"GLOW," Year One

I'm a little upset with myself that it took me this long to get onboard with "GLOW," a fictionalized account of the '80s female wrestling program, "GLOW" (which stands for Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling). It's a wonderfully seedy, underdog story about a group of women and their cantankerous director, who put together the wacky production from the ground up. Alison Brie stars as Ruth, a struggling actress who eventually becomes the biggest villain in the show's roster. However, it takes a lot of struggle and a lot of failure to get there.

So much of the fun of "GLOW" is the feeling of hanging out with a diverse group of weirdos and losers in a lovingly recreated 1980s San Fernando Valley. It's scuzzy and worn in all the right ways, full of terrible fashions and teased out hair. The cast of characters include Sheila (Gayle Rankin), a proto-furry who dresses in a wolf costume, Carmen (Britney Young), the gung-ho daughter of a famous wrestler, Cherry (Sydelle Noel), a stuntwoman who is pushed into the role of coach, and headliner Debbie Eagan (Betty Gilpin), an ex-soap opera actress juggling a baby and an unfaithful husband. Marc Maron is a highlight as Sam Sylvia, GLOW's gruff director, who is barely holding the shaky operation together when he's not busy falling apart himself.

I appreciate that the show is all about the unglamorous side of show business - the constant money troubles, the clashing goals and visions, and everyone having to compromise. Most of the show takes place in a ramshackle gym and later in a rundown motel. The ensemble is likewise full of character actresses with interesting faces. Not all the women get their own subplots, but at least we get a strong sense of everyone's personalities. There's Rhonda (Kate Nash), who is doing a terrible job of hiding that she's sleeping with Sam, because she's not actually hiding it. There's Justine (Britt Baron), a scowling punk girl who turns out to be a legitimate fan of Sam's exploitation movies. Arthie (Sunita Mani) and Jenny (Ellen Wong) are Indian and Cambodian respectively, and stuck playing minority caricatures. Well, everyone's playing a caricature, but some are more damaging than others, which the series makes a point of calling out repeatedly. Among the personas that the women take on, there's Welfare Queen, Beirut the Terrorist, Fortune Cookie, Vicky the Viking, and the evil Soviet Voya the Destroya, who fights All-American Liberty Belle.

Wrestling fans should enjoy the show in particular, because it's all about the ladies discovering the joys of wrestling and its culture, and embracing the ability to be these larger-than-life characters. It may be ridiculous, but it's also very empowering for a group of women who are stuck on the fringes of the entertainment industry for various reasons. I like the show's positive outlook, where scumbags like Sam and GLOW's spoiled rich-kid backer Bash (Chris Lowell), are redeemable. I like that all the women have their own rough edges and bad habits - Ruth definitely included - but come through when it counts for each other. The show doesn't shy away from their problems: poverty, repression, rejection, and a lot of bad experiences. It's quietly very feminist and very subversive without putting too much emphasis on it. There's an episode with an abortion subplot, that is about the most drama-free, level-headed treatment of an abortion I've ever seen in any television show.

"GLOW" also brings back the '80s that I remember, being a native of Southern California. The production design is great, full of kitsch and vintage locations, complete with a neon-lit title sequence.
The soundtrack is full of '80s bangers, including "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and Pat Benatar's "Invincible." However, there's never any point where the nostalgia feels like the point of the show instead of just a nice bonus. And while "GLOW" was based on a real show and real wrestlers, and there are a couple of cameos from more mainstream wrestling folks, it stands very much on its own and is completely accessible for newcomers. And there's such a wonderful variety of characters, it's just about impossible not to find someone to root for.

I plan on happily bingeing the rest of the episodes over the next few weeks and waiting for the final season. Because my life would be so much more boring without more Zoya the Destroya in it.
---