Relationships are hard – they’re complicated, often confusing, yet they are something we, as human beings, cannot live without. Season two of ‘Entangled With You’ dives deeper into the budding relationship between two newly single female roomates that began in season one.

The show establishes this new pair of roommates in season one as a sort of ‘odd couple.’ With Jaliyah being a lesbian and Alisha being straight the series seemed destined to explore the complexities of straight/gay friendships which has been explored in other web series as well as some indie films. Instead “Entangled…’ is a lot more complex than just that.

I asked creator Caryn K. Hayes how she felt about the complexities of straight / gay relationships and her response was, “I think friendships are as complicated as the people in them regardless of sexual orientation.” It’s a line that seems to ring true throughout the length of the show.

These are complex characters – Caryn, as a writer, clearly doesn’t want her characters to allow themselves to be happy – and why would you? When she puts them all into a room together in episode number six, as an audience member you can’t help but laugh at just how complicated these people have made their lives. It’s funny! Take a bunch of people who have all slept together, mix up a handful of exes with new flames, schemes and secrets, then just add alcohol

Aside from the drama the Caryn is known for writing these characters have a lot of depth. Alisha and Jaliyah’s relationship is the most interesting one to me. As these two slowly warm up to each other we see how Jaliyah’s relationship with her roommate contrasts with her actual new relationship with girlfriend ‘Rocky.’

Jaliyah’s relationship with Rocky is tumultuous, full of a lot of affection yet riddled with fighting, deceit and mistrust. A lot of that mistrust comes from Rocky’s perception of Jaliyah’s relationship with Alisha. Their relationship is mellow and constructive.

The most interesting aspect of their dynamic is where the jealousy shows through. Jaliyah doesn’t understand Rocky’s jealousy for Alisha – she is straight after all, but the truth is that under the surface Jaliyah is clearly falling for her straight roommate, she just hasn’t verbalized it. This fact isn’t clear until Alisha decides to go on an actual date with a lesbian – setting off an explosion of jealousy from Jaliyah.

The “Alisha goes on a date with a lesbian” bit was the one piece of the plot that didn’t feel completely established by prior events, something that Caryn herself agreed with.

It’s odd how much the jealousy and awkwardness is justified by the events in later episodes, and this feels real to me. Where there is smoke there is fire. Even if Jaliyah and Alisha have no chance to be together that doesn’t mean that their relationship doesn’t mean anything or isn’t a threat to other relationships in a real way.

We all struggle to navigate our personal relationships in the best way we can. Attraction and sexual preferences are forces of nature beyond any of our control. We meet people we can connect with on an emotional level or through common ground who have the power to dramatically affect our lives even without any attraction. Still we all seem to be seeking out that one person who can do all of the above. These characters, much like ourselves, seem driven by the idea that their special someone could some how, some day do all three.

Interestingly it is the character of Jen who seems to have accepted the illogic of that hope. Her actions throughout the series evoke a deep inner desire for that same dream, yet with the outward persona of a girl who can’t be tied down. It speaks to a character that has been burned a lot in the past, and I find it interesting that she comes off as the most outwardly irrational character on the show despite consistently being the one who calls all the other characters out on their bullshit.

I could go on more about the characters and their interactions in the show for a lot longer, but time is running out on this article. A lot of credit has to be giving to the amazing cast, who pulled off nearly to hours of content on a 9 day shooting schedule.

Caryn K. Hayes continues to be perhaps the most prolific web series creator I have covered on this site. She just put out a short film and has yet another series coming in 2015 – which will mark her 4th. While ‘Entangled’ hits an underserved African American / lesbian demographic these are very relatable stories and I think that has shown through in the episode view counts. Each episode cracks 10k views, some videos reaching into the 100 thousands. It’s the mark of a creator who is growing a brand “slowly” (as she described it) but one that is definitely growing.

You can find ‘Entangled With You’ and other shows on Caryn’s ‘Hardly Working Entertainment’ (ironic choice of names) website http://hardlyworkingent.com/

Also a crowd funding campaign has begun for the production of a third season. You can find that here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1129529778/entangled-with-you-season-three