Boobs on Your Tube: Nancy Drew Crew, We’re Back!
Y’all still feeling bummed season two of Yellowjacket is over? What if I told you a bonus episode might be on the way! More good news: Your June streaming guide is here! Happy Pride! Speaking of which, Kayla has run down some of TV’s most iconic Pride scenes! Drew interviewed Murray Hill! And how about another recap of The Ultimatum: Queer Love.
Notes from the TV Team:
+ With Love, the Prime Video series from One Day at a Time creator Gloria Calderón Kellett is back for its second season this week. I’m looking forward to seeing what the new season holds for Isis King’s character, Sol. Is she the Diaz grandchild that’s getting married? — Natalie
+ Gotham Knights is still participating in a burn so slow it’s borderline queerbaiting, and while Harper is still convinced Stephanie is straight for some reason, this week Stephanie admitted to Turner she didn’t feel a “spark” when she kissed Turner or her ex boyfriend Brody. — Valerie Anne
Saint X Episode 108: “Faraway”
Written by Valerie Anne
Sunita, we hardly knew ye. Sorry you weren’t relevant to the plot at all.
In the finale, things took a surprisingly gay turn! Gogo confronts Emily about knowing she’s actually little Claire; he recognized her from the way she writes on her arm. He wants to tell her everything her family took from him, so he tells her everything he knows about Allison’s last night on the island.
That night Gogo and Edwin took Allison out dancing at a local place, and the three of them went to a secluded place in the forest to fool around, but after having Edwin kiss Gogo, she has to have a lie down because she’s too high and drunk. Once she wanders away, Edwin and Gogo look at each other in a whole new light, and they end up kissing again…and again.
Present-day Gogo tells Emily that it unlocked something in him, and when Allison found them hooking up, Edwin told her to go home because he wanted more time with Gogo, something he’s wanted his whole life and never dreamed could be a reality. And that’s the last time they saw Allison that night.
So Emily goes to Tyler’s apartment and confronts him about sleeping with Allison that night; and I won’t lie to you, I 100% forgot that Tyler was the man who was hanging around them in the beginning of the season. Tyler admits that they slept together that night, but that she stormed off; he swears that if Gogo and Edwin were “actually charged” with Allison’s murder he would have spoken up about seeing her that night, but he still let them be blamed for it.
Tyler also says he wasn’t the last person to see Allison, Claire was. This unlocks a memory of Allison coming back to the hotel room, drunk and crying about how she’ll never have something as pure as what Gogo and Edwin have, how she’ll never be the main character. So she decides to swim to the Faraway, naked. She drunkenly clambors up onto a high rock, smiles at the waterfall, lets out a primal scream…then slips. And I guess she got her wish; she was never forgotten, she became the main character in a lot of people’s lives. But she had to die to do it.
Since everyone was convinced it was a murder and not an accident, Gogo and Edwin never got to have a go at a relationship, and they never spoke again. Gogo thought he was being punished for being a “sinner” but he doesn’t regret knowing Edwin. “Because of Edwin, I lost everything. But without him, I wouldn’t have had anything to lose.”
Three months later, Sunita helps Emily move out of her boyfriend’s apartment. She hugs Sunita goodbye and tells her best friend she loves her, then heads back to San Francisco to live with her parents. She decides she’s going to try to move on, and she wants to start going by Claire again.
Gogo heads back home to the island, and goes to see Edwin, who is dying of lung cancer. Gogo kisses him on the forehead and they reminisce about the life they had together, before their life was taken from them.
I found the reveal of the mystery a bit disappointing but overall I enjoyed the show, and was pleasantly surprised that it was gayer than I originally thought it would be.
How I Met Your Father Episode 213: “Family Business”
Written by Valerie Anne
Ellen is such a good hype friend.
This week Sophie is caught up in some shenanigans getting to know her dad, while Jesse and Charlie try switching accents to pick up girls.
Meanwhile, Ellen and Valentina go to a fancy open house, just for funsies. It ends up being a socialite’s apartment, an influencer named Missy they both recognize, known for always wearing hats. They sneak into her closet and are trying on her clothes when they get busted by Missy herself. They get escorted out, but when they get back to the bar, Val realizes that she lost her engagement ring in the closet. But when they get back to Missy’s apartment, Missy is wearing the ring and insisting it’s hers. So Val pulls a Legally Blonde on Missy and threatens to expose her for painting red bottoms on her shoes since they don’t make Louboutins in her size. Missy agrees and Val and Ellen are successful! Though, Val realizes that the engagement she’s not into and thought would fizzle by now might be actually very real… But that’s a problem for future us.
Class of ’09 Episode 105: “The Problem is People”
Written by Valerie Anne
I wonder if part of the auditions for this show was making sure you could age down and up gracefully, because these ladies do.
I feel like I got bamboozled. It was three episodes of intense eye contact, fraught conversation, even some canoodling between Poet and Hour and then two episodes of them barely interacting in the Present or Future at all! Rude!!
Anyway here are some things from this episode, in no particular order because time is fake, especially on this show. They introduced a secret fourth timeline in this episode briefly! But I’m lumping it into “Present” because my brain cannot even. ANYWAY.
The building collapse is how Poet lost her eye and her boyfriend lost his arm. (I should learn his name…eh, maybe next week.)
Past Tayo met his wife on a tour of MLK Jr’s home, where she told them all about how the FBI tried to get him to kill himself and how they have to actively work to change the broken system.
Present Tayo is on a mission to use Hour’s database in a new way that removes human error after the system misses a key clue in a hostage situation that leads to all the hostages dying of arsenic poisoning. But we see how this plays out in the future, with the system making arrests based on patterns of behaviors and POTENTIAL to commit crimes, juries just blindly trusting the system’s information without doing any critical thinking on their own about it.
Future Tayo calls the Class of ’09 (well, the ones that are important to us) together and warn them that they are forbidden to tear the system down, but they’re not about to sit back and watch this happen. They go to a church, where theoretically they can’t be followed, but a drone breaks through the stained glass and tasers a priest…and Tayo no longer has control enough to stop it.
Maybe they were like “listen we have a lot of important information we have to dole out in this episode, we can’t have people distracted by Poet and Hour’s chemistry.” So hopefully we’ll learn more about the nature of their relationship in the Present and Future, if they ever dated or if Hour’s feelings were unrequited, etc, in the coming weeks.
Nancy Drew Episode 401: “The Dilemma of the Lover’s Curse”
Written by Valerie Anne
I missed these beauties!!!
NANCY DREW IS BACK!!!
It has been about 5 weeks since the end of the last season, and everyone is off doing their own things. Nancy has her detective agency, Bess is head of the historical society, George is studying to be a lawyer, Ace is working at the morgue, Nick is running the center. And they’re all planning for the Lovers’ Vigil.
Nancy’s dads show up with breakfast for her, and she tells them she’s been trying to solve missing pet cases to pay the bills, all while avoiding Ace, but she’s annoyed she hasn’t solved the case of the missing bodies yet. She realizes she’s late to meet Bess, and runs off, but Bess also tells her to just talk to Ace.
Just then, Bess makes herself scarce and Ace shows up, and they realize they’ve been Parent Trapped. They agree to try to be friends, but then Ace gets arrested as a suspect in aforementioned case of the missing bodies.
Nancy storms to the police station but she’s not allowed run of the place anymore now that there’s a new chief of police. A chief who is…very chipper. She’s happy to meet Nancy but tells her that she doesn’t believe in ghost stories, but she does believe in evidence, like the arm she found in Ace’s backyard. The chief is a little too chipper and frankly I don’t trust her but for now she’s being nice to Nancy so I’ll allow it.
As the Drew Crew investigates, they find a body…when it crawls out of the ground and starts stumbling around.
While Bess is getting ready for the Lovers’ Vigil, Ryan introduces her to a couple who wants to sell things from the historical society on the black market. When Bess politely declines and goes with Ryan to pick up a new artifact, they are driven off the road by a talisman in the engine and the artifact is picked up by the Glasses. (A confusing family name to be said out loud!) Bess is furious but Ryan promises he’ll handle it.
At the Lovers’ Vigil, Bess is reunited with Addy, who had been out of town, and they’re cute and happy and kissy. (And they’re not the only f/f pairing at the party!) It’s pretty cute, and they miss most of what else happens at the Vigil because of it. Including but not limited to Nancy and Ace almost kissing again, causing more glass to break and Nancy to run away.
That night, the Drew Crew meets up and invites Chief Lovett (maybe THAT’S why I don’t trust her…) to witness the zombies rising from their makeshift graves, spitting up some ooze, then collapsing again. What they don’t see, however, is that the zombie ooze seems to be making its way into the town’s water supply. Nancy hasn’t paid though, er water bill, so maybe she’ll be spared whatever will befall Horseshoe Bay. (Side note: at this point the song No Moon by lyrix plays, and the lyrics that stood out to me were, “Don’t go on a witch hunt if you don’t want to find one.”)
Ace confronts Nancy at her office, sensing the pattern, and tries to kiss her, only for more glass to break. She finally confesses that they’re cursed and frankly I love this for them; the way they get so close to each other’s faces but can’t kiss reminds me of the delicious angst of Pushing Daisies and I’m here for it.
Boobs on Your Tube: We Are Weak for Class of 09’s Gal Pals
The Yellowjackets season finale is upon us, and I (Heather) don’t even really know what that means. Did they eat a baby this season? Did the Lesbian Deer Goddess take the baby as a sacrifice, into the woods, to raise it on her own? Only Kayla knows, and luckily she recapped it for us! You know what else she recapped? The Ultimatum: Queer Love! Also The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel finally made Susie gay for real, in the last season.
Notes from the TV Team:
+ I’ve got two things coming for you next week, and both are kinda late: 1) There’s a lesbian episode of Queer Eye that needs some attention, and also HBO Max’s — er, excuse me, just MAX’S — three-part Angel City docu-series is the perfect warm-up for the coming World Cup. — Heather
+ Y’all we were deceived. The Legends never showed up in the final season of The Flash. No Sara, no Ava, no Astra or Zari or Spooner. Just a brief phone call from Victor Garber and a hint of The Atom. I know they got their season dramatically cut down so they weren’t going to be able to tidy up the Legends flop of a finale the way they originally wanted to, but they said the Legends would still show up and they didn’t. Another reason to be eternally mad at The Flash, what it could have been, and what it instead became. — Valerie Anne
+ In what continues to be a burn so slow it’s boring, Harper and Stephanie engage in some more light flirting on this week’s Gotham Knights. They’re starting to get along, and Harper even does that thing where she brings up a boy just to get a reaction; but then she doesn’t believe Stephanie when she says she and Bat Boy are just friends. Duella awkwardly tries to give them a ship name, and Cullen warns his sister not to fall for a straight girl even though no one has asked Stephanie her sexuality and I have a hard time believing a trans boy and his bisexual sister would just *assume* someone is straight. /shrug — Valerie Anne
Saint X Episode 106: “Loose Threads of the Past”
Written by Valerie Anne
Emily looks how I feel.
As we approach the season finale, we are watching Emily creep closer and closer to the edge of a mental breakdown. And we got a few extra flashbacks of her when she was on the island and still going by Claire, and since one of them cut almost directly from a woman on the island doing Claire’s hair to adult Emily and her blonde locks, I realized maybe her therapist is right and she’s trying too hard to follow her sister’s footsteps, as a subconscious way to feel closer to her, perhaps as a result of survivor’s guilt.
Emily ends up following Gogo around again, and even ends up in a club and tries to dance up on him. Which he doesn’t care for at all. He storms out but ends up picking her up in his cab.
When her boyfriend realizes he can’t find Emily, he calls Sunita, who comes over despite still being mad at Emily; bestie duties must be done, even when you’re fighting.
Meanwhile, in flashbacks, we learn that Edwin is gay and in love with Gogo, has been his whole life. But isn’t in a safe place to come out, and he’s starting to get paranoid about someone finding out. A guest promises him he’d never out a fellow gay Black man, and gives him a watch to help him toward his goal of eventually getting to a place where he can live freely, a place like New York. And even though Allison decides to spend her last night of vacation with Edwin and Gogo, all signs are still pointing to her murderer being Anyone But Edwin & Gogo, though I still can’t decide if Creepy Married Man or Entitled Incel is a more likely suspect.
How I Met Your Father Episode 212: “Not a Mamma Mia”
Written by Valerie Anne
One thing I can respect is commitment to the bit.
How I Met Your Father is back with the back half of season two! We pick up where we left off: the hunt for Sophie’s dad! Sophie’s mom can’t remember much about him, but when Sophie shows her a photo, she identifies a sliver of an off-camera man that she knows she slept with at Lollapalooza. You can’t see the man’s face, so all they have to go on is an arm with a barbed wire tattoo and an employee nametag that shows his name ends in “-ick.” After some sleuthing, they narrow it down to three potential dads, which the squad all compares to different movies like Mamma Mia, and Ellen of course says it’s like a hetero The Kids Are All Right.
The squad splits into three groups; the first group eliminates their potential dad pretty quickly because he’s Asian. The second group finds a stripper named Dick at a place called Dick & Dales, and this wouldn’t have eliminated him as an option and I don’t think it’s ever explicitly stated but I think Dick & Dale were lovers before Dale’s untimely death; Dick has a mug on his desk that says, “Sounds gay, I’m in.”
In classic sitcom fashion, instead of just asking Dick if he has a barbed wire tattoo, Ellen poses as a bachelorette and hires him to strip for him, which he does, with her girlfriend watching in amusement as Ellen attempts to seem into it (and fails miserably.)
Third on the list is Nick of Nick’s Hot Dogs (well, Nick Jr. technically) played by Clark Gregg, and before approaching him, Sophie and her friends decide to give him some tests, all of which he passes with flying colors. He’s just a Great Dude and an excellent candidate for a potential dad. But Sophie bails before talking to him; she’s afraid it’s too late to start a relationship with him. Her friends encourage her to take her time, and assure her that he’ll love her, whenever she’s ready. And she better get ready because just then, Nick walks into their bar.
And I have to say, having Paget Brewster and Clark Gregg as parents??? Sophie won the TV parent lottery.
Class of ’09 Episode 104: “Not Your Girlfriend”
Written by Valerie Anne
I am WEAK for these two. Weak.
Despite leaving Future Poet in the arms of Future Hour last week, we don’t see them have a nice quiet breakfast together the next day. In fact, Future Poet goes to see Future Lennix, and when they muse about how they didn’t work out, Future Lennix accuses her of mistrusting what’s good. They then both turn off their tech prosthetics, her eye and his arm; I thought her eye was a voluntary implant for FBI duties, but now I’m starting to wonder if they both got injured in an event we have yet to see.
The Present Class is trying to use Hour’s technology in a suspect interview, during which time Present Poet and Present Hour stand shoulder to shoulder, looking amazing. Present Poet worries about infiltration, and Present Hour jokes about lying on her polygraph; and sure enough, someone has indeed infiltrated and shoots a bunch of recruits and also Drew, and then they put something in the concrete that somehow infects the entire foundation in minutes, leading the ENTIRE BUILDING to collapse.
Now I saved the Past for last because it’s where we have the most gay activity this week, however slight. It starts with Past Hour telling her parents she got into the FBI and them accusing her of wasting her MIT education. She wants to be part of something, and wants to change things; but her mother thinks she’s just lonely. Her parents say there are other ways to rebel against them, to be different than them, and Past Hour wrings her hands under the table because they don’t know the half of it.
When Past Hour has to take her polygraph, she asks a lot of questions, including why they don’t collect the data in a central location so they can have help interpreting polygraph results so they’re not as subjective; of course the person administering the test takes that as a personal attack on his abilities and brushes her off.
Later, in the dorms, Past Hour watches Past Hour get ready for her date with the saddest, gayest hearteyes. Poet wonders if she’s wasting her time and Hour says, “falling in love is not a distraction,” though whether she’s telling Poet or herself is anyone’s guess. Poet sits on Hour’s bed and says she feels guilty, and Hour says she’s felt that guilt too. She says for her, it’s because…she pauses, then quickly adds “I’m not married,” though there’s a hint of something else there. She thinks for Poet it’s her work ethic. Poet starts telling Hour about her mom giving up dating in order to be the best single mom she could be, and Hour is so moved by her vulnerability in this moment that she can’t resist leaning over and kissing her on the cheek. Poet smiles softly and her eyes dart from Hour’s eyes to her lips but then there’s a knock on the door that interrupts them. It’s training office Drew, here to warn Poet against dating fellow FBI agents (men specifically) because it ends up coming down harder on the woman, no matter the situation. Which is Reason #72 why she should just date Hour instead.
Boobs on Your Tube: Grey’s Anatomy Brings Back Sapphic Smooching!
Happy WNBA Opening Day to all who celebrate! Games kick off tonight at 7pm EST on NBA TV. BG’s first game back is on at 11pm EST on ESPN. And ABC’s airing a double-header on Saturday! Don’t worry, Heather and Natalie got you covered!
This week, Drew reviewed Jinks Monsoon’s new comedy special, and she interviewed Zackary Drucker, and she reviewed the new trans coming-of-age film Fanfic. Valerie Anne reviewed Class of 09 and they brought you the gayness from The Last Thing He Told Me. Anya wrote about Survivor. Riese brought us news from the new Gen Z reality series Love Allways and news for us Gen Xers about the new Anna Nicole Smith documentary. Kayla recapped Yellowjackets. And Heather had a ponder about Che Diaz and Kendall Roy wearing the same Gucci jacket.
Notes from the TV Team:
+ It was technically a light week for Maya and Carina on Station 19 (though Carina did deliver a baby in a kitchen while a floor collapsed) — which I suppose makes sense, they had the conclusion to their season-long arc last week. But we did get in one final kiss with a little tongue action, so you know I had to include a screenshot. For prosperity. — Carmen
+ Kate and Lucy didn’t get much time together this week on NCIS: Hawai’i but, honestly, I love when Kate gets to build relationships with the other members of the team…even if it makes Lucy anxious that Kate’s putting herself in harm’s way. This week, Kate and Jane head to Venezuela to track down who’s using one of Jane’s past aliases. And who do they encounter there? Ser Anzoategui of East Lost High and Vida fame. It was great to see them on my screen again. — Natalie
+ In the Lisa Kudrow/Clea Duvall cartoon about an animal therapy group, Housebroken, the main human in the show, Jill, slept with a stripper that she met at the feminist strip club called Consensuality. She credits a drug trip that let her communicate with her dogs as the thing that helped her expand her horizons and…take a dip into the lady pond, as it were. — Valerie Anne
+ Bisexual time traveler Nora West-Allen was back on The Flash, but alas still no Legends of Tomorrow. Next week is the series finale so even if they join the parade of guests, I can’t imagine they’ll have much screen time, but I’ll let you know. Hopefully we’ll at least find out in passing that they got out of time jail, so that they’re not in canon limbo forever. — Valerie Anne
Grey’s Anatomy 1919-1920: “Wedding Bell Blues” and “Happily Ever After?”
Written by Carmen
In my recap of last week’s Grey’s Anatomy, I said that “everything’s coming up Helm” and that has never been more true than in their Season 19 finale, which brought us not only her first official date with Yasuda — but also her first official day back at Grey Sloan Memorial, in her new role as Co-Chief Resident, for the first time in over a year.
When Yasuda nervously asked, “Can I kiss you at this red light?” I legit screamed into the darkness of my living room with joy. But I want to talk about how we got here.
When we first met Helm, it was Season 14. She was a nameless intern in a sea of nameless interns, who most stood out because of her professional crush on Meredith Grey. She (correctly) clocked that the way Meredith spoke of her love for Cristina was not… entirely heterosexual. She wrote sonnets to the gold flecks in Meredith’s dirty blonde hair. At Jo and Alex’s wedding, fresh off a heartbreak from Arizona, Carina DeLuca warned Helm about getting caught up in women who did not reciprocate her love. The following season, CeCe — a professional matchmaker — picked Helm’s crush on Meredith up immediately and told her to take a seat, she wanted to impart queer wisdom about falling for straight women who don’t know you’re alive. But mostly, Helm’s sexuality was played for jokes.
For five long years, she was most prominently a side character in Schmidt’s own gay coming out story — if she had anything to do at all. She’d comfort her bestie as he nursed his first heartbreaks, when Schmidt protested that men who have sex with men weren’t allowed to donate blood, she made note “what about gay women.” She’s alluded, she’s made eyes, but she’s never, not once in five years, had a plot of her own.
And then this year, in walks Mika Yasuda, a reject from a different medical program who has washed upon the shores of Grey Sloan. And yes, their season’s long flirtations were frustratingly few and far between — even if their nerdy, quirky chemistry was instantly palatable — but the Helm that Yasuda was meeting? She was decidedly different that then one we’ve gotten to know. This was a woman who had taken charge of her own destiny, who had left the hospital to find herself and regain her own mental health. Who had confidence in every step.
She was no one’s side character anymore.
The reason I screamed when Yasuda asked to kiss her wasn’t because of the kiss itself. It was because she called her “Taryn.” When we first met Helm, she was Intern Hellmouth. Now she is Taryn.
Taryn.
It’s rare treasure, maybe one that can only happen on a show like Grey’s Anatomy that has been on for nearly 20 years, where a character who’s been so rudely and unjustly sidelined for season… after season… after season, finally gets her due. The terrain has not always been kind, but the result of the journey? So sweet.
All American 520: “Now That We’ve Found Love”
Written by Natalie
The fallout from Miko’s actions continue to reverberate on All American this week. Patience assures Layla that she hasn’t heard from the crazed fan since she blocked her on social media. Layla admits that the internet security company she hired hasn’t seen any trace of Miko online, especially now that her fan page has been taken down. I’m struck almost immediately by how Layla treats Miko as some exclusively online threat, as if she doesn’t know where Patience hangs out or where she lives, even as she emphasizes, “there’s a reason we got a restraining order.” The absence of any physical security — not even a fuckin’ Ring camera — hangs over the rest of the episode like a specter.
Later, Patience approaches Coop and asks about her relationship with Skye. She laments that Skye’s being punished for a doctored video. Coop reminds Patience that the kiss portion of the video wasn’t doctored. Clearly bothered that a fan of hers messed things up for Coop, Patience pushes her to give her relationship with Skye another chance. If she truly loves Skye, Patience urges Coop to forgive her…or, at the very least, talk to her. Coop takes Patience’s advice and meets up with Skye to talk about their relationship. Coop admits that she needed some time to think and assures Skye that she doesn’t need to keep apologizing for what happened. But when Skye reaches out, excited by the possibility of a reunion, Coop withdraws and Skye realizes that all is not forgiven. She puts it plainly to Coop: does she want to be with her or not?
The answer, as it turns out, is not, which Coop reveals later to Patience. Coop insists that she has her reasons for breaking up with Skye but Patience is gutted that Miko’s video caused all this drama. Patience questions whether Coop’s really being fair to Skye and Coop questions whose side Patience is actually on. Patience assures Coop that she’s always on her side but insists that Coop and Skye were so good together (me to myself, “were they, though?”). Coop concedes that the video wasn’t the only reason for the break-up but when Patience presses for more details, Coop clams up.
She’s a bit more forthcoming later with Spencer, though. She admits that the video was the reason behind the break-up but not for the reason that everyone thinks. The truth is, she wasn’t bothered by the thought of Skye kissing Patience, she was bothered by the Patience kissing Skye. The video made her feelings for the songstress resurface but she doesn’t know if Patience still has feelings for her. Spencer pushes his best friend to talk to Patience and tell her how she really feels. But before she can return to the Baker house to potentially reunite with her first love, Miko knocks on the door. Patience answers it — because, again, no offline security — and Miko jabs a knife into her gut.
And that’s how the season ends…with Patience bleeding out in the Baker foyer….and I’ll spend all the time between seasons hoping she’s not another casualty of the Nexstar takeover.
Good Trouble 510: “Opening Night”
Written by Natalie
Good Trouble wrapped up the first half of its fifth season this week…and, boy, it was really something. Whew.
Still smarting from her failed City Council vote, Malika retreats to the Coterie to mourn the loss. But before she can fully give into her sadness, a face from the past re-emerges: Isaac. He invites her over to his place to pick up some stuff she’d left as he’s looking to escape the bad memories that haunt his current residence. While there, Malika comes across a hospital discharge order and Isaac admits that he’s just out of rehab. Malika wishes that Isaac had leaned on her for help but the shame of his addiction and of his need for help forced Isaac to deal with everything alone. Malika clasps Isaac’s hand and asks about his next steps. He admits that, right now, he’s just focused on moving and getting back to work. She invites him to be her plus-one to the opening of Dennis’ new restaurant the next day. Everyone from the Coterie will be there, she assure him, and they’ll all be thrilled to see him.
He shows up at Dennis’ new spot and the entire Coterie fam greets him warmly. It’s clear that Isaac feels at ease among the crew so it sparks an idea in Malika: he should move into the Coterie, at least as he’s working through his recovery. She offers him her loft but he demurs. Malika insists, “you don’t need another set of walls to look at, what you need is community…this community where everyone loves you.”
I want to pause for a moment here, because that statement — this pitch that Malika gives to Isaac — is the exact thing that’s been missing on Good Trouble since Callie left. Where is the community? Yes, they show up at the soft launch of Dennis’ new restaurant or Malika’s City Council vote but before that, where are they? Community is about more than showing up at the big moments: it’s about being there for all the little moments that lead up to them. It’s about being a support system and a sounding board when the moment demands. It’s about being there when the world’s not looking. I miss the days when no member of the Coterie fam had to shoulder their problems alone. I wish, especially for Mariana’s sake, that the show would get back to that. But, I digress.
Noting Isaac’s reluctance, Malika presses him to really consider it. He’d only have to stay for a few weeks or months, Malika insists, and he needs to be with his Coterie family. Isaac acquiesces and, honestly, I’m looking forward to seeing how he integrates into this chosen family.
Meanwhile, Alice is leading a last ditch effort to save America’s Funniest Ferrets & Friends. She, Morty, Marty and Murray take to streets and try to rally the public behind a campaign to save their show (#saveferrets). The network catches wind of Alice’s efforts and reaches out to Sumi to set a meeting. But the network only wants to meet with Alice and they insist that Alice not share the details of the meeting with her co-writers. Sumi’s elated that the network’s interested in her only client but you can tell Alice is reticent. Will she pass on another opportunity to boost her career, as she did with the CBTV diversity program.
Gael’s #transparent mural is a hit: people are coming to the mural, taking photos in front of it and posting it on social media. The response reinvigorates Gael’s passion but it’s short-lived: someone soon paints over his work. Luca admits that the city’s downtown street art offered him hope and inspiration when he was unhoused and urges Gael to consider doing another mural. Gael ponders it for a moment — he’d do it if he could find a space high enough where it couldn’t easily be painted over — and Luca volunteers to help.
By the night of Dennis’ opening, Gael’s found a new place to paint his mural and, as promised, Luca’s there to help. But, as they’re finishing up, the cops show up. Gael urges Luca to run — he could be deported, if caught — and, of course, the police give chase. Luca runs and darts into an alley, thinking he’s escaped, but the police car doubles back and he ends the season with his hands up, facing arrest and possible deportation.
It’s a worse fate than Dennis who’s been robbed of $50k by his coke snorting business partner and whose restaurant is doomed before it ever really got started. But it’s certainly a more appealing end than what Mariana’s dealt: she finds herself face-to-face with a vengeful, murdering cult leader.
Saint X Episode 106: “Loose Threads of the Past”
Written by Valerie Anne
“Dump your boyfriend, stop stalking this man, and let’s just make out. I think that would solve a lot of our problems.”
Y’all, our girl Emily is going THROUGH it. She still has Alycia Debnam-Carey’s face, so she still LOOKS great, but she is NOT doing well. She starts off this episode stress-scrubbing the apartment like she wishes she was cleaning the folds of her brain instead. When that doesn’t work and the obsession that cost her a job and a best friend looms large, she tries to go for a run to clear her head, but ends up at Gogo’s apartment. She calls Sunita about it, but Sunita is over it; I don’t know exactly what happened the last time Emily had a mental breakdown but it must have been bad because despite the fact that Sunita was fully enabling this obsession a week ago, now that it’s cost her a job, she’s not interested in talking to Emily at all. She’s almost patient, when Emily starts to apologize, and Sunita employs her friend to get help, but when she finds out she’s standing out side the apartment of the man she thinks murdered her sister, Sunita has had enough and she hangs up on her friend.
Emily sneaks into Gogo’s building and waits for him to leave, and you can’t say the girl isn’t committed, because she traverses a 4th floor walkup for this cause.
It’s unclear if she manages to weasel her way into the apartment to sneak a peek at the letter she wants to read, but when she gets home, her boyfriend accuses her of cheating on her with the cab driver he’s seen her palling around with. The truth is much stranger than this fiction he’s created, so she’s quick to reassure him that she isn’t cheating, but when Emily’s boyfriend calls Sunita, Sunita tells him everything.
Because bad timing oft befalls bad times, Emily’s parents are due to come over for dinner, and after a few tense exchanges, Emily snaps at her parents, blaming them for her obsession with Allison’s murder. She accuses them of shielding her from too much, for pretending everything is fine, ignoring what was clearly early signs of anxiety even before her sister went missing, and just pushing everything down until finally she snapped.
Boobs on Your Tube: There Are Some Things More Important Than Being Captain on “Station 19”
Happy Yellowjackets Day once again, my friends, and happy Kayla Recap Day too! Hannah Gadsby’s got a new stand-up special out at Netflix, and Sai reviewed it for us. Anya wrote about this week’s Survivor! Kayla wrote about the queer contestants from this year’s Eurovision. Riese couldn’t help but notice that Ted Lasso dropped its sapphic storyline like a hot potato. Niko reviewed Trace Lysette’s new film, Monica. And Carmen peeped some queerness in Guardians of the Galaxy 3.
Station 19 617: “All These Things That I’ve Done”
Written by Carmen
We’re a week away from Station 19’s Season Six finale, so it feels like a good time to bring a conclusion to Carina and Maya’s season long arc of breaking trust, healing, and learning how to trust anew. I have had criticisms of this season, there have been times — especially early on — when the writing of Maya in particular frustrated me. It was painful and visceral to watch her spiral, but now that we are approaching the other side of it and relief can be gulped down like fresh Spring air, I also think I get it. Danielle Savre has been masterful this year as she’s guided us through Maya’s journey, and if we hadn’t been forced to feel those frustrations, to walk hand-in-hand with Maya and Carina through the tears and snot and heartbreak, then we wouldn’t be be able to fully appreciate the sweetness of their growth now.
When you cut into a tree, it scrapes, but eventually, it grows around the injury. It becomes tougher. The markings become a part of its beauty.
Carina is worried that Maya isn’t actually better. It’s not that she doesn’t want to trust her wife, but she has a lot of history stemming from growing up with her father’s mental illness. She says that growing up with him felt a bit like she does right now, like waiting for a bomb to tick or a shoe to drop. She doesn’t know if Maya’s learned the tools she needs for them to be stable in the long haul. She laments to Ben, if only there was a sign. A way to know for sure.
Meanwhile, Maya had an opportunity to try out again as captain. She doesn’t take it. At the end of shift Carina finds out and she can’t believe it. She thought that there was nothing that Maya wanted more than being captain.
Turns out, there was at least one thing. If Carina was looking for her sign, there it is.
Carina waits for Maya after the showers and tells her to go put on some clothes — so that Carina can get her out of them. She’s moving back home, with her wife, for good.
*I know we do the gay parts here but of course last night’s episode goes to Barrett Doss for her work as Vic and Josh Randall’s work as Beckett. I’ve never been a fan of Beckett, but I’m glad that he is going to get the help he needs, and that Vic was able to be there when he needed someone most.
Grey’s Anatomy 1918: “Ready to Run”
Written by Carmen
It has been a weird ass year for Grey’s Anatomy. I suppose if I had thought about it — and I mean, really thought about it, not just gawk in curiosity like watching a magician fail to pull a rabbit out of a hat — there was never going to be a smooth or easy way to navigate away from Meredith Grey.
I don’t know that any showrunner could have done it, not even the Great Shonda Rhimes herself (ok, maaaaaybe the Great Shonda Rhimes herself). Ellen Pompeo was more than just the show’s protagonist, she’s the literal namesake, and everything that has been good or awful about Grey’s for the last nearly 20 years has risen and fallen on her shoulders. She was the glue, the thread — and without her quite literally everything had to be made anew. That was always going to be awkward, it was going to take time. Hell, the fact that this grand experiment didn’t fail face first is probably a miracle by itself.
I’m feeling generous today, in case you can’t tell, and willing to overlook the annoyances that have been plaguing me, because I know when to take The Win. And last night’s night episode came with the present of at least two things on my Grey’s Gays bucket list finally getting crossed off, right before the finish line of summer break.
1. Helm (still looking sexy as hell, we haven’t talked enough about how good Jaicy Elliot has been looking in this high bun and dramatic lipstick) IS FINALLY RETURNING TO GREY SLOAN
2. HELM AND YASUDA ARE FINALLY GOING ON DATE!!!
And again I must say, finallyyyyyyy.
As a bonus to these two line items, when Helm returns to Grey Sloan Memorial it will be as co-Chief Resident ThankYouVeryMuch (she deserves!). She also negotiated Webber into an eight-week paid vacation which I am happy for her about, but poor Schmidt deserves some time off, too. Hopefully, in the wake of Helm’s return he also gets a renegotiation. But most importantly, Helm is coming back to her blue scrubs!!
I hope that all of the character growth and confidence that they’ve built into Helm during her time working at Joe’s Bar continues with her next year once she’s back at the hospital. It would be a shame to have seen Jaicy Elliot shine this way only to push her back into the corner as Schmidt’s yes man.
A sign of good things to come on that front is that for the first time in the five years since we’ve known her, Helm has an actual love life that doesn’t involve pining after straight women over 40. That’s right — after five years of being sidelined, her sexuality played largely for jokes, finally finally everything is coming up Helm. She’s been flirting with Yasuda all year, at the bar, at the Intern House party, and for a second it was worrisome that she might have overplayed her hand by defending Yasuda to the Attendings. Yasuda in particular worried that Helm’s stunt was going to cost Yasuda her job, but instead she got a grant and some financial aid, so that worked out. Yasuda says that she wants to stay mad at Helm for a little bit longer, but their chemistry is fire, so “a little longer” only takes until the end of the episode.
You see, fellow Grey’s Next Gen resident Simone’s wedding is coming up, and Yasuda needs a date. She’s never been the one to make the first move — something about an embarrassing promposal incident in high school — but Helm has been keeping it casual for too long! It’s time to step it up. And that’s exactly what Yasuda does.
She asks Helm to be her date in what had to be the cutest, most rambly, perfect gay nerd monologue I’ve ever heard. Seriously, it was like if sweaty palms were a person!!! Of course, Helm says yes. Starting next week she’ll be Yasuda’s boss at the hospital, but right now they still have this sliver of time as equals. And she thinks they should take full advantage of it.
All American 519: “Sabotage”
Written by Natalie
The fallout from the video of Skye’s ill-conceived kiss continues to reverberate. For the last two weeks, Coop’s been staying at home with her parents and has steadfastly refused to return any of Patience’s calls or texts. Thankfully, Patience catches her on a pit stop at the Baker house and assures her ex that she had nothing to do with the video. Patience also notes that the video had been doctored — she pulled away immediately after it happened — but that only affirms for Coop that Skye was the one to initiate the kiss. Patience points out that Skye immediately regreted the kiss but Coop dismisses that meek defense. Coop wonders if Layla knows that someone’s spying on people in her studio but Patience hasn’t told her yet, she was only concerned about Coop. But Coop doubts that: if Patience was really concerned about Coop, she would’ve told her about the kiss rather than letting her get blindsided by the video.
Things don’t get better for Patience when she tells Layla about the video either. They quickly suss out what happened and who was likely behind it. Layla is incensed that Patience kept contacting Miko after she warned her against it. Patience admits approaching Miko, grateful for her hand in making the “Fire and Ice” video a success, but insists that she was trying to set boundaries. Clearly, that didn’t work so Layla puts her foot down: from now on, she’s handling all things Miko. And boy does she handle it. She lures Miko to Slausson Cafe under the guise of a meeting with her and Patience only to show up alone an confront her about the stalking. She has Miko served with a restraining order. Miko insists that she only been looking out for her girl because she loves her. But Layla stays firm: if she comes near Patience again, she’ll be arrested.
Later, Layla apologizes to Patience for coming down so hard on her but assures her that all she wants is for Patience to be safe. Patience assumes that it’s because Layla sees parallels between her near-death experience with Carrie but Layla insists that Miko is too far gone. She urges Patience to refocus her energies on the Instagram Live she’s doing to promote her upcoming tour.
Meanwhile, Coop’s still dealing with the retaliation from her professor and it’s making her second-guess her law school ambitions. Sensing Coop’s frustration, Laura decides to sit in on her class and her presence gives Coop the confidence she needs to push back on the professor’s retaliation. But when his dismissiveness won’t relent, Laura steps in and advocates for Coop. While the professor is content to let the system operate as it always has and continues to push his students to operate within those confines, Laura insists that it’s attorneys like Coop who are going to do the hard and necessary work of disrupting the system. That day, both Coop and Laura find their place in the law school classroom.
When she gets home, Coop tunes into Patience’s live event and the songstress tries to establish some boundaries between her and her fanbase. She refuses to let another fan hurt someone she loves ever again. Miko opts to sign on, right at that moment, and takes over the comments with apologies and pleas for forgiveness. The move angers Patience and she sics her fans on Miko. Later, Coop thanks Patience for always having her back and the couple shares a hug. And the way Patience hangs on to that hug…just a little longer and a little tighter than she reasonably should? I think we’re headed for a reunion!
NCIS: Hawai’i 220: “Nightwatch Two”
Written by Natalie
It’s Lucy and Kate’s anniversary. Sort of. Kind of. Not really. It’s not the anniversary of their meeting nor their first date nor their second first date nor the first time saying “I love you.” It’s not their anniversary at all. And yet, there’s this cupcake in their refrigerator wishing Kate a “happy anniversary.” Lucy insists that she’s superstitious about real dates and anniversaries so she chooses another date to celebrate. Personally this is a level of chaos that I cannot co-sign (as if the soup and kale juice weren’t enough!) but Kate’s in love, so even though Lucy has to spend their faux-anniversary on Night Watch duty, she obliges. But, as it this show’s wont, duty calls…literally, this time: a man who identifies himself Joe calls into night watch and reports that he thinks he’s killed someone.
The caller seems confused and initially leads the team to the wrong crime scene. But Lucy believes there’s truth to Joe’s story — however disjointed it is — and works to build a rapport with him. Her persistence pays off and Joe’s clues lead Kai and Jesse to a jewelry store where they find a dead body and an open safe. The case brings the rest of the team together and Ernie traces the phone call back to Joseph Pitt, a Marine corporal grappling with a traumatic brain injury. A photo of Joe and his girlfriend leads Lucy to an apartment building that’s closed for construction, where she finds Joe…who greets her with a gun.
Jane Tennant is ready to storm the building to ensure Lucy’s safety but Lucy insists that she’s okay. Lucy convinces Joe to hand her his gun and they piece together what happened to Joe. He recalls that his friend, Markus, killed the clerk in the jewelry store and that he was forced to kill his friend in self-defense. He takes Lucy to Markus’ body but grows increasingly agitated as his memories flood back. Lucy reaches out to calm him but he flails at her touch and inadvertently elbows her in the face. Back at HQ, Kate isn’t thrilled about Lucy putting herself in a dangerous situation. Lucy comes to Joe’s defense which only aggravates Kate more. Jane interjects and sends Lucy and Kate (and an ice pack) off to talk to Joe’s friend, Ethan, from his veterans’ support group.
They track Ethan to the marina and Kate leaves to find on which boat slip belongs to Ethan. But Lucy spots him on the pier and talks to him while he’s loading coolers onto his boat. He lets a detail about the robbery slip — one only the culprit could’ve known — and tries to reach for gun but Joe’s already swiped it. A fight ensues and, thankfully, Kate arrives just in time to save Lucy and Joe. But even after having vindicated Joe, Lucy still feels bad, knowing the struggles he’ll continue to face.
BUT THEN! It’s time to celebrate their anniversary and they celebrate by re-enacting their first meeting. That night in the bar where Lucy meets a DC-bound Kate Whistler and both end the night knowing that one night together isn’t nearly enough. It’s so cute and pure…and I loved it.
Good Trouble 509: “Tell Me Sweet Little Lies”
Written by Natalie
According to Lucia’s whip count, the women’s center has secured enough support to ensure final passage by the City Council so Malika’s already looking ahead to the next steps. She’s found an old, abandoned church that would be the perfect location and pitches the idea to Lucia. By adding to an existing space, rather than starting from scratch, Malika estimates that they could cut their costs in half. Lucia loves the idea and encourages Malika to reach out to the community and get their support before the Council vote.
Malika and Tracy are able to pull together a community meeting in short order…which, as someone who’s had to do something similar, is damn near impossible to do, especially without offering food and drink. But they get a good turnout and pitch the women’s center to the attendees. She talks about her own history — about growing up with a single mother and incarcerated father — and what a difference a resource like the women’s center could’ve made. But Malika’s pitch, however affecting, is met by the community’s well-earned cynicism. One community member rejects the proposal outright, another points out that the presence of the women’s center would, inevitably, lead to more police in the neighborhood to harass the unhoused and black and brown residents. She right asserts that it could end up hurting the very communities that they’re trying to protect. Malika assures the attendees that their office is deeply committed to protecting the community but they are not persuaded and promise to be at the Council meeting later to make their voice heard.
Malika’s understandably frustrated by the resistance but her Coterie fam pushes her to find a way to address the residents’ concerns. She reaches out to all the council members who have voiced support for the women’s center to add an additional provision to prohibit increased police patrols. Her last approach is to Councilman Hauss — the earlier holdout who Malika and Angelica persuaded — and he agrees to the proposal a little too easily…and that’s when I know that this vote is about to go sideways. And poor Malika doesn’t even see it coming.
With her Coterie fam there to support her, Malika offers her revised proposal to the council for their consideration and, though it ultimately garners the support of the community, Hauss votes against it in the end. The women’s center proposal fails by one vote. Later Lucia and her Chief of Staff admit that Hauss has his eyes set on being Council president and doesn’t want to draw the ire of the police union so, of course, he voted against the proposal. Now, personally, that feels like outcome that a more experienced political hand should’ve seen coming — and warned Malika about — but Malika just takes the news in, stunned silent.
“Welcome to politics,” Tracy adds.
With tears threating to spill out, Malika answers, “Well, if this is politics, then maybe politics aren’t for me.”
She walks out, heartbroken, and I’m not sure if she’ll ever walk back into Lucia’s office again.
Some other random Good Trouble thoughts:
+ I appreciate the way the Coterie fam showed up for Malika but it also begs the question: why aren’t they showing up for Mariana in the same way? The girl walked into the kitchen, caked in her ex-boyfriend’s blood, and no one aside from Joaquin (ugh) has checked in to make sure she’s okay.
+ I thought my love for Luca truly knew no bounds but him flirting with two girls at the same time definitely had me looking at him sideways. I’m 100% #TeamMabel.
+ Will this cult story ever die? I cannot with this.
Fantasy Island 213: “MJ Akuda & the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Wives”
Written by Valerie Anne
Hopefully I won’t have to wait long before another show gifts me a queer mermaid. #HorneyForMermaids
In what is unfortunately the series finale of Fantasy Island, it’s a battle of wills to see if Ruby will give herself to the sea or not.
The guests this week are the three wives of Mr. Beck, two former and one current, who join forces to give him hell and teach him a lesson, while also learning a lesson of their own in the process. Huzzah.
But on to the juicy stuff. Elena is afraid she is running out of time to save Ruby, so she calls in the big guns aka invites Ruby’s daughter MJ to the island, under the ruse of mourning her late mother. But when she gets there, Elena, Javier and Segundo sit her down and explain that actually her mother didn’t die, she just turned 25 and fell in love with a woman who is a mermaid and is erasing her memories in order to tempt her into the ocean. MJ understandably doesn’t believe them, that is until she runs into Ruby and recognizes her mother immediately. Ruby doesn’t recognize her though, so she treats her with the same polite warmth she does any guest.
MJ walks the beach with Ruby, asking her questions about her life she can’t answer. While she’s trying to deflect, Isla runs up, with a hint of panic behind her eyes. She kisses Ruby and asks to talk alone, asking her again to come with her, begging her to say yes right now. Ruby says she’ll come…but after MJ’s fantasy is complete. Isla tries to change her mind, but Ruby is insistent. So Isla finds Elena and accuses her of playing dirty, but Elena assures her she’s not playing at all.
In a beautiful scene by the water, MJ talks to her mom without Ruby knowing it’s about her, but Ruby still doesn’t remember. MJ thinks she wasn’t the right kid for the job, but the next day when Isla gets impatient and tries to drag Ruby into the ocean, begging her to say she’s ready like Ursula urging Ariel to sing. MJ screams for her mother and Ruby finally hears her, finally remembers. MJ is sad she can’t be with her mom anymore but she’s so happy she gets to live her life again as exactly who she is.
Later that night, Ruby goes to the beach to say goodbye to Isla, saying she can’t be truly herself with Isla if it means losing her memories, because those are part of who she is. She can’t change herself entirely for Isla, because that’s not what love is.
The next day Ruby celebrates the return of her memories with the people who taught her that lesson, the people who love her exactly as she is. Including Helene, who loves her as she is so much she calls her “lesbian granny friend.” Ruby toasts to her family, blood and found, who didn’t just save her, they gave her the tools to save herself. So while Ruby didn’t get to swim off into the sunset with her lady love, her queerness was still central to the narrative all season, and she still got a happy ending, surrounded by people who love her, all of her, just the way she is.
Saint X 105: “Colonial Interference”
Written by Valerie Anne
“Yeah I don’t know why I keep getting cast as brats either! I think casting agents skip that one particular part of my reel!”
This week’s episode takes place on Emily’s birthday. A fact that everyone seems focused on, except Emily, who has been neck-deep in research and stalking Gogo that she lost track of time altogether. Her gay best friend Sunita is worried about her, and tries to get her back on track by giving her tough love, saying she has to finish her edit of her docuseries finale instead of losing herschel to her obsession.
Emily tries to explain to Sunita why she’s not ready to let this go, and in one of the cringiest moments of the season to date (and there have been plenty), they have Sunita, who is a woman of color herself, say that Emily just needs to accept the fact that Gogo and his friend murdered her sister…even though the optics are bad? She literally says it’s “uncomfortable” to acknowledge that two Black men killed a white woman. Even though that’s not what Emily was talking about at all? She just said she could tell Gogo was in real pain. Anyway, Sunita tells Emily she has to finish the edit by EOD because Sunita vouched for her so it’s not just Emily that will suffer if she drops the ball.
And in fact, later, after Emily stalks Gogo to an art gallery, eve drops on his conversation with an old friend, and watches him read a letter that made him emotional, she tries to tell Sunita about it, but Sunita cuts her off, pissed. Emily didn’t finish the work she promised to finish, and she got both her and Sunita fired.
I’m officially filing this show next to Frontier in the file marked “things I’ve suffered for actresses I love” but I have to see this through to the end to find out if Allison was murdered by the pedophilic cheater, the icel snob, the girl trying to single white female her, or a secret fourth option.
The Power 109: “The Shape of Power”
Written by Valerie Anne
“Do you feel like your story had a good conclusion?” “Nope, you?” “Nope! Twinsies!”
In the season (and hopefully series?) finale of The Power, my biggest fears are confirmed. But I’ll get to that in a minute. First let’s do a quick rundown of where ladies ended up.
In Margot and Jos’s world, things are getting tense. Margot’s husband is already moving on to other women after deciding he is divorcing her after the campaign is over, Jos and her boyfriend are bullied by other girls with skeins even though the war is hard enough without infighting, Jos’s brother is even deeper in the UrbanDox cult, Jos’s boyfriend gets sent away to what we later learn is essentially conversion camp by Margot’s campaign manager, and Margot ends up accidentally zapping her opponent during a debate when it gets heated. My favorite part of this family’s arc this episode was when Jos was standing up to her former friend, now-bully, and she said, “Evolve, bitch.” Stealing that one.
In Moldova, in the wake of her husband’s death, Tatiana is acting president. She releases Tunde with a message for her sister, but then also sends soldiers to attack the rebels, telling her army she’s sacrificing her sister for the country’s loyalty. But she gets to have her cake and eat it too, because while she does seem to be standing against the rebels, she also gave them a heads up, so by the time Tunde gets to the rebel camp, all the soldiers are dead. Tunde seems deeply upset by this in a way I think the writers want us to feel? But I was on team rebel, and support their right to take down any men who threatened them. Tatiana is too, telling Zoia that they’re going to make the world her daughter grows up in different than it was for them.
In England, Roxy finds out her mother’s boyfriend was police, which is why her father had her killed. But instead of killing her father, she does him one better, activating her stepmother’s skein before fucking off to Eve’s cult.
Eve, by the way, is done being afraid of killing more people and instead is doubling down, activating the nuns’ skeins and waiting for the soldier her god promised would come. (By the way, twice in this episode it was implied, though not shown, that trans women have skeins, which was a huge relief to me.)
When Roxy and Eve finally meet, Eve realizes she’s finally met someone as powerful as her. So she welcomes her to the family with open arms, turning to her followers, which for some reason lost a lesbian somewhere around episode 4.
Anyway, that’s the end of the season. I really thought I was going to enjoy this show, I even remained hopeful even after people in the comments warned me the book was a bit yikes. Surely a 2023 adaptation would improve upon a 2016 book. Surely it would show how much better the world could be if the playing field was more even. And it almost did; Margot touched on some things, about domestic violence being down and the murders of trans women of color being almost entirely eradicated. But then they have Margot accidentally zap her opponent when she gets “hysterical” during a debate. They show women relish in murder and forming cults. Unfortunately the message doesn’t seem to be “see how much better it would be without white cis-het patriarchal oppression” and instead “absolute power corrupts absolutely” and I just don’t think that’s the kind of story we need in the world right now.
Hopefully that’s the last we’ll see of this series, because if this show gets renewed when A League of Their Own didn’t, I’m going to absolutely riot.
Boobs on Your Tube: It’s a Happy Ending for Ashley on “Bel-Air” Season 2
The WGA strike kicked off this week and we’ve got an explainer and some advice from queer TV writers about how you can support them!
Also this week, an all-new Yellowjackets, which of course means another recap from the best in the biz, Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya. Riese updated our lest of best LGBTQ+ things to stream on HBO Max. Natalie brought us a new dispatch from a super queer episode of Good Trouble. The full trailer for The Ultimatum: Queer Love dropped. So did a trailer for the Vanderpump finale. Heather reviewed Somebody Somewhere. And we all processed our feelings about Ted Lasso’s Jane Austen blasphemy. Wanna know every new gay thing streaming this month? Riese has got you covered!
Notes from the TV Team:
+ There were two major plot lines for the gays on Grey’s Anatomy this week, though neither character necessarily did gay things. But in the wake of Helm storming Teddy’s office last week demanding better treatments of residents on behalf of Yasuda, Yasuda spends most of this week panicked she’s going to get fired. Instead she gets some financial aid (so she can stop working night shifts at Joe’s) and Helm finally finally gets an invite to return back to Grey Sloan for good. Also! It must be said that last week in the comments there was some advocacy of a potential Yasuda/Amelia ship… and I gotta say after this episode, I see it. — Carmen
+ A Million Little Things wrapped up its run with a tearjerker of a finale. It didn’t give Katherine and Greta much to do: Katherine counsels Eddie on what to do about Gary’s last request and Greta tags a Boston Bruins’ billboard with a final affirmation that “Gary Was Here.” Following Gary’s death, the show fast-forwards and the gang reunites for his son’s 16th birthday. Katherine and Greta are still together, Theo’s all grown up, and their family’s grown by one: their daughter, Lana — presumably conceived from Greta’s frozen eggs — who looks to be 8 years old. — Natalie
+ Based on the brief “chicks dig scars”-esque moment on this week’s Gotham Knights, it seems like we are potentially getting an excruciatingly slow burn between Stephanie and Harper. (Who I keep wanting to call Harlow for reasons I don’t understand.) — Valerie Anne
+ I watched all of Season 2 of Netflix’s Sweet Tooth this week and I just love that show? Mostly because of the precocious hybrid children and themes of found family. It’s not particularly gay (or straight, frankly) but there are some background lesbians (namely, a woman who has been guarding a payphone for 9 years waiting for her wife to call) so I’m using that as an excuse to mention it. — Valerie Anne
Bel-Air Season 2
Written by Natalie
Late in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air‘s first season, Ashley Banks turns 12. The family asks what she’ll wish for when she blows her candles out and Ashley surprises everyone with her answer: Little T, a popular teen singer (played by the illustrious Tevin Campbell) that she has a crush on (she doesn’t say that, explicitly, in that moment that but, back then, if a kid had a celebrity’s face on their Trapper Keeper, the love was real). Ashley’s sister, Hilary, squeals with excitement: “a boy!” If you’re even remotely a fan of the OG series, you know this episode, it is iconic. One of the most memorable of the entire series.
When Bel-Air, the reimagined reboot of Fresh Prince, debuted last year, there was — as there always is — a considerable amount of handwringing about the decision to have the new Ashley Banks question her sexuality. The internet lamented that this new iteration was “sexualizing children” even though she’s the same age than the OG Ashley Banks was when she revealed her crush on Little T. But, of course, no one ever suggested that the OG series was sexualizing children…even though, OG Ashley Banks gets a date and a kiss on the cheek from Little T (“he was aiming for her mouth and he missed,” Will tells Uncle Phil) in that episode which is more than happened in the reboot.
I mention all of that because, season two of Bel-Air starts with a party for Ashley. It’s her 13th birthday and it felt like the perfect opportunity for the show to both affirm their decision to expand the show’s representation and to create a parallel to the OG series (though, admittedly, I don’t know who you get to be the modern day Little T). Instead, the Banks family throws a yacht party with a special guest appearance by Saweetie — there’s no indication that Ashley has Saweetie’s face on her Trapper Keeper — and while a good time is had by all, it falls short of its iconic predecessor.
The real story of that first episode, though, is Ashley’s relationship with her teacher, Mrs. Hughes (played by OG Ashley Banks, Tatyana Ali), who provides her with extra reading material and extra credit if she produces a two-page summary. Because she won’t adhere to the school’s curriculum and, instead exposes “her students to books that are honest about race, sexuality, and American history,” Mrs. Hughes is fired. The firing sparks a huge controversy at Bel-Air Academy but somehow, despite Mrs. Hughes being her teacher, Ashley gets sidelined in the ensuing protest. That becomes a harbinger of Ashley’s role in season two of Bel-Air. Even though she gets a potential love interest later in the season, the show doesn’t spend enough time with them for them to make much of an impression.
That said, I like where the season ends for Ashley — with this potential love interest, the way she stands up to her brother over his drug use, and the way she rocks that butterfly print pants suit — so I’m hoping we see more of her in season three.
Survivor 4410: “Full Tilt Boogie”
Written by Anya
We love Fran
This episode opens with a reward challenge and guess who wins it, AGAIN? Yes, I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record — Frannie. She really has a knack for the bizarre challenges that make up daily life on this show I love so much. She also is somehow SMILING throughout, even though on top of everything, it’s also RAINING. She is really a star!
Cementing her star status, Frannie chooses the mom squad to go with her (Carolyn, Lauren, and Heidi, in that order), which honestly made me emotional. I can’t remember another time this has happened — I don’t even know if it was that strategic. I think Frannie was overcome by the emotion of knowing she’s choosing people to hear from their loved ones, and she wanted to reward the backbone of society: THE MOMS!
Frannie and the moms enjoy their reward of tacos and margs while Yam Yam, Carson, Danny, and Jaime languish back at camp. Then it’s time for the next challenge — this time an immunity challenge. This challenge ends with a puzzle, so everyone should know immediately that Carson will win this challenge, because he freaking 3-D prints the challenges at home (iconic nerd status, we love to see it). Carson wins the challenge (I told you) so he’s immune.
Back at camp, people are discussing what we know to be true: Frannie is a huge threat. She has literally won three challenges, two of them for individual immunity. She’s smart and social. I wished so badly that Frannie would scramble for her life at that moment, because we know this is her make-it-or-break-it moment. Only Carolyn seems committed to keeping her around, but as we’ve seen the rest of this season, no one f****** listens to Carolyn. In the end, at Tribal Council, though some votes are thrown on Danny, Heidi, and Jaime, Frannie gets the most votes, and is sent home.
I wanted Matt going home to catalyze Frannie’s villain era, and it didn’t really happen. Now, I want Frannie going home, and Carolyn being left out of the vote, and no one realizing how powerful she is despite her unbelievably high EQ to catalyze HER villain era. Come on Carolyn, the game is yours to lose!!!
All American 518: “This Is How We Do It”
Written by Natalie
It’s a big day for Coop: she’s presenting a case brief on Garratt v. Dailey to her class. Do I continue to be perplexed by whatever this class is and why Coop is in it? Absolutely. Does this annoy anyone but me? Probably not. At any rate, as Coop is presenting, her professor interjects…repeatedly. He questions her word choice and pushes her to substitute her colloquialisms with more “legally rigorous” vocabulary. He criticizes the preparation that her study group has done and urges her not to slouch in the future…”it makes you look sloppy.”
Understandably, Coop takes umbrage to the professor’s remarks. She puts in her headphones to allow music — Patience’s new song, in fact — to distract her until Skye arrives to listen to her frustrations. Coop mentions the new song and Skye shifts uncomfortably at the mention of Patience. Coop senses Skye’s discomfort and tries to ask about it but Skye deftly steers the conversation back to the professor’s antics. Coop feels singled out by the professor and his “slick comments.” Skye asks if he’s also the professor that criticized her use of slang and Coop wonders how she knew about that. Skye admits that while they were on a break, she’d asked Layla about her. Coop seizes on the word “were” and questions its meaning. I guess Professor Plum isn’t the only one concerned about specificity.
Skye minimizes what happened between them and points out that neither of them are perfect. But really, all Skye is trying to do is assuage her own guilt…to forgive Coop so that Coop has to forgive her when/if she finds out about her kiss with Patience. They both agree that they’re good — and share a kiss — before Skye pivots back to talk of Coop’s professor. She encourages Coop to call out her professor but Coop isn’t sure that’s the right tack either. But before Skye can offer any additional advice, she gets a text.
“I KNOW WHAT YOU DID,” it reads and video of the kiss with Patience comes shortly thereafter. This threatening message leads…well, no where, really. No blackmail, no coercion; ultimately, it only adds to Skye’s paranoia. Clearly, Niko never watched Pretty Little Liars to know how these things are supposed to work.
After having approached her professor with her concerns about his disparate treatment and then, seemingly, being punished for having done so, Coop sulks next to Skye at Olivia’s fashion show. She reports what happened and Skye is indignant. She insists that professors can’t retaliate like that and promises to find Coop the resources she needs at GAU to fight back. Heartened by the support, Coop offers a heartfelt apology for not reciprocating. Skye assures Coop she doesn’t have to apologize but Coop persists. She apologizes for how she said “I love you” for the first time but assures Skye that she meant it. The revelation disarms an anxious Skye and the reunited couple shares a kiss and settle in to watch the show.
But then, unbeknownst to Skye, Coop gets a text and her entire demeanor changes. Coop starts piecing everything together — why Skye finally returned her call, why Skye was so interested in patching things up — and confronts Skye when they arrive back the Baker house. Skye tries to explain but Coop’s done talking: she lets the video of Skye kissing Patience speak for itself.
The Rookie: Feds 122: “Red One”
Written by Natalie
It’s the eve of Simone Clark’s 49th birthday and she is determined to kick her new year of life off right. She wants the perfect menu and the perfect guest list. She wants anyone that’s ever been a force for good in her life, including her old boyfriends and her old girlfriends, to be there. But Simone’s colleagues — Brendon, notwithstanding — haven’t RSVP’d for her party yet and she sets out to turn their maybes/nos into yeses.
Laura insists that their job necessitates that she always be a maybe while Carter asserts that, as Simone’s training officer, he wants to set a firm boundary between their professional and personal lives. Before Simone can offer much pushback, the team is tasked with finding out what happened to Neal Wizaro, an FBI who was buried alive in a Las Vegas desert with no memory of how he got there. The assignment sends Simone to Vegas, on a private jet, just before her birthday which, understandably, gets her excited, but Carter reminds her that they’re going for work. On the flight, Simone once again tries to convince Carter to come to her birthday party. He stands firm, determined to maintain his impartiality, but questions why she wants to throw a big bash for her 49th birthday. She promises that if he comes to the party, he’ll find out.
The team splits the investigation — Lauren and Brendon in LA, Carter and Simone in Vegas — and by the end of the night, they still don’t know what happened to Wizaro. Finally off the clock, Simone requests an amaretto sour and enjoys the start of her birthday at the casino. Carter joins her for a moment…long enough to find out why Simone’s so insistent about celebrating her 49th birthday. She admits that her mother never got to see her 49th birthday so she’s determined to make hers special. Plus, Simone notes, she’s always lucky on her birthday. Carter scoffs at the notion of luck but, sure enough, the moment he leaves Simone alone, she wins $25k on a slot machine.
The next morning, Carter and Simone are called back to LA — after Simone gets a hero’s welcome from all the friends she made the night before — and join the team to take down the folks responsible for having buried Wizaro alive. Turns out, Wizaro was just one link in a chain, all leading back to the identity of a former mercenary turned double agent who now lives with his wife and daughter under witness protection. The folks on the mercenary’s trail are the family members of people he killed in his former life, looking for revenge. Thankfully, Simone is there to stop it: jumping in front of the bullet before it strikes the daughter. But (surprisingly) Rookie Feds doesn’t end with a cliffhanger — Simone is bruised but, otherwise, fine — and uses her injury to guilt her colleagues into joining her at her 39th birthday party.
Somehow, the happy ending only worries me more about The Rookie: Feds‘ future. It hasn’t been renewed despite a strong freshman year performance and, with the acquisition of 9-1-1 by ABC, I worry about its fate. We deserve nice things…and by nice, clearly, I mean, having Niecy Nash on my television every week.
Fantasy Island Episode 212: “Girlboss, Interrupted”
Written by Valerie Anne
I see no downside to giving oneself to the sea for a sexy siren. It IS MerMay after all.
Fantasy Island’s Guest of the Week is Courtney, a young single mother who has big ideas for the company she’s the receptionist for but not a lot of self-confidence about it. By the end she decides to start her own company because the boss she idolized was faking it anyway. To get to this point, she is given caramels that let her hear the thoughts of everyone around her for a while, which will be relevant later.
When Courtney first arrives at the island, Ruby is late to greet her, and based on Elena’s reaction, this isn’t the first time Isla is to blame for Ruby slacking on her island duties. While talking about her daughter, Courtney asks Ruby if she has children and Ruby quickly changes the subject. Later, it happens again when Elena asks Ruby what it was like being a young working mom.
In an effort to help make her decision about Isla’s proposal, Ruby talks to Segundo about why Elena hates mermaids so much. Segundo says that there was a pact; the mermaids keep the island invisible to the outside world and the island protects the mermaids. But once a siren seduced a guest and took him to the sea with them, so the Rourke’s don’t trust them anymore.
When Ruby asks Isla about this story, she assures her girlfriend that the man wasn’t stolen, he went voluntarily, like she hopes Ruby will soon. She tells Ruby to take her time deciding but kisses her about it.
Elena asks Javier to take one of the mind-reading candies and talk to Ruby to see if things are really on the up-and-up, and when Javier does, Ruby is all “no thoughts, head empty.” This confirms Elena’s fear that Isla is stealing Ruby’s memories to make it easier to persuade her to leave her life behind and give herself to the sea. But Elena is determined to stop this sexy siren and save her best friend.
Saint X Episode 104: A Disquieting Emptiness
Written by Valerie Anne
Side note: At one point in this episode Emily laughs out loud, and I realized how infrequently I’ve heard ADC laugh in character. She’s usually playing such beautiful tortured souls.
This week, Emily’s slow spiral leads her to a very bad documentary about her sister’s death. Sunita catches her and expresses her concern, but Emily insists she’s fine. Emily reminds her of their plan, and Sunita seems reluctantly supportive.
The plan, as it turns out, is stalking and psychologically tormenting Gogo. Emily “bumps into” him on the street and talks about playing checkers as a kid, she is always at his favorite restaurant and is slowly getting him to open up to her by offering half-truths of her own.
Emily’s boyfriend is starting to get worried, but Sunita assures her she’s keeping an eye on Emily’s mental health, though he doesn’t seem convinced.
Now, it’s important to note here that while we watch events unfold in the past, during Allison’s last days, we’re privy to information little Emily (then called Claire) didn’t know, and thus I am 100% positive Gogo didn’t kill Allison. I think it’s possible he helped cover it up, or at the very least didn’t do anything to expose the truth, but I have no doubt in my mind that Gogo never laid a hand on that girl. In fact, I have plenty of suspects, and none of them work at the resort.
That said, Emily is convinced Gogo murdered her sister. Therefore, it is absolutely batshit that one night, she accepts a ride home from him. In her slight defense, she took a small precaution, and Sunita was supposed to be watching/following from her car, but she got blocked in by a delivery driver, so she was alone when Gogo took her to a literal back alley. Luckily, as I said, Gogo is a gentle giant, so he was just showing her the riverside to hope it would help her with her insomnia.
While looking out at the Statue of Liberty, Emily tells Gogo that she once was obsessed with editing a documentary to the point that she had to go on what Gen Z would call a “grippy sock vacation.” Gogo confides back about a friend who betrayed him that he hasn’t spoken to in 20 years.
That’s all the progress they make that night, but when Gogo drops Emily off, her boyfriend is watching in the rain. Dun dun dunnnn.
The Power Episode 108: “Just a Girl”
Written by Valerie Anne
Cue TikTok sound: “This is a work of a-a-a-a-rt”
Everyone’s stories are starting to intertwine, with Eve and her followers (who create a Last Supper moment, a brilliant visual) gaining popularity because of a viral video of Eve healing Luanne and baptizing everyone. Margot’s daughter Izzy and Roxy were among the viewers.
Eve is worried about her face being out there on account of the fact that she killed a man, but Sister Maria reassures her that she did it to protect herself so she’ll be okay.
Small update on the artist formerly known as the lesbian gangster; turns out Roxy is some other flavor of queer, either bi or pan or labelless, because this week she is revealed to be sleeping with a boy who likes to be shocked and a girl who she calls “babe” on her way out. Roxy ends up being distracted by Eve’s videos and talking to her online, saying that Eve is just doing magic tricks but Roxy is the one with true power.
Meanwhile, Margot’s family is going through it. Her son is having his mind entirely rotted by UrbanDox and Jos is the only one who seems to be appropriately concerned about it. The family fight eventually leads to him posting the video of Jos’s boyfriend.
When Jos finally sees this post, she’s furious, and almost zaps her brother again, but Margot steps in and uses HER power to counter it, outing herself to the rest of the family, who react poorly.
Eve’s girls see the news with Eve’s real name and supposed crime, and Sister Veronica goes to call the police but Eve stops her. The voice in her head tells her to “change her mind” so she tries to do just that, but she ends up sort of frying her brain and she stumbles around in a stupor for a few hours before bleeding from the eyes and dropping to the ground.
Over in England, Roxy finishes celebrating her 18th birthday by visiting her mom’s salon, where she finds out that her mother had a boyfriend she didn’t know about. At the end of the day, her oldest brother gives her enough money to fuck off and tells her that her dad was the one who insisted Roxy be at the wedding and not at her apartment the day her mother was murdered.
Over in Moldova, Tunde pretends to be a journalist’s photographer to try to get close to Tatiana to tell her that her sister Zoia is the leader of the rebellion of women who escaped sex trafficking, and that she just gave birth to a baby girl. After this meeting, which ends with Tunde being imprisoned because the journalist is a scumbag, Tatiana’s husband is spitting vitriol about the women in the rebellion, and also kicks Tatiana’s dog for no reason, so Tatiana bashes his head in. Then she calls her assistant in, shocks her to death, and frames her for the murder. In a brilliant bit of acting, she calmly surveys the scene, makes a frantic-sounding phone call about it, hangs up, walks over to the fountain to splash water on her face, coolly inspects her handiwork, then takes up screaming and crying again as the guards pour in. Chef’s kiss.
Boobs on Your Tube: Alycia Debnam-Carey’s Best Friend Is Queer in “Saint X”
Well I hope the lesbians among us have enjoyed being seen this week, and that you, like me, are excited to go back to our lives of invisible crime now that Lesbian Visibility Week is over. Jewel heists, here I come! But first, please do enjoy this list of 20 TV moments that changed lesbian visibility forever.
Lots of Yellowjackets shenanigans this week. Christina Grace wondered how she could make these Yellowjackets happy. Kayla gave us some Antler Queen theories. And Liz Hewson announced that they won’t be submitting to the Emmys because of the gendered categories. Also! Pink Ladies business! Carmen reviewed the new series, Rise of the Pink Ladies. And Drew spoke to Ari Notartomaso about their role on the show. Natalie wrote about Stef and Lena’s return to Good Trouble this week. Heather wrote about the Disney+ docu-series, Matildas: The World at Our Feet. Drew had some ideas for Rachel Weisz’s next career moves. And Sai reviewed the new Judy Blume documentary.
Notes from the TV Team:
+ I’ve got something coming at you tomorrow morning about this week’s Ted Lasso! — Heather
Saint X Episode 101-103
Written by Valerie Anne
“I’ve just always felt I was mean to be a leader. A commander, even. I can’t explain it.”
One thing about me is that all you have to do to get me to watch a show I otherwise wasn’t interested in is tell me an actress I like is in it. Which is how I came to watch Saint X starring Alycia Debnam-Carey. And I’m here to report back on my findings.
Saint X is about a young woman, Emily Thomas (ADC), who moves to a Caribbean neighborhood in Brooklyn about 15 years after her older sister died on a Caribbean island while their family was on vacation. The island authorities ruled it an accident, but the Thomas family remained convinced it was an unsolved murder. In fact, they’re pretty sure they know exactly which of the resort employees were involved, even though as we watch the events of the past unfold, I have at least three (white) suspects that are higher on my list than them.
Alycia Debman-Carey isn’t the only draw for queer folks: Emily’s best friend is a gay woman named Sunita. So far she’s mostly there to express concerns about Emily spiraling out about her sister, retriggered by seeing a man named Gogo that her and Sunita are 100% convinced murdered her sister. Emily and Sunita have been friends at least since college, and seem to work together at a job about…bears? Emily decides to torment Gogo and Sunita decides to help her; if you can’t stop ’em, join ’em, I guess.
Here is truth #1: It’s not the best-written show on television. It’s a little bit of a White Lotus dupe, if I’m being honest. There are some lines that made it clear to me before I knew for sure that it’s an adaptation of a book. (For example, when Emily got in Gogo’s cab, she later told Sunita, “There he was driving a cab like nothing happened,” as if she wasn’t also in a cab like nothing happened.) There also were some scenes and moments that made me say, “Hm, I wonder if this story was made by a straight white woman.” And it was; the author of the book and the credited creator of the show. Though, to their credit, there are some Black executive producers, including Dee Rees and… :checks notes: Drake? And from my quick scan of the Wikipedia their writing staff isn’t 100% white either so. That’s reassuring.
Truth #2: I’m probably going to watch this whole show. Dropping the first three episodes was smart, because I’m not sure I would have picked it back up with a week between the first two episodes, but after 3, even though it’s not entirely my jam, I’m intrigued enough by the mystery that I feel compelled to stay until it’s solved.
Survivor 4409 “Under the Wing of a Dragon”
Written by Anya!
Camp Counselor Carolyn
This episode starts with an element of Survivor we don’t get to see much of with the shortened season (26 days instead of 39) — pure, unadulterated socializing. The tribemates have a day off, and everyone is just chilling (except Danny, who seems to only have time for searching for idols — I think this will ultimately hurt him!).
In some ways, nothing much happens during this time off — but in other ways, I think this just might determine the outcome of the rest of the show. Simply put, this is Carolyn’s social hour. She’s making everyone laugh and bond just by being herself. She tells them about her past, her sobriety, her family, and after opening up, asks the group, “Who here has felt like the weird kid?” and everyone audibly responds!
Carolyn is out here healing the group, inspiring Frannie to embrace her inner weirdo, and being her whole self.
All with a secret idol in her pocket. That no one knows about. Come on, that’s how you win.
After social hour, we head to the challenge — it’s also pouring rain so this whole thing truly feels like torture. I’m gonna cut to the chase here — four people sit out to earn the tribe rice, and the rest compete. It comes down to, you guessed it, Frannie and Danny. And guess who freaking pulls it off again, despite her whole body shaking? FRANNIE!!! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — she’s a challenge beast. Also, I hate to admit how much I enjoy seeing Danny come in second once again, losing first to Lauren and then to Frannie. Sorry Danny, maybe you should’ve focused on aligning with the gals instead of day-dreaming about your bro alliance!
There’s a lot of mishegas back at camp that bleeds into Tribal council — this group is chaotic and they know it. Danny, Heidi and Kane all get votes on them — and Kane ends up going home (with Jaime’s fake idol, which kills me, personally). I felt pretty neutral about Kane this whole time, but I am obsessed with his closer: “Enjoy your rice, you b******!”
Fantasy Island Episode 211: “Peaches & the Jilted Bride”
Written by Valerie Anne
“I know what you are.” “Say it. Out loud. Say it!”
The Guest of the Week is Laura, who was left at the altar because of her overbearing parents. I will not be going into detail about it even though it was cute because there are gay shenanigans to discuss. Laura was played by Jessy Schram, who looks like if Brittany Snow and Anna Camp had a baby, and Kyla Pratt played Peaches, Laura’s childhood imaginary friend come to life.
Elena finds Ruby on a lounge chair on the beach, where she fell asleep waiting for Isla. Ruby asks Elena for insight and Elena says if someone shows you who they are, you should believe them, but Ruby feels unsatisfied with that response. Elena decides to throw a dinner party for Ruby to cheer her up, and Ruby muses about Peaches and says she’s glad Elena is her wingman. Elena’s face looks pained because she knows she’s been the exact opposite of a wingman.
Later that day, Ruby finds herself by the sea again, but this time Isla does appear. Isla says she’s not supposed to be here, but that she loves Ruby. They embrace, and end up spending the night together, reunited at last. Isla admits Elena told her to stay away, because her people have a complicated history with the Rourkes. Ruby asks Isla who, or what, she really is, and Isla just says, “I think you already know.”
Ruby confronts Elena about lying, and says she doesn’t care that her girlfriend is a mermaid. Elena points out she’s more of a siren, and that she’s dangerous. Elena says Ruby can’t trust Isla, but Ruby feels like Elena is the one she can’t trust.
Ruby and Isla float in the ocean, and Isla asks Ruby to stay with her…forever. To become…like her. Isla kisses Ruby to sweeten the deal, but says Ruby has to be the one to decide.
After talking to Javier, Elena realizes she can’t make decisions for other people and apologizes to Ruby. Ruby appreciates it, but doesn’t fully forgive her; Ruby tells her Isla asked her to become a mermaid, and while Elena makes it clear she hates this decision, she promises not to interfere.
Elena tries to change the subject and asks Ruby about her and Mel’s wedding. It takes Ruby a minute to remember who Mel even is, which she brushes off as she wanders away, but Elena looks increasingly concerned.
The Power Episode 106: “The Baptism”
Written by Valerie Anne
Hello, new friend! Welcome to the cult!
This week lesbian gangster Roxy meets up with some girls in an alley, and charges them 20 quid for a lesson; at first the price seems steep, but soon they’re using lightning fists to spar and they realize it’s worth it.
She’s still living with her father, despite her stepmother hating it, and her dad tells her that he might put her in the will, and sends her out on a job with her oldest half-brother to test her. Her brother tells her to let him do the talking, but Roxy uses her powers to threaten a guy who owes her dad money, zapping the pool he’s in, not enough to kill him, just enough to make him shit himself; she’s willing to weaponize her powers, but it has to be on her terms.
Meanwhile, Eve watches the news about the guy who died in front of Margot and Jos, and about UrbanDox. The voice in her head says that maybe she can have influence like that, so she teaches one of her girls how to channel her anger to use her powers better. Only one of our baby gays is really around this time, pleased to be cured of her seizure disorder, but a new non-binary teen is added to the group. While the group is at the beach, Eve realizes that while her friends are in the water, she can use her powers to control them, so she performs a public baptism, allowing some of the other girls to record it, to help spread the word of her new religion. Because there’s “never been a god for girls like us,” and I guess Eve is ready to be that god, or at least the vessel for one.
Tatiana has a weirdly sexual moment with her hairstylist, but it wasn’t cute or fun. She dresses the girl up as her and they dance around and for a while it seems innocent enough, albeit dark; a woman who is tired of her identity being this fake persona she’s been forced to wear since she was a teenager ‘trades places’ with a hairdresser. Things take a turn when the hairdresser asks her to help get her brother out of jail; Tatiana then pins the other woman to the bed and kisses her awkwardly. It’s gross and bad.
But Tatiana’s luck is perhaps about to change since her sister is free from sex trafficking, and has had her baby, and is being interviewed by Tunde, who is going to help her see her sister again.
Last up is Jos, who is understandably a little traumatized from watching a man light himself on fire. She’s losing control of her spark so she watches YouTube tutorials of Roxy teaching how to channel the spark while sparring. As she gains some release from this, Jos’s boyfriend shows up, using his spark to light up a string of Christmas bulbs in the shape of a heart. He says they’re in this together, and they make up…but Jos’s UrbanDox-obsessed brother recorded her boyfriend using his spark, so I’m sure that won’t end well.
All American 517: “Mask Off”
Written by Natalie
Since performing at the quinceañera, Patience has been struggling with reconciling OG Patience — the indie, bohemian songstress — with Patience 2.0, the glitzy, glamorous version that’s won her so many fans. But everytime she talks about embracing her past self, about walking away from what she’s achieved, Patience convinces herself that she sounds ridiculous. She presses on with a half-hearted embrace of Patience 2.0 as she prepares for an interview about her upcoming tour.
Thanks to some last minute re-scheduling, Layla leaves the interview wrangling to Skye…who, honestly, I thought this show had forgotten they hired as the social media manager. She shows up, before the interview, with salads for her and Patience and the songstress asks about Coop. Reluctant to get Coop’s ex involved in their complicated relationship, Skye is scant on details but admits that they are taking a break. She quickly pivots back to preparing for the interview.
But, ultimately, interview only reaffirms Patience’s discomfort. The interviewer touts how Patience’s promotional make-up tutorials and IG filters have got her fans feeling more confident about themselves. She assures him that the next phase will be bigger and flashier because “that’s what Patience 2.0 is all about.” The interviewer celebrates Patience dropping the “girl next door” persona and embracing her new-found edge. It all hits wrong for Patience who laments afterwards that she’s not a fan of this new version of herself.
“It just doesn’t feel right projecting this message that people need to change themselves to feel better…I just want people to know their true identities are equally as fierce and I can’t do that if I’m not even being me,” Patience concedes.
Skye asks Patience to reimagine her hit song, “Fire and Ice,” with an acoustic guitar and, as she strums, Patience starts to fill up with the light she’s been missing. She calls Layla to pitch this new idea — Fire and Ice, unplugged — and seeing how happy her friend is, Layla embraces the idea wholeheartedly. Left alone, Patience thanks Skye for the idea and Skye thanks Patience for reminding her to always fight for herself. But then, Skye misreads the moment and leans in and kisses her. Patience immediately pulls back, questions Skye and leaves before she can offer a response.
Unfortunately for them both, this kiss likely won’t remain a secret for long: Patience’s stan/stalker, Miko, remotely recorded the entire incident.
A Million Little Things 512: “Tough Stuff”
Written by Natalie
As a general rule, I hate baby storylines for queer characters. It’s not that I hate the idea of queer characters on television becoming parents or that I secretly don’t like children. Neither of those things are true. But the reality is that, historically, baby storylines have been used as a way to sideline queer characters. It’s a way to avoid showing intimacy between queer characters. Also? Baby storylines feel like the lowest of low-hanging fruit, the refuge of writers who — after telling a love story — can’t think of another idea. So, I hate baby storylines. I hated it on Station 19 and a big part of me hates on A Million Little Things.
I hate that Greta gets a call, out of the blue, from her ex-wife, Julia, to tell her about frozen eggs that we’d never heard of until this point. We’ve never seen Greta express any interest in having kids. Surely, if the writers were genuinely interested in telling that story (and they clearly aren’t) they could’ve mentioned it when Greta was anxious about stepping up as Theo’s guardian. I hate that Katherine is surprised by this revelation about Greta’s frozen eggs…as if they wouldn’t have had a conversation about having kids just like any straight couple would (in fact, I’d submit that queer people are more likely to have that conversation because of the hurdles they’ll face). And, of course, I hate that this is the storyline they pivot to almost immediately after Greta and Katherine get married. Yes, there’s a time jump (just as there was on Station 19) but still, I hate it.
But when Katherine settles next to Greta on the couch, to talk about the frozen embryoes she never knew about, I’m not surprised by how the conversation goes. And, perhaps more importantly, I don’t entirely hate it.
Greta explains that she’d frozen her eggs ten years ago but never made use of them because Julia had been nervous about Greta passing on her bipolar disorder to their child. Reflecting on how difficult it’d been to manage her condition, Greta had come to agree…and so she put the thought of motherhood and those eggs out of her mind. And while Katherine leaves the decision about having a child to Greta, she assures her wife that any kid would be lucky to have a mother like her. Katherine notes that if her child did inherit her bipolar, she’d have Greta there to help them so they wouldn’t have to struggle. She adds, “if [motherhood] is something that you wanted, I want that for you too.”
I don’t entirely hate it because this entire storyline, however convoluted it is, happens against the backdrop of Katherine’s best friend — everyone’s best friend, really — Gary dying. His cancer has returned and, though Gary fights as hard as he can and does everything he could possibly do, death seems imminent. Katherine actually helps Gary prepare his last will and testament and he asks her to keep it secret from the group. Much of the episode is spent with everyone trying to say their goodbyes to the guy that’s kept this friend group together through a sheer force of will. It’s heartbreaking.
So, I’m not thrilled about this miraculous baby storyline but, also, I get it: a little bit of joy in the midst of a whole lotta heartbreak.