'Lauren' Explores Sexual Assault in the Military

The WIGS Channel on YouTube wants to update the serial drama (a/k/a "soap operas" or what your grandmother called "my shows") for the modern world with a series of programs named after the female lead characters who anchor each drama.

Lauren returns today for a second season. "Season" on the WIGS channel is kind of a hybrid between the traditional weekly episode model and the all-at-once release Netflix is pioneering with House of Cards and Hemlock Grove: four episodes of Lauren are live now, with four to follow on May 10th and the final four on May 17th. Each episode runs about ten minutes, which makes each series almost add up to a feature-length movie.

Lauren wants to address the problem of sexual assault in the military and explores the subject in a manner that will seem familiar to anyone who grew up on General Hospital or One Life to Live. The show features some other high-watt talent: Jennifer Beals (Flashdance) plays Lauren's commanding officer and Bradley Whitford (The West Wing) plays the officer that Lauren tells about her sexual assault.

In the scene below, Lauren (played by Troian Bellisario from Pretty Little Liars) tries to convince Raymond Cruz (from Breaking Bad and The Closer) to seek help for what seems to be post-traumatic stress.

%embed1%

And here's the trailer for season two:

%embed2%

And you can watch the first four episodes here.