Netflix's Obsession fails in what it sets out to do as an erotic thriller

Of course, it doesn't take a genius to realise what a deep, all-consuming obsession can do to a person but in episode 2, in the depths of William (Richard Armitage) and Anna's (Charlie Murphy) sexual affair, we're transported to Paris, where William's son Jay (Rish Shah) and Anna are enjoying their first getaway together.

Unable to carry on with his regular life as a surgeon, father and husband back in London, William secretly joins the pair and camps out in a restaurant across the road from the hotel at which they're staying.

From the look in his eyes, he's a man obsessed (read: frantic and slightly terrifying) and unable to think about little else than Anna. So much so that William calls her mobile, and then her hotel room, in order to hurriedly rendezvous for sex in the back alley of the hotel.

But Anna makes her excuses to Jay and says she's now not able to go out for the dinner they had planned, with their trip being cut short the next morning as they travel back in silence on the Eurostar. It's all very disappointing for Jay but upon exiting the Paris hotel, William rushes in after he sees their taxi drive away.

You watch on thinking "No, surely not" but what unfolds is the kind of deeply cringeworthy moment that you actually have to witness for yourself to believe.

He checks in to their exact room, sniffing their bedding, frantically undressing and writhing around naked, crying in the foetal position atop the bed that Anna and Jay slept in only the night before.

I should state that it generally takes a lot in a series to make me cringe in such a way, but a scene like this not only leaves you feeling slightly perplexed at the one-episode timespan that it's taken William to become obsessed with Anna, but is also one of many examples of the viewer only seeing this relationship unfold through William's eyes.

While this new four-part drama has been heralded as being gloriously charged with unapologetic female energy, you watch on and certainly wouldn't think it – and it's not for the want of willing it to be so on my own enthusiastic part.

In the run-up to the series' release, I believed that Obsession would turn the narrative of the 1992 movie version of Damage on its head by subverting tired tropes, portraying sex (particularly BDSM) in a non-voyeuristic manner and making Anna an empowered, complex protagonist who embarks on this consensual rollercoaster relationship with William. But unfortunately, that's not really what lays before us.

Sign me up for an erotic thriller taken from the female point of view, with a nuanced, fleshed-out character who isn't merely the hyper-sexualised subject of a man's desires and takes control of the scenario before her. Sign me all the way up, in fact. But try as it might, Obsession is not that.

While Anna is the dominant submissive in her relationship with William and enforces strict and specific rules, William consistently flounces against them, not really considering the consequences. He goes to the apartment when told not to, he follows Anna to Paris even after she says their relationship only exists within the walls of the apartment they frequent. He even steals a page out of her diary even though she underlines that's it for her eyes only.

It's all very well and good having a female character that is unapologetic in enforcing rules and boundaries, but if you have a male partner that continues to ignore them for his own wants, it's all relative, isn't it?

While the series is propelled forward by the lead actors' on-screen chemistry (and Indira Varma who, even in her limited scenes, delivers a searing alternative portrayal of a betrayed wife), it's not enough to stop the viewer from largely thinking of themselves as being pulled along for William's mid-life crisis of a ride.

Mainly, throughout the four episodes, you're following along never really knowing what that spark was that ignited William's fierce desire to be with Anna all of the time. Of course, it's entirely physical and wrapped up in the idea of forbidden desire, but the story of Obsession certainly lends itself to a deeper dive into Anna as a multifaceted person, and not just as this sexual awakening moment that William has clearly been waiting for.

Attempts at rounding out her character are done so in the latter two episodes, as we get a window into her past, her family and her trauma but it's done so in as hurried a manner as the sex scenes in this series, leaving it all feeling a little disappointing.

Obsession is a slight step in the right direction for better sexual representation on TV but proves we still have a way to go, especially if we're talking about the centring of female pleasure on screen. At its most basic level of understanding, Anna and William don't even look like they're enjoying having sex with each other.

But there's no denying that if you're just looking for the kind of drama that has a heavy dose of stolen glances, light touches of BDSM and wondering if and when this secret affair will come out, you'll still want to tune in to this wild ride of a series.

Obsession will stream on Netflix from Thursday 13th April. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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