S01.E06: This Is One of Those Moments

[The Crazed Spruce]

Sam searches for the perfect "heel" to fight Debbie, but she's tough to please. To hone her act, Ruth tags along with Gregory to a family function.

[thuganomics85]

Not surprised that Ruth was going to be Debbie's "heel", but I still liked all the failed attempts like "The Viking" lady actually being too harsh since she thinks she should have been the All-American, and everyone rooting for Tamme/The Welfare Queen, even though she is actually suppose to be the bad guy.  But Debbie/Ruth is go going to happen, and I can't wait!  Hope we start getting more of Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin together going forward.

Ruth acting a fool at the Russian party (in order to get in character!) was cringeworthy, but something I'd expect from Ruth.  At least she got on everyone's good side with some Barbara Streisand singing!  Really enjoy the actor playing the Russian motel manager.  Got a kick out of the running "I have a woman.  Sometimes..." gag.

Justine gets in a spat with pizza boy after he disrespects Sam, only to find out about Sam/Rhonda, and now she's stealing his video camera, I think?  What are you doing, Justine?!

[OnceSane]

I loved the Russian family looking at Ruth like she'd lost her damn mind.  And poor guy who had his briss! 

I knew Debbie would have a problem with the other heel choices; they weren't willing to make her look good when she hadn't put in the work.

Oh Justine…I'm pretty sure you have a crush on Sam despite your new pizza boy.  But I'm also pretty sure you're lying about your age so any Sam stuff would be statutory.  Leave him alone (or with Rhonda for a quick bang).

[Lady Calypso]

I do like how Sam blatantly told Debbie that Ruth was her "heel" and Debbie doing everything in her power to find another heel. Plus, Ruth's "audition" at the beginning was pretty funny. It's endearing to see her want to be committed to the role, but it's clear that most find her irritating at the surface. Sam, at least, is getting to know Ruth better so they're starting to bond.

I guess Justine does have a crush on Sam, but they implied that she is underage, she looks underage, so she probably is going to be discovered to be fifteen or sixteen. I am intrigued by Justine and her backstory, at least. Her new boyfriend seems alright, though it doesn't seem like it'll last much longer. I was hoping that Justine's infatuation is more about his work, rather than him as a person. She barely knows Sam, after all, so maybe if she gets to know him better, she'd see that she's not actually interested in him. It would be odd for them to get her a boyfriend, only to have her break up with him or cheat on him. 

"I have woman...sometimes" was surprisingly entertaining.

I loved the Ruth/Debbie skit at the end. It goes to show that they're perfect to work together, and it will probably help out with their issues.

[SeanC]

After Debbie's conversation with Steel Horse in the previous episode about the relationship between the hero and the heel, I was kind of expecting she'd come around to the idea of Ruth being her heel on her own, rather than needing the hard sell on it next episode.  But it's not like it doesn't make sense, and the various attempts to find an alternative dynamic were funny (I guess if the GLOW program was being made today with a similarly kinda-racist attitude, it would be Liberty Belle versus the terrorist character).

Ruth at the Russian Jewish gathering was a bit random, but I enjoyed it.

[The Companion]

8 minutes ago, SeanC said:

After Debbie's conversation with Steel Horse in the previous episode about the relationship between the hero and the heel, I was kind of expecting she'd come around to the idea of Ruth being her heel on her own, rather than needing the hard sell on it next episode.  But it's not like it doesn't make sense, and the various attempts to find an alternative dynamic were funny (I guess if the GLOW program was being made today with a similarly kinda-racist attitude, it would be Liberty Belle versus the terrorist character).

Ruth at the Russian Jewish gathering was a bit random, but I enjoyed it.

It seemed like she had gotten there or was on her way to me too. I loved the pairings as well. It was entertaining to see what didn't work. 

[tennisgurl]

Ruth at the party with Gregory's Russian family was so cringe worthy and awkward, it turned around and became hilarious. Loved the "I have a woman...sometimes" running joke, and his bored annoyance with Ruth and her ridiculousness, as well as his family being like "why did you bring this weirdo to a family thing?" until she saved the day by singing Yentel songs! While the Evil Russian character Ruth has is definitely a winner (I mean, for GLOW), I would kind of love watching Ruth go to various events of people of ethnicities she is playing, acting like a total idiot while talking about how she wants to accurately recreate their respective cultures. Ruth really is kind of an asshole, but I still really like her.

I have two theories for Justine and her fangirl obsession with Sam. She might have a crush on him (with blowing off her new boyfriend and his fabulous 80s hair and acting jealous about him sleeping with Rhonda), or she might be his daughter (she seems like she might be the right age, she has been obsessed with him WAY more than most people who are just fans of an obscure sloch director), and I kind of hope its the daughter thing.  Justine seems like she's probably underage, and while I don't think Sam would sleep with a teenager, I'm not totally sure, and I don't even want to see the start of that. Gross.

[Duke2801]

Ok this was my favorite episode so far!  Ruth's cringe-worthy behavior at the family reunion - complete with Yentl performance! - combined with her conversations with Gregory, and her whole one-woman audition at the beginning were just aces. 

The running joke that Ruth was a prostitute tickled me as well. 

I knew I'd seen Gregory before and then it hit me -- he was on The Americans (duh!)

[snowwhyte]

He also played an evil Russian ship captain in The Last Ship. Am sad to say that's why I recognized him.

[dubbel zout]

On 6/26/2017 at 11:42 PM, SeanC said:

After Debbie's conversation with Steel Horse in the previous episode about the relationship between the hero and the heel, I was kind of expecting she'd come around to the idea of Ruth being her heel on her own, rather than needing the hard sell on it next episode.

As Steel Horse said, the hero and heel have to completely trust each other, and Debbie wasn't there yet. I think she also wasn't quite all in with wrestling in general, despite her earlier epiphany.

[Cheezwiz]

Alison Brie must be having a blast taking on all of these weird personas on top of the semi-annoying character she's already playing. I thought the whole Russian family gathering with her as the weird random guest (possible hooker) was hilarious - the actor who plays Gregory is wonderful. He has that whole world-weary bored Russian demeanour down perfectly.

Not sure what Justine is up to, or why she's stolen Sam's camera.

[dubbel zout]

8 hours ago, Cheezwiz said:

the actor who plays Gregory is wonderful. He has that whole world-weary bored Russian demeanour down perfectly.

His amazing face gets him 90 percent of the way there on its own. (And it helps that Ravil Isyanov is actually Russian-born and -raised.)

Edited July 3, 2017 by dubbel zout

[PatternRec]

 "Babies are boring. They don't party; they don't travel; they have no sense of irony..."

:D 

[Primetimer]

And Ruth shows just how much vodka she can handle.

View the full article

[DrSpaceman73]

I liked this episode and I like the show so far. 

My only complaint is the stories for the secondary characters are a bit lacking. 

I love Allison Brie as an actress and I know with a new show like this, you focus on the known talent.  But I think they need to do more than what they have so far with the other female characters. 

[Clanstarling]

On 6/26/2017 at 5:43 PM, Lady Calypso said:

"I have woman...sometimes" was surprisingly entertaining.

The first time was amusing, and then it just got funnier and funnier as he added reasons why his "sometimes" woman gets ticked off at him.

On 6/28/2017 at 11:51 AM, Duke2801 said:

I knew I'd seen Gregory before and then it hit me -- he was on The Americans (duh!)

I don't know why, at this point, I don't automatically think "familiar looking Russian guy" = "The Americans".

[Milburn Stone]

On 7/3/2017 at 1:19 AM, Cheezwiz said:

Alison Brie must be having a blast taking on all of these weird personas on top of the semi-annoying character she's already playing.

She's killin' it! (In a good way.)

[heat]

Are we ever getting episode 7-10 podcasts?

[The Crazed Spruce]

10 hours ago, heat said:

Are we ever getting episode 7-10 podcasts?

Apparently not. Not enough listeners. (I think it might've just been the two of us.) :(

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Awwww, I kind of love Gregory now. And OF COURSE Billy has a zine. 

I loved Sam's random story about the Russian woman he dated as the explanation for why he knew about the metal thing that was missing from Ruth's cup.

I can totally see how dealing with Ruth in person could be exhausting and annoying, but as a character on my screen, she totally cracks me up. As stereotypical as it is, her commitment to creating these new personas in the name of ACTING amuses me.

[aradia22]

I'm already loving Alison Brie's so bad it's good Russian accent.

Alison had so much Annie energy going through her routine. I get that Debbie is still upset but she's being pointlessly obtuse about denying how great Ruth would be as her counterpart. Even though she moved into the motel, I think part of the problem is there's no desperation. She's choosing to be apart from her husband. She's not desperate to make ends meet because she fully left her husband and has no resources and needs to make GLOW work out. Again, I don't love this whole drama because it wastes time we could be spending with the other characters who ARE just fully committed to the project of making this show work instead of caught up in personal feelings.

I like that things have progressed with Justine and the pizza guy but I don't really care if he thinks Sam's movies are good. It's a weird character choice for her to be obsessed with Sam's movies. Clearly everyone else thinks they're schlock. 

Sam had a point. Liberty Bell could go up against Welfare Queen but LB would be the heel. LB vs. Beirut would also be interesting. 

Love that Ruth ended up as bris entertainment singing Yentl. XD

Glad things finally came together in the final fight. Took them long enough.