Sex/Life Season 1 is filled with many twists and turns — and that’s just in the bedroom. Billie Connelly (Sarah Shahi) often isn’t sure what to make of her competing attractions to safe husband Cooper (Mike Vogel) and naughty music executive Brad Simon (Adam Demos). The suburban mom of two spends eight episodes ping-ponging between her desires and learning a lot about herself in the process. 

You probably have questions of your own — and unlike Billie, you can find answers before her breathless tale returns for Season 2 on March 2. Keep reading to remember exactly what happened in Sex/Life Season 1, from the beginning of Billie and Brad’s complicated romance to the jaw-dropping ending. And if you assume we forgot that shower scene — think again. 

Is Sex/Life based on a book? 

Sex/Life is more inspired by a book, than anything. The inciting memoir is 44 Chapters About 4 Men by “domesticated bad girl” and former school psychologist BB Easton. 

Like Billie, Easton lived a life full of dangerously sexy love affairs before settling down with a handsome, if boring, man.  Nostalgic for her hot, if frequently ridiculous exes, Easton starts writing her memories down in a journal… which her accountant husband secretly finds. Easton soon realizes her spouse is recreating her steamiest escapades in the bedroom, giving her a whole new power over her sex life. 

Ultimately, this psychosexual dance brings the partners closer than ever — unlike in the case of Billie and Cooper. 

Amanda Matlovich/Netflix

How did Billie and Brad meet? 

Billie and Brad first come together in the kind of meet cute that could only happen in Sex/Life. Back when Billie was still a Manhattan party girl and Ph.D. student, she and best friend Sasha Snow (Margaret Odette) hit up the Ludlow Street Cafe for a night out on the town. (And yes, The Ludlow Street Cafe was a real bar, though it closed in the ’90s.) When Billie walks in on Sasha happily, er, servicing the evening’s performer Kossi (real-life singer Kossisko) she decides to walk home alone. 

Record label owner Brad steps in to save Billie from a street harasser and gives her a (non-euphemistic) ride. It turns out Sasha sent Brad to Billie to keep her safe. 

An insatiable romance blooms, full of sex in various exotic locations like elevators, rooftop pools and nightclub corners. 

Why did Billie and Brad break up? 

Every romantic hero needs a tragic flaw — and Brad’s is his abandonment issues, which stem from his absent father. Billie and Brad’s problems boil over in Episode 7, when Billie suffers a miscarriage. Instead of supporting his girlfriend through their shared grief, Brad goes into self-destruct mode. 

He blames himself for the miscarriage and makes out with a random woman at Billie’s cousin’s wedding to force a breakup. Desperate to save their crumbling relationship, Billie urges Brad to reconnect with his father and work through his issues. 

Brad follows Billie’s advice and finds his dad. As he spies on him in a small diner, Brad realizes his father has two young sons and is a fantastic, doting parental figure — just not to him. Heartbroken, Brad goes back to New York and pushes Billie away. He packs her stuff up in their apartment, throws it in an elevator and tells her a different story about his trip: He spent the weekend doing drugs with a sex worker. She has no choice but to accept their relationship is over. 

Sophie Giraud/Netflix 

How did Billie end up with Cooper? 

After years of “bad boy deliciousness,” Billie craved safety, and no one felt safer than Cooper. After her breakup with Brad, he approached Billie on her campus while he was visiting for his firm’s recruiting event, and the rest was history. He charmed her during a trip to his house in Connecticut, made her an amazing meal and dazzled her hard-to-please Southern parents. Cooper even assuaged Billie’s nervousness when they ran into his ex Emily (Hannah Galway) on their first date. 

As Billie asks in a montage of their early relationship, “how could you not fall in love with this guy?” She marries him and the two build a picture-perfect family together as the parents of toddler Hudson (Phoenix Reich) and baby Ellary. 

What’s going on in the Cooper-Billie-Brad love triangle? 

A mix of resentment and passion. In the wake of her second pregnancy, Billie starts to yearn for Brad. It doesn’t help that Cooper hasn’t gone downtown — and we don’t mean Ludlow Street — in a year and a half. First, Billie simply starts journaling about her greatest hits with Brad, à la Easton’s memoir. Then, Cooper gets an eyeful of his wife’s writing, also à la Easton’s memoir.  But then things take a turn when Billie actually runs into Brad at Sasha’s apartment. Surprise! Sasha and Brad are sex friends, but nothing more. Suddenly Brad is back in Billie’s life, and their connection still burns bright. 

Billie must figure out how she feels about the two competing men in her life. Despite Cooper’s attempts to spice up their (sex) lives, something undefinable is missing. But, Billie has a hard time leaving her cozy family unit behind for someone who hurt her so badly in the past, no matter how scorching her chemistry is with Brad. 

What happened in the Sex/Life shower scene? 

One infamous full-frontal scene. In Episode 3, Cooper becomes obsessed with figuring out what the heck is so special about Brad. Naturally, he follows Brad to his gym, pays for a month’s subscription, performs a full workout within eyesight of his romantic rival and then trails him into the showers.  

There, in between all the steam and spray, Cooper gets an unobstructed view of Brad’s sizable equipment. 

Are there any other important characters in Sex/Life? 

Sasha is one of Sex/Life’s most important characters. As a window into another life — and a damn fine friend on top of it — she’s a star in her own right. Sasha ends Season 1 publishing her book, The Third Way, and urging women to reject heterosexual marriages that demand they diminish themselves. 

Beyond Sasha, the two other most important adults in Sex/Life are Devon (Jonathan Sadowski) and Trina (Amber Goldfarb), Billie and Cooper’s married Connecticut friends. Devon and Trina are equally unfulfilled and invite Billie and Cooper to a sex party to shake up their marriage. This plan goes horribly. Trina reveals her oral fixation for Cooper and Billie runs out of the room in tears. Devon, not reading the situation, propositions Billie; Cooper punches his best friend. 

But, by the finale, both couples kiss and make nice (strictly platonically). 

Who does Billie choose? 

Cooper, technically. In the Season 1 finale, Cooper goes to Brad’s apartment to have a one-on-one conversation. Brad tells Cooper that Billie rejected him the night prior — even when Brad proposed marriage, with a ring. So Cooper shows up to one of Hudson’s school events and loudly recommits to Billie in front of their judgmental parent friends. 

The spouses enjoy a period of steady and honest commitment. Billie goes back to school to finish her Ph.D. and the Connellys enjoy the active sex life Billie always wanted. But nothing gold can stay…  

Why does Billie go to Brad’s apartment? 

In one of the last scenes of the finale, Billie listens as Sasha counsels her Third Way fans to never repress who they are just to be “marriage worthy.” While Sasha says the need for “release” is inevitable in these situations, Billie glimpses Brad in the crowd. She’s immediately transported back to one of their most exciting trysts. 

Reconsidering who her “one true self” is, Billie heads to Hudson’s spring performance. There, she realizes that her warm family memories aren’t enough. So Billie literally runs to Brad’s apartment hungry for “true freedom.” Unfortunately for her, she has no idea that Cooper is tracking her phone. Cooper knows exactly where his wife is — and he’s not happy. 

Imagine how he’d feel if he could witness the scene that follows. “I’m not leaving my husband,” Billie tells Brad. “This changes nothing. Now fuck me.” 

In Season 2, we’ll find out if Brad takes Billie up on that saucy request. 

The ‘Sex/Life’ Season 2 Trailer Does a Lot More Than Tease