Sexually Explicit ‘Three Women’ Is Fall TV’s First Hot Mess
The new(-ish) 10-episode series Three Women—shot for Showtime, shopped to Starz, aired in Australia, shelved in the U.S. until now—is based on a nonfiction book. But for extended passages, it feels more like it comes from a collection of short stories. That’s a compliment, especially for a contemporary TV show. Countless recent series have drawn inspiration from memoir-adjacent nonfiction where translations of the author’s wry observations, often delivered through voice-over in a tone of hard-won wisdom, sound corny, even intrusive. Still, Three Women can't resist its worst temptations.
For a great example of this problem, just wait for the fifth episode. This isn’t a spoiler; the mid-series installment mostly expands upon information offered up in the first episode, wherein Gia (Shailene Woodley), a writer for Esquire, is staring down that most relatable of dilemmas: a major book deal gone wrong.
She’s just turned in 200,000 words that her publisher hates, and she has one last chance to turn around her project focusing on sex in America. Faced with an unwanted mentor and a callow agent (Fred Savage), she drives cross-country, posts flyers on her trip to solicit interviews with real women, goes to a rodeo, and shows off a gorgeous head of unruly curly hair, all while participating in her own round of frantic yet boilerplate romantic drama.