It turns out that size isn’t everything.
Physical perfection is not perfect for all. Or at least, this is what Jeremy (Jeremy Pope) discovers on The Beauty after his transformation from basement-dwelling incel to a chiseled Adonis. Jeremy is no longer constantly rejected, but no-strings sex has new complications.
A revolutionary single-shot designer drug has mutated into a sexually transmitted virus in Ryan Murphy’s latest bombastic offering on FX, which has myriad pros and cons. It will transform you into a younger, hotter, stronger version of yourself, but its side effects include unquenchable thirst followed by literally exploding into pieces.
It is only January, but The Beauty is leading the charge for the goriest show of the year. It definitely won’t be taking any titles for sexiest as The Beauty’s approach to acts of intimacy is purposefully clinical—no matter if the person getting laid thinks they are hot s--t in the sack.
On a recent episode of Obsessed: The Podcast, host Kevin Fallon and The Daily Beast’s Joanna Coles discussed Heated Rivalry as a TV sex scene outlier and the lack of great sex scenes on TV in recent years.
The Beauty is hardly likely to sway the 48.4 percent of respondents in this recent report from UCLA’s Center for Scholars and Storytellers who said there is “too much sex and sexual content in TV and movies.”
Murphy isn’t siding with those respondents. Instead, sex in The Beauty is another ingredient in a glossy package that barely conceals its lurid and extreme foundation.
Take this week’s fourth episode (Jan. 28 on FX), in which Jeremy receives tutelage about the dos and don’ts of his new physical prime. The artwork on the hotel room walls is more enticing than the graphic action on the bed. The Assassin (Anthony Ramos) sits in the corner of the room, yelling out instructions and making savage observations: “No! I told you no saliva exchange. Ever. That’s over for you now. Not that you ever had it.”
Blowjobs are also off the table because the virus is transmitted via all bodily fluids.
Given that Jeremy has never physically experienced these things, he doesn’t care about having to stick to those parameters. Anything is better than his sad porn-watching virgin days. He is just grateful to be here, even if the woman in his bed is in it for the cash and the Assassin is playing coach in the corner. It is telling that the latter’s vinyl outfit is giving off more alluring vibes than anything else in this tableau.
Even with this mid-humping critique, Jeremy happily gets back to business with the stiletto-wearing Maria after the brief pause for notes. The scene tips further into comedy territory thanks to Jeremy’s orgasm play-by-play: “Oh, big finish! Big finish! Ooh! Ahh!”
The Assassin has killed many people, but I’m not sure he has heard a high-pitched moan like the one Jeremy makes. Or at least, this is what the sheer bemusement on the Assassin’s face at what he has just witnessed suggests. If anyone is under the impression that these sex scenes are sincere, they clearly aren’t paying attention to the comedic turns both Pope and Ramos are serving in their unlikely team-up.
Punctuating it all with a quick applause to make Jeremy feel like a stud adds to the theatrics. Maria is clear that she won’t be stopping by for a repeat performance: “His dick was too big. I won’t walk straight for a week.”
Despite this being another case of judging Jeremy’s physical appearance, he doesn’t take those comments negatively because he now fits a fantasy image.
Comparisons to The Substance, which also took on beauty standards, are impossible to ignore (particularly during bone-cracking transformation scenes), but it isn’t a carbon copy of the Oscar-nominated movie from director Coralie Fargeat.
Adapted from the 2016 graphic novel by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley, Murphy and co-creator Matthew Hodgson explore themes of identity, self-belief, and desire with a billionaire and pharmaceutical backdrop ripe for the Ozempic era.
In the series’ opening episodes, a pre-transformation Jeremy (Jaquel Spivey) suffers a bad reaction to a penis-pump that doesn’t deliver on its advertised growth potential. It is another in a string of humiliations that leads a desperate Jeremy to a doctor who gives him a black market version of the miracle drug (via its sexually transmitted form).
Sex for sex’s sake is how it feels watching Jeremy go at it with a mirror on the ceiling like he is recreating his X-rated viewing, or when he is feeling himself after the Assassin has given him the ground rules. In fact, Jeremy’s makeover montage at the high-end boutique, when Assassin tells the tailors to make Jeremy’s clothes tighter, is hornier than any of Jeremy’s other moments of undress.
Everything is turned up to 11 in The Beauty, making for a camp, grotesque, and darkly comedic examination of the cultural landscape. With each exploding body or initial transformation, you may find yourself becoming even more desensitized to the gallons of fake blood and array of prosthetics (though the latter is technically very impressive).
The same is true for the majority of the sex scenes that play up to the detached element with a surface-level exploration of porn consumption.
It isn’t entirely soulless sex. FBI Agents Cooper Madsen (Evan Peters) and Jordan Bennett (Rebecca Hall) have an ongoing arrangement that scratches a Mulder and Scully itch if the iconic X-Files characters had been allowed to enjoy scenes as steamy as David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson’s unforgettable Rolling Stone cover. Well, that is until the virus shatters their supposedly no-strings union.
But the majority of The Beauty’s sexual interactions are focused on solo gratification (such as the blowjob Ashton Kutcher’s “The Corporation” receives on the superyacht) or are an impersonal encounter as a means to an end. Similarly, nothing about the first time Jeremy sleeps with someone after he has a new rock-hard body or this week’s tutorial will get the same reaction as the much-talked-about Heated Rivalry hot and heavy pairings.
Two attractive people wearing next to nothing doesn’t automatically make top-tier horny TV. Luckily, The Beauty, wrapped in all its gory glory, isn’t aiming for that target.
