‘Dangerous Liaisons’ Recap: ‘You Don’t Know Me’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Four of ‘Dangerous Liaisons’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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One thing that each and every one of us swear we will never do in this life, is commit to a toxic relationship. Simply because we see what they do to people that are close to us, or we hear stories of their destructive nature, so we do our best to avoid them… only to discover at some point down the line… we’ve been in one or are in one. Not to mention, we likely let it persist longer than it should have, or stayed in touch with that toxic individual for longer than necessary, and we are often left to wonder… why? Why on earth would we, someone who fully understands the gross nature of such a relationship and such a person… let this happen when we knew it was wrong?
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Well, the answer to that question is quite simple. In that, toxic individuals, and the relationship we take part in with them… give us something we needed in that moment. Which might sound twisted to say since why would we need anything negative in this life, but we are human beings, complex creatures for certain… who sometimes let our darker instincts take over and indulge themselves, and toxic people and lovers help with that. For they feed the darkness and encourage it and we crave it since it sends a thrill down our spine, and is justified all in the name of love and well, the power that toxic relationships can have over us and how we allow all of that to persist is top of mind today, simply because the next episode of Dangerous Liaisons took the time to explore how all of that works.

A feat that ‘You Don’t Know Me’ accomplished, by finally showing us what Valmont and Camille do for one another from a toxic perspective. For Valmont made it clear that he was done with the little game that Camille had him playing regarding Jacqueline. Prompting him to storm off and try to forge his own path, which in turn prompted Camille… to try and barter with her former lover to get him to continue this plan. In part to flex power over him but also… to deepen her revenge plot, since it was revealed that Jacqueline is the woman responsible for all of Camille’s woes. So, to make her pay would make Camille whole again, making every other act of revenge a dry run for the big show. But in order to get that… quid pro quo had to come into play. For Valmont needed help in his own revenge act, against his own family no less.

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For he needed to learn how to gain leverage over the family fortune, and in order to have that… Camille would need to step in and play nice and work to figure out those details. Which she did, by playing innocent and impish with Ondine and in the process, she learned more about how to gain agency in this life and how to further secure her own noble future. Since she knew that full power over Jean would be necessary if she wanted to steer clear of the life she left behind and in order to fully ensure that… she needed more dirt upon him, and Ondine oddly supplied that. Which allowed for her and Valmont to travel to a secret sex club in Paris, to speak with the right parties and attempt to gain that leverage… which they did in a harrowing manner.
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Which may have come too little too late since Jean got his hands on the letter and exiled our flawed heroine. But while we wait to see if the dirt, she found upon him will pay off immediately or not, it is the interactions between these two toxic lovers that matters most. Since this story made it clear that their love, ignited a freedom within each of them. Where they felt safe to not only open up about their respective pain in their own way, but to indulge in their darkest instincts to right their wrongs or double down on bad behaviors, because both sides encouraged that in one another. Which just goes to show how love can easily fool us into doing the wrong thing and embolden us because love can be as ugly as it is beautiful, and the show deserves a round of applause for pointing that out and for exploring its darker side.

Since all too often it must be seen as pure in storytelling when we all know deep down, what it really is and what it can be. But what is equally as amazing about this particular exploration, is how it is also managing to grow these characters in a unique manner. Because they are feeding heavily off of the darkness, and it is driving them to do bold things that while beneficial may come at quite the cost from the perspective of the soul. Which means the final four episodes in season one, should offer some fascinating perspective about how those who don’t extract themselves from toxicity, live with the acts they perform and how they sleep at night and that alone compels us to continue to the journey. Since it will finally give us a chance to see, how that other half, lives. Until next time.

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