Bonding is a Netflix original series created by Rightor Doyle. It premiered on April 24, 2019.
Pete is a recently out waiter that is trying to start a career as a comedian but suffers from intense stage fright. Tiffany "Tiff" is his best friend, a psych student who works as a dominatrix called Mistress May. When Pete is struggling for money, he is forced to accept her offer to become her assistant in her work, which is hellish to the subdued and shy guy.
Bonding contains examples of:
- Ambiguously Bi: In order to pay rent when money is low, Pete agrees to finger his male roommate. While it was supposed to be something pretty impersonal and his roommate clearly preferred his girlfriend to do it, the scene goes oddly sexual and even romantic, with him asking for Pete to look into his eyes while they're doing it.
- Artistic License: An absolute ton of it, but there are some egregious costume design choices - dominatrixes do NOT wear collars, for example.
- The Beard: Tiff serves as this until Pete comes out.
- Bittersweet Ending: Season 2 ends on such a note, with Pete getting his Stand-Up act on TV, while Tiff accepts that she wants to be a Dominatrix full-time and begins opening her own dungeon with a few other Dominatrixes; and even calls her estranged mother to make amends. However, the friendship between Tiff and Pete appears to be permanently broken, Pete has had a horrible breakup with Josh, and Frank clearly still suffers from Portia breaking up with him after her miscarriage. As it has been cancelled, it means the entire series ends on that bittersweet note.
- Dude, Not Funny!: This if Tiff's reaction to Pete using her abortion after Pete impregnated her during their one-time-car-sex as well as what horrible parents they would be because of their occupation for his Stand-Up-act.
- Dominatrix: Tiff goes to grad school by day and works as a dominatrix by night.
- Grief-Induced Split: Portia breaks up with Frank after she miscarries their child.
- Hellbent For Leather: most of the aesthetic of the show.
- Market-Based Title: In Brazil, the show is called "Amizade Dolorida" (Painful Friendship), which has nothing to do with the bonding title, but it was a way to keep the pun in the title, since Bonding is a reference to Bondage, the Brazilian title is a pun with the idiom "Amizade Colorida" (Colorful Friendship, which is what Brazilians call Friends with Benefits).
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: the show follows Tiff as she becomes less jerky and more open to her emotions.
- Safe Word: many of the safe words in the show are hilarious gags.
- Sex Comedy: Downplayed. While there is a lot of comedy that comes from the unexpected situations the duo finds themselves in with Mistress May's clients, the show also takes a realistic approach to sex and a lot of other subjects to discuss why someone would like to give up control and fetishes, which means sex is both a discussion topic and a comedic topic in the show.
- Sidekick: Pete first starts as this to Tiff but then he becomes her work partner.
- Sorry, I'm Gay: Tiff first tries to avoid Doug by telling him she's a lesbian.
