Drama
Paradise
The storyline here (and content) has far greater stakes than your typical whodunnit. And certainly, nobody who watches this series will think it’s paradise.
Ever have the feeling you’re being watched? Lina can relate—although for her, it’s much more than simple paranoia.
On the surface, Lina’s life couldn’t be better. Her career as a paramedic is thriving, she spends her Sundays brunching with girlfriends, and she’s getting married to every girl’s dream man.
But Lina’s Instagram feed won’t tell you that planning her wedding is driving her crazy, her girlfriends gossip on a level that borders on malicious, and Cain, her fiancé, isn’t as dreamy as he seems. He has a drinking problem that he refuses to acknowledge, and he’s not always what you would call considerate.
Maybe that’s why Lina introduces herself to handsome stranger at a party. Maybe that’s why she learns his name is Dan, and he’s only in town for a few weeks. Maybe that’s why when he flirts with her, she flirts back—and that flirting snowballs until she’s back at his apartment.
The next morning, Lina is ready to pretend the whole thing never happened. Until, of course, she realizes she left her engagement ring at Dan’s place. But in her frantic searching, she discovers something even more distressing: a tiny camera hidden in the bedroom. Then she finds another. Then another.
Dan swears he knows nothing about it, and he seems to be telling the truth. But who would want to spy on them? And more importantly, who has the footage that could ruin Lina’s life?
Lina is left with one choice: track down the mysterious voyeur, find out their true intentions, and somehow keep the whole affair from derailing her life.
But it turns out that the voyeur may be closer to her than she ever imagined.
Early in the pilot episode of Watching You, Lina has brunch with a friend, and between sips of mimosas, only one topic is discussed: who they’re sleeping with. It’s a decent sampler of what you’ll be getting for the rest of the show.
No one in this series can stop thinking about sex. Lina and Cain roleplay to spice up their relationship. Lina’s girlfriends ogle waiters at a party, and Lina herself makes little attempt to resist Dan’s advances. It’s an unfortunate reminder of our culture’s casual relationship with sexual ethics, and an unnecessary one at that.
The obsession doesn’t stop with mere conversation. Intimate scenes are frequent, extensive, and so explicit they border on pornographic. This Australian thriller is fully obscene.
As if that wasn’t enough, there’s constant foul language and an abundance of alcohol, from cocktails at a party to full-on drunkenness.
Ironically, for a show about constantly being watched, there’s not much about Watching You that’s worth watching at all. And besides, Lina has enough eyes on her already.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
After a one-night-stand with Dan, a stranger she meets at a party, Lina discovers that hidden cameras have captured the affair. Desperate to save her reputation, she sets out to discover who’s been spying on her before her fiancé discovers her infidelity.
Sex is a constant theme throughout the episode, both in dialogue and action. Multiple intimate scenes take place, and suffice it to say they are … a lot. Lina’s encounter with Dan goes on for several minutes and leaves little to the imagination. Female nudity is shown in multiple scenes. Lina and her friends also use explicit language when discussing who they’re sleeping with.
Lina suspects her friend Clare may have something to do with the cameras, and she goes through Clare’s phone looking for evidence. In a hidden folder, she finds graphic videos of Clare and her husband. Clare also behaves in an oddly suggestive manner towards Lina; she helps her put on lip balm and tells her she’s beautiful, making Lina clearly uncomfortable. Someone from an unknown number sends Lina a graphic video of her and Dan that was captured by the hidden cameras.
Characters drink socially at restaurants and clubs. Cain and his friend Axel do shots at a party, and Cain gets into a drunken fight with another guest before Lina takes him home. It’s clear that Cain has a drinking problem, and it isn’t the first time something like this has happened.
The f-word is used 17 times, and the s-word is used eight. God’s name is taken in vain five times. “B—ch” is used twice, and “h—“ is used once.
Lauren Cook is serving as a 2021 summer intern for the Parenting and Youth department at Focus on the Family. She is studying film and screenwriting at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. You can get her talking for hours about anything from Star Wars to her family to how Inception was the best movie of the 2010s. But more than anything, she’s passionate about showing how every form of art in some way reflects the Gospel. Coffee is a close second.
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