Passionate Romance Unfolds: Jon Hamm and Olivia Munn’s Relationship in “Your Friends & Neighbors”

Searching for a fresh TV show that offers big names, high stakes, crime, personal crises, family drama, secrets, and, of course, sex? Apple TV+ has just the ticket.

The latest series by Jonathan Tropper, titled Your Friends & Neighbors, follows the story of Andrew ‘Coop’ Cooper, played by Jon Hamm. Coop, a hedge fund manager dealing with the aftermath of a recent divorce and a tarnished reputation after being fired, turns to thievery in the upscale Westmont Village. What he uncovers behind the affluent facade of his neighbors’ homes is a web of perilous secrets and affairs more treacherous than he could have ever anticipated.

With each burglary, Coop delves deeper into the lives of those around him, gathering a trove of information about his social circle. Simultaneously, he harbors his own set of secrets, including a passionate affair with Samantha Levitt, portrayed by Olivia Munn, which promises to leave audiences eagerly anticipating more following its riveting two-episode debut.

The pilot of Your Friends & Neighbors features a fair share of sex, starting with flashbacks of Cooper and his ex wife Mel (Amanda Peet) hooking up in the “shitty apartment” they shared when they got married. After a montage shows them making out against their front door, undressing in the entryway, and having sex everywhere from the kitchen to the shower, Hamm declares via voiceover: “No one will ever fuck you the way she did in that shitty apartment. Including her.”

While his present-day, post-divorce affair might not feel as fulfilling as his post-married sex life, from a viewer standpoint, it’s still hot as hell. Beyond the physical chemistry that Hamm and Munn’s characters share, the complex relationship illuminates Coop and Sam’s emotional states and personal desires, which will likely be the source of some quality drama as the series progresses.

In Episode 1, Your Friends & Neighbors reveals that Coop and his wife got divorced after she cheated on him with one of his closest friends, Nick (Mark Tallman). Meanwhile, as Hamm described in another voiceover, “Samantha’s husband Paul made his fortune in diners. He had nine of them, a 44-inch waste, and a serious case of erectile dysfunction. Since they separated, she’d been making up for lost time.”

Though Coop and Sam have been hooking up on and off for six months, as we learn from their first late-night rendezvous, they have yet to define their connection in a way that works for both of them. When Coop calls, Sam comes running. She tops him, enthusiastically moans, rubs her hands across his body, and finishes with a shoulder bite that breaks skin. After the sex stops, however, the drama starts. When Coop sees Sam using her phone in bed, he asks if she has to go, which she takes as an invitation to leave. “You were literally coming inside of me a minute ago, and now you can’t get rid of me fast enough,” she says. “It’s a little off-putting if I’m being honest, right? Because you called me, I changed into something sexy, I got a sitter, I exfoliated… Tell me the truth, do you ever thing that we could be something more than this?”

Though we don’t hear Coop’s response, it’s clear when Sam hops in her car and gives him the finger as she drives off. Viewers may expect Sam to carry a grudge, but when her ex brings his 24-year-old girlfriend to the local country club in Episode 2, she prematurely makes up with Coop because she needs to “feel sexy really damn soon.” Later that night, she summons him by texting a photo of herself wearing red lingerie. He drives over to her place so fast he doesn’t even bother returning Nick’s borrowed SUV first. So the two kick off the evening by taking sweet revenge and passionately hooking up in Nick’s back seat before taking the party up to Sam’s bedroom.

Having learned from his Episode 1 error, after Sam and Coop finish their steamy sex, they share some deep conversation over wine. When she asks if he plans to head out, he grabs her leg and says he wants to spend the night. In response to the surprising suggestion, Sam commends his “great idea” and suggests they listen to a home organization podcast. As she speaks, she mounts Coop, slips off her robe, and fervidly kisses him to show her appreciation.

During the New York City premiere of Your Friends & Neighbors, Munn opened up to People about her and Hamm’s in-show intimacy, saying, “There [were] a lot of sex scenes in this and there was a lot of dialogue about it with myself and Jon and mliss1578 Jonathan Tropper and the intimacy coordinator [Lizzy Talbot], because we really wanted it to be — it has to be really believable, because my character is wanting something more from Jon’s character, but the only thing she’s getting from him at this point is this sexual relationship. And so that’s so much a part of what is between them. And so it’s really important that we really feel how much she’s leaning on this and trying to really connect with him through these moments. And those are their biggest connecting points.”

“People talk about this a lot, but it’s not like real life,” Munn continued. “There’s a lot of choreography that goes on behind. And intimacy coordinators are really there — like stunt coordinators or fight coordinators are — to help make the scene look as believable and realistic and help everybody achieve what we want to achieve. And so there’s a lot of discussion.”

While Munn didn’t dive too deep into spoilers, she did shout out the bite in Episode 1, saying, “I remember my character has to bite him, and I was nervous, and he just kept saying, ‘It’s OK, you can bite really hard.’ And then I did. And he’s a pretty tough guy. He’s a very tough guy.”

While have to wait and see what Your Friends & Neighbors has in store for Sam and Coop, based on the first two episodes, their chemistry is palpable, the secrecy is exciting, and Sam’s deeper feelings for Coop are clear.

Munn teased “a lot of sex scenes,” which suggests there are still more to come. And since we don’t get the sense that Coop’s ex wife or many others know about the affair, that could create some drama down the line as well. Could Sam eventually learn about — or get roped into — Coop’s dangerous side hustle? Only time will tell, but here’s hoping we haven’t seen the last of this complicated couple.

New episodes of Your Friends & Neighbors premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV+.