The series follows the journey of Ashley from being in an unhappy relationship to her exploration of BDSM when she stumbles upon an erotic novel.
Cast
Main cast
Ashlynn Yennie as Ashley Pendleton, a young girl, recently out of a bad relationship, stumbles into the BDSM world after her interest is piqued by an erotic novel SLAVE by a mysterious novelist named Nolan Keats.
Justin Berti as Elliott, a BDSM practitioner who works with Dylan and develops an interest in Ashley and eventually initiates her into BDSM practices.
Victoria Levine as Jules, Ashley's friend who offers her a place to stay and has secrets of her own.
Skin Diamond as Dylan Quinn, Jules' roommate who is into kinky sex and recruits girls for Elliott.
Nika Khitrova as Scarlet, one of Jules' bosses who is, unbeknownst to her husband, having an affair with Jules. Later, Jules, Scarlet and Tomas enter into a faithful polygamous relationship.
Brent Harvey as Tomas, Jules's boss and Scarlet's husband.
Recurring
Richie Calhoun as Jonathan
Sara Luvv as Maura
Valerie Baber as Kimberly
Boston Blake as Anthony
Vicki Chase as Susannah
Karla Kush as Chelsea, a member of the book club started by Dylan
Spike Mayer as Vincent, Ashley's ex-boyfriend
Melissa Schumacher as Tina
Development
The series co-creator, Jacky St. James, mentioned that she was unhappy with the way BDSM was portrayed in Fifty Shades of Grey, which she considers "passed off an abusive relationship as an honest interpretation of the BDSM lifestyle". She hoped to create a more nuanced view of the BDSM world with the series. In an interview with GQ, she described the series as, "imperfect people in BDSM relationships." The lead actress Ashlynn Yennie also echoed the creator's sentiment saying, "Fifty Shades of Grey was not a correct portrayal of the type of sex that people practice. It made it seem like it was for people that were messed up or dark and it’s not at all." She hoped that the show "can shatter that glass ceiling of false belief and show the world what it truly means to trust, communicate, and finally feel free to talk about what you want and don’t want sexually in a consensual and healthy way." The trailer for the series was released on 29 April 2016.
Episodes
Reception
Ratings
The series debuted with low viewership of 0.01 share and 55,000 viewers. However, the second episode almost doubled the viewers at 106,000 viewers and 0.02 share. The series continued its rating growth with 0.03 share and 119,000 viewers in the third week. The series finale accumulated the rating of 0.02 and 116,000 viewers.
Critical reception
praised the series saying, " is trying to change the way we look at late-night erotica". SheKnows also praised the show for its BDSM portrayal and said, "While Fifty Shades of Grey the movie failed to arouse interest for many, Submission is taking viewers deep into the world of BDSM — and it doesn't seem to be afraid to go there."
