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Glow Perverts Are People, Too Season 2 Episode 5 Editor’s Rating 3 stars * * * « Previous Next Photo: Erica Parise/Netflix After a season-and-a-half of holding in her anger at Ruth for sleeping with Mark, Debbie finally loses the moral high ground by scolding Ruth for turning down network head Tom Grant’s advances and blaming her for G.L.O.W. being exiled to 2 a.m. “The one time you keep your legs shut, we all get fucked” is clever writing, but it’s also pretty damn vicious, and Ruth would be well within her rights to regard Debbie’s words as a betrayal on par with bedding your best friend’s spouse. Ruth’s harrowing encounter with her bungalow-perv boss is the second prolonged, painful, uniquely female experience we’ve watched her endure, following her first-season abortion (a scene that, not shockingly, miffed some anti-abortion pundits ). It’s also an explicit dramatization of what Harvey Weinstein’s victims have recounted, down to making us confront the complicity of passive participants — in this case Glenn. It’s a drastic tonal shit from episode four, which was poignant at points but also broadly comedic. Here, it’s hard to say what’s more horrific: the dread of knowing what Ruth didn’t, seeing it play out to patterned form, watching Ruth’s face go ashen as Debbie admonishes her for being selfish and a prude, or seeing how — even as strong, in-control Zoya — the whole incident takes her completely out of character. These moments are ultimately why Alison Brie, no stranger to playing smart-but-subjugated women from her Mad Men days, is GLOW ’s lead. And she is every bit as believable bouncing from hopefulness to humiliation in “Perverts Are People, Too” as Debbie is callous and cold during their chat at the gym. Cannily, episode writer Rachel Shukert and director Claire Scanlon offer the flip side to this thorny issue. Back at the Glowtel pool, Melanie and Rhonda take uncomplicated delight in the … [Read more...] about Recap: Patriarch Games

Glow Concerned Women of America Season 2 Episode 3 Editor’s Rating 4 stars * * * * « Previous Next » Photo: Erica Parise/Netflix There’s been plenty of TV punch lines over the years about women’s menstrual cycles syncing up, but how often do we hear about the highs and lows of their gastrointestinal comings and goings? (Okay, maybe Broad City is an exception.) In this third and, to this point, high-water mark episode of season two, GLOW goes there right out the gate. Melanie is bloated, not from cramps, but because she hasn’t pooped in an eon. But these women — who have bonded sufficiently enough to dub their shared lodging the Glowtel — aren’t about to let one of their sisters suffer in anatomical angst. (How great, by the way, that her stage name, Melrose, merely mashes up her first and surnames?) Enter Rhonda, who delivers some tummy pats and a cute little lullaby aimed at coaxing Melanie’s “poop baby” out in a flash for a big splash. Never before has real-life singer-songwriter Kate Nash, who plays Rhonda, put her pipes to such practical use. Rhonda’s not the only one looking out for her colleagues these days. Despite some initial moaning, Sam obliges Keith and visits Cherry’s Chambers and Gold trailer for a little pep talk. Turns out Cherry’s a mean stuntwoman but a terrible actress. And when the director starts pruning her lines and has the on-set stylist lather her curls with permanent relaxer, it’s more than she can bear. Sam is, naturally, as blunt as Keith is doting, and lays it on the line that a leading dramatic role ain’t her bag. A simple phone call to the network — massaged as it was with the suggestion to kill off Cherry’s character before she was even onscreen — and Cherry’s back under G.L.O.W. ’s bright lights. (Are you surprised? This is the auteur behind A Wolf Knocks Once , after all.) If only Ruth, who’s off Sam’s shit list, were fully back in Debbie’s good graces. This continues … [Read more...] about Recap: Bowel Trouble