A loose combination of Sex and the City, groaning sitcom mayhem, and... Asian stuff, Sex in Seattle has been lightly parsing the contemporary Asian-American female experience since 2001. Emphasis on lightly.

Episode 13 being my first foray into the SIS universe, I had some catching up to do. Harold, recently married to Elizabeth, is messing around with Chloe, who's crushing on Nathan, who likes Tess but loves some chick in Korea (didn't catch her name), who used to be married to Kenneth, who, along with his best friend George, has kidnapped Elizabeth because both of them love her. Or something like that. Is it sexy? Not unless you count a few icky, throwaway double entendres (about "coming" and "special sauce") and one brief face-to-crotch encounter.

But the real point here isn't sex—it's relationships between Asian men, Asian women, and white men. After 12 previous episodes, it's hard to imagine many issues that haven't been covered, at least to this shallow degree. Characters flirt and pine and cheat and swap; astute if stale questions like "What is it with white guys and their infatuation with Asian women?" are frequently asked, but hardly answered.

The serial soap-opera format is effective—the audience was thrilled, many obviously back for their 12th or 13th helping. And the cast sells it (Leilani Berinobis as the sassy Tess is particularly fun). But too much of Sex in Seattle is jokey fluff—underrepresented issues marginalized in favor of marginally good gags. When George (a white guy) finally, after much wackiness, confesses his love to Elizabeth, she tells him she only dates Chinese guys: "I want my children to look like me." "I thought only white people were prejudiced," marvels George. Ouch. Here's hoping Episode 14 starts with a bite like that.