"GLOW," Year Two

"GLOW" continues to be the most consistently entertaining comedy that I've seen in a long while. The second season follows the characters' ups and downs as they struggle to stay on the air. Meanwhile, the rift between Ruth and Debbie continues to deepen as Debbie struggles with her divorce and Ruth finds a new love interest. Ruth and Sam are also on the outs, as Ruth gets more ambitious and Sam more resentful. And then there are fans, and network politics, and family drama, and many new complications. Still, the GLOW team sticks together, and keeps working to make the best female wrestling and variety show that they can.

The second season delivers more on the wrestling antics than the first season, staging more matches and showing us the full-fledged "GLOW" program in action. One of the highlights is an installment designed to play out like an actual episode of the show-within-a-show, complete with spoof commercials and PSAs. The stunts and hijinks get crazier, and the soap opera plot twists of their storylines get wilder. Even though there are more fights, there's less emphasis on the athleticism, and more on the women's other talents - comedy, dance, acting, and general creativity. The behind-the-scenes drama follows suit, though in a much more grounded way. There are parenting troubles, injuries, sexual harassment, and all sorts of romantic entanglements. The show also doubles down on its commitment to diverse stories, devoting one of the strongest episodes to the travails of Tamme Dawson (Kia Stevens), who plays the offensive Welfare Queen. There's also a new lesbian character, Yolanda (Shakira Barrera), and an unexpected brush with the AIDS crisis.

What I love about this season of "GLOW" in particular is that so many of the characters are so wonderfully complex. Sam starts out the season as even more of an asshole than usual under all the increased pressure, and does some heinous things that put him in the antagonist position for a good chunk of the season. Debbie is an outright menace at points, self-destructing in harmful ways and engaging in some really awful behavior. But at the same time they're so relatable and often so funny in their awfulness. Debbie's frustrations manifest in her totally over-the-top performances as Liberty Belle, and Sam's sulky pettiness only makes his later redemption all the more meaningful. Ruth, who was often super-idealistic to the point of irritating in the first season, has been toned down a bit here, but is still kind of a mess. She gets to do more Zoya the Destroya schtick, which I love, but the show's creators wisely limit these appearances so that she's not overexposed.

It's clear that "GLOW" is well and truly more of a soap opera than a comedy at this point, but it's a very impressive one. It manages to juggle all these characters and subplots, spring some real surprises from episode to episode, and keep the audience guessing. With an ensemble this big, it would be easy for some characters to slip through the cracks - and I was certainly rooting for more screen time for some of my favorites - but the balance is just about right. There's just enough Sheila. There's just enough Cherry and Carmen. Even the most minor comic-relief types still get some little running gag or feud going on in the background throughout the season. Zoya's still my favorite, but Melrose (Jackie Tohn) sure got a boost this year for being a consistently funny presence.

And for those of you who love "GLOW" for the '80s nostalgia, it's back in full force. "GLOW" throws an '80s prom, an '80s wedding, visits strip joints and gay clubs, and has a great time recreating '80s television quirks. I especially enjoy the continuing tour of insane women's fashions of the era, and the incredible "GLOW" music videos. The soundtrack continues to impress, this time featuring old favorites from Madonna, Genesis, and Run DMC, because Ruth learns to pop and lock.

With only ten episodes a season, this is an awfully easy series to binge, and I'm a little upset I have only two seasons left to watch, one of which I'm going to have to wait a while for. Still, I'm plowing right ahead with Season Three. It's really too hard to resist this show's charms.

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