You can’t go if you never came.
Broadly speaking, that’s the idea behind FX and Hulu’s new dramedy, Dying For Sex, starring Michelle Williams, Jenny Slate, Jay Duplass, and more. The show is based on the eponymous Wondery podcast about the real life and death of Molly Kochan (Williams), who received a Stage IV cancer diagnosis and decided to spend whatever time left on earth she had checking off items from her sexual bucket list… a “Fu*k-et List,” if you will.
**Spoiler alert for Dying For Sex**
To do that, Molly leaves her husband of 15 years (Duplass) and sets out with her best friend, Nikki (Slate), by her side to accomplish all the things she would want to try before her death. Throughout the eight-episode series, Molly explores her sexual interests — including S&M, sex parties, and domination — finding herself more and more with each sexperminent. It’s a beautiful and touching tale about knowing yourself and your wants, but don’t get me wrong, it’s also hot as hell to watch.
After a clean break from her husband in Episode 1 (“Good Value Diet Soda”), Molly is off and running, immediately swiping on dating apps and kink sites as not to waste any more time than she already has. The goal: finally have an orgasm with another person, something she has never done. In one episode, she attempts to fulfill her fantasies by shacking up with a 25-year-old, played by Saturday Night Live‘s Marcello Hernandez. Don’t get your hopes up; it’s pretty much the most disappointing sex in the entire show, but it does make for a laughably awkward moment.
No, if you are tuning in for some of the steamier scenes and storylines, it’s Molly’s time at a sex party potluck — what they call a “fuck potlock” but should obviously have been branded a “potfuck” — in Episode 4, “Topping Is a Sacred Skill,” where things really start to get NSFW. Well, more NSFW than they already were.
In Episode 4, a domination expert (Robby Hoffman) at the party Molly attends slowly brings a woman to orgasm on a table in the middle of a party as the other guests watch in awe. It’s one of those moments that will take your breath away, and it did the same thing to Molly, who reaches out to Hoffman’s character to learn her ways. It’s only after Hoffman’s sex expert tells her that before she can dominate, she needs to submit, that Molly finally reaches a new threshold. That episode ends with the two characters in the backroom of Hoffman’s character’s day job, lying on a mattress as she slowly touches Molly and holds her.
There are so many more moments that feel almost too intimate to be watching (I seriously felt like a third at times and jokingly said, “I’ll give you two a moment” at one point), but I want you to go and watch this show for yourself. I went in with the innate fear that due to the whole terminal cancer thing, the series could be a — for lack of a better phrase — boner killer, much like how Molly doesn’t want to share her own diagnosis with her partners. But in facing the diagnosis head-on and knowing what she wants out of her interactions, it becomes a reminder that there is no shame is asking for what you need.
It’s what Molly’s hospital care worker, Sonya (Esco Jouley), says to her in the very first episode. As Molly is explaining that she is ashamed for never having orgasmed with a partner and sobbing over the state of her sex life, Sonya advises her to open her mind to what is out there.
“You early millennials are so tragic, you know, you think sex is just penetration and orgasm. You know why? Because that’s what Samantha said. Sex is a wave. Sex is a mindset,” Sonya says. Let this serve as a reminder that life is too short not to try new things.
Dying For Sex is currently streaming on Hulu.
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