Soledad O’Brien, Why Are You in ‘Sex/Life’ Season 2?

Watching Sex/Life Season 2 was like falling down the rabbit hole to Wonderland, except instead of being greeted by the Cheshire Cat or Jaberwocky, I was presented with butts and dongs. Sex/Life is an ode to orgasms that skimps on silly things like character development or what the Metropolitan Museum of Art even looks like. There are wild hookup montages, bare butts, and some of the most creative full frontal male nude scenes on all of Netflix. Also popping up in Sex/Life Season 2? Esteemed journalist and living legend Soledad O’Brien.

Yes, the always elegant, incredibly intelligent, and straight up iconic Soledad O’Brien cameos as herself in Sex/Life Season 2’s premiere. It was a moment that had me sit up and ask my screen, “Soledad O’Brien, why are you in Sex/Life Season 2?”

The answer to that question is simple in a way. In Sex/Life Season 2, the storyline expands past Billie Connelly (Sarah Shahi) to shine a spotlight on her long-time bestie Sasha Snow (Margaret Odette). Sasha has written a best-selling book called The Third Way which suggests women should not get married and enjoy a life of casual sex, professional success, and total independence. It becomes such a phenomenon that, yes, Sasha gets a sit-down with well-known journalist Soledad O’Brien.

On the same day that Sasha sits down with Ms. O’Brien, she runs into her handsome ex, Kam (Cleo Anthony). He desperately wants Sasha back and we learn that they split up when Sasha chose Columbia for grad school over marrying the Stanford-bound med student. Could it be? Could the most publicly single career woman in Christendom, Sasha Snow, want to have a happily ever after with the love of her life? Why would that be bad? Because, you know, branding.

Anyway, Soledad O’Brien’s very appearance helps explain what a big, serious deal Sasha’s seemingly fluffy text is in the zeitgeist. But I still have questions. Like, did Soledad O’Brien watch the first season of Sex/Life? Does she have an opinion on Adam Demos’s nude scene? And was she given the option of her own steamy storyline (only to turn it down!)?

I’m not saying Soledad O’Brien is the last person I’d expect to cameo in Sex/Life. I just want to know more about how it came to be.