The Bisexual looks at the difference of dating men and women from the perspective of a person who finds herself doing both. It’s an honest look at the last taboo, bisexuality and what it means to refuse to compromise on what you want.

You can only hide the truth for so long.

The episode opens on Gabe having unsatisfying sex with Francesca, before quickly cutting to Leila and Jon-Criss, who have sex in her bed before sharing a shower; laughing as they fight over access to the water. Gabe, who is still under the impression that Leila is a lesbian, overhears them in the shower and presumably decides to skip his own shower in shock.

Jon-Criss suggests Leila should call in sick to work, which she does, to the dissatisfaction of Sadie, and promises to schedule her “explosive diarrhoea” to fit in with their work calendar next time. This means Sadie is left alone to deal with Ruby, who is more interested in her blog than her work, and wants help to track down Malala Yousafzi for an interview about her “beautiful scarf” because “everyone wants to talk to her about the Taliban and education”.

Sadie: Of course they do, because who gives a shit about her scarves?

But Sadie, being probably the nicest person on this show, relents after Ruby looks like she might cry and encourages her to explain the project in more detail.

What Bisexual Means To Me

Meanwhile, Leila is enjoying her day off, until Gabe starts to question her about Jon-Criss and asks if she’s straight now. Of course, Leila tells him no. She then begins a one-sided conservation about the difference between having sex with men and women: semen. Gabe tries to shut down the conversation, advising that she talk to a female friend about this, so Leila admits that he’s the only one who knows. And that she doesn’t like the word bisexual, citing that there’s a lot of baggage (biphobia) attached to that label.

Leila: When I hear bisexual, I think lame slut. It’s tacky, it’s gauche, it makes you seem disingenuous. Like your genitals have no allegiance, you know? Like you have no criteria for people, just an open door policy.

Ouch! That’s a lot of internalized biphobia in thirty seconds of screen time.

When Leila gets back upstairs, she and Jon-Criss start to have sex again, but he cums a little too quickly for her liking and then mentions that he’s hungry. As the scene cuts away, it looks like he’s not gonna get Leila off before he grabs some food.

Baby Talk

The next scene is a little bit strange, with Sadie walking down the street listening to a man in an audio recording saying he’s good at cooking and maybe “your child” inherit that skill too. This gives me the impression that maybe Sadie is looking for a sperm donor in order to fulfil her dreams of becoming a mother, even if Leila is no longer part of that plan.

Cards Against Humanity and The L Word

Later that day, when Leila and Jon-Criss are figuring out what to do for dinner – did she ever get to cum? – Deniz turns up with some food, so Leila has to figure out how to hide her new relationship. She tries to convince Jon-Criss to hide in the kitchen for “two to three hours”, but he refuses (obviously!), so she interrupts Gabe’s “date” with Francesca to ask him to hang out with Jon-Criss for her. Surprisingly, everyone is on-board for the second plan and it actually works out well, with them all having dinner and playing Cards Against Humanity in the living room, but Deniz begins to suspect something when Leila and Jon-Criss break into fits of laughter over the same card.

Meanwhile, Sadie and Ester are binge-watching “The L Word”, but Ester begs to go out, saying that season two is “shit” anyway because Tina is pregnant. And then, we get confirmation that Sadie is thinking of having a baby.

Sadie: Do you think, if they hadn’t got back together, Bette would have had a baby on her own?

Ester doesn’t think so, claiming that its “unnatural” and Sadie agrees, although you can tell she doesn’t really mean it.

Being Gay Can Be A Really Big Part Of Your Identity

Back at Gabe and Leila’s, Francesca asks why they had to lie to Deniz about Jon-Criss, so Gabe explains that Leila doesn’t want to admit that she’s sleeping with a man. Leila says “it’s a gay thing”, which will now be my reason for everything. When Francesca says that she’s queer, Leila retorts that “everyone under 25 thinks they’re queer”, but after a moment of reflection she mellows. She tells Francesca that she thinks the internet is changing how the younger generation thinks about gender and sexuality “in a really good way”, but that she can’t relate to that because she didn’t grow up with it.

Leila:  I think it’s different. I think when you have to fight for it, being gay can become the biggest part of you. And that you’re gay or you’re straight and one comes with an entirely different lifestyle than the other… and you can’t do both.

Francesca tells Leila that she’s making a big deal out of nothing, before she drags them all out a club. After dancing for a while, Leila and Jon-Criss head outside and he kisses her in front of Sadie, Ester, and the rest of Leila’s lesbian friends. Sadie storms off, so Leila chases after her, but soon regrets it when Sadie asks if she’s “fucking” him and runs off again. Jon-Criss walks Leila home and tries to comfort her about her friends knowing, but she tells him that he doesn’t understand because he’s not gay. He responds that neither is she, “not fully” anyway, which goes down about as well as you’d expect.

Leila tells him that she doesn’t think they’re compatible and he reacts badly, calling her an “emotional intimacy whore” before walking away and leaving her on the pavement alone.

So, will Leila and Jon-Criss get back together? Will Leila and Sadie get back together? Will Sadie have a baby? Better come back next week to find out.

Watch The Bisexual on Stan. All photo credit to Channel 4.