Season 2, Episode 10
Date of release: June 29, 2018 (Netflix)
written by: Liz Flahive, Carly Mensch
directed by: Jesse Peretz
Dang it, I love Netflix, even though I should not. They look like they tell their creators, producers, and writers to create a round show that does not end on a cliffhanger because the writers believe that is the way to persuade the network to renew the show. No, they tell them to end their show more properly because this is how shows should end their seasons. The first year ended with the pilot of the wrestling show and the credits that roll over its premiere airing, and it was fantastic that way because one story arc ended and it was not necessary to know whether the women were greenlighted (greenlit? I have never known the proper past tense for it) for an entire season. The major storyline of getting the pilot made was the pull that sent the characters through the entire season. And with the success of the pilot’s production, the essential conflict of the narrative was over and done with.
This season ends with the wrestling show having been canceled, which was kind of the mini story arc throughout the latter half of the season, but the women still had the chance to make their careers, and by the end of their story, it is not necessary to know whether they are successful in Las Vegas or not. Simply the faces on all the women, heading into an exciting new future, expecting the unknown, was the most exciting way to end the season with. Screw cliffhangers, screw questions about what is which character gonna do now. Yes, there have been some open endings here, but it is not like every story has to conclude properly. This is why I do not like most intended series finales, no matter how individually good they might be. I simply want an ending that leaves room for thoughts.
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| You ca find weddings on nearly every TV show. |
I loved this episode. It was very reminiscent of the finale of SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA, in which some stories were concluded before the big battle in the arena, while the battle itself was just a fun way to pay homage to the premise of the show, to give the audience what they wanted to see before the episode closes with a tearful goodbye and the sight of a more exciting future. Heck, there were even similarities between the fight in the arena over at Steven DeKnight’s Starz show and the Battle Royale in this episode’s ring of action, as contestants were kicked out of the ring and the remaining fighters continued to fight for the crown (or in Gannicus’ case, freedom). I am not sure if those similarities were intended and if someone in the writers’ room was just a big fan of the Spartacus television series, or if I am the only one seeing them. Or maybe television is mixing itself in my mind, and I am about to realize that everything is all the same.
Still, I loved the notion that there are two different finales in television history, both from the other end of the genre spectrum, which could not be more similar. This episode almost makes me want to watch SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA again, just to get back into the excitement of that great Battle Royale which closed that mini-season, and which is objectively speaking one of the finest television action spectacles of the 2010s.
In the realm of character arcs, this episode was wonderful. It almost looks like Debbie is out of her ugly fun and finally embracing being the star of the wrestling show, while also giving enough screentime to her co-stars and hoping for their success in the show, even if she did not win the crown at the end. But of course, the final wrestling match belonged to her, and she excelled at it, in addition to winning it, just because of femininity (great move by the guys to play along – I have no idea if that ever happened during the real heyday of the original show). Her goodbye to Mark and her son was touching, simply due to the fact that she seemed to have moved on from all the crap drama in her life. It is almost like Debbie is going to Vegas with a clean slate, ready to stumble into new emotional problems, like the drug addiction I was hoping for her to go through when she snorted some of Sam’s coke in his office and followed it up with breaking Ruth’s leg.
Arthie and Yolanda also got together (sort of) and I am happy about it. I am pretty sure there is no way Arthie would have risked getting battled by homophobia from the audience after kissing Yolanda in front of a live audience and a rolling camera (you can be certain that the kiss is going to be edited out of Sam's episode), but it was a happy end for the two, and all I want is for them to get married off in Vegas, have all the sex they want and need, and then get into whatever character arc the writers have planned for them. Which will most likely include homophobia, because it is where Bash’s story was slowly and silently heading, and I cannot imagine that a show set in the 1980s is not going to include homophobia in a story about two women becoming involved with one another.
Bash’s arc is confusing me just a little bit, however, because as a straight white male I have no idea what is going on inside his mind. It looks like he is a closeted gay man, because bleaching his house, silently crying over the loss of his greatest friend, and getting himself to marry Rhonda, are all ways that usually keep you in the closet for fear of rejection and essentially “death by pneumonia.” But then it looked like he actually cared for Rhonda in this episode, even though Bash could have simply played alongside his own lies, so he does not feel the need to hang around men and continues to find ways to be around women and convince himself that he is not gay. The fact that the writers did not even think about concluding that story means it will be a major influence on the character for the third season, although here is to hoping that something will happen in that regard and Bash isn’t just continuing to hide in his own shell the entire time. Normally, that causes deep depression and suicidal thoughts.
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| This is Debbie's last chance to do her signature move. |
What I did find fascinating though was Carmen’s face when Bash got married. For the first time since the beginning of the show, I got the feeling that Carmen was interested in Bash (they did kiss in a season-one episode, and that is where her crush could on him have come from), and that there are characters in this show who have to live with the social anxiety of not being able to tell someone you love them. Ruth was unable to tell it straight to Sam, even though she looked like she wanted to during the slow dance in the previous episode. Sam is unable to because he is a man and he goes straight for the kiss, and maybe it was not the first time he was rejected like that. Debbie is almost unable to talk about her emotional turmoil, but for some reason, she made it through the season alive and happy (almost). But here are Bash and Carmen, completely oblivious about the other’s feelings, not even knowing what the other goes through right now. Okay, maybe not Carmen, because she does not have a big secret as Bash does.
I said it at the end of the first season, and I am going to say it again: I want another season. It is a good thing I finished this season and the third round of GLOW is already waiting for my eyeballs. This show should have lived for tens of tens of years. It is what I need right now in a time full of Dwayne Johnson movies, FAST & FURIOUS spin-offs, superhero blockbusters, and another pair of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE flicks I am not interested in seeing, but will most likely be wowed by when I do. Plus, the real-life world of craziness has me needing a show like GLOW, because it is a friendly reminder that things are still great and there is a life in which women are respected and loved, and can win in a fight against men.
