The Girlfriend Experience (TV series)

Did You Know?

• Amazon Video acquired rights to the series for the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria and Japan, with the series premiering on June 27, 2016, excluding Japan.
• The first season was released on Blu-ray and DVD in region 1 on August 2, 2016.
• Narges Rashidi joined the cast of the series in March 2017.

Plot

Christine Reade is a second-year student at Chicago-Burnham Law School, interning at Kirkland & Allen while trying to keep her grades, finances, and workload from flatlining. Her friend Avery comes clean about working as an escort and drags Christine to a client who's looking for exactly that. Under the name Chelsea Rayne, Christine sells what she calls the girlfriend experience — not just the sex, but the emotional stuff too. She takes direction at first from Avery's madam, Jacqueline, before going solo. That independence brings real headaches: clients crossing lines, and Christine catching wind of corruption brewing inside Kirkland & Allen. Season two splits in half. In Washington, D.C., amid the midterm election cycle, Erica Myles — finance director for a Republican super PAC — partners with escort Anna Garner to squeeze a wealthy dark money donor. Over in New Mexico, Bria Jones, a former escort, enters witness protection with her estranged thirteen-year-old stepdaughter to get away from an abusive partner. The trouble starts when she can't stay off the job: picking her escort work back up threatens her new identity, her stepdaughter, and the U.S. Marshal assigned to protect them. Season three follows Iris, a neuroscience major who drops out of school and moves to London to join a tech startup studying human behavior. What she discovers is that her client sessions and the girlfriend experience feed straight into her edge in the tech world — and the reverse works just as well.

Production

In June 2014, Starz ordered 13 episodes of a series inspired by Steven Soderbergh's 2009 film, with Soderbergh executive producing. Lodge Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz wrote and directed every episode of the first season and also served as executive producers. Riley Keough was announced as the lead actress in September 2014. Shane Carruth created the music. Filming happened in Toronto, Canada. For season two, announced in January 2017, Louisa Krause, Anna Friel, and Carmen Ejogo took on the three lead roles. The season had two separate storylines, each written and directed by either Kerrigan or Seimetz, who worked on their own but reviewed each other's scripts. In September 2017, both said they would not be back for a third season, explaining that letting new filmmakers take over was always the plan. In July 2019, Starz picked up a third season of 10 episodes, with Anja Marquardt writing and directing. Production on that season started on August 20, 2020, in London, England.

Reception

The first season of The Girlfriend Experience was widely praised by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, 40 reviews gave it an 85% approval rating, with an average score of 8.5 out of 10. The site’s summary called the show “darkly fascinating” and “utterly bingeworthy,” noting that Riley Keough’s performance made up for any flaws. On Metacritic, based on 27 reviews, it earned a score of 78 out of 100. Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture described the series as feeling like “four or five shows rolled into one,” and singled out the season finale as the most daring and layered episode he had seen since the third-season finale of Louie. The second season also earned positive notices. On Rotten Tomatoes, 19 reviews gave it a 74% approval rating, with an average of 9.4 out of 10. The site’s consensus said the show shifted from a character study to an ensemble piece, thoughtfully exploring complex aspects of sexuality while offering challenging and titillating content. On Metacritic, six reviews produced a score of 72 out of 100. Chris Cabin of Collider called it one of the best TV seasons of 2017. Sonia Saraiya of Variety, however, felt that while the season was still beautifully directed and produced, the focus on sex work and the sex worker herself had become secondary to the filmmaker’s own goals. The third season received generally favorable reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, 10 reviews gave it a 60% approval rating, with an average of 6.3 out of 10. On Metacritic, six reviews resulted in a score of 76 out of 100. Riley Keough was nominated for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film at the 74th Golden Globe Awards.