Harlots: Hulu’s underrated feminist period drama roars back for season 3

Hulu’s fiercely feminist period drama Harlots expands its world and embraces diverse stories and characters as season 3 begins.

The initial premise of Hulu’s Harlots was pretty simple. Two women, who share a complicated personal history and own rival bawd houses, face off in 18th century London. As the series continued, however, it became obvious that the show was about so much more than that. Harlots has fearlessly told the stories of the actual women behind the idea of sex work, those who face poverty, violence and loss regularly, but still manage to claim a small slice of agency for themselves in a world that would gladly deny them any control of their lives at all.

(Harlots is, to put it mildly, probably the best show that most people you know aren’t watching.)

As the series’ second season came to a close, however, Harlots did something rather remarkable, abandoning the bulk of that premise for something entirely new. Those two women – Margaret Wells and Lydia Quigley – were exiled to America and sent to a mad house, respectively, officially ending their rivalry and leaving the story of Harlots to the series’ younger generation. This is primarily comprised of Margaret’s daughters Charlotte and Lucy, but has grown to include the younger harlots who work in the Wells’ house, as well as those who have struck off on their own to open different – and increasingly diverse – establishments such as Emily Lacey and Harriet.

Season 3 appears as though it will continue that trend, introducing Elizabeth Harper and her son, who aim to open a “molly house” – targeted at gay men – in the neighborhood, and putting her into business with Lucy. Lucy’s sudden decision that the harlot’s life is not for her feels a bit odd after her obsession with status and power last season. But if it means she’ll get to do something other than dabble in murder with a creep this year, I’m okay with it.

The addition of a male bawd house – and it’s the subsequent increase in focus on LGBTQ+ characters it will surely spawn – is an intriguing shift. Not only does it open up an entirely new avenue of stories for the show, but it adds an important element of real danger to everything going on. Sure, in theory, prostitution was frowned upon in London at this time. But it was also widely accepted as fact, and one of the few avenues for women to earn the money by which to live.

Homosexuality, however, was an entirely different story. Sex between men was not only illegal; it was punishable by death for those who were caught. An entire house dedicated to this practice – even if Bet and Lucy manage to give their establishment the veneer of respectability by operating a gentleman’s clothier as a front – will inevitably add a certain layer of tension to everything.

Elsewhere, two other new faces arrive – the Pincher brothers, pimps who aim to open a house of their own. That their existence feels shocking is merely a testament to Harlots’ dedicated focus on female stories – up until this point, you might be forgiven for not entirely realizing that male pimps existed, given that the houses we’ve seen to this point have all been fronted by women.

Charlotte and her girls are initially forced into an unlikely partnership with newcomer Isaac Pincher (Game of Thrones’ Alfie Allen, getting his creep vibe on). Pincher instigates a takeover of Charlotte’s house by force after bringing himself and his men in as potential clients. Choking Charlotte and threatening violence to everyone else, they’re forced to say yes to giving over a quarter’s worth of their earnings to a group of men they didn’t even know the day before.

Just yet another stark reminder that no matter how successful a woman may be in this world, she still remains at the mercy of men. Violence, theft, abuse – she has little recourse against men who commit such crimes, nor many ways to defend herself either. (Unless it’s via another, different man.)

Throughout the series thus far, Charlotte has generally been presented as untouchable, a woman with significant power and clout of her own despite her less-than-traditional lifestyle.

She was – and still is to some degree – the toast of the London scene, and certainly the most successful harlot we’ve seen outside of possibly Lucy. Seeing her attacked in this way is deeply uncomfortable to watch, even if she does use her brain to hit back at Isaac almost immediately. Because Charlotte Wells is the indomitable heart at the center of Harlots. It’s upsetting to realize she’s just as human as anyone else.

Most of the first episode is dedicated to Charlotte’s determination to fighting back and freeing herself and her house from Pincher’s influence. There’s a certain element of girl power to her marshaling the other neighborhood harlots to her cause, staging strikes and using her connections to report the Pincher tavern as a house of ill repute. But, given that Isaac responds by literally burning her house down and leaving Charlotte and her girls both homeless and broke, it feels like things between them have maybe escalated just a little too quickly.

The season 3 premiere isn’t perfect, to be sure. There’s little mention of several key season 2 characters and stories. The relationship between Amelia and Violet thus far appears to have vanished, and we don’t know whether she still plans to – or perhaps did – marry Justice Hunt. And while Liv Tyler is as compelling as ever as Lady Isabella, the story about the gossip surrounding the identity of her daughter isn’t particularly interesting.

There’s also no word of Margaret Wells, or any sign of her portrayer Samantha Morton beyond the “previouslies”. And while the season 3 premiere illustrates that there’s still certainly plenty of story to be told without her, it feels extremely strange to watch an episode of Harlots in which her presence is so definitively absent. But, at least Lesley Manville is still here, devouring all the scenery during Lydia Quigley’s time in Bedlam.

It’s hard not to feel a smidgen of sympathy for her, as the conditions and treatment she experiences in the insane asylum are certainly horrific on virtually all levels. At least the introduction of her new roommate – a girl named Catherine who’s been committed for enjoying sexual pleasure too much – certainly indicates that there will be more story for Lydia than just suffering this season. (Is there anything more perfect than watching the former madam’s wheels turn the instant she meets this girl?)

The season 3 premiere certainly sets up a season where anything seems possible, both for these characters and for this show as a whole. It’s exciting to think about just where it all might go. But one thing’s for sure: It’s going to be a wild ride.

New episodes of Harlots stream Wednesdays on Hulu.