GLOW Episode 2.2: "Candy of the Year"

Chris: Episode two picks up where season one left off with incorporating things that happen all the time behind the scenes in wrestling with this instance being someone being in the doghouse with the people running the show. And, like all things, there’s absolutely favoritism in how severe the punishment is and who it is being punished (hence Ruth is just getting the cold shoulder whereas the other girl got fired in the previous episode). There’s never really one thing anyone does to get out of said doghouse, it’s usually a gradual thing where the offending party just keeps his/her head down and do their job until the people in charge get over it or feel like enough time has passed. Also, it’s nice to see that we’re seeing the process of them considering the pacing of the show and realizing that they need different types of segments to keep the audience (both at home and in-studio) energized and into the show. It all seems silly considering everyone there to watch wrestling but having straight up-and-down wrestling matches back to back to back and so on really wears on a crowd and you need them to still have plenty of energy for your main event.

Joel: I want to show you three different wrestlers. This is Mankind, this is Cactus Jack, and this is Dude Love. Obviously, if you look at the three images it’s pretty easy to see that all three of these characters are played by the same person, Mick Foley. If you add in his commissioner persona, and his appearances under his real name, it’s safe to say that Mick Foley has played at least five different promenade characters over his career. Character reinvention is a common and important thing in wrestling. When you’re wrestling as a larger than life character for years changing a character can keep the show from getting stale.

We get a few characters in this episode wanting to change up their wrestling personas. Arthie’s discomfort with playing a character like Beirut was briefly touched on in the previous season, but this is the second episode this season for her to make a mention of her issues with the character. It’s seems that this is an issue that will likely resurface is a bigger way on down the line. She clearly put a lot of thought into how to revamp her character in a way that would not only work with the present character but would result in a character that she was more comfortable portraying. Of course, the other character to want to update their wrestling personas, The Beatdown Biddies, get their first, stealing Arthie’s idea and changing their old lady gimmick into a mutant gimmick (with, a lot more attention to continuity than I’ve seen in other wrestling gimmick changes.) It does feel like the old lady idea has been played out as far as it can go on the show, especially when the old lady characters are so obviously being played by younger people in costumes. It’s a gimmick that was quickly going stale (even if the show within the show was only a few episodes old) and a new gimmick would be critical to keeping the characters interesting. And it’s a fairly accurate depiction of wrestling for creative to focus on fixing stale gimmicks before they ever worry about cultural sensitivity.

Alexa: Episode two more than makes up for the lack of wrestling in the season premiere. With only three matches televised per week, the ladies have to audition for air time, so we see a handful of acts. I still can’t stand the Beatdown Biddies, but the match between them and Melrose is pretty entertaining. They’re still a little rusty, but much more comfortable with their moves this season. The episode underscores the value of all that training last season with the addition of Yolanda, who knows next to nothing about wrestling and can’t adequately prepare in time for her audition (but it turns out she’s a pretty awesome dancer, so that’s something?). The episode also fleshes out a couple of the supporting characters a bit more. We get to know a little more about Yolanda, proving she might have legs as an interesting character beyond just being Cherry’s replacement. My prediction is Cherry will be back but Reggie’s firing sticks and Yolanda gets a new wrestling character. We learn more about Tammé’s life pre-GLOW, and Arthie is growing more and more conflicted about her character. Many of the wrestling personas are intentionally racial and cultural stereotypes (see Fortune Cookie, Welfare Queen), so I’m glad to see the show depicting an actress’ struggle with that portrayal. I have a feeling Arthie’s discomfort thus far is just the tip of the iceberg with that storyline. The Debbie-as-producer storyline continues to offer some engaging conflict (and some timely commentary). But the end of the episode has me worried that the show is building toward a love triangle between Ruth, Sam and Camera Guy. I do not want to see Ruth and Sam hook up. Their dynamic as coworkers and reluctant friends is interesting enough on its own without throwing romance into the mix. Maybe I’m reading too much into it and he still just feels threatened by her leadership, but there sure seemed to be something more going on as he stared at that monitor.