GLOW Episode 7 "Live Studio Audience"

Chris: Remember a few episodes ago when I said that I would’ve liked it if Machu Pichu’s family trained the girls? How great were those training scenes? The bigger brother was a bodyguard for Snoop Dogg about a decade ago and now he’s got impressive comedic timing and then the shorter brother...well he comes from the most legendary wrestling family in Puerto Rico so I guess it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that he can deliver. Either way, this episode got to me a little bit. Sure, the end of the wrestling show kinda fell apart but I couldn’t help but feel a little bit of vicarious pride build up in me as GLOW put together a wrestling show that somehow got the crowd invested because no matter the size of the production, that’s the ultimate goal. And it’s good to see the show honor the time-honored tradition of wrestling and that’s finish the show no matter what happens during the show and trust me, some awful, unplanned things have happened during wrestling shows. This was also the first episode that really showcased the amazing work of the show’s wrestling choreographer, pro wrestling veteran Chavo Guerrero Jr. I’m not gonna lie, by the end of this episode, Chavo had Alison Brie looking like she actually belonged in the ring so much so that I wouldn’t be surprised if this show becomes wildly popular, WWE might come knocking because they love celebrity involvement (remember when they had the lead actor from Arrow in a match at Summerslam a few years ago?). All jokes aside, this was a great episode to honor Chavo’s late father and wrestling legend Chavo Guerrero Sr. who passed away earlier this year. And seriously, I don’t know if there’s a big need for a wrestling choreographer in Hollywood right now but Chavo Jr is gonna be the go-to guy if that becomes a thing.

Joel: You know what? I’m really glad that we got a montage in this episode before anybody fought in front of an actual crowd. It was clear from the start that nobody outside of Carmen had any concept of how wrestling really worked, and while we’ve seen a great deal of improvement over the episodes so far, I’m glad that we get some implication of how it can take a long time rehearsing a single move over and over again until it can be done consistently and safely. We also get to see everyone in front of an audience for the first time trying to put on something that resembles a wrestling show. I really enjoyed how much time this episode let us focus on the wrestling show itself. We got to see the show start as a total train wreck, but evolve as the wrestlers learned/figured out how to work in front of an audience. We got to watch the audience get into the matches bit by bit, seeing what was working and focusing on that. But the pinnacle moment was obviously getting to see Ruth and Debbie actually work together in the ring.

This one match takes up a fair amount of the episodes runtime, but I really enjoyed that we were allowed to sit back and watch them wrestle for an extended amount of time. We spent so much time getting to see both of them work on this performance, both training in the ring and figuring out their characters, it’s great to get a chance to see if finally pay off a little bit. Plus, we’ve heard over and over again that these two would have great chemistry in the ring, and this is a great moment of showing that. So much of what’s going on here works as a genuine wrestling match between Liberty Bell and The Destroyer. You can see that these two do have the potential to become a genuinely great rivalry.

(Fun Fact: The rap that Rhonda does is something that they actually did in GLOW originally, with each wrestler rapping her own intro. You can check out a compilation of some of the original raps here.)

Alexa: This was my favorite episode since the pilot, because training montage. Between the rockin’ 80s music and Carmen’s brothers coaching them through the moves, Debbie and Ruth’s training sequence gave GLOW a jolt of energy at the perfect time. The series has showcased some strong character development in the past couple of episodes. We’ve seen them slowly and steadily start to grasp some wrestling basics even if they’re still a bit tentative in the ring. But they’ve put in the work, and in this episode we get some real progress. The ladies performing in front of a live audience for the first time raises the stakes as the show inches closer to filming. You can’t help but get caught up in seeing them put their training into action, and there are plenty of great moments for the entire cast in addition to the main eventers. My heart broke for Carmen when she panicked and fled the ring, and I have to believe she’ll make a triumphant return. Cherry and Tammé were particularly outstanding with their unique take on the tag team match. And Debbie and Ruth had amazing chemistry despite their tension outside the ring, until stupid Mark showed up. Remember a few episodes back when I said Melrose was the absolute worst? I was wrong. Mark is the actual worst. Sure, GLOW has its exploitative moments, but overall the show empowers its stars, and this was an empowering moment for Debbie, something strictly her own after the upheaval of her family life, and he just had to swoop in and take it from her. Not even Rhonda’s delightful rapping could make up for that.