This episode is notable in several ways, first is that it’s more comedic in tone than previous episodes, but it also stars a predominately Black cast, which includes mainstream actors Reggie Hayes (best known as William on the TV series Girlfriends) and Isaiah Mustafa (best known as The Old Spice Man). Plus Hayes actually co-wrote the script, along with Buckaroo Zang and Stephen Hatch.

Directed by Darin Scott, this episode stars Hayes as Kevin Freeman, a nerdy video game designer, who has no luck with women. He creates an online dating profile using another man’s picture (Charles Divins) and pretends to be a successful doctor. He gets a match with a beautiful woman named Alexis (Daphne Duplaix) and arranges to meet with her at a restaurant that night. When Alexis shows up, she quickly realizes that she’s been catfished, and isn’t happy about that. But it turns out that Alexis was lying about her identity too when a gunman (Ho-Sung Pak) shows up and tries to kill her. This leads to a gunfight in the middle of the restaurant and soon Kevin is on the run with Alexis, who is an international assassin being hunted by her former boss, a man known as “The Raven” (Mustafa) who wants her dead for leaving him.

And that’s when shit gets weird.

Hayes is perfect in this role, showing off the comedic timing he honed on Girlfriends. As Kevin, he’s both a lovable loser and an everyman character. It helps that he and Duplaix have excellent chemistry together, I think this episode could have very well been a full movie, sort of an action/rom-com. Isaiah Mustafa is also just as charismatic here in his brief role as he was in those Old Spice commercials. I’m surprised he didn’t go on to have a more successful acting career.

There’s not as much sex in this episode as there was in previous episodes. No complete sex scenes, although Duplaix has two brief scenes where she gets topless. There’s also a sequence where Kevin and Alexis go undercover at a swingers club, where multiple women are seen in various stages of undress. Stephanie Danielson has a small role as Emily, Kevin’s assistant at his job who also turns out to be more than she appears to be (and briefly exposes one breast in a scene). Tanit Phoenix not only plays the series host Lilith but has a cameo as a waitress. I guess scene cameos for her are going to be a regular thing.

Speed Date is a fun episode to watch. Chacebook rating: FIVE STARS

Jason Majercik is selling this UNRATED 3-disc DVD set of Femme Fatale season 1 for $19.99. Email him at quinn_nash@hotmail.com for his softcore inventory list.