Submission: Thursdays at 11 PM ET/PT on Showtime

The general consensus from the kink community is that the 50 Shades series and its ripple effect on mainstream media is a very very bad thing. As a lifelong kinkster, I don’t share the same pitchfork mentality. After all, if anything makes it okay to discuss spreader bars and nipple clamps at brunch with my vanilla girlfriends, I’m all for it.

When Showtime announced a new BDSM series, I was excited to see that Jacky St. James was the writer and director behind it. Scenes from her two Emma Marx films contribute to my classier kinky fantasies. Plus, the teaser trailer that debuted a few weeks ago showed a glimpse of a similar aesthetic that really struck my fancy.

The way the series is marketed made me think that this was going to be an erotic thriller series in the same vein as The Affair which I have to admit I’ve masturbated to on several occasions. But it’s not. Once I realized that Submission was going to be an after-hours erotica series, I reset my expectations and enjoyed the show.

Episode 1 is titled “Slave” and it starts off with close-ups of sensation play and orgasm control. Just as it’s getting really hot, we cut to the blank stare of vanilla sex. We meet the main character Ashley (Ashlynn Yennie) whose sex life has obviously plateaued. And that’s how the origin story begins. Her story will be relevant to those who are motivated to explore kink as an fun detour from vanilla. For the rest of us, we never sought out kink, it found us.

Vanilla Ashley’s origin story is centered around an erotic novel. Sound vaguely familiar? The book also shares its title with the episode. “Slave” is ultimately what’s going to introduce Vanilla Ashley to kink. That and her foil on the show, Dylan the promiscuous roommate played by porn star / Spiegler girl, Skin Diamond. Don’t get excited, her talent is wasted here. The only redeeming part of this episode is the end when we finally get a glimpse of the dungeon from the first shots of the episode. This time, it’s nothing sensual. Dylan is standing with arms bound to a chain hanging from the ceiling. The paddle is her punishment and she counts off each smack of the paddle. Counting is something every submissive needs to be used to. The numbers are soothing and they take my breath away.

We know little of the dynamic between Dylan and her nameless Dom. What are their protocols? How is he addressed? We can speculate that her assignment was to bring a girl to his dungeon. How was this negotiated? Does he know how hard it is to find a kinky unicorn? But we have to sit through another episode or more to get our answers. Why isn’t this series on Netflix so I can binge and review all the BDSM scenes at once?