally controlled by brother-in-law Bobby – is suffering from indolent staff (that’s Bobby) and rivals opening just down the block.
Paul has plans to move out of his current role and open a nightclub of his own. But perhaps the only Martino-related endeavour we see succeeding this week is the one he personally skips out of. Club 366 is a groovy, secret nightspot. Anyone who’s anyone in the midtown underground wants to be there. This includes, if the wig is anything to go by, Andy Warhol. What’s more, with Vince absent, Big Mike is in charge and the guy who usually serves as security at the Hi-Hat is so suited to his new job that he clambers on the bar at 4am to impel people to buy more booze.
A final nod this week goes to our friend on the other side of the legal divide, Chris Alston. The murder squad detective is investigating the death of a tourist near the Deuce. This week he establishes the victim was stabbed in self-defence after propositioning a teenage boy. When incoming mayor Ed Koch’s consigliere, Dean Goldman, confronts Chris about this outcome, the policeman replies: “Here you are trying to protect the tourist from New York and it turns out New York needs protecting from the tourist.”
Discotheque bibliotheque
A bit quieter on the cultural references this week besides the aforementioned Warhol celebrity spot and Abby’s reference to Miss Havisham. There is, however, a moment of amusing dramatic irony as one of Candy’s editors suggests a few literary puns as porn titles – Crotch 22, Moby-Dick – but then stops as it will never catch on.
Questions for next week
Will Abby stay with Vinnie?
Will Lori win her award?
Will we get to see them hang out in LA?
And how long until CC gets violent?
