Season 1 of the Netflix show GLOW was great. I was both excited and afraid before it started. Wrestling, as regular readers know, is important to me. And women's wrestling is particularly important to me. Which has been fraught, because women's wrestling has often been treated as a sideshow. A sideshow with extra added misogyny. And as important as the original Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling tv show was in wrestling history, it was also a place where every bad wrestling stereotype was performed egregiously.
And then there's the fact that as good as Orange Is The New Black is, I quit it because it was too depressing, and GLOW comes from people who worked on that show.
Images are promotional released by Netflix
So there was potential for trash, and potential for depressing. And, you know, GLOW has both of those elements. But it somehow manages to dance on the tightrope without falling into either one. It is a show about a diverse group of people, most of whom are women, who come together to do a thing that is - as is quintessential to wrestling - both awful and glorious. Season one, as I wrote, was great.
And then came season 2. I was less afraid, but still apprehensive. I quit a LOT of shows in season 2. And before Luke Cage, I don't know if I lasted the entire second season of any Netflix Original live action drama. They tend to lose focus. Netflix gives creators a lot of artistic freedom, which can be great, but... sometimes people need to be reigned in.
Female friendships are my jam
Season 2 of GLOW is better than season 1 in every single aspect. Much like the show within the show, all of the setup was done. Season 1 was about creating the show. Season 2 was about making the show.
This is a show about sisterhood, about creating a thing together and fighting for it. It's about identity, on multiples axes. It's a show about the 1980s with a level of complexity on race and gender issues shows in the actual 1980s were not allowed to have.
Now, let us take a moment to appreciate Alison Brie. She was very good in Community and did everything required of her in Mad Men. I knew she was good. In both seasons of GLOW, she isn't just good. She is amazing. This is like the opposite of Orange Is The New Black, where the pretty white girl was supposed to be the audience's way in, but everyone likes her the least. Ruth is complex, and she messes up, but you gotta root for her. And a lot of that is due to Brie's amazing work.
So, obviously, I am very much the target audience for this show. I love wrestling and queer stuff and comedy and Alison Brie. I've been listening to Marc Maron (who continues to be excellent as Sam)'s podcast for years. And I like stuff by and about women. Y'all know this if you read this blog regularly. I can't say this show's gonna hit everyone's sweetspot the way it does mine. But I can say it is a very well done show, that handles a difficult subject with skill and grace. And I can also say, again, that season 2 is better than season 1.
I'm six episodes in, attempting to not binge and enjoy the show just an episode or two at a time. So far this is definitely the best second season to any show on Netflix next to maybe Daredevil. No desire or time to watch Cage season 2 yet. Orange did get depressing as all hell, the last season was better than the one before, so I will still watch if it comes back.
Back to Glow though, so far, the only thing I wish is episodes were an hour long just to allow more stories with more side characters, but I do like how every main character is getting more back story, loving Marc and his daughtesr relationship, love the new Junkyard as well as the storyline with the old and her husband, I am even joying the growth of Liberty Belle this season who I don't think I appreciated enough the first season (great actress though where I am able to have emotions at her character lol). The "MeToo" portion of the season/episode I thought was handled well too.
Anyways, good review, everyone should be watching this show.
This was actually the best thing about OITNB: The "other" characters all got to become meaningful and have their own stories. And it's happening here as well. Disagree about the episode length, though. I think part of the reason the show works is how tight the episodes are.
GLOW, despite the critical love, doesn't get as much love as it should. The first season was too difficult to NOT binge, and Season 2 is just stepping everything up another notch. I agree about OITNB, after the major character death of one of my favorites, I was a wreck and couldn't bring myself to pick it back up, but GLOW has been a lot of fun to watch, and it's up there with The Good Place as one of my faves. :)
Yeah, it's suuuuper bingeable. I actually finished it on... welp, on Saturday night. So, yeah. I gulped it up.
I haven't seen season 1 yet but did start season 2 and really love it. I'm about halfway through. I really appreciate the artistry in the camera work, for instance, the scene in Liberty Bell's house when she sold everything and the ethereal kind of movement within the space. There's a lot of scenes that use artistic view perspective. Of course I am in love with all of the characters too!