The Bisexual

The Bisexual (2018) is a British drama series written and created by Desiree Akhavian that originally ran on Channel 4 and then later on Hulu in the United States. 

The series follows the fallout when Leila (Akhavian), a Middle Eastern woman who grew up in New York but is now living in London. Instead of accepting a marriage proposal from her longtime business partner and lesbian girlfriend, Sadie (Maxine Peake), suggests the two go on a break. The breakup leads both women down surprising life paths, with Leila recognizing that she is bi, and deciding to explore that part of her identity. 

First things first: We love that not only is the show called The Bisexual, but that Leila and others use the term multiple times throughout the series — many, many other shows could learn from their example instead of dancing around using a copout phrase like “we don’t like labels”. It is also noteworthy that Leila is a queer woman of color being played by an openly bi woman of color — still a rarity in modern media.

Leila and Sadie both talk about their love and demonstrate how much they cared about each other in the past. But the series starts at the end of their relationship. So there is a lot of shock, anger, and lack of understanding for one another — especially from Sadie when she finds out that Leila is bi. Over time, the two reach a more stable and peaceful place in their relationship, but not all is stable. Leila is beginning to develop romantic and sexual relationships with men, including Jon-Criss (John Dagleish), but ends up messing things up left and right, despite her best intentions.

Leila is a smart, capable, and very relatable character fumbling through the newest truth about herself. She is also a completely messy bi, full of faults and making mistakes all along her journey — including making choices that hurt people she cares about (or is beginning to care about). She is also darkly funny, curious, and often vulnerable about getting to know this new side of herself. She’s also seen sharing her internalized biphobia with others and noting how some things feel the same, and also how hard it can be to come out as bi later in life — especially since she fought so hard to have her lesbian identity validated by the people closest to her. Almost anyone who has gone along similar paths to accepting their queerness will identify with Leila.

As to be expected with a show named The Bisexual, during press interviews, creator, writer, and star Akhavian spoke at length about her queerness, the label of bi on herself as well as her main character, the importance of the story, and the effect it had on audiences.

In an interview with The Independent, Akhavian gets to the heart of what the show is about and the internal struggles Leila has with being bi:

Bisexuality feels like something that is taboo in both the queer and the straight world. It’s gauche, it’s in bad taste, it’s tacky … [it] implies duplicity.

All things considered, The Bisexual is a funny, touching, and contemplative examination of one woman coming to grips with being bi in her thirties and unpacking all the feelings that come with that. And even if the show uses “bi” like it’s going out of style, it’s a still-rare example of a bi woman of color portrayed by another on television. Leila is full of strengths and faults that both include parts of her burgeoning sexuality and that have nothing to do with it. In short, it is a great bit of bi representation that deserved more than one season to shine.