Friends, hello! And welcome back to another Boob(s On Your) Tube! Last week I told you we’d be catching up on the shows y’all have been chatting about in the comments, and for the most part we have done that — however, we have a small team and limited resources and are beholden to the laws of time and space, and so it is absolutely impossible for us to follow every show around the world that potentially might have hinted at a character being gay. We’re restricted to shows we have access to (mostly U.S. TV and some British and Canadian TV) and for the sake of our lives outside the internet we can really only cover shows with confirmed queerness. Obviously please keep talking about every show that tickles your brain and heart in the comments; I just want to be real with you about what we have the resources to cover. (Also, yes, some shows used to have dedicated recaps and now they live in this column and that’s because we just can’t pay a premium for full recaps when they don’t get many views. I’m sorry for that reality, but it is a true thing.)
ANYWAY. Let me let you know that Kayla is working on a piece about Killing Eve; Valerie is working on a full wrap-up on this season of Legends of Tomorrow; Carmen is going to blow your mind with her Vida content; Supergirl recaps will be returning next week; and you’re gonna be seeing a lot of stuff about Disobedience soon, including a review from Kayla and a couple of interviews I did with the cast. (If you live in LA, we’re giving away 20 tickets to an advance screening.)
This week:
Carmen recapped the penultimate episode of Black Lightning‘s first season.
Riese and Valerie and Natalie updated our queer shows on Netflix list.
Kayla quizzed you on Riverdale.
Mey quizzed you on Disney Channel Original Movies.
And FX dropped the trailer for Pose.
ALSO NATALIE CROWNED THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OF KISSING!
Here’s what else!
Jane the Virgin Episodes 414 and 115: “Chapter Seventy-Eight” and “Chapter Seventy-Nine”
Written by Heather
Okay and now bite my ear and tell me more about how you don’t like Jane.
I’ll tell you the truth: I didn’t want to have any feelings about Petra and JR. I actively avoided having feelings about Petra and JR by telling myself that it was a scam, a sham, and that JR is gonna die. And you know what, maybe that’s still true but I DON’T CARE ANYMORE.
When last we left our burgeoning bisexual love story, Petra told JR mostly the truth about how into her she was and then they totally went down to Scissor Town. After which Petra very much wanted to get JR back in bed again but could not figure out how to do it. And it was the best thing I have seen on TV in I don’t even know how long. Petra is insecure and vulnerable and neurotic and obsessive and we’ve never seen her like this because — like she tells Rafael — with men it was so easy for her: “Sit. Stay. Beg. Roll over.” Rafael is involved because he made himself involved because he heard Petra practicing asking out Jane and thought it was Jane Jane, but Petra quickly let it be known that she’d rather go to Chuck E. Cheese during flu season than hook up with her (which Jane handled mostly well).
Petra tried the wining and dining thing, and when that didn’t work she followed JR to a date to see what her type is and — surprise! — it’s tall blonde women. Upon trying to escape she smashed into a car and recovered her composure upon confrontation by explaining to JR, “I’m not a stalker. I get stalked. I’ve been stalked multiple times! I’ve been kidnapped! Twice!”
JR relents and comes over and they have sex again.
But wait! There’s more! JR doesn’t like Jane! And Jane loves Petra! Jane insists on a double date to get to know JR since she’s going to be hanging around their kids, and here whole perfect deal that everyone in the whole world loves is completely off-putting to JR. She will not, in fact, be having the pinot noir Jane orders, even if it does stave off heart disease, because she’s more of a Scotch girl, because of course she is. You think maybe this is going to drive a wedge between Petra and Jane but it doesn’t. It actually forces Jane to tell Petra that she loves her, she really loves her, and she loves their family together.
smol and tol
Jane: I love you.
Petra: Well. Thank you for that explanation.
Jane: You have to say it back.
Petra: I don’t want to.
Jane: Petra!
Petra: Can I say it in Czech?
Jane: No! I want it in English! Right now!
Petra: Fine. Iloveyoutoo.
Jane hugs her and Petra kisses her quick and weird on the forehead and it’s perfect.
For real, though, JR does not like Jane. She thinks she’s basic. So I don’t know where that’s going!
The Good Fight: Season Two
Written by Natalie
new phone who dis?
Last we checked in with The Good Fight, Maia was boozing it up with Lucca, when they were interrupted by the FBI who arrested Maia for her suspected involvement in her father’s Ponzi scheme. Missing through it all was Maia’s girlfriend, Amy…though, based on her actions in the second season, she coulda just stayed missing…but we’ll get to that in a second.
When we meet Maia again, she’s at the funeral for the firm’s founding partner, Carl Reddick, with an ankle monitor hidden beneath her slacks. Madeline Starkey — the FBI agent responsible for Maia’s arrest — slides in next to her and urges Maia to flip on her father, Henry, in exchange for immunity. Starkey taunts Maia with new evidence but the young attorney doesn’t bite; instead, she records the entire conversation and shares the information with Lucca. When they confront Starkey about the potential Brady violation, she hands over the newly acquired surveillance photo of a mystery woman withdrawing $1.2M from Maia’s father’s account in Dubai. The recognition is obvious as a quick glance at the photo leaves Maia stunned.
Turns out, the lady in the photo is Maia’s old tennis coach, Rosalie, who ended up teaching Maia more about herself than she ever did about tennis. Lucca tries to negotiate a better deal — they’ll help find the woman in the photo in exchange for immunity — but Starkey refuses, pressing Maia to help the FBI find her father. She leaves Maia with a flash drive full of her father’s wiretapped conversations. Maia tortures herself by listening to the explicit conversations between her father and his mistress, before the firm’s investigator, Jay, proves that it’s #fakenews, a product of the FBI’s audio manipulation software.
With no immunity deal in place, Lucca and Maia head to trial but this time, they’ve got an ace up their sleeve, in the form of Carl Reddick’s daughter, Liz (played by Audra McDonald AKA the entire reason I’m investing my time in this show, after the Kalinda debacle of 2015), who worked for the Department of Justice untill she sent out a Jemele Hill-esque tweet. Liz feeds Diane some insider information about the prosecution’s case and Diane passes it along to Maia. After successfully defeating two of the prosecution’s motions, Lucca is able to quickly discredit the first witness but is taken aback when the prosecution calls their second witness: Amy Breslin. Yes, that Amy…Maia’s missing-in-action girlfriend from the first season…is a witness for the prosecution, much to Maia’s dismay.
My bad. I was used to sleeping with know-nothings.
The scenes that follow should’ve packed more of an emotional punch — hearing how Maia kept Amy’s family out of her father’s investment fund or how Maia’s marriage proposal might’ve been an attempt to ensure spousal privilege — but since The Good Fight didn’t invest time in building Maia and Amy’s relationship, I found it hard to care. I care more about Maia and her infatuation with her former tennis coach than I do about the likely dissolution of this relationship. Still, though, Amy’s testimony does some damage and the defense is forced to regroup. Lucca focuses on preparing a legal strategy — thanks to Liz, she knows that the prosecution’s surprise witness is Diane — while Maia enlists Marissa’s help to track down her old tennis coach.
I’m surprised when Maia returns to the apartment she shares with Amy…but her girlfriend’s there, waiting for her, perched on the edge of the bed. Amy defends herself but Maia’s defiant and rebuts her girlfriend’s testimony. When Amy volunteers to leave — “why stay with someone who lies to put you in prison?,” she asks — Maia answers by climbing into bed and turning her back towards her girlfriend.
The next day, Lucca feigns shock when the prosecution calls Diane to the stand. Having prepared for Diane’s testimony, Lucca’s able to dismantle any potential harm with ease. Meanwhile, Marissa’s more successful in locating Rosalie and Maia convinces Rosalie to get Maia’s father to call her so that they’ll have information to evade the FBI. It’s all just a set-up up, though, enough contact for federal agents to track down exactly where Henry and his mistress are. They’re apprehended, and Maia subsequently freed from prosecution, as the episode fades to black.
Legal Briefs:
With her legal woes behind her, we finally get to see Maia behave as a regular first/second year associate in a growing law firm. I’m enjoying Maia’s budding friendship with Marissa and I’m working hard to stop shipping Maia with Lucca, especially now that Lucca’s expecting.
It’s not in our wheelhouse but The Good Fight‘s #MeToo episode (a requisite for dramas these days) was very good…perhaps, one of the best I’ve seen. Also? It starred Keesha Sharp and I can never have too much Keesha Sharp in my life.
I love Christine Baranski but I’m not thrilled with her storyline this season. I feel like they’re poking fun at Diane’s righteous indignation with the current administration by making it seem absurd and I’m not a fan. Thoughts?
Once Upon A Time 716: “Breadcrumbs”
Written by Carmen Phillips
sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.
Alice and Robin are the adorable, eccentric, adventurous love story I’ve been waiting for — but so far, the bulk of their romance has taken place in the Enchanted Forest.
We’ve previously spent a lot of time this season with Alice’s cursed Seattle persona, Tilly. Alice isn’t cursed in the same way as the other residents — she remembers her life in the Enchanted Forest, but it’s all mixed up in her brain and often mistaken for mental illness. For most of the curse, she’s been living on the streets. She’s quick and wise in her own off-beat way. She knows how to protect herself. But, her life has been marked by loneliness.
That started to change the night that Margot (our Robin) got back into town. Margot’s cursed persona is at constant odds with her mother, Kelly (you know, the Wicked Witch, Zelena). She left the country for Europe as her only way of finding peace. When Zelena was awoken from the curse, the first thing she did was reach out to her daughter and beg her to come. However, there’s a hitch in the plan. Margot is still cursed. Which means that Zelena can’t tell her anything. Margot still thinks that Zelena is Kelly, and even worse that Kelly forced her to come all the way home only to keep more secrets from her.
Kudos to the casting department, this is the face of a pissed off Mills woman if I’ve ever seen one.
Margot and her adorable round glasses and awesome side braid are suspicious. When she first left the country Kelly was engaged to a man in San Francisco, but somehow now she’s back at the Regina’s bar in Seattle. She refuses to fill in the blanks of how they got from A to B. Needing fresh air, Margot storms out of Regina’s bar and right into Tilly’s heart, err, I mean Tilly’s new job.
Tilly has been hired by Sabine (Princess and the Frog’s Princess Tiana) to work at her beignet food truck. Except Tilly can’t be bothered to keep her beignets in a uniform shape. Frustrated, Sabine tries Tilly out for sales instead. She puts her on the corner with a tray full of beignets and all of Seattle to charm. That’s when she runs back into to Margot.
When Tilly spies Margot on a park bench, and her entire face lights up. She flirts that it’s Margot’s lucky day. Tilly only has one last free beignet sample, and she always saves the best for last. The show’s iconic romantic music picks up as Margot reintroduces herself.
“I’m Margot, with a ’T’.” She squints up cockily, the sun in her eyes.
“Targot?”, Tilly asks.
Margot blushes. “The other side.”
Tilly thanks Margot for saving her life the first night they met. She was in a bit of a rough patch back then, but she’s getting it all together now. She has this new job and new friends. Her puzzle pieces are falling into place. Margot sighs, at least one of them has it together. Her life hasn’t felt right since she set foot back in Seattle.
Tilly sits down on the bench. She promises Margot that no one can feel bad while eating a beignet, so together they eat and talk. Margot explains the trouble she’s having with her mom. She can’t put her finger on it, but there are definitely secrets all around. Tilly empathizes. She knows what it feels like to not have the world make sense. But, she also feels bad for Margot’s mom. After all, Tilly “can’t imagine having someone like you around… and feeling like I couldn’t tell you the truth for some reason”. STOP BEING SO CUTE. YOU TWO!!!!
Margot looks down at the beignet. It was one of Tilly’s original designs — Tilly tells her that it’s a heart.
Margot gets it right away. Of course its a heart! It’s a heart like the the kind that’s inside your body, not the the fake kind we put on Valentines. Tilly beams. Finally, someone who gets her.
Unfortunately for Margot, there’s more trouble ahead. There’s a serial killer in town that’s stalking witches. Zelena is next on his hit list. When Margot arrives home at the bar, she finds a box of chocolates, the serial killer’s signature trademark, waiting for her mom at the door.
Grey’s Anatomy 1419: “Beautiful Dreamer”
Written by Carmen Phillips
Yep. It’s awkward to see your sibling after they’ve just had sex.
The real emotional engine of this week’s Grey’s Anatomy is Sam Bello, the intern who until a few weeks ago I only knew by the name “That one who keeps sleeping with DeLuca in the On Call Room”. That was absolutely my loss. By writing Sam off as merely DeLuca’s love interest, I missed the nuances of a very complex woman. The episode where finally I woke up to my mistake is the same episode in which we said goodbye.
Sam Bello was brought to the United States from El Salvador when she was barely a year old. She’s filed with DACA and has a work permit. Her mother moved Sam, along with her sister, to Florida after their father was murdered on their front porch during El Salvador’s civil war. She worked 20 hour days to keep the girls safe in this country. Since that time Sam’s entire family has also moved to the US. She was graduated college magna cum laude, she was valedictorian of her high school, she was captain of her dance squad. She’s an American, in every sense of the word.
Which is why she shouldn’t be deported. DACA recipients can only be deported if they miss a filing deadline or if they break the law. Sam doesn’t speed or do drugs or ever step out of line, she dots all of her metaphorical Is and crosses all of her metaphorical Ts. Except we all know that surgical interns never sleep. A few weeks ago, Sam was leaving the hospital after multiple shifts and she was so tired she mistakingly ran a red light. ONE RED LIGHT. In her entire life! They have on camera. That’s all it took in Trump’s America. Now ICE is at the hospital and they are looking for her.
How dare you compare me to Perfect Penny? That’s the ultimate Grey’s Anatomy insult!
DeLuca doesn’t yet know about the red light, so one of his first thoughts is that Carina called ICE and turned Sam in. Carina’s never been a big fan of Sam. She’s often taken to calling her little brother’s clingy girlfriend a “stalker”. But, as she tells her brother while they are yelling at each other in the hallway, she would never never have someone deported. The DeLucas are immigrants. Andrew, much like Sam, was brought to the United States as a baby with his mother. She can’t believe that her little brother would think she’s capable of such cruelty.
Meanwhile, Arizona is driving herself crazy over her latest patient. She has all of these maternal death statistics flying around in her head thanks to her research, and all she can imagine is all the ways a woman can die in childbirth. She ends up making Intern Glasses-Blood Bank run all over the hospital creating an all mighty crash cart that has everything she could ever need to save a patient, “just in case”. The patient ends up giving birth without any difficulty, but Arizona is ecstatic because she thinks she finally solved the maternal death crisis in America. If we prepare for births ahead of time as if they are trauma, then we won’t be surprised when traumas occur! That… feels a little simplistic to me, but hey we only have five hours of the show left this year, so I say that we go with it.
Arizona realizes that she should be approaching her relationship with Carina the same way. Carina is notoriously flighty — she hates the responsibility of kids and has never had a monogamous relationship last longer than three months. Arizona wants to know if she should be preparing for the worst. Carina’s fellowship is almost over. Will she be moving on soon?
Soak it in kids. Only five weeks left.
Carina’s still thinking about what her brother said earlier — she’s seeing herself from the eyes of the people around her. First with Andrew, and now with Arizona. She cuts her girlfriend off with a hot make out and a promise. She’s not planning on going anywhere.
Post-Op Thoughts:
Sam doesn’t get deported, and she’s able to save her medical license. How you may ask? BY OUR FAVORITE SURGICAL SUPERHERO CRISTINA YANG!!! Queen of the badasses!!! Meredith gets Cristina to fake paperwork that proves Sam has been accepted to a residency program at her Cardio hospital in Switzerland. Ultimately, Sam still has to leave everything she knows behind, so it’s a bittersweet ending.
I am officially driving myself crazy playing the “is this how they are going to write Arizona out?” game. The countdown has officially begun.
Quick Hits
Imposters 101 & 102: “Fillion Bollar King” and “Trouble Maybe”: Jules Langmore and her partners in crime, Ezra and Richard, returned last week, still high off the success of their con of the FBI and revenge against the woman who betrayed them all. Richie knows a guy who knows a guy so they return to his hometown to fence the $1.3 million dollar ring they stole from the FBI. Because Jules, Ezra and Richie aren’t nearly as good as this con game as they think they are, everything goes awry and they end up fleeing to Mexico without all the money they were promised and without the ring.
Later, when we catch up to the Bumblers, they’re living in Mexico City trying to cobble together enough money to get new identities and head back to Scottsdale (and the ring). Jules tries to keep Ezra and Richie on track, drafting a new code, “El codigo de las ex-esposas,” to guide their hustles. — Natalie
“Breadcrumbs” is the most appropriate title for Once’s queer storyline.
Arizona’s crash cart thing is for sure a little simplistic.
BUT I think it’s based on this amazing revolutionary idea they had in California, basically “Hey what if we had supplies handy, then women wouldn’t bleed to death quite as often.” I wish I was kidding.
They also got this genius idea of “hey maybe if we pay attention to how much blood comes out of the lady we will know how much blood to put back in”.
Here is a very long article about this stuff:
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/6/29/15830970/women-health-care-maternal-mortality-rate
And in case you can’t get through the article without blacking out from banging your head on the wall, here’s a pull quote:
“When CMQCC did their root cause analysis on what was causing moms to die in their state, they found that hospitals typically didn’t have these simple things on hand. So they borrowed the idea from the “code blue cart” that’s common in hospitals to quickly treat patients who go into cardiac arrest.”
That’s a perfect intersection of “oh wow, that’s cool” and “omg that should’ve been obvious!!”
While the idea for a maternal crash cart is indeed simple, it is also quite genius and one of the rare instances where I did not yell at the TV screen while watching Grey’s for portraying dumb medicine. [Side note: I measure my medical career in Grey’s Anatomy seasons as the first season started the same year I started medical school. At this point, we’re both old.]
The way I’d explain it is this – OB/GYN is a complete dice roll where the vast majority of the time, kids come out fine. However, when sh*t hits the fan it completely hits the fan in an infinite number of possible ways that could result in terrible outcomes for mother, baby, or both. It can change by the minute and missed opportunities for early intervention can literally mean the difference between life and death.
It isn’t that hospitals don’t already have all these items necessary for these worst case scenarios in the hospital or even already on the labor floor. They are prepared to handle emergencies. They’re just typically spread out, and in the case of medications, can take time to prepare and need to be sent up from the pharmacy.
What’s unique about this idea is that Arizona’s consolidating it all in a way that eliminates wasted time that could delay care for a patient and avoids physicians having to make decisions about what supplies to gather under stress, which generally means better decision making. It’s better for physicians to focus all their brain power on the specifics of each individual patient case instead of getting distracted worrying about where certain equipment is, or if they have the right size of something they need. This is why trauma bays and hospital units have code carts that are standardized. It takes a lot of concerted effort to maintain your focus in the middle of a hectic code situation where there’s 40 some-odd people running around you stressing out and a cacophony of beeping monitors, all while a patient is worsening in front of your eyes. Every little bit that simplifies the situation in the moment helps.
I hope they write her off with winning this year’s Harper Avery.
Can I just point out that Rafael feels (rightfully) threatened by the fact that he thinks Petra is in love with Jane. He even makes a point to Jane that when she says that she loves Petra, it was bigger that the “I love you” that he got. Also, the dreamy expressions that Jane gets when ever her and Petra have intimacy.
i think the only forgivable thing if they do kill JR would be to make Jetra endgame…
I don’t think that they’re going to kill her, but that she is going to leave by the end of the season.
This isn’t new. My dad had a case of a guy that was deported for blowing through a stop sign. That was during the W Bush years…
How about that Maya Bishop from Station 19, he? Hot Bisexual Olympian!
YES!!!!
We have your Maya Bishop coverage over here: https://develop.autostraddle.com/boobs-on-your-tube-station-19-firefighter-bisexual-416051/
Oh yeah, I’m just talking about it in the comments to see if I can speak Station 19 recaplets into existence
@carmensandiego You think they’re setting up a triangle between Maya, Andy and Ryan? That was the big vibe I got last after last night’s episode.
I got a similar vibe. Ready to start shipping Mandy
And you kissed me and stopped me from shaking
And I need you today, oh Mandy
You‘re geting me sold on that show fast!
Give it a shot… there’s also a gay guy in their team
Comment award
I have also been playing the “how are you going to write Arizona out of the show“ game
But lately I have been worrying about how are going to write April off. She would never leave Harriet. I hope they don’t kill her…
Just in case anyone missed one of the MOST IMPORTANT moments in TV history:
Thank you for the JtV recap, Heather! I agree with everything you’ve written. It’s completely irresponsible and downright dangerous to get invested in Petramos, but let’s be honest here: I’ve been a hopeless case from the moment Rosario Dawson walked on screen.
Listen, I’m not saying it a
Whoops! Pressed enter too soon!!!
Was trying to say, “Listen- I’m not saying your my favorite person for gifting my eyes with this gif, but I’m also not not saying it, if you know what I’m saying…”
???
I love your TV recaps, Heather, but honestly if you had recapped JtV just by sharing gifs of all the amazing Petramos scenes from the last few episodes, I would not have been mad. :)
@rocketgirl I literally suggested that very thing to Heather! My exact words were, “do we have Jane the Virgin covered this week? excessive gifs of petra and the janes would suffice, i think.”
I’ve also been really enjoying new mermaid series Sirens and I’m 100% certain that Ryn learned the wrong English word for Donna (i.e. sister when she meant girlfriend).
A question about this article though, why is JR and Petra a “burgeoning bisexual love story” when JR is a lesbian? Wouldn’t it be better just to use “burgeoning love story” which doesn’t erase the sexuality of either character?
Perhaps because Petra is a regular character on the show/one of the protagonists, and JR was introduced to be her love interest! Therefore, we see their love story through Petra’s lens, and it is HER burgeoning bisexual love story that is being told.
Rest assured Arizona will not be killed off Greys. More than likely she would leave to pursue some research about improving outcomes for mothers and their children. The cart is part of it. Earlier in the season, she had to call out a colleague and friend about unnecessary caesareans.
Yeah, I don’t think Arizona’s going to die either. I’m hopeful that Shonda knows enough not to bury her gays.
I honestly feel like they’re not going to kill JR. I’ve been reading interviews with the people involved and they really seem to care about getting this right. They did this storyline specifically for us, after all, because they read about how we all wished Petra was bi (see this Buzzfeed article). I can’t see them pulling the rug out from under us now. At this point I’m braced for the seemingly-inevitable “who shot JR” joke, but I’m hoping/expecting that she doesn’t get shot and killed. It’s assumed that next season will be the last, so I could see Rosario Dawson being available for enough episodes that they could keep her character around.
Replying to myself to point out that these do not sound like the words of someone who plans to kill off a lesbian character: Urman speculates that the significant uptick in bisexual characters on TV this year reflects a larger ongoing push for inclusion. “[People are] wanting to see different relationships on TV,” Urman said. “You want to see people fall for each other, and you want to put out things in the world that you want to see, and that will help guide diverse representation in terms of what relationships [look like].”
She also speculates that the current political climate might have something to do with it. “When you’re culturally horrified about politics, you want to put out affirming messages of love onscreen,” she said.
I’m also on Team They Won’t Kill JR! I think she may got shot though, for the obvious joke. But, I ultimately think/ hope that Jane the Virgin won’t break our heaet that way.
*hearts
(Damn iPhone and my clumsy fingers. Sorry!)
Yeah I really doubt they’ll kill her off. My theory is that either Petra will freak out after Jr’s I love you and end things or it will work out, they stay together but JR is the ghost girlfriend that gets mentioned every time but we never see lol. Rosario could still guest star next season also. Who knows but damn I will be really sad if they break up. I love this side of Petra we are seeing
I have been playing “how are they going to write Arizona and April off” and I think odds are good that one of them dies and April’s reconciliation with her faith leads me to believe that it will be April. Maybe Arizona and Carina will move off to Italy together? (Though I’m still holding out hope for both of these ladies to leave in my personal OTPs: Calzona and Japril somehow both reunite.)
Yeah, I agree. I think someone’s at least 50% likely going to die, and that person is definitely April. It’s super upsetting.
I’ll be sad. I’ve always liked Kepner
The scene on the Good Fight when Maia returns to the apartment after Amy testified was so awkward and then Amy disappeared again. As you said they want us to care about this pair but they have yet to give us anything to care about. I think something might happen in the upcoming episode so I am keeping my eyes peeled.
Tilly bugs me a little bit but her and Margot are so darn cute together and it is almost over so I will give her a pass.
Arizona, I know you will leave but please don’t take Carina with you.
So Netflix renewed 2 shows for a season 2 that I never even heard of (On My Block and something else) both in the coming of age type like Everything Sucks and it makes me more angry that Everything Sucks didn’t get the renewal.
It’s so weird, right, @Cyclone? It doesn’t even feel like they’re in a real relationship and yet the writers keep trying to push these buttons in hopes they’ll resonate with viewers…and it just falls flat. I’ve seen the preview for next week and I just keep thinking, “am I supposed to care?”
@Natalie, I bet that TPTB think because the show started with this as an already established relationship they don’t have to put the effort to show that the relationship still exists. The writers are probably hi-5ing because they think they have done good by not making it a defining characteristic for Maia. Like here’s this girl, just passed the bar, her dad created a ponzi scheme, her parents had affairs, her seemingly perfect life is no longer perfect and oh yeah she’s gay. But that’s not the focus.
“It is a painful movie to watch, and it’s the facts. And it’s time that we take a look at not sweeping this under the carpet, that we treat women, and treat our society, and all survivors with the humanity, the empathy that they deserve.” – Mariska Hargitay.
I Am Evidence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_b1SbbSu6Y
Just to echo some of Heather’s comments: it is hard to cover everything with our small team and our personal obligations outside our staff writing duties but I hope that won’t stop you from sharing info about what you’re watching in the comments. I’ve had some great discussions in the comments about shows, even when the shows weren’t being recapped…from my back and forths with @turkish about General Hospital to the unofficial Queen Sugar fan club @arvan12, @c-p and I convened each week in the BOYT comments. Plus, just coming off the experience of putting March Madness together, I couldn’t have done it without our commenters. @tarareilly, @Sally and @ace00‘s conversation about Derry Girls in the BOYT comments is what inspired me to include the International region. And without the recaps and everyone’s comments, I would’ve been absolutely lost in trying to write anything about the Sci-Fi/Fantasy region.
So, long story short, I really appreciate y’all and hope that we can keep the conversation going in the comments. Maybe we can’t cover it all but we can still share them and celebrate great LGBT depictions on television.
(That said, I’m a little miffed that none of y’all told me about Perdona nuestros pecados before March Madness…I’m so obsessed with that show now.)
Echoing Natalie’s comment!
I Love you, TV Team
Group hug (if you want)
About Perdona Nuestros Pecados, I know this is gonna sound/look bad, but AS doesn’t covered a lot of international TV shows, particularly spanish-speaking TV shows. In my case this means that I don’t feel encouraged to shared a lot of what I see in my country, other Latin American countries or even Spain.
I hope that this is not taken aggressively because that’s not my intention but you’re missing some good shit out there.
@freakazoid1980 No, you’re right, we don’t cover a lot of International shows and that’s a function of a lack of time and resources, unfortunately, as Heather and I both talked about, but also just a lack of familiarity and, in some cases, language barriers. When I decided to create an international region for March Madness, I’d only seen three shows of the 16 shows and one of those shows, Las Estrellas, I knew about because some Autostraddle readers shared Flozminsubs with me after my piece about Y&R went up. I really had to go out and scour the Internet to find out what LGBT depictions exist beyond my cable package. That’s why we need readers like you sharing and talking about what we don’t see here in the BOYT comments.
Now, can I promise that we’ll cover the shows in a way comparable to how we cover Grey’s (for example)? No, unfortunately not, but I still think there’s value in sharing them, for a few reasons. First, whatever shows our readers share gives me insight into who they are and as someone who values this community, that’s priceless. Second: every depiction of LGBT people that we consume in media helps us set the bar for what our expectations should be for the next piece of media that we consume.
One of the reflections I shared with our TV team, post-MM, is that while the US might lead the world in the sheer number of LGBT depictions on television, I think when it comes to quality, we lag behind what other countries are doing. Show me an American ensemble show that treats its lesbian couple as well as Las Estrellas treated Flor and Jazmin. They were afforded just as much depth and screen time as every other couple on the show. Find me a lesbian love scene on American television that rivals Barbara and Mercedes’ first time on Perdona nuestros pecados or even Susana and Catia on Jogo Duplo. Outside *maybe* The L Word, there’s really no comparison…and these are ensemble shows on network TV in primetime!
Knowing those things changes the way I see every show I watch now…my expectations have been raised…and that’s invaluable when it comes to my work as a TV critic. So maybe I’ll never write about Perdona nuestros pecados or Samantha and Lica on Malhação, but knowing about those couples and watching those shows in my freetime, makes me a better critic (I hope).
I appreciate all the team’s work! I guess it’s a good problem to have that we’re getting more TV representation than you can easily cover, but I can see how hard that makes it for you!
Thank you for your answer
And as someone that grew up watching Malhação and remembers their first lesbian storyline way back in the 90s I appreciate that they’re still on it
Thank you for your answer.
You know, this is one of the things I love the most from AS. I never feel like I’m talking to a wall or having a nice conversation with myself and that is priceless.
I never thought I would see the day when I have more choices than developing a show in my head (Hiya, Xena) or be limited to The L Word. You all do an amazing work here and I’m amazed about the number of shows I watch nowadays thanks to your and everyone’s recommendations.
“…every depiction of LGBT people that we consume in media helps us set the bar for what our expectations should be for the next piece of media that we consume.” This is right on point,
exploring the different nuances gives us a bigger picture and help us not to settle just with some crumbs or some crap.
Plus, I’m convinced that the way we reflect the “other”, not as just something we should be afraid, helps us create a better society.
the Good Fight is so bad this season???? I think mainly from a severe Lucca Quinn deficiency.
love too abandon storylines and character development
This show could definitely use more Lucca (though I loved the way she turned whathisname’s proposal down). I miss her friendship with Maia and hope that the pregnancy doesn’t sideline her too much.
@bluebluebaby What do you think about the Diane storyline? Am I alone in thinking that’s dragging the season down?
@pecola I LOATHE THE DIANE STORYLINE. I was so excited about LIVING LEGEND AUDRA MCDONALD!!! but it’s all felt like a letdown which will culminate in a cringeworthy meltdown so that Christine Baranski can go film Mama Mia 47 or whatever.
The Lucca Pregnancy storyline is my favorite thing of the season so far, which, was not expected. Seeing Papa Rindell raided was amazing but it just feels like too many characters? And I think the ~real world~ has gotten SO MUCH WORSE that the Trump allusions no longer play as clever or timely, more like passe?
@bluebluebaby I hadn’t even made the Mama Mia connection–can’t believe I missed that!– but that makes total sense. I’m not looking forward to the day that they ship Diane off to rehab or wherever to recuperate from this Trump-induced mania.
I think the first two episodes where they finally wrapped up Maya’s case were actually amazing! After that it has wilted a little, and I am super concerned about what they’re doing with Diane.
Sure, they haven’t spent much time on building up Amy and Maya’s relationship, but I don’t mind that for some reason. Maybe because if they do spend time on them, it will mean relationship drama?
Also, the part where Amy and Maya believed different things about the conversation they had hit home hard for me, because the other day my wife denied that I bought her a Cadbury creme egg a few weeks back and has no recollection of eating it, but I have concrete memories of watching her eat it. I don’t know what would happen if we were called to testify about this in court.
“has no recollection of eating it, but I have concrete memories of watching her eat it”
I can relate to this, and it’s pretty scary.
So happy for the Jane The Virgin recaps. Thank you.
Jane the Virgin won’t kill off JR but I Rosario Dawson is definitely gonna leave the show. Don’t see her becoming a regular at all. She will have other things to work on I guess.
But we can’t deny that Petra and JR are so much hotter than Petra and Jane would have been.
I stopped watching Greys for a long time now but I always watch youtube videos to see who Arizona is kissing.
FYI: Next week on Coronation Street Rana essentially gets kidnapped by her religious parents to stop her seeing Kate. Which is going to be a whole thing!
@charrrlotte I’ll be watching! I’ve been intrigued by this storyline since I first heard about it…I think it’s a version of this story that we’ve never gotten to see before. That said, I’m a little worried about it feeling rushed…it seems like a lot to play out over the week when the groundwork hasn’t been laid because Kate and Rana have been off screen.
Fully expecting Bhavna Limbachia to be as luminous as usual, though.
She’s brilliant eh!
The screencaps from these JtV episodes! Rosario Dawson will not just let me live!
Definitely check out ‘Killing eve’ new bbc america show, shaping up to be very unique with powerful female leads one is a woman of color & the other seems very queer ;)
Sorry for the very late comment, but thank you so much to the hard-working TV team! You guys are killing it.
Re JTV, I 100% agree about trying to not get too excited about Petra/JR, but like….it’s Rosario Dawson, and ice queen Petra GIGGLING. We were doomed. They are soooo cute it is sometimes physically painful.
I *will* argue, though, that the cutest scene of the last few JTV episodes (and maybe ever???) was the Jane & Petra “I love you” scene that you screencapped/quoted. How cute was the little grumpy forehead kiss and Petra running away??! My gf and I have been saying “can I say it in Czech?” around the house ever since. Such genius dialogue, so adorable.
I get so nervous every single episode about, “is this how they’ll write JR off the show??” and “is this where JR is gonna get shot??” It’s honestly bad for my health, but I’m happy that we’re getting adorable and hot and sweet moments in the meantime.
“Petra quickly let it be known that she’d rather go to Chuck E. Cheese during flu season than hook up with her (which Jane handled mostly well).”
Did anyone else get a total “methinks thou protest too much” vibe during this moment of the episode? I’m loving the JR and Petra story line (Rosario Dawson is EVERYTHING), but my Jetra bias can’t help thinking that Petra very, very subconsciously has some interest in Jane V (and vice versa!).
(Laura R., sorry! I meant to post as a stand-alone comment rather than a reply to your comment — not sure how to undo it. That said, I *do* feel compelled to second everything in your comment. That forehead kiss!!! Giggly Petra!!!!)
Just saw your article while checking out anything I could find on Petramos (those two…definitely worth watching). Great recap. Now, I’m usually not that big on making comments (scratch that, I rarely ever do) and I know you said US, UK, Canada, but you really REALLY need to check out FRANKY and BRIDGET in Wentworth–it’s an Australian Women in Prison series, about 13 episodes each, generally agreed to be far superior than Orange is the New Black. There was also Bea and Allie on the same show, but that’s past now, even though that was particularly special ’cause of Bea’s former straight status and how it introduced a talk on sexuality, etc (very enlightening to someone who was unfamiliar with the topic or even people who may not have understood). Anyway, so please check out Franky and Bridget; they made me get the feels and (feel…things) and kept me going until Petramos (and that’s only because I was waiting for Season 5). I’m still going back to rewatch the entire series cause of them actually. If you want to skip Franky’s prior relationship (and also her successfully wooing a straight MARRIED woman, lol) to Bridget, sure, you can watch from Season 3 I think, but watching from the beginning will provide some understanding of Franky’s complex character. Ok, now I feel like I’m already writing a whole essay on this (overhyping much, lol)Plus I don’t want to give away anything. Just check them out, please (I think I can even share via drive) and decide for yourself. Thanks.