A queer-centric story about the horrors of modern dating
Released on June 10, Good Freaky is a comedy web series that follows two friends—Kai and Tegan—as they sit in a coffee shop and swap dating horror stories. This Femme Fatale Creations series by feminist filmmaker and PhD, Melissa Sky, aims to be a sex-positive, queer-centric story. Sky seeks to balance activism through the representation of a marginalized community with accessibility for diverse groups through the relevance of the disaster zone that is contemporary dating.
Good Freaky stars Stephanie McKenzie as Kai, Sonja Malton as Tegan, and Kayla Howlett as Sadie, the waitress at the coffee shop. The rest of the cast makes appearances during flashbacks to the ladies’ dating stories.
In the first episode, “Feelin’ It,” it seems the actors aren’t feeling the dialogue in the coffee shop. It is unclear whether that’s due to a lack of onscreen chemistry or the stark contrast of the realism of the coffee shop against the verbose, almost theatrical, language of the script. At times, the script makes you wonder if this would be better suited for the stage than for YouTube.
The rush to reveal the characters’ sexuality within the first few minutes onscreen feels forced and leads to dialogue that leaves you wondering, “Who talks like that?” The actors try their best to make conversation flow with lines like, “When’re you gonna go lesbo for me? I don’t mind being your carpet-munching experiment. […] Can’t blame a dyke for trying,” and, “My mom set us up. […] But you know how it freaks her out that I date guys, and girls, and everyone in between.” Kai’s comments to Sadie from the first quote verge on harassment espoused by a hypersexualized caricature rather than a sex-positive, progressive representation of female empowerment.
Luckily, once the exposition is out of the way, the dynamic improves with the flashback, in which Matt Clark as Todd the Lumberdude is introduced. Clark’s over-the-top comedic portrayal of a country-obsessed lumberjack matches Tegan’s absurd dating story well and offers Malton plenty to react to naturally.
The second episode, titled “Going to Hell,” features three flashbacks with Kai’s dating disasters, which include a crazy cat lady portrayed by Christine Lafazanos, an unexpected third-wheel portrayed by Grace Carr, and a Jesus freak portrayed by Alexis Hancey. While all three played their parts well, Lafazanos’ cat lady in particular will leave you wide-eyed and speechless with her cringe-worthy embodiment of a cat that drives home the concept of “bad freaky” within seconds.
The acting improves greatly as it moves away from the dialogue-focused moments of the coffee shop and towards the more visual and physical-based comedy during the flashbacks. McKenzie’s reactions to the ridiculousness that Kai is facing are much more natural and funny in these settings.
The flashbacks, rather than the coffee shop scenes, are what make this series worth watching. The sound, camerawork, hair and makeup, and costume design of the series are all well done and come together cohesively to create a very professional looking final product. Good Freaky’s first season consists of seven episodes, to be released weekly, for a total running time of just under an hour—about the length of a coffee hangout.