To its credit, the series did do the one thing that matters most on the small screen: it thought about its characters first and premise second, but now that it’s fleshed out its characters, it’s time to start thinking about how long its premise can last. Would someone want to invest time in a series that doesn’t paint itself with much of a future? This isn’t a mini-series, and USA wants Satisfaction to become their next Suits. But what about episode five? Ten? Thirteen? Twenty? Forty? If Satisfaction were a low-budget indie film, it would obtain high praise for its challenging morals, sharp writing and rather excellent acting, but as a TV series, all those good qualities come under scrutiny when one considers how far a series like this can go. It’s easy to imagine what episode two could be. It’s easy to see what the pilot looks like.

The biggest problem that comes up with Satisfaction is its sustainability as a series.

Following a confrontation, Neil obtains the man’s phone and begins taking over the role of escort to the clients, all while hiding it from his wife. As Neil begins to unravel his wife’s infidelity, he learns the other man in question was actually a male escort. Satisfaction follows the adventures of Neil Truman who, after realizing how dull his life has become, quits his job and upon returning home to tell his wife about his new found meaning of existence, finds her cheating on him with another man. However, the problem is by using a drama format over comedy, a new problem has emerged, that of sustainability. Between FX’s You’re The Worst, Married and now USA’s Satisfaction, cable television seems to be on a real mission this summer to challenge the traditional ideals of being in a “happy relationship.” But, where USA has succeeded over its grittier FX counterparts is it takes the ideas way more seriously, and thus, makes them more relatable.

Satisfaction tv series on usa