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S02E04: Mother of All Matches 2018.06.29


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"What is a mother without her child?  JUST.  A.  PERSON!!!!!!"  Insightful, Bash.  That's why they pay you the big bucks!

Great episode for Kia Stevens and Betty Gilpin.  It was interesting seeing that even that the "loser" of the match is winning in real life with her son going to Stanford and even though him finding out the truth and seeing her wrestler brought up some complications, they still love and support each other.  Meanwhile, Debbie's personal life seems to be on shaky ground as she goes off on a tangent/selling spree, only to forget about her son at daycare, and then find out that the only reason Mark even wanted the same mattress was to hopefully make things easier on their son.

Oh, I bet Sam is going to "love" that Ruth found some way to get herself into the spotlight again.  In her defense though, it needed to happen since the crowd was clearly beginning to turn on Debbie

I'm always impressed over how much of the wrestling moves the actresses themselves seem to be doing.

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I really, really like how they focused on two characters here. Debbie and Tamme are really strong characters, and I like that they gave the 30+ minutes to them. I liked Tamme's plot with her son. I like that their more complicated relationship was still filled with love and understanding. At the end of the match, the disappointment she must have felt when she realized that the show was treating her like a joke was heartbreaking, especially with her son witnessing it happen. It was probably the first time she really had to face the racism inflicted into the show, and onto her character. But having her son accept it probably meant the world to her, even if she knows this isn't what she'd want for him. 

Meanwhile, Debbie loses it in the constant battle with her ex husband by selling all her furniture and, thus, forgetting her son at daycare. It was a nice lesson for Debbie to realize she needs to really deal with all those feelings about her ex.

Of course, the match was pretty solid but I'm glad that Ruth helped set up the next "story arc" with Liberty Bell. No surprise she took the reigns, but she had to think quickly after the audience was starting to turn.

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I had a hard time believing that the audience would turn on Liberty Belle so quickly. Wrestling crowds in the '80s weren't exactly known for their sympathetic treatment of villainous characters. 

That said, my heart broke for Tamme when Liberty Belle put the apron on her.

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(edited)

Cool format for this episode, focusing completely on Debbie and Tammé. It's nice to see Tammé get some backstory and to see Kia Stevens do a bit more acting. Hopefully we'll get more on some of the other characters as well, as the season goes on.

They've done a good job of making Liberty Belle just as obnoxious and arrogant as Hulk Hogan was. It's not that we know what Debbie is like, behind the scenes, it's that Liberty Belle just comes across as fake-nice. I can understand how modern audiences would turn on her in an instant (and in modern wrestling, a character like her would always be a heel), but in the 80s? Wrestling audiences seemed far more invested in the babyface archetypes. It just felt false that the audience would shift that quickly just because of the "get a job" thing.

They've also done a good job of giving these characters layers, so I can find Debbie a real chore, while also feeling bad for her. She's really going through a tough time. I'm not going to complain about them showing Betty Gilpin in her underwear, though.

Tammé's son going to Stanford was a really cool turn of events. She's done a great job of raising him, and I really liked the dynamic between them. I liked that Earnest was upset on his mother's behalf, for playing a character like Welfare Queen, but also upset because of the cultural message that's behind the character. But ultimately, he supports her just as she's always supported him.

"I'm not the only offensive character. Everyone's offensive!" Well, that's hard to argue.

It was a really nice juxtaposition between two single mothers, at very different stages of their lives. And I suppose the message is that single mothers can do an amazing job of raising children, even if it feels impossible at times. So that's something for Debbie to focus on.

Good save by Ruth, to play the evil Soviet, kidnapping children. And I loved the "I'm on the show, can I borrow her?" "Sure."

Edited by Danny Franks
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I think the 80s audience turned so quickly against Liberty Bell, not because of the overt racism, but because suddenly their villain, Welfare Queen, didn’t roar back or claim she would wear the crown again- but teared up in the pain and humiliation.

Welfare Queen became a person to the audience. She became Tammie. It was a beautiful performance by Tia Stevens.

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10 hours ago, BeckyThatcher said:

I think the 80s audience turned so quickly against Liberty Bell, not because of the overt racism, but because suddenly their villain, Welfare Queen, didn’t roar back or claim she would wear the crown again- but teared up in the pain and humiliation.

Welfare Queen became a person to the audience. She became Tammie. It was a beautiful performance by Tia Stevens.

I'm sure that's what the writers were going for. I just didn't find it realistic. Wrestling audiences in the eighties were brutal, and I can't buy that they would shift their support toward a baddie - especially a self-proclaimed "welfare queen" designed to push all of their rage buttons - just because she started to look sad.

The guys screaming at Beirut and wishing her dead in season 1 seemed much more accurate to me.

I guess it's possible that the audience for GLOW was a lot more mature and sensitive than other wrestling audiences, but the writers haven't given us any indication of that. The crowds we've seen have loved to hate the over-the-top stereotypical villains.

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Bash's commentary during the match was hilarious. Every time he plugged Patio Town, I totally cracked up - especially when he said, "That chair broke like a pile of twigs - sponsored by Patio Town!" Obviously what everyone wants to buy is a chair that will break like a pile of twigs. But his comment about how a mother without a child is just a person was the best!

I really liked that this entire episode focused on just Tammé and Debbie with no distractions about Sam or whatever drama was going on with the other girls. I know they won't do that every episode, so it was a nice shift.

I loved how proud Tammé was of Ernest for being at Stanford. One thing I learned from watching Jerry Springer in my youth was asking a kid, "What does your mother think of you doing _____?" so it was interesting to see that turned on its head with Tammé embarrassed to tell her son that her new job is a bad stereotype. For most of last season, I think a lot of the girls were able to kind of brush aside their discomfort with their characters because they were the only ones seeing it during practice. But now that they're on tv and they know other people are seeing these characters, they're less comfortable with what they've been told to portray (especially Tammé when she actually met someone who watched the show). I still wish poor Arthie had been able to rid herself of her terrorist character.

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Just a reminder that even though all of this season's episodes were posted at the same time, not everyone watches them at the same pace. Any plot details from later in the season are to be left behind spoiler tags, or better yet, left out of the earlier episode threads entirely.

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How old is Randy supposed to be? Betty Gilpin's body is amazing for a new mom. 

It's cute that we got to see Tamme and her son. I'm glad they didn't just make that a throwaway line. He's so handsome. I know we just met Ernest but he seems like a good son. I want all the good things for him. 

"Last week you called me up just to listen to you clean out your purse." XD

I get Debbie selling all their things as a gag on this show but as a real world thing, it feels like she's having a mental breakdown. Are they still getting a divorce? Surely that can't be okay without consulting Mark. Also, she has no furniture now???

The stirrup pants. Forgot about those.

The over the top acting in the ring from Liberty Bell and Welfare Queen was really fun. But weirdly for a match with a professional wrestler, the moves looked more staged than usual. 

That was heartbreaking watching Ernest and Tamme during that fight. Though I don't believe the crowd would have actually turned after Welfare Queen ran off. An 80's crowd? Come on.

Ruth's quick thinking was great but in reality, it would be insane to grab a kid and film all of that before waivers and release forms and contracts and whatever. 

"What's a mother without a child? Just a person." XD Oh, Bash.

Aw, Ernest swallowed his disdain to support his mom. My heart! Nothing must happen to this precious boy.

Mark would have been within his rights to hit her with a tough divorce. That was quite a stunt. Debbie does not look like a responsible parent right now even if she preserved Randy's room.

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They've done a good job of making Liberty Belle just as obnoxious and arrogant as Hulk Hogan was. It's not that we know what Debbie is like, behind the scenes, it's that Liberty Belle just comes across as fake-nice. 

This is a good point. Liberty Belle might be the face but she's also Miss America in some of the worst ways... especially with this being the 80's. I'm curious what GLOW would be like in 2019 if they could have actually social commentary and not Sam's nonsense version of it. 

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