GLOW Season 2 Recap
Credit: GLOW season 2 – Erica Parise – Netflix
Episode 1: Viking Funeral
The ladies return after a brief break to begin shooting a 20-week series.
In the cold opening, the women’s camaraderie and their comfort being around each other are clear. They’ve become friends, sisters even, after creating something from scratch.
This first episode sets the stage for what’s to come this season. In a post-#MeToo world today, GLOW can’t be stuck in the past, even though it takes place in the past.
So, there are many times throughout the pilot you see the women “knocked down a peg” or treated inferior.
When Debbie picks up her dry cleaning, the cashier falsely combines hers and her soon-to-be ex-husband’s dry cleaning. When Debbie makes it clear they’re not together anymore, the woman judges her for keeping his last name – as if there is a rulebook.
Ruth comes into the episode optimistic. After all, she pretty much directed the pilot, and she feels comfortable enough with Sam that she brings him ideas. She feels like his equal and even refers to herself as Alma to his Hitch (Alfred Hitchcock and his wife). She will support him behind the scenes.
When the girls react abrasively to Cherry’s replacement, Yolanda, Ruth rally’s the girls to make a title sequence. She even references the Mary Tyler Moore theme song. I love that they chose that particular theme to reference because MTM is the epitome of girl power. Every little girl should watch that show when they come of age as a rite of passage.
Ruth is a rock star director while they shoot the title sequence at the mall. She doesn’t want credit, because she genuinely believes she’s helping boost morale and helping the show be successful.
When the creepy cameraman tries to get Ruth to come back to his place to review the tapes, Debbie saves her by offering a ride. Even with Debbie being mad at her, she still recognizes Ruth couldn’t speak up for herself and helped a sister out!
The whole thing blows up in Ruth’s face the next day when Sam berates the girls, especially Ruth. When Reggie stands up for Ruth, saying she’s really the one who directed the pilot, Sam fires her. It’s hard to watch and understand a time where women were silenced so abruptly.
Sam tells Ruth, “You’re all replaceable, even you Ruth.”
In contrast, Debbie takes the little power she has as the number one character on the call sheet, and she uses it to get a better contract for herself. She still needs the help of her husband to get the job done, but she stands her ground.
When she hands Sam her contract, complete with an addendum, Sam dismissively asks, “You want to be a producer?” She replies, “Oh, I am a producer.” Best line of the entire episode!
She refuses to sign a crappy contract and is in the position to negotiate. I wish the other girls had the power to do what Debbie did. But now that she’s one of the ones in charge, we’ll see the GLOW ladies get more say and credit for their dangerous work.
Hopefully, this is the start of combatting sexism with feminism!