Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Harlots shouldn’t work. It’s a period drama about the women history often likes to forget: the sex workers who made a living entertaining men of all ranks and classes. However, the Hulu period drama uses sex work as a setting, and not a lurid gimmick. Within this setting, the show manages to tell complicated, empathetic stories about the ways in which all kinds of inequity keep women held down and pitted against each other. Now in its spectacular third season, Harlots is back and it’s still Hulu’s most underrated gem.
Hulu’s Harlots mainly follows the women in two camps: the earthy, fallible, loving Wells family and the domineering and conniving Lydia Quigley’s (Lesley Manville). The Wells family is ruled by matriarch Margaret (Samantha Morton), a woman who has risen from being an abused child prostitute to the mother of two of London’s most favorite courtesans. Her Sisyphean attempts to earn respect and security are consistently undone by Lydia Quigley’s schemes and the hypocritical laws of the land. While the girls cater to the wealthy, respectable, and common men of London, these men are also quick to turn on them if it suits them.
Season 3 of Harlots picks up a full year after the dramatic events of Season 2. Margaret’s eldest daughter Charlotte Wells (Jessica Brown Findlay) is enjoying her new role as a bawd, i.e. a motherly, protective kind of pimp who manages a house, but keeps her girls safe. Her little sister Lucy Wells (Eloise Smyth) hasn’t shed the traumatic scandals of her past, but instead uses them to add to her allure. She is the most coveted woman in the city and literally makes men compete for her attention. Their mother is presumed dead, but secretly safe in America, while their long-time nemesis Lydia Quigley rots in Bedlam. All is well…until its not.
The eco-system of London’s prostitution scene is rocked by the arrival of two new enterprising families, each quickly ensnaring the Wells sisters into very different kinds of dangers. Game of Thrones star Alfie Allen plays Isaac Pincher, a creepily charismatic pimp who is dead set on taking over London with his brother Hal (Ash Hunter). Isaac’s aggressive, maniacal, and has actual chemistry with Charlotte. There’s a moment towards the end of the Season 3 premiere that is devastating as it seems the two admit they could have a romance, were it not for the competitive nature of their profession. Pincher is dangerous not only because he represents a terrifying, masculine need to dominate Charlotte at all costs, but because she may in fact have a weakness for him.
The other new arrivals are Elizabeth (Angela Griffin) and her son Fredo (Aidan Cheng). Along with a silent partner, they rope Lucy into bidding on Quigley’s old opulent stomping grounds. While Elizabeth and Fredo seem charming enough — and boy, are they charming — their plan to use an atelier as a front for a “molly house,” aka homosexual brothel, could lead them all to the gallows. Homosexuality was a hanging offense in 18th century England. Lucy seems thrilled to be taking control of her own destiny, but Charlotte knows she’s playing with fire.
Elsewhere Lady Fitzwilliam (Liv Tyler) is trying to transcend her own terrible past, while protecting her beloved daughter Sophia from scandal. (Hint: her daughter might have a mind of her own.) Lydia Quigley is suffering dearly in Bedlam, but a glimmer of hope arrives in the form of a young woman sent to the infamous mental institution for enjoying sex with a stable hand. Let’s just say the old schemer might see a new protege in this naive country girl. The other characters of the show are all doing their best to survive in the meantime; Harlots is nothing if not a show about the cost of survival.
Harlots is also a consistently great drama. In the hands of producers Moira Buffini, Debra Hayward, and Alison Owens, the show show takes care to deal with complicated sexual politics. Sex serves a narrative purpose, and each of the dozens of denizens of Harlots‘ London are granted sympathy and their own point of view. (Well, maybe not some of the abusers…) Harlots is also one of those shows that begs to be discovered by a wider audience. Season 3 premieres today on Hulu making it the perfect moment to start your binge. Harlots is beautiful, naughty, nasty, and ultimately sublime.
