Imperfect Angels Episode 1

The IMPERFECT ANGELS series from Girlfriends FIlms is unusual in that it is signed. Early volumes are credited to Marda Caleeko, instead of presented anonymously, and this vote of confidence is rewarded in a fairly intelligent script.

Plot revolves around small-town values and prejudices, which obviously have relevance in the Lesbian world presented in the 500 or so titles from this successful porn label. It's not exactly Peyton Place, but the fictional Thornhill does have atmosphere and a bottomless reservoir of attractive female talent.

Center of attention is Magdalene St. Michaels, married to George, but as they say, exhibiting lesbian tendencies. George, who is credited on screen as just "George" and not listed currently in IMDb, gets to narrate a bit, as he has cajoled his wife to enter a church-sponsored 6-week "re-education" therapy program to return her to normalcy.

This core premise seems a bit quaint from a 21st Century point-of-view, especially now that gays & lesbians can get married in America, but it does have some power in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE sort of way. The old '50s treatment of homosexuals by the psychiatric community with aversion therapy is one of those backward stains in our society's history, and posing it in a lesbian context is intriguing.

Pastor Michaels (also getting that credit as if that were the actor's actual stage name) encourages Maggie, and buxom Cindy is the church lady in charge of deprogramming. Cala Craves as Cindy is a veteran actress in both lesbian and gonzo boy/girl roles, whose huge breasts and nipples dominate the screen in this first edition.

Most interesting character is a local busybody very well-played by Rayveness, who keeps prying gossip out of all the other characters, seemingly to use it against each of them eventually. What makes the soap opera work is the obvious hypocrisy and prevarication going on, as most of the cast keeps decrying the "impure thoughts" and acting upon them yet just the same they are hopping in the sack and having torrid lesbian sex at every opportunity. It's not quite as campy as a Charles Ludlam or Charles Busch play, but fun to watch.

First sex-scene doesn't begin until 20 minutes into ANGELS (which has a bloated 3-hour running time). With plenty of sexual tension and painstaking build-up, Rayveness seduces young Britney Amber, whose successful career has been nearly all in boy/girl assignments. She's a classmate of Maggie's stepdaughter Faye Reagan, who only has a functional non-sex role in this first episode.

Second sequence has Maggie in bed next to her sleeping husband George. She masturbates, fantasizing an impressive sex scene with Cala Craves. Magdalene, who has admitted earlier to having lesbian-leaning thoughts since the age of 10, has certainly been working up an imagination, as shown here when Cala humps her vagina with a big, erect nipple.

Rayveness has a heart to heart talk with Maggie and then seduces her. Interestingly enough, the previous scene's imagined content is repeated for real here, as Ray rubs Maggie's pussy with her nipple to get the aging neophyte off.

Finale pairs Dana De Armond with Daisy Layne in a rather extraneous sex scene, not germane to the plot line. The usually reliable Dana overdoes the loud and fake shrieking during sex, not in line with the "realistic sex and orgasms" mantra of the porn label, and similarly director Caleeko unwisely emphasizes tight gynecological closeups of Daisy's vagina that are frankly yucky. She also fails to make clear the relationships here - I got the impression that Daisy is Maggie's by- blood daughter, but I'll have to wait for future episodes to sort that out.