GLOW Episode 10 "Money's in the Chase"

Chris: The money is in the chase, it’s one of the oldest yet effective booking strategies in wrestling history and I’m so glad that it made it’s way into the end of the episode because it’s one thing to have a good first episode but it’s another to make the audience tune into the next episode. That’s really all wrestling boils down to, every show is mostly an advertisement for the next show and so on and so on. Even when a show features the end of a feud, if the rivalry was successful then the audience should be looking forward to what each wrestler will be up to next. I’m so pleased with how the first season of Glow turned out, not only does it feature pro wrestling, it explains why certain things are done in the industry in a way that the audience can connect with it. It exposes the business that would’ve angered promoters/bookers back in the day and I’m sure even now, some old school wrestling guy that hasn’t mattered in over a decade is going to say a show like this will “kill the business.” These are probably the same type of guys that complain that wrestlers post on social media out of character messages and pictures with in-ring enemies and claim that will “kill the business.” If this hand-wringing, dumb dumbs were right, the business would’ve died about 3,000 times within the last 10 years and yet it’s still around, thriving and adapting to a modern audience with different promotions covering just about any style that a fan can enjoy. That’s the wonderful thing about pro wrestling, it’s just a couple people in a square ring and the simplicity of that means there’s so much that can be done that you’re bound to grab the attention of most people in one form or another. After being a fan for most of my life, I’m beginning to think that if someone completely detests wrestling, it’s definitely not wrestling’s fault. Maybe they think it’s too beneath their refined tastes of CW shows (it’s okay, I liked Gossip Girl) and reality television but that’s the beauty of GLOW portraying this as a bunch of people that are just trying to put a show on the air because wrestling is basically live theater or a television taping. Everyone has their part to play and they’re just trying to grab a hold of as many members of the audience that are willing to enjoy the art-form. Sure, we’re all in on the big secret but who cares if the winners are predetermined? So is the outcome of Game of Thrones. And have you watched WWE’s Monday Night Raw? Pay close attention because, as Joel once pointed out to me long ago, it’s basically the same idea as the Muppet Show, it’s a show about a bunch of people trying to put on a show while calamity is happened everywhere. So I’m hoping that Glow has made a few fans out of you because the overall message here is that it’s so much fun being a wrestling fan, even if most fans’ favorite pastime is complaining online. I’ll admit, I’m guilty of it too. Roman Reigns is being booked completely wrong and my handful of twitter followers need to know.

Joel: And so, we’ve come to the final episode of the season. We’ve watched everyone go through the training, the character development, the getting over stage fright, the running out of money, the dealing with the stigma surrounding wrestling, everything that our heroes have gone through in the past nine episodes trying to pull together and pull the whole thing off. And now it’s finally time for them to put on a show.

It hasn’t been at the forefront of any specific episode, but I really like how much the show as a whole has paid attention to what it takes to build a wrestling card. This is the second wrestling show we’ve seen and I like that they’ve managed to have two different lineups. It can be tricking making sure that faces go against heels, that not only are the wrestlers compatible in the ring, but that their characters are compatible with one another as well.  The final wrestling show works so well as it’s a wrap up of so much of what we’ve seen on the show so far.

We get to see Carmen not only overcome her stage fright from the earlier episode, but she also is able to get the support from her father that was an issue earlier in the season. We see Ruth coming into her own, not only by wrestling, but by being able to step up in Sam’s absence and pull the show together. She’s grown so much as a character for the person we saw in episode one. We see Debbie make a conscious choice to continue wrestling. Wrestling was something that she did when she, in many ways, didn’t have anywhere else to turn. She was perhaps the most down on the concept of wrestling, but here we see her not only getting a payoff for all of her work but we see her having an out with Mark. But she chooses to stick to wrestling. It’s a great moment for Debbie.

I want to make a special mention of how the final match between Ruth and Debbie was shot, using a style that invoked how the real GLOW would have looked when it first aired. I really enjoyed this little callback to the first episode, when Sam was able to see the possibility of what a feud between these two could be. Just as Sam saw something then, we all get to see the same thing, as this is the match that gets the special treatment.

All in all, the first season of GLOW was a show that was really able to address the feeling of loving wrestling. There is a certain amount of ridiculousness to it, and those who love it don’t try to deny that. But there’s also heart, and excitement, and thrills, and characters, and passion, all done in the name of entertainment. Who knows if this will drive anyone to check out wrestling, but maybe I get a few less “You know it’s fake” comments and one or two more “Oh, like GLOW” when I talk about wrestling, and if that happens, the show will have beyond succeeded in my eyes.

Alexa: “Money’s in the Chase” is pretty much the perfect coda to GLOW’s first season, wrapping up many of the show’s major developments thus far while leaving us wanting more. After all the hurdles, it was incredibly rewarding to see our rag-tag team pull off a successful pilot. Their characters were on point, they landed their moves and the audience was engaged (even if they were paid to be there). I think it’s important that GLOW addressed that the show’s stereotypical personas can be a bit dangerous in addition to topical, as exhibited by the crowd’s aggressive reaction to Arthie’s character. But overall the matches were entertaining and demonstrated the show’s potential, and its twists with Liberty Belle and Welfare Queen were the perfect way to pique people’s interest about what comes next - both in the ring and outside it. Will the storyline Debbie and Ruth orchestrated pave the way for a reconciliation between the two former friends? What will Cherry’s potential absence mean for the ladies’ training? The audience in the ballroom was enthralled by the show, but will it translate to viewers at home? There’s plenty of story left to mine in season two. Shooting the pilot is just the first stepping stone toward building the show. And we’ve barely scratched the surface of Sam and Justine mending their relationship. I think it’s pretty clear from our reviews that GLOW succeeded in speaking to wrestling fans and non-wrestling fans alike, both in its depiction of wrestling and as a strong dramedy in its own right, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Oh, and Mark still sucks.