Date of release: June 29, 2018 (Netflix)
written by: Liz Flahive, Carly Mensch, Kim Rosenstock
directed by: Phil Abraham
During the previous episode, I figured out and mentioned that the writers may have forgotten that Bash was still in the metaphorical closet. At the end of this episode, it looked like Bash was going to have some serious emotional trouble and would start fearing for his well-being, bringing him back to where I hoped his character would be at the beginning of the season. This is a huge change in his character arc, and if he happens to “technically” have “pneumonia” as well, then that is going to be one heck of a story for the third season, even if I do not believe it will happen, since the writers have never gotten into whether or not Bash was having sex with men – it almost feels like he was scared of going that far, knowing about that virus ravaging the community, and knowing that his family will most likely disown him if he were to come out.
Instead, Florian’s death becomes the catalyst of emotional drama in Bash’s mind, whether it is through coming out or going even deeper into the closet and giving up on life in general. The show is set in a period of time in which it would be perfect to depict the AIDS epidemic, even if we have already seen the premise in film and television multiple times, with characters, either in a guest-starring capacity, recurring or regular, dealing with HIV or AIDS, although you could probably count those characters on two hands. Any which way the writers were planning to attack this story, this is all going to be interesting, turning up the drama in a series that possibly should be a little more fun here and there.
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| Britannica's biggest fan takes his shot. |
This episode was great. Three separate storylines, each having their own share of importance within the narrative, and suddenly I felt like watching a television show that is truly and fully fleshed out. I loved that Bash and Debbie decided to take the show to Anaheim and manipulate syndication buyers (I would have loved for the business side of cable television to be a bit more in focus); I loved that the writers finally got into bringing Ruth and Sam together, and how awkward this whole thing between the two is; I loved that the women had their fun back at the motel, not knowing that their lives are about to change drastically if Bash manages to sell the show to another network.
Between him saying that Carmen has the planning of the final live taping under control, and Carmen taking a huge hit from the bong, I was almost gasping in shock, because it looks like the women will not be prepared to do the show, and a sell with potential buyers could be off, because the women were slacking during their final show when it should have been their best performance ever. Maybe the idea of marrying Rhonda off in the ring, so she can get a green card, will destroy the show – an affiliate would love to watch and buy a wrestling show with gorgeous ladies in it, but instead, a wedding happens in the ring. Who really would want to buy the wrestling show after that?
By the way, Rhonda’s stalker was weirdly creepy. Patrick Renna even looks like a creep in this episode (it is not that hard with him though, he has kind of kept his childlike face ever since he made himself known as a child star in 1990s films like THE SANDLOT), making me think that GLOW is about to go super dark with some stories while staying true to some sort of comedy with its wrestling storylines. It kind of makes the show schizophrenic at times. Still, I do not mind, because after nineteen episodes I am already in love with the characters and do not want to miss them, which is why I hope they were being kept in the show with the help of whatever stories the writers were coming up with for them.
Besides that, just because the general premise of the show is a light one does not mean the writers have to neglect the dirty history of Hollywood, as well as the times the characters live in. TV executives raping aspiring actresses, gay men getting AIDS and die, and closeted people staying in the closet for the fear of being shunned... It was not the greatest and happiest of times in the business. Although in the case of GLOW, the women can be lucky to be working with Sam, who does not seem to be giving a damn and is both progressive and a card-carrying feminist for some reason.
Anyway, this episode gave me another instance to start shipping Yolanda and Arthie when the two were talking about living together. For a second, I was confused if the two were already seeing each other sort of secretly because their conversation was so casual – it made it look like both already realized their feelings for each other, probably already kissed a lot under the blanket, and had sex. But looking at the scene a second time, it feels like Arthie just has a crush and Yolanda is using that attention for some fun herself, which means there might not even be anything behind the story at all.
With the wrestling show, Ruth and Debbie’s individual stories in addition to their complicated friendship, Bash’s story, and only ten half-hour episodes available to the writers, is there even time to develop another story from the ground up? Especially when the producers may not have known whether or not GLOW would have a long-lasting life as a Netflix show, because you do not know how many subscribers click on the episodes and watch it, or how many new subscribers come on board, just to watch a single show that you can easily download for free?
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| His world is shattering into pieces right in front of him. |
Finally, the home crisis that is Sam’s life with his daughter and his potential love interest... I liked that he was a progressive father here, giving Justine as much space as possible to make her own decisions while also being a father to her who could give her house arrest without needing a reason, and I liked that Rosalie was not out for blood, or trying to be the worst mother imaginable. Sam and maybe even Ruth were pretty close to convincing Rosalie to have Justine stay in Los Angeles a little longer, or at least have Justine make the choice where she wants to stay. Besides that, I was happy that Ruth rejected Sam, even if I was not happy that she immediately made her way to Russell again. It is like the creation of a love triangle right here, and while it is fitting for the soap opera GLOW wants to depict and somewhat make fun of, I generally do not like love triangles any longer. Although it has to be said how much better Sam got as a character since he realized his affections for Ruth. I almost have to say that he does not not give a damn any longer – because he only does when it concerns Ruth.
