Round Two: Pure

Pure: Season 1, Episode 2 (B+)

I really liked that this second episode didn’t go the same way that I thought it might after the first episode, focused on Marnie tackling some of her issues head-on and devolving into sharp fantasy flashes only a few times over the course of the episode. Realizing that she felt out of place at the sex addiction meeting because she wasn’t doing anything conscious to indulge this involuntary brain activity was an important step, and it’s good that she’s developing a platonic relationship with Charlie that she recognizes as a friendship and he notes doesn’t serve to feed into his addiction. Her roommate really is nice, and she could probably confide in her in a way that she doesn’t expect because, as Marnie acknowledged, she just is the person she is and doesn’t worry about others judging her. Amber did not react well to seeing her show up at her place of work, and she got off to a bumpy start with the tea orders. Showing up late to work the party, a misunderstanding I could tell was going to happen, was another misstep, but she totally recovered by doing exactly what was needed of her and even staying to clean up after it. She earned herself the chance to continue her internship, and her questionable decision to ride home with Joe on a choppy, intimacy-filled subway was overshadowed by her impressive ability to get out of her own head by telling herself that her latest hallucinations were just her OCD. Now that’s progress!