Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Slip’ On Roku Channel, Where A Woman Lives Parallel Love Lives In Order To Get Her To Appreciate The One She Has

We’ve had issues in the past with shows that portray marriage as a death slog that’s devoid of any joy. A new Roku Channel series created, written and directed by its star, Zoe Lister-Jones, seems to start the same way, which made us roll our eyes. But by the second episode, the overall message of the series takes a turn and its overall message about marriage may be positive. Read on for more.

SLIP: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: “I didn’t want to wake up this morning. That’s true of every morning, really,” a woman says as we see a vertical shot of her waking up in her bed, forlorn look on her face.

The Gist: Mae Cannon (Zoe Lister-Jones) is giving a monologue about how every day feels the same, about how she feels like an observer instead of a participant, and how marriage to her husband Elijah (Whitmer Thomas) has become monotonous. It seems like she’s narrating the scenes of sameness — the eggs, the Barbra Streisand coffee mug, etc. — but what she’s really doing is ranting to a cashier at her favorite salad place, who simply asked “How are you today?”

Mae is definitely restless; the romance in her 13-year marriage to Elijah disappeared awhile ago, and while she still loves him, they seem to act more like roommates than romantic partners. He actually seems like he’s avoiding intimate contact. Mae’s buddy Gina (Tymika Tafari), who works with her as a curator at a museum in Brooklyn, thinks Mae has it pretty good; she’s “settled” instead of having to navigate dating life in New York. Mae, in her depressed state, mishears Gina as saying she “settled” for Elijah instead of settled into a stable partnership.

After Mae and Gina successfully open an exhibit about the Buddhist concept of the “Hungry Ghost” (a concept Mae was familiar with in her life), Elijah begs off the afterparty at a nearby bar. There, Mae meets Eric (Amar Chadha-Patel), a charming musician whom Gina recognizes because his music was on Barack Obama’s publicized playlists.

They have a connection, and Mae doesn’t want to deal with the texts Elijah’s sending about his possible food poisoning, so they keep talking; they dance at the bar, then go back to his place. He goes down on her and gives her a mind-blowing orgasm, the first time she’s ever gotten one via oral sex.

After that slip, she finds herself waking up in his bed. Yet, his apartment is now far bigger, and then she comes to a realization when she sees her Streisand mug in the kitchen and her shoes by the door: She lives there. Then she sees her and Eric in a wedding photo and wants to know just what the hell is happening.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? We could try to find a parallel-universe series to compare to Slip, but to us it felt more like shows like Married and Divorce. They all explore longtime married couples and why marriage isn’t easy, but Lister-Jones has fed that story through Mae’s parallel universe experiences.

Our Take: As we mentioned above, Lister-Jones is the main creative force behind Slip; she created the series, as well as wrote and directed all seven episodes (Dakota Johnson joins Lister-Jones on the list of executive producers). Anyone who’s been a fan of her acting career knows that she brings a bit of a sardonic tinge to her characters, but they also tend to be hopeful and positive about some aspect of their lives. Despite her abject depression, Mae still has hope, and we’ll see this hope as she travels through these parallel lives and experiences other relationships.

We actually watched the first three episodes because we wanted to see just how Mae’s situation played out. In the second episode, she finds herself married to Eric, having famous people in her phone contacts, and being followed around by paparazzi. In the third episode, she slips with a bartender named Sandy (Emily Hampshire), then finds herself in her apartment; they’re married and they’re about to go to the birthday party for their daughter Eva (Sofia Glasso). Every time she has a mind-blowing orgasm, she wakes up the next day in a new life.

It’s a good take on the “marriage is the death of fun” trope that we generally see in shows like this, and what most of the first episode was about. These sexual encounters Mae is having, where she “slips” during whatever relationship she’s in, send her into lives that she not only doesn’t recognize, but doesn’t want. Every one of them have problems, ones that are more serious than the ones she’s having with Elijah. And the longer she travels through these parallel lives, the more she’s seeing life with Elijah in a better light.

We do know a little about Mae’s backstory, as Elijah mentions the fact that she was a foster kid when they have an argument about whether they should start thinking about kids. But this is a case where her backstory is less necessary than it usually would be, as she’s running through all of these other versions of herself that she doesn’t particularly like. As she does that, it informs us of what she does appreciate in her life with Elijah.

In the end, Slip may end up being a positive look at marriage. Lister-Jones keeps things moving in each episode, giving Mae tools to help her figure out just where she’s finding herself after each orgasm. And, even though she’s a multi-hyphenate here who’s in virtually every scene, she still gives a layered performance that shows that Mae isn’t just a typical depressed millennial wondering if this is all there is.

Sex and Skin: If you were ever looking to see Lister-Jones naked, simulating having intense orgasms, then you’ve come to the right place.

Parting Shot: Eric enters the apartment with some groceries and kisses Mae on the cheek. She looks straight ahead, wondering just what the hell is going on.

Sleeper Star: Tymika Tafari, who plays Mae’s bestie Gina, is her friend in every parallel universe, doing a different interesting job in each one. It’s a solidifying factor for Mae, as she can always call Gina and tell her what’s going on, even if it seems crazy. And Tafari is pretty funny no matter what Gina is doing.

Most Pilot-y Line: During their argument about having children, Elijah talks about how Mae tallies up “points” in their arguments that she can use later on. That’s such a common tactic to take during spousal arguments that it was painful to listen to; the more successful couples have gotten past that concept, especially if they’ve been helped by therapy.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Slip is certainly a tour de force for Zoe Lister-Jones, but it’s also funny and touching, and it may have a more positive message about marriage and long-term relationships than it seems to have at first blush.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.