The Bisexual

The Bisexual (2018) is a British drama series that originally ran on Channel 4 and then later on Hulu in the States. The hour-long episodes were written and created by Desiree Akhavian. 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 long-term 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 not a lesbian and exploring 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 the “don’t like labels” phrase often used as a copout. 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 and show that they loved each other and cared about each other a lot in the past, but the series starts at the end of their relationship, so there is a lot of shock, anger, and not understanding — especially from Sadie about finding out that Leila is bi. Over time, the two get to a better resting ground as far as their relationship goes, 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 very smart, capable, and relatable character who is fumbling through this new truth that she has finally addressed 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 this journey, often sharing her internalized biphobia with others and noting how some things feel the same, and also how hard it can be to be coming out as bi later in life — especially since she fought so hard to have her lesbian identity accepted by the people around her. Most anyone who has gone along similar paths on their journey to accepting their queerness will likely identify with multiple points on Leila’s path.

As to be expected with a show with a name like The Bisexual, during press interviews, creator, writer, and star Akhavian spoke at length about her queerness, the label of bisexuality 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 her bisexuality:

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.

At the end of the day, 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. The show uses “bi” like it’s going out of style, it’s a still-rare example of a bi woman of color being played by a bi woman of color on television, and 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 some great bi representation that deserved more than one season to shine.