In 1971, Brooklyn bartender Vincent "Vinnie" Martino is beaten by muggers while he is performing drops. Vinnie's identical twin brother, reckless gambler Frankie, owes money to several mobsters and bookies. Fed up with his unfaithful wife, Andrea, Vinnie leaves his family and decides to focus on his bar. Pimp C.C. recruits Lori, a new arrival from Minnesota, as a prostitute. C.C's prized possession is Ashley, who is in love with C.C. and becomes jealous of Lori. Another pimp, Larry Brown, is abusive towards his prostitutes, one of whom is the sweet-natured Darlene. Eileen "Candy" Merrell, a prostitute and single mother, chooses to work without a pimp and becomes introduced in the ascendant pornography industry. College student Abigail "Abby" Parker is arrested for buying drugs. At the station, she meets officer Chris Alston, who is versed on the players in the streets. The arresting officer, Flanagan, lets her go without charge and takes her to Vinnie's bar, but Abby becomes attracted to Vinnie. She arrives for her exam the following morning, but leaves the building. At his hotel, Vinnie witnesses C.C. wounding Ashley with a knife after she refuses to work in the rain.
Production
In August 2015, it was reported that HBO had picked up two David Simon pilots, one of which being The Deuce, which would star James Franco and be directed by Breaking Bad regular Michelle MacLaren. In September, Maggie Gyllenhaal was cast as a Times Square hooker in the pilot, which was set to begin filming in the fall of that year. In preparation for the project, she consulted with former prostitute and porn star Annie Sprinkle. “She had some very simple helpful insights... How many people do you fuck a night, what do you do if it’s really cold.” Gyllenhaal also went to the set of a porn shoot in Los Angeles, having been invited by a former adult film star who was working craft services for the shot. Of the project, Simon said "We’re interested in what it means when profit is the primary metric for what we call society. In that sense, this story is intended as neither prurient nor puritan. It’s about a product, and those human beings who created, sold, profited from and suffered with that product... Porn, prostitution, pimps, the Mob, after-hours nightlife, institutional corruption, and New York in its Wild West heyday... it’s a world rich in character, and a fascinating story we’re eager to tell." Filming began in October 2015, and in January, 2016, the pilot was picked up for series.
Reception
The pilot episode was watched by 830,000 viewers and received an 0.24 18-49 rating.
