GLOW Episode 2.1: "Viking Funeral"

Chris: And we’re back. GLOW takes the logical step as last season was about trying to get a show started and they filmed a successful pilot and it looks like this season will be about what the team will do now that they got the thing they wanted. Ruth continues her self-motivated ways and uses the initiative to create a opener without the approval of Sam, of course without malice but we see Sam have a power trip nonetheless. Looks to me like a lot of this season will be a struggle over who actually is in charge and will that struggle have an affect on the show they’re trying to get off the ground. This episode also establishes that even though Ruth and Debbie had a breakthrough moment at the end of last season, they still aren’t on the best of terms and I see that being an underlying issue as Debbie seeks more control with her new producer credit while Ruth continues being the locker room leader.

Joel: Where do we go from here? That seems to be the big question that is on the mind of the first episode of season two of GLOW. The final episode of the last season pretty much saw every character achieve their goals. All the struggles and difficulties had been overcome and a successful pilot for the show had been pulled off. High fives and hugs all around. (Except perhaps between Rutha and Debbie, but we’ll get to that) So where do we go from here?

In many ways, shooting a pilot for a show is like shooting a movie. Once you’ve made it, it exists as a complete thing. Going from nothing to a completed pilot is an entire journey all on it’s own. Now however, the show has been picked up and we’re looking at shooting an episode every single week. There’s a nice little moment near the beginning of the episode where Sam is contemplating having committed the next twenty weeks of his life to this show. It’s a nice little bit that contrasts the opening scene of all the characters trying to take a picture together. While the opening scene gives us a nice comfortable feeling of this show that we love finally being back, we’re also shown that this season is going to be different. This isn’t a retread of the the first season. The first episode didn’t have anyone taking time to have to explain or defend wrestling to anyone else, and we didn’t have to dedicate any time to the girls learning how to wrestle. And while we might get some of that with the new addition to the cast, it’s clear that this episode wants to make sure that this season is a progression of last season.

On that note, I really like how the relationship between Ruth and Debbie is presented in this episode. It would be easy to unintentionally hit the reset button and have the two characters and have Debie refusing to even speak Ruth. It would have been just as easy to view the tension between these two characters as a “last season” story and have the two interact with one another like any of the other wrestling characters. It's a testament to how well Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin are at portraying their characters that they’re able to strike a perfect balance with this relationship. The uneasy relationship between the two is a perfect pickup from the final moments of the last season.

All in all, this episode makes a great statement for the upcoming season. The show is back, and it’s got everything you remember loving about the first season but it’s taking the story to the next step. Pretty much exactly how you want a second season to be kicked off.

Alexa: As the titular gorgeous ladies of wrestling gathered for an awkward group photo in the cold open to the new season of “GLOW,” I realized just how much I’ve missed them. “GLOW” is back with its charm and charisma intact, at least judging by the season premiere. Last season was very much an underdogs-against-the-system kind of story, a ragtag group trying to build something unique and prove their worth to the network. There isn’t any actual wrestling in the premiere, but it sets the stage for this season to be driven more by internal conflict among the group as they film the show. The network picked up the series after the gang pulled off a great pilot in the first season finale, but there seems to be some discord about the best way to move that series forward - particularly between Sam and Ruth. There are also two major shakeups taking a toll on the team’s dynamic: the loss of Cherry, who left at the end of last season when she was offered the lead in another show, and the firing of Reggie after she defended Ruth’s leadership. I’m interested to see whether both of these changes will stick and how they affect the team going forward. My favorite development in the premiere is Debbie’s promotion to producer (I guess Terrible Mark is still good for something, since he helped her renegotiate her contract). Yes, she and Mark are divorcing, but the producer angle gives her another compelling challenge beyond her marriage and her crumbling friendship with Ruth. I’m looking forward to watching that storyline unfold throughout the season.