As the second episode gets started, Adam Berryman (Julian Morris) scours the Internet for men. Then, Adam heads to work at the vet. He gets a visit from Steve (David Gyasi). Unfortunately, Adam is forced to put Steve’s cat to sleep. When Adam leaves, he meets with a stranger and has sex with him. Then, he visits his grandmother, Flora (Vanessa Redgrave). Adam is told something is on the sleeve of his jacket and that it’ll need dry cleaned. Adam heads home and tries to scrub himself clean. The following day, Adam visits Steve with a package. He is introduced to Steve’s friend Caspar (Julian Sands) and learns that Steve works as an architect. Steve and Adam speak briefly, before Caspar interrupts.

Then, Adam visits a party. He speaks with Claudie (Angel Coulby) and is introduced to Dwight (Hal Scardino). The man wants to know more about Adam’s sexuality and his past relationship with Claudie. Meanwhile, Flora plays cards with her girlfriends. Afterwards, Adam tries hooking up with another man online. Once the party is over, he meets with the man and sleeps with him. The man says his name is Bruno (Phil Dunster). Adam doesn’t seem to care. Adam shows no interest in seeing the guy again. The following day, Adam visits Flora again. Flora tells Adam about the cottage. She puts him in charge, so he’ll have a project to keep him busy. Then, Adam takes Steve to the cottage. Steve immediately falls in love with it.

Steve tries his best to talk Adam out of selling it. Then, the two men flirt and kiss. Adam gets too rough and things quickly go south. Adam tells Steve that he’ll probably just sell the property. On the way back home, Steve gets out of the vehicle and walks the rest of the way. Flora asks Adam about the visit. He admits he is thinking about selling the property. Again, he tries to find another man to sleep with online. The following day, Steve visits the vet. He meets with Adam at a restaurant nearby and shows him sketches he made for the cottage. Adam loves them, but he doesn’t give Steve an answer just yet. Steve tells Caspar about the visit and the cottage. Steve admits he desperately wants the cottage job. Adam discusses his options with Flora.

Adam continues his online activities. He decides to take Steve up on the offer. The two men travel to the cottage and get started right away. After getting a little work done, Adam prepares to leave. Steve tries to convince him to stay and sleep on the sofa bed. He agrees. The following day, they share a meal and discuss Steve and Caspar’s relationship. Steve quickly finds out that Adam has never told Flora about his sexuality. Then, Adam finds the painting hidden away. The men admire it together. Adam takes the painting to Flora and asks her about it. She downplays Thomas and his relationship with Michael. Then, Adam opens up about his sexuality. They argue and both use a few choice words. Adam heads to the pub and gets drunk. He hits on numerous people, but doesn’t have any luck.

He heads outside and gets taken advantage of by a stranger on the street. Then, a messy Adam returns to the cottage. He begins scrubbing himself clean and receives a little help from Steve. Steve comforts Adam. This continues the following day. Steve tells Adam that he wants him. However, he admits he doesn’t do casual or app sex. Adam deletes the dating app from his phone. Then, Steve tells Caspar about his decision. Flora plays cards with the girls again. A comment about Adam sends her into a day dream. The following day, Flora heads to the cottage with the painting. She finds Adam, Steve, Caspar and others. Flora and Adam quickly apologize to one another. Flora tells Claudie that she cannot become a liberal overnight.

Caspar checks out the painting. He finds that something is hidden in the back. Once he gets it cut open, the painting of Michael in the orange shirt is unveiled. Then, Flora tells Adam about Michael and Thomas. She admits to burning their love letters. She confesses she thought she had won, but now admits she was wrong. Adam sits down with Steve. Things are going great, until Adam’s sex app pings on his phone. Steve leaves. Adam visits Flora and immediately breaks down. She comforts him, before she gives him a letter Michael wrote, but never sent to Thomas. Adam reads the letter, which is hidden in a box of oil pastels. It is the letter that Michael was supposed to send Thomas when he was in jail. Adam visits Steve and they read it together. The episode ends with Adam and Steve holding hands on a park bench.

 

Man in an Orange Shirt Review

As an overall package, Man in an Orange Shirt is great. However, when the series is dissected and analyzed minute by minute, it could have been so much better. Both episodes started off badly. I am by no means a prude, but the sex scenes were overdone. They were far worse in the second episode. The show would’ve done itself a big favor by focusing on character and relationship building and less on trying to shock the viewer with nudity and overly dramatic sex.

The crazy sex scenes definitely hurt the credibility and legitimacy of the series. If you can make it through it, Man in an Orange Shirt turns out to be a good view. I enjoyed it overall. The acting was excellent and the story was deep and emotional in the end. I just wish there was more substance and less sex. Nevertheless, the second episode scores an 8 out of 10. Catch up with the past episode recap of Man in an Orange Shirt now!