The New Season of High Maintenance Goes to Even Darker Places

Just when you thought High Maintenance might not stand a chance, it became the first show to become a part of Vimeo’s original programming. Now in its fifth season (though, bear in mind that the preceding seasons have been divided into three episodes each), the creators of the show, Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld, seem more comfortable than ever with being as uncomfortable as possible.

With the first three episodes of the now six-episode season released on November 11th, fans were treated to a smattering of different New Yorkers, ranging from two engaged Fort Greene inhabitants training for a survival course to a doorman/sexual harassment giver in a self-defense class. And then, of course, there’s everyone’s favorite character, the asexual magician, back in action as he tries to train to become a teacher at a ratchet Brooklyn high school.

Possessing somewhat slower pacing this time around (the extra funding from Vimeo has allowed for longer episodes), these episodes, entitled “Geiger,” “Genghis” and “Ruth,” allow more room for the awkward moments to thrive. Case in point is “Ruth,” in which the doorman who goes out on a date with a woman who formerly had stomach cancer (now in remission) has to have her dip his balls in milk after he touches them with hands featuring chili pepper residue. If this isn’t a major indication of boundary pushing to come, I don’t know what is.