Psalm Isadora, Ashlynn Orion, Babe Taylor, Michelle Blanchard, & Vikki Mongeon

In March 2016 The Playboy Channel launched this new reality series, called Cougar Club LA. The fact that it makes a point to designate the location in the title indicates that this was intended to be the start of a franchise, with future seasons or spinoff shows being set in other cities, similar to other such fare as The Real Housewives and Basketball Wives, but after this one 8-episode season no further Cougar Clubs would emerge. I can only speculate as to why this is and will do so later. But first I’m going to look back and recap the series, beginning with this first episode.

If you’ve never heard of this series, the official synopsis says it all: Five sensual, mature, and single women who are beautiful, fearless, and unapologetically predatory are always looking to devour young men in a mansion. And the synopsis for this first episode is: Cougars throw a pool party and play truth or dare with young studs.

I’ve named the leading ladies underneath the attached image above. I’ll note that, tragically, Psalm would commit suicide the following year, at the age of 42. Presumably, the other women were around the same age when this series was filmed. I’ll also note that our leading ladies frequently get nude and have sex on camera, and the sex is presented as real (& certainly looks convincing), although as with Playboy’s other reality series’ like FOURSOME, no actual penetration is shown. This is why I’m putting these reviews in my “softcore” category.

The episode opens at  Michelle’s house where Michelle, Psalm, and Ashlynn, are sitting in an outdoor jacuzzi while wearing bikinis. Michelle says that her friend Vikki is coming to town to stay with her for a while, and this is a little welcoming party to meet the other ladies. When Vikki arrives, already in a bikini, and joins them in the pool, Ashlynn wastes no time addressing the camera (a trope of all such shows) to let us know how hot she thinks Vikki is, in an obvious hint of things to come. And then Babe comes out of the house in her bikini and joins them in the pool.

The ladies chit-chat for a bit, comparing notes on their histories. Everyone is divorced and is now only interested in some “fresh young meat,” as Michelle describes. They each take turns telling each other and the camera about how they love being cougars and comparing notes about their encounters with younger men and what they like. Pslam says that she had 2-3 men on her “team” but cut them all off and has been celibate for the past month (yes, a whole month) in a deliberate “penis purge,” to get herself ready for this new adventure (and new penises). Ashlynn admits that she’s bisexual (hint!), & most of the other ladies confess to having kissed another woman before, with Michelle being the only holdout.

The ladies split up, first Michelle (a stuntwoman) takes Vikki to her MMA gym and introduces her to Kenan, her 24-year-old trainer whom Vikki is instantly attracted to. First Kenan has Michelle practice some kicks and punches, and then he teaches Vikki a few wrestling moves, which turns Vikki on even more. When the training is over, Michelle invites Kenan to a party she’s having at her house that night in Vikki’s honor and he agrees to come.

Then the two women join the others at a special class that Psalm (a tantric sex expert) is holding, where 20 women attend for her to teach them how to give themselves erotic breast massages. All of the women get topless, and Pslam demonstrates her techniques on Ashlynn and then coaches the rest of the women through it. All of the ladies get turned on by the experience.

Michelle’s party that night has an odd theme, as it’s a mix of people in formal clothes and bikinis drinking by the pool. Throughout the night several women take their bikini tops off, and one anonymous man gets naked, walking around with his (flaccid) cock and balls out. Kenan shows up, and at first it’s like he’s avoiding Vikki, which confuses her as she says she doesn’t like to chase men (but isn’t that the point of being a “cougar”?) but eventually he tells her he’s just shy but definitely came to the party specifically for her. They have an impromptu wrestling match inside, which she “wins” and then gives him a kiss. Pslam meets some Black guy that she seems interested in, but when he tells her he has a BBC, she gets turned off. I guess that sort of language is too crude for Miss “penis purge.”

The party ends with the 5 ladies, Kenan, and some other dudes all sitting by the pool. Psalm and Ashlynn have gotten naked. That’s when truth or dare starts. The BBC dude is dared to get naked and run around the pool (he’s not that big), and Ashlynn gets dared to kiss Michelle but before she can Psalm jumps the gun and does it (with tongue), saying she wanted to take Michelle’s “virginity” by being the first woman she’s ever kissed.

Vikki takes Kenan inside and they have sex, first taking turns going down on each other and then it’s missionary time. When Pslam gets home, she gets a text from a friend named Mike who says he’s in town, so she invites him over and greets him at the door naked. They have sex, first with him fingering and then going down on her, and they do it in a couple of different positions, with Pslam happily declaring to the camera that her penis purge is officially over.

Other than the explicit nudity this show is not much different than those mainstream reality shows. You can tell the obvious setups to create storylines. I doubt that the houses we see really belonged to either Michelle or Psalm or that any of the women knew each other before being cast in this series, although it’s presented as if they were close friends already. But at least it appears to be avoiding the trope of manufactured drama between the women (so far). Instead, they all get along and appear to be supportive of each other’s efforts to get laid by younger men. And yes the two sex scenes are as hot, albeit briefer than in regular softcore shows. It’s worth watching.

Chacebook rating: FOUR STARS

Watch on PLAYBOYTV.COM