Summary
Choices are made, but not all is clear as we end the audacious ending of season 1.
We have reached the end of Sex/Life Season 1, and we can already tell it’s crying for season 2 (I’m sure the audience will feel the same). The entire story has been fixed on who Billie (Sarah Shahi) will choose, but was it about choice in the end?
Sex/Life Season 1 Episode 8 Recap
Sex/Life Season 1 Episode 8 opens with Billie daydreaming a married life with Brad — the wedding, sex on the balcony, going to the Grammys together on the motorcycle, having a picnic in the park, Brad kissing her baby bump, raising their children together, sex in the bath — it then flits to the present. Billie tells Brad that she can’t marry him. She knows a life with him would be incredible, but she doesn’t want to give up what she has. She admits it is hard, but she loves Cooper and doesn’t want a future without him — “Life is choices.” Billie tells Brad that Cooper is the one. Brad tells Billie that she’s his one and always will be and touches her face before walking off, leaving tears streaming down Billie’s face. Cooper sees this conversation from the bedroom window.
Why is Billie not giving up on Cooper?
And then, most of the finale focuses on Billie determined to save her marriage — she refuses to give up.
The next morning, Billie brings Cooper food in bed, but he thinks he’s a monster who cheated on his wife. Billie tells him it was a sex party, and all she sees is a beautiful husband and wants the day to be a fresh start. Cooper believes there’s too much damage between them as he feels a stain on the family. Cooper doesn’t believe Brad will ever be gone. After their argument, Sasha admits she sees the issues, especially after the incident with Trina and Devon, but Billie chose Cooper over Brad, and she isn’t giving up on the marriage.
Billie decides to open her laptop again, and she writes again — she calls herself lucky and believes adversity will make her marriage stronger. She’s looking at her marriage from a different angle.
Blackmailed by Devon and a safe haven created by Francesca
The theme of “choices” continues to run through the veins of this story as it questions marriage and the hard work it truly requires.
Cooper goes to work, and Francesca and Devon are waiting for him in a meeting room. Devon’s face is beaten up, but he’s told a different story to their boss, and he’s made up a lie — he’s also told Francesca that Cooper recommends a client of his, and because of what happened the night before, Cooper is blackmailed into supporting his idea. Privately, Cooper speaks to Francesca and explains that he was the one that beat Devon up and gives the full story of the sex party. Francesca has no choice but to take it to HR, and she feels Billie is destroying him. She wants to rescue him, so she gives a key to her apartment — “a safe haven.”
Both Billie and Cooper have a choice.
Billie confronts Trina, and the women immediately argue — she tells Trina to leave her husband alone. Trina reminds Billie of her feminine desires and that it will not be enough. She also thinks Cooper is done with her. When Hudson gets home from school, he asks his mother what a divorce is. Sasha comes over, but Cooper isn’t home yet — it’s an important evening for their son; the International Fair at school.
Why does Cooper meet Brad for a talk?
It had to happen eventually — the key men in Bille’s life had to talk.
Cooper meets Brad at his penthouse, and the pair have a drink. Cooper looks around and sees the place; he visualizes the sex they had. He tells Brad that he knows Billie is in love with him and always has been — he wants to know if it is real for Brad and needs to know if he will look after the kids as it’s a part of her life. Brad says it is real and that he is undeniably in love with his wife — but he claims Billie will not have him, even though he tried.
Cooper tells Brad that he feels his wife wants a life that is bigger than him. Brad tells Cooper that what he’s given her is everything she’s ever wanted — kids, a husband that will never run away. He states that crazy adventures only last for so long, and Billie wanted him to be Cooper. Brad says the real question is, “are you going to take care of her?”.
What’s crazy about this scene is that Brad has shown for the first time that he truly has changed and truly cares for Billie. He accepted that she chose Cooper, but not him.
Billie is bullied by the other mothers
At the International Fair, Hudson is getting ousted due to what happened at the sex party, and Billie is furious and angrily confronts the mothers. She gives them all home truths and admits she is trying to make her life work. Trina makes an awful comment about Billie spreading her legs in the city, but then Cooper arrives and defends his wife. Devon gets involved with his usual macho talk. Cooper admits responsibility and talks about the real world, how marriage is hard work, and that Billie is a good woman and a great mother — he says he loves her with all his heart.
This was a brilliant moment for their marriage.
Cooper grabs his wife and son and takes them away to get ice cream. He tells his wife that he went to see Brad and knows he showed up at the house. He wants honesty as part of a fresh start. Billie tells Cooper that stains come out and wash away. When Billie gets home, she decides to apply to a university to continue her Ph.D. This is a new start, and Sasha is pumped for her. The next scenes show a reenergized marriage and a Billie pursuing her dreams. At Cooper’s work, Devon tells HR that they had a misunderstanding, and they shake hands.
However, while watching a lecture delivered by Sasha, Billie imagines Brad again — she is still struggling to get rid of the memories of him. Later on, Sasha tells Billie that a man (Alex) has proposed to her. She wants marriage advice and states that she and Cooper are doing so well. Sasha asks how she would know if Alex is the one, but Billie tells her that there’s always going to be a hotter, sexier man with that spark, but it’s nothing compared to having a real partner. But you can tell that she doesn’t mean it entirely — she’s still itching for Brad.
Sex/Life Season 1 Ending Explained
At a school play, Trina tells Billie that Cooper has inspired Devon, and they are no longer going to the sex parties — she hopes Billie is right about this life. Billie is suddenly emotional, wondering if she made the right decision. When she watches her son, Billie narrates that there are many different desires, and she is happy to wake up next to Cooper every day, but it suddenly hits her — it’s not enough.
Billie runs through the city, and Cooper is tracking her on his phone — he knows where she is going, so he rings Francesca. Billie admits she had to leave this life behind, a part she should have accepted. She enters Brad’s apartment and says, “I’m not leaving my husband. This changes nothing. Now f**k me.” What a way to end the show.
We can make many assumptions for season 2, but the main prediction is that Billie wants both men; she wants the marriage and safety of Cooper, but the thrilling life of Brad. Is season 2 going to try and pave the way for an open marriage? How would it work if Brad and Billie love each other? It feels the only possible direction is a divorce.
Unless… Cooper does not make Billie aware that he knows she’s sleeping with Brad, and he pursues his desires with Francesca. They both essentially cheat on each other, and inevitably, it all explodes? Regardless, it feels, whatever happens, Cooper and Billie will end up back in their marriage while their desires stay on the sidelines.
I guess we’ll have to wait for season 2.
What did you think of Sex/Life Season 1 Episode 8 and the Ending? Comment below.
SERIOUS ERROR!!! Scene 8 It is COOPER who asks Brad if he will take care of her & the kids
How was Cooper tracking Billie, , when she did not have a phone?
I love the show but why did Brad lie about having met his father to Billie ? I don’t understand his motive.