Review

So when Jet Set announced that it would produce an online gay soap opera with sex scenes set in a West Hollywood complex called Wet Palms, I scoffed in that smug, superior, supercilious way we snobs do so well. Then I was given it to review. Despite my attempts to schedule some last-minute root canal surgery, I took it home, and with a shudder I put in the first disc of Wet Palms. I fully expected bad writing and even worse acting that would be just an excuse for sex. I’m sorry, but good sex needs no excuse, and there’s no excuse for bad sex. I was prepared for the worst. Well, I’ve seen it, and for all my fellow porn snobs out there I have a message for you:

“Get over yourselves, you bitches. Wet Palms is fabulous!”

Gabriel Knight

Wet Palms is deliciously over the top - and with lots of bottoms, too. It’s one of those guilty pleasures that you revel in, that you wallow in, loving every minute of it. I fully expected to work my fast-forward button overtime, skipping straight to the sex, but I swear to God I really was engrossed by the entertaining story lines and the engaging performances.

Overall, the acting - yeah, I said acting - is a huge and very pleasant surprise. Admittedly, there’s a range of talent as wide as the Kinsey scale. The new guy who plays the hunk with a secret is absolutely adorable but mumbles many of his lines. (Did I say how adorable he was?) And Wet Palms is definitely not a kosher establishment - not because so many guys are cut, but because there are so many servings of ham.

On the other hand, Brad Benton and Jason Ridge are pitch-perfect as the lovers and central characters. You’re so engrossed in their performances that when they do take their clothes off it’s almost a surprise. Other standouts include Ethan Marc (in his return to the business) who’s wonderfully smarmy as the blackmailing husband, Rob Romoni, who acts better naked than a lot of professionals do dressed, and Michael Soldier, who plays the lead asshole and is simply one of the best looking butches in the business. And word is out that two genuine thespians in the porn industry - the fabulously forty-ish Gus Mattox and the iconic Zak Spears - will be joining the cast soon. It just doesn’t get better than that.

Now, as to the sex scenes. Yes, it’s true that the DVD set contains more graphic and explicit footage than is seen online, but still it’s pretty vanilla; no kinks here. They’re also shot in a very unconventional (for porn), MTV-style, with lots of fast editing. The camera doesn’t give us the sort of close-ups we’re used to. Normally, I want to trace the veins on a shaft or count the folds of a sphincter. But on the other hand, they’re all enthusiastically performed, and seeing graphic gay sex as an integral part of a valid story line is surprisingly arousing. In other words don’t worry - Wet Palms will give you hairy palms.

The other really fun part of this collection are all the DVD extras. It comes in a beautifully packaged three-disc box set that includes behind-the-scenes and "making of" featurettes, outtakes and bloopers, cast auditions and interviews, multiple photo galleries and more. You get a close-up look at porn stars on-set but off-camera like never before, and that’s always a lot of fun. Also, it should be mentioned that throughout each episode gossip columnist and porn-biz gadfly Jason Sechrest makes brief appearances, furthering the action by exposing various secrets.

So, what exactly are we talking about?

Jason Ridge

DISC/EPISODE ONE: "Who is Lucky Hanson?"
The Story:
The scene opens in the Wet Palms bedroom of Peter Dune (Ridge), a former big-time party boy and current underwear model who’s given up the old life for his new lover, Tucker Bang (Benton), a sweet journalist who’s toiling at gay gossip magazine “JettSetter” (subtle title, huh?), which is published by arrogant Simon Jett (Soldier) who happens to be the brother of the owner of Wet Palms, Randall, and has always tried to get into Peter’s pants. Got that?

Next we meet the mysterious Lucky Hanson (Gabriel Knight) who arrives at Wet Palms looking for Randall, who is somehow connected to his late mother. Complex manager Brad Middleton (Bret Wolfe) lets Lucky stay, even though he thinks the kid is an old con artist he once knew. He tells Lucky to take a shower (sex scene 1) while he calls the police. At the magazine office, Simon makes Tucker’s life miserable, and tries to get the goods on Peter, who is being blackmailed into having sex with Todd Marlowe (sex scene 2), the brother-in-law of the owner of Peter’s underwear company. Unbeknownst to them, their tryst is being photographed.

The Sex:
Scene 1 is a solo shower jerk-of scene by the boyishly beautiful Knight, as he ogles pool boy (and resident Wet Palms hustler) Tripp Ward (Cody Cash). In Scene 2, Peter shoves his cock down Todd’s throat before they 69, and Peter rims and fingers Todd’s ass. Peter then lifts Todd’s legs for a lengthy fuck that Todd (and Ethan) really enjoys. (There’s a great outtake where Ethan completely blanks out on his mid-fuck lines because he’s having so much fun!)

The Extras:
Each disc features episode summaries, reviews and previews, as well as jumps to the actual sex scenes. Disc One also has character profiles, the original broadcast trailers, interviews with cast members Cash, Marc, Romoni, Rod Barry and cameo cock Chad Donovan, and scenes from the audition try-outs, featuring such porn luminaries as Chad Hunt and Marcus Iron.

Jason Ridge invades Ethan Marc.

DISC/EPISODE TWO: "Working Hard for the Money"
The Story:
There’s trouble in paradise. Peter is jealous over seeing Tucker talking with Lucky at a bar (WeHo’s famed Abbey). Meanwhile, Brad offers a hot young Latino (Paolo Cortez) a room in exchange for a no-holds-barred fucking from behind (sex scene 1).

At JettSetter, Simon orders Tucker to develop the film with Peter and Todd, hoping to break them up. However, Tucker gives the film to straight co-worker Joey Pole (Barry) because he has to go home and change his shirt. While he had been in the bathroom, Tucker had been watching an anonymous and mega-hung guy (Donovan) jerk off, and got his shirt covered in semen (sex scene 2). Happens all the time, right guys?

Back at Wet Palms, Lucky is cruised by guest Chase Walker (Romoni), who turns out to be the underwear company owner. Lucky demurs, but another guest, the impossibly cute, shaggy-haired blond Ashton Sorenson, willingly auditions (sex scene 3).

Todd has come back to Peter’s with cocaine, but Peter has sworn of the stuff in the name of love. When they hear Tucker come in, they hide in the closet. As he takes of his shirt, Tucker sees the tray of coke, assumes it’s Peter’s, and storms out in anger. Peter then sees the shirt covered in jizm, assumes it’s Lucky’s, and snorts up in a jealous rage.

The Sex:
Three scenes here! The first scene is all fucking. Not for nothing is Bret Wolfe an award-winning power bottom. There’s just one position, with Wolfe on all fours and Cortez fucking from behind, but it works just fine. The second scene is just jerking off, as Benton gets “up close and personal” to watch Chad Donovan work his magic with one of the wonders of the porn world.

In scene three the dark, muscled Romoni and the lithe, blond Sorenson suck each other off and Romoni plays with the boy’s ass. Now, the standard rules of porn would have the beefier and darker Romoni on top, but this guy is taking up the mantle left by retired Blake Harper as porn’s reigning butch bottom. He gets on all fours for another great fuck from behind, but by now one might wish for a bit more variety in positions.

The Extras:
Special features here include some hysterical outtakes, a rather silly and ultimately painfully self-indulgent “making of” featurette, and hard-core photo galleries of cast members and sex scenes.

Michael Soldier pounds Brad Benton.

DISC/EPISODE THREE: "Relationships of Mass Destruction"
The Story:
Simon is furious: There’s no reaction from Tucker, which obviously means he hadn’t seen the photos. Simon orders Tucker to be at his office that night, presumably to get fired. Simon then secretly calls Peter and demands he show up as well - to discuss the photos.

Brad is furious: Tripp is again hustling guests instead of working, so Brad orders him to clean up a just-emptied room, where he finds a box full of butt plugs and the seductively waiting Sorenson (sex scene 1). Todd is furious: He’s seen the photos and orders Peter to go to Simon and give him whatever he wants - even if it’s Peter’s ass. Lucky is furious: Brad has uncovered his criminal record and throws him out. At that moment Randall calls, and he’s furious. It seems he does know Lucky’s mother and orders Brad to try to catch Lucky, but it’s too late. Finally, Tucker is furious: Simon tells him about the photos and the only chance he has to save his lover is beg his boss to fuck him (sex scene 2). Then, just as Simon starts to plow Tucker’s field, a very drunk Tucker enters the office. We can only imagine he’ll be furious.

The Sex:
Scene one begins with a butt plug firmly up Tripp’s ass. Then Sorenson comes in and the scene turns entirely oral. The blow-jobs between these two southern Californian blonds are great, but after that set-up, one was expecting anal action of the “plastic” kind.

Scene two ends the episode. Simon - clad in a leather harness - fucks Tucker’s mouth, then rims and fucks his ass. Tucker may not be too happy about it, But Brad Benton sure doesn't seem to mind.

The Extras:
Special features are a bit more limited, with just Website tours, preview of coming episodes, behind-the-scenes photo gallery and trailers of six Jet Set videos. However, the episode itself has two surprising cameos: One of Sharon Kane as a French-speaking guest of indeterminate gender; and the other of a vaguely familiar gentleman as Lucky’s chauffeur. Who is it, you ask? That, my friends, is Chi Chi LaRue out of drag.

Simply put, Wet Palms is full of surprises - surprising plot twists, surprising cast appearances, surprising sex combinations. Most of all, you will be surprised - no, astonished - at just how much you will enjoy yourself and at how much you can’t wait for the next episode.

Forgive me, Jet Set, for ever doubting you! And keep 'em coming!
-Jameson Rodgers

All images © and courtesy Jet Set Team Productions.
(Used here with express permission.)
All text © TLA Entertainment Group.