I Love Dick is Unapologetically Feminine.

I recently had the delight of stumbling upon the pilot episode of Jill Soloway’s newest television drama, I Love Dick. As I settled down on the couch with a glass of rosé, I repeated the title to myself and I thought about picking the remote up and switching to reruns of Parks and Recreation. But as a scrambling New York City couple, Chris (Kathryn Hahn, whom I have a major lady crush on) and Sylvere (Griffin Dunne) came across the screen, packing their bags for Marfa, Texas, I had to know more about their story. Or, maybe I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Kathryn Hahn but either way, within the first five minutes of the episode I was in for the ride.

We learn that Sylvere is an art fellow studying under a man named Dick (Kevin Bacon). Sylvere and Chris attend a beautiful party at Dick’s place. Sylvere speaks intently with an beautiful young woman as Chris looks upon with obvious dissatisfaction. Escaping conversation about her work life with a group of strangers Chris catches sight of Dick and after that initial moment of eye contact we are given narration of a letter that reads “Dear Dick, this about obsession. How did we not know each other before now? This about me missing you even though I’ve never met you”. And then Chris nervously walks over to strike up a conversation with him, forgetting her husband and the young woman.

Jill Soloway’s fantastic use of her directorial skills and soundtrack create a surreal scene that mimics situations that women have found themselves in time and time again. One that involves a dark lust that is both sexual and derived from magic at the same time. The feeling a woman has when the man she can’t keep her eyes off of at the bar begins to walk towards her and suddenly, her gin & tonics hit her, the music and the blood rushing to her head fill her ears, and her heart begins to pound. A feeling that connects women throughout time, the ability to tap into a sacred storyline that begins and ends with two people who are devilishly attracted to one another.

Without giving away the rest of the story, it’s too good to not tempt you to watch it, I was overwhelmed in the absolute best of ways by a scene near to the end of the episode. Dick, Chris, and Sylvere end up at dinner together where Chris’ newly found by no less intense, obsession for Dick begins to unfold quicker than at the party. This obsession leads her to begin writing a what she calls, “a short story disguised a letter,” entitled, I Love Dick. She reads the beginnings of these letters to her husband and her voice fades to narration as the viewer is taken to a looking glass world of Chris’ desires. Played out to the intoxicating voice of singer Mal Devisa as she croons her song “Fire”, this world is the embodiment of Chris’ womanhood- it is sexual, passionate, paradoxical, and yet delicate. This insanely well crafted scene plus the narration of Kathryn Hahn alone had me refilling my glass of wine and restarted the episode as soon as it was over.

I Love Dick was everything I had no idea it would be. It was beautiful, interesting, and most importantly, it was relevant to who I am as a woman. Chris isn’t a put together character and it was a relief because I have yet to meet a woman that isn’t fire and ice all at the same time. The sexuality of it is intoxicating as well because it isn’t the overdone Hollywood sexuality that has been seen time and time again, it’s real, it is laced with temptation, excitement, timidness, obsession, and fantasy. I Love Dick isn’t set to air until May 12th, 2017 but I’ve watched this masterpiece of a pilot three times already-this isn’t a show to be missed.