SEASON PREMIERE: This is the third and final season for
The Deuce, the latest series from David Simon and his talented collaborators, including co-creator George Pelacanos. And once again, there’s a significant time jump between seasons. The initial season of
The Deuce began in 1971, culminating in the 1972 arrival in Times Square (and the rest of the country) of the first “mainstream” porn film,
Deep Throat. The second season jumped to 1977, when the invention of the VCR and the opening of home-video shops and rental stores would transform the porn industry yet again, with Maggie Gyllenhall’s streetwalker-turned-filmmaker, Candy (pictured), becoming an auteur porn success by mounting an X-rated urban version of the Little Red Riding Hood fable. (Her movie’s title:
Red Hot.) And now, for the third and concluding season of
The Deuce, the action jumps ahead again, this time to 1985, when Rudy Giuliani was mayor, vowing to clean up the porn-theater stretch around Times Square, and when the hot new X-rated films included
New Wave Hookers. (There. Finally justified the tax write-off for that particular video rental.)
For a full review, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.