**This article was originally posted to Northeastern Illinois University’s The Independent**
Wrestling with Drama!
Season 3 of ‘GLOW: The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling’ recently released on Netflix. For fans of the series, it represents a change in the format of the show. In season one and two, the gimmick of the show was watching women wrestlers wearing wonderful wardrobes wrestle.
Alliteration aside, it was a show about failed actresses joining an industry they knew next to nothing about. The storylines focused on the ladies of GLOW learning how to wrestle and putting on the best show possible. All that changes in season 3 as the ladies move from wrestling on late night tv to live performances in Vegas.
In Vegas, our characters are trapped in a stagnant pattern. They perform the same show night after night while being trapped in a casino. Some ladies take to Vegas better than others, but they all face their own struggles in the City of Sin. There is a lack of wrestling in the ring, but the ladies of GLOW do wrestle with problems of 80’s life. Sadly many of these societal issues are still relevant today.
The show isn’t afraid to tackle the significant issues. From sexuality, race, status, and gender, the show covers a wide breadth of heavy topics. Thankfully ‘GLOW’ counters the heaviness with moments of levity. A moment that really stuck out is when Debbie (Betty Gilpin) is on a plane flying home to LA to visit her infant son. While there, she is subtly shamed by an air stewardess for “abandoning” her baby. Debbie looks to the man next to her and asks how many times he is asked when he last saw his kids. He says never. The moment really sticks because it’s another example of societal expectations forced on women that men never need to deal with.
There are many examples of this throughout the season. The women are underestimated continuously, and regardless of how many hurdles they leapfrog over, they are continually put down. One of the most endearing things about this group of misfits is no matter what’s thrown at them, they keep getting back up and locking life in a headlock.
As great as season three is, the show is lacking because of the absence of wrestling sequences. While it appears that season four will have a re-emphasis on the wrestling side of things, we will have to wait to find out for sure. In other season four hopes, there are still a few underutilized characters that either need to be developed or written off the show.
Season 3 of Netflix’s ‘GLOW’ is a fun romp filled with character drama but lacking in one of the series-defining aspects. While there is hope for a return to the ring, season 4 really seems to be shaking up the status quo. Season 3 was a title contender, but we’ll have to see if season 4 is a return to championship form, or it will be a stint on the job squad.
Season 3 of ‘GLOW’ is awarded 1986 potatoes on the Sipps Potato Scale.
Recent Comments