''Bonding'' (stylized as ''BONDiNG'') is an American

dark comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air a ...

series that premiered on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

on April 24, 2019. The series stars

Zoe Levin Zoe (also ZOE, Zoë, Zoé, etc.) can refer to: *ζωή (''zōḗ''), the Ancient Greek word for "life" People * Zoe (name), including list of persons and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Zoe'' (film) * ZOE Broadcast ...

Brendan Scannell Brendan Scannell (born June 20, 1990) is an American actor and comedian known for playing the lead roles of Heather Duke in the Paramount Network series ''Heathers'' (2018) and Pete Devon in the Netflix dark comedy series ''Bonding'' (2019-2021) ...

Micah Stock Micah Stock (born December 31, 1988) is a Tony Awards, Tony-nominated American actor best known for his roles in the Sundance breakout ''Brittany Runs a Marathon'', as Doug in Netflix’s ''Bonding (TV series), Bonding'' and as Kevin in the FX o ...

Theo Stockman Theo Stockman (born December 27, 1984) is an American actor and singer, known for his roles in Broadway musicals such as ''Hair'', '' American Idiot'', and ''American Psycho'', numerous roles on television including '' Inside Amy Schumer'', ''High ...

, and Nana Mensah. On January 16, 2020, the series was renewed for a second season which was released on January 27, 2021. ''Bonding'' is reported to be loosely based on the personal experience of creator Rightor Doyle. In July 2021, the series was canceled after two seasons.

Synopsis

Tiffany "Tiff" Chester (

) is a

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

student moonlighting as a

dominatrix A dominatrix (; ) or femdom is a woman who takes the dominant role in BDSM activities. A dominatrix can be of any sexual orientation, but this does not necessarily limit the genders of her submissive partners. Dominatrices are known for infli ...

. She enlists the help of Pete Devin (Brendan Scannell), her best friend from high school who is gay, to be her assistant. The semi-estranged characters reconnect in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, where Pete works as a waiter and as an aspiring stand-up comedian with

stage fright Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, real or imagined, whether actually or potentially (for example, when perf ...

. Tiff struggles as she balances her personal life with school and her job, as well as Pete's exposure to sadomasochism and

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...

and how it gradually helps him become liberated in his life.

Cast and characters

Main

as Tiffany "Tiff" Chester, a psychology grad student living in New York City. She works as dominatrix by night under the alias "Mistress May". She enlists the help of Pete to become her assistant. *

as Peter "Pete" Devin, a young gay man who becomes an assistant to Tiff. He initially chooses the alias "Carter", but is later referred to as "Master Carter". *

as Doug (season 2, recurring season 1), Tiff's psychology classmate, with whom she later begins a relationship *

as Josh (season 2, recurring season 1), Pete's boyfriend * Nana Mensah as Mistress Mira (season 2), Tiff's former mentor

Recurring

* Matthew Wilkas as Rolph, Tiff's German man-servant and one of her clients * Alex Hurt as Frank, Pete's roommate * Gabrielle Ryan as Portia, Frank's girlfriend * Alysha Umphress as Murphy, a stand-up comedian and Pete's friend * Kevin Kane as Professor Charles (season 1), Tiff's psychology professor * Stephanie Styles as Kate (season 1) * Charles Gould as Fred, one of Tiff's clients

Guest

* Jade Elysan as Cat Dom (season 1) * Stephen Reich as Trevor (season 1) *

D'Arcy Carden D'Arcy Beth Carden (born Darcy Beth Erokan, January 4, 1980) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her starring roles as Janet in the NBC sitcom ''The Good Place'' (2016–2020) and Greta Gill in the Prime series ''A League ...

as Daphne (season 1) * Amy Bettina as Chelsea * Eric Berryman as Andy (season 1), Daphne's husband *

Kevin Kilner Kevin Kilner (born May 3, 1958) is an American television and film actor. Life and career Kilner was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Dorothea, a kindergarten teacher, and Edward Kilner, who worked in advertising sales and insurance. He we ...

as MJP (season 2) * Nico Evers-Swindell as Martin (season 2)

Episodes

Season 1 (2019)

Season 2 (2021)

Production

Development

On December 14, 2018,

announced it had picked up the series for a seven-episode first season. The series is created by Rightor Doyle, who is credited as an executive producer, alongside Dara Gordon, Jacob Perlin, Nina Soriano, Tom Schembri and David Sigurani. Production companies involved with the series include Blackpills and Anonymous Content. On January 16, 2020, Netflix renewed the series for a second season consisting of eight-episodes. On July 2, 2021, Netflix canceled the series after two seasons.

Casting

After Netflix acquired the series, it was confirmed that Zoe Levin and Brendan Scannell would star in the series.

Release

On April 22, 2019, Netflix released the official trailer for the series.

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the first season holds an approval rating of 71% with an average rating of 6.95/10 based on 14 reviews. The website's consensus reads: "Though ''Bonding''s juicy spin on friendship and sexuality boldly treads into uncharted territory, the show's writing too often teeters uncomfortably between bewitchingly funny and bewilderingly underwhelming to make it a truly satisfying experience." On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has three positive reviews and no negative reviews. Daniel Hart of ''Ready Steady Cut'' described the second season as "more fruitful and more emotional" and wrote: "while the previous instalment gave it a larger dose of comedy, there's more respect for the community's work in this season; there's an understanding that the world of dominatrix fulfils the pleasure of many that it is not just a space for whips and leather". Jess Joho of '' Mashable'' said that the second season "stands out for focusing far less on the leather of it all, and far more on the underlying emotional connection, vulnerability, communication, and boundary-setting that can make ethical BDSM an incredible vehicle for deepening relationships".

Accolades

Controversy

After the release of the first season, the series suffered several criticisms by the BDSM community for containing a high level of inaccuracy. According to BDSM workers, the series' humor revolves around mistaken stereotypes and does not accurately portray the reality of BDSM. BDSM experts characterize Tiff as cold and aggressive, not knowing how to separate the dominatrix personality from the everyday personality. In addition, the series attempts to use a history of sexual trauma to justify Tiff's preference for domination fetishes, a view that is considered clichéd and misguided about sex workers. The lack of negotiation and consent in several scenes in the first season and the collar with "

Ring of O The Ring of O is a specially designed ring which has been worn as a distinctive mark among BDSM practitioners, mainly in continental Europe — and especially the German-speaking countries — since the 1990s. Its use is relatively widesprea ...

", a symbol of BDSM submission, being used by the protagonist are also other problems pointed out by BDSM professionals. Shortly after the first season's release, one of the series' creators, Rightor Doyle, responded to negative criticism by stating that he would listen to the BDSM community to fix the inaccuracies shown in the series so far. With that, they hired as consultant Olivia Troy, a writer who has worked with BDSM for 15 years, to assist them in the script for the second season. This caused most of the negative points pointed out in the first season to be corrected, making the series closer to the reality of BDSM. According to Troy, the lack of consent, communication and connection between dominatrix and submissive is one of the main mistakes made by the media when BDSM is addressed. Despite the evolution of the second season, Troy also states that there are still some moments that are not necessarily realistic because the theme must fit into the style and script of the show. Actress Zoe Levin said she initially accepted the role not knowing how the work of a dominatrix really is. After seeing all the negative reviews the series received in the first season, she went with consultant Olivia Troy to BDSM studios to learn about the equipment, philosophy and ethical principles adopted by the BDSM community. When asked what message the second season brings to the audience, Levin said "the hope is that they see BDSM and sex work and bondage in a different light than they normally do. Because, what we have seen in TV and film is the very stereotypical version of what we only think BDSM is."

References

External links