Tanya Cooley

A.G. Lawrence writes, and Gary Dean Orona directs, this second episode of The Erotic Traveler.

It’s Allison’s first day, and Marissa tells her that she’s going to be showing her some photos to discuss what Allison thinks of them, because Marissa thinks that every good photo tells a story and wants to know what stories she sees. The first photo is a black and white image of a man and woman (Jim Kelly and Tanya Cooley) lying together on a hammock. Marissa bought it from a street vendor years ago in Sydney, Australia, so she doesn’t know who the photographer was, nor who the models are. So the two of them speculate about their identities and the backstory of the photos.

Allison imagines that they were Lex, a professional model, and Nikki, a college student who only models part-time to pay for school. They’re on a brief trip to Australia for this shoot, along with Ian (Anton Michael), the photographer who hired them. Despite their chemistry on camera, Nikki shows no interest in Lex and rebuffs his advances, as she’s secretly sleeping with Ian, who we’re told has a habit of sleeping with his female models.

Marissa imagines that they were Frederick and Louisa, who were passengers on a cruise ship in 1953, which crashed, leaving them the only survivors who landed on a deserted island and had to find a way to survive until they were hopefully rescued. Frederick was married, and his wife died in the crash, so there were no initial thoughts of romance between them, just survival.

The episode switches back and forth between the two stories, but it’s mostly focused on Allison’s version. During breaks between shooting, Lex and Nikki spend more time talking and getting to know each other, while Ian meets some other female model, whom he starts shooting and is clearly trying to bang.

Note: This other model is played by Tabitha Stevens, who I learned is married to Gary Dean Orana, and is a producer on this series. We see her posing nude in this episode, but she does not have a sex scene. That’s a shame.

Of course, Lex and Nikki end up having sex before the trip is over.

Meanwhile, in Marissa’s island fantasy, we’re told that months pass with no sign of rescue, as Louisa and Frederick learn to find shelter and food to stay alive

Note: Despite the alleged passage of time and having nothing with them when they’re stranded, both of them somehow manage to stay perfectly groomed, the whole time. Their hair doesn’t get any longer, Frederick doesn’t grow any facial hair, neither even grows any armpit hair.

Frederick admits to missing his dead wife, while Louisa talks about how she dreams of her family back home but worries that she’ll never see them again. They do have sex twice, and Louisa mentions being “lost in ecstasy,” hence the title of the episode.

And the stories just end, turning back to reality with Marissa and Allison looking at the picture. THE END.

Story-wise, this is another not-great script. A blog reader in my review of the first episode said he thought Allison was annoying, and I see that in this episode, too. It starts with Marissa waking her up as it’s past her starting time of 9am, but Allison says she thought she meant “9-ish” because, as a freelance photographer, she’s used to starting later (at least we get to briefly see Kaylani Lei’s bare breasts as she gets dressed). So Marissa has to remind her that this is a real job and she needs to start on time. And Allison is continuously trashing the photograph as not sexy and criticising Marissa’s story as unrealistic. It’s like she’s not taking this job seriously.

And I just don’t get the purpose of this story, just the two ladies sitting around making up fantasies about too strangers, that doesn’t advance anything.

But I’ll give this episode a little higher rating because the four sex scenes were hot. Credit definitely goes to Tonya Cooley and Jim Kelly for having three sex scenes that were all equally good; you don’t get tired of seeing the same couple again and again. But I would have loved at least a little nudity from Divini Rae, who is the main reason I’m even watching this series. But so far it’s not off to the greatest start.

Chacebook rating: THREE AND A HALF STARS

Jason Majercik is selling this UNRATED DVD of The Erotic Traveler season 1 for $29.99. Email him at quinn_nash@hotmail.com for his softcore inventory list