GLOW Season 2: Where to go next for the rest of season 3?
By Wesley Lara
GLOW has just premiered its second season on Netflix, and after glowing reviews from both general audiences and critics, one has to wonder what will be next for the GLOW girls in season 3?
Never has the wrestling world received such a human approach to the backstage struggles and hurdles that come with the industry than with the Netflix series, GLOW. Focusing on the eccentric (and oftentimes offensive) characters of the rising wrestling promotion, GLOW, and the people behind those characters, GLOW has hit the marks of a progressive and well-realized drama-comedy that covered everything from backstage politics to the sleaziness that can infect the colorful world of professional wrestling.
Season 2 of GLOW saw the progression of the promotion with the All-American Girl, Liberty Belle, leading the show with hated Russian sympathizer, Zoya the Destroya, hot on her tail. Behind the scenes, the drama between Ruth Wilder (Alison Brie) and Debbie Eagan (Betty Gilpin) is still lingering, following the infidelity troubles from the first season. We also get a glimpse into the reigning world champion from the end of last season, Welfare Queen, or Tamme Dawson (Kia Stevens), as well as a couple of new revelations for previously established, as well as new, characters.
The season has premiered and fans of the show have had enough time to binge on GLOW for the week, but the end of the season has only left fans craving more, following the final events that lead to a new change-up for the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. What could this mean going forward for season 3? Let us discuss!
Spoilers for both seasons of GLOW will be mentioned, so read at your own risk!
Love triangle galore
To kick things off, we have one of, if not the main star GLOW, Ruth (Alison Brie), heading into the next season with a drastically different mindset compared to last season. The awkwardness between Ruth and Debbie, while still present, has seemed to mostly fade away, despite the dangerous peak it reached with Debbie breaking Ruth’s ankle out of frustration and grogginess from her cocaine use. The two used the hospital scare to vent their frustrations at each other, which was seemingly all they needed to try and patch things up for the rest of the season.
While her drama with Debbie is looking to take a backseat for the time being, Ruth is unfortunately being built into entering another potential drama storm with her newfound relationship with cameraman, Russell. The two, having bonded over their shared passion for cinema, ended the season as a seemingly happy couple, despite Ruth having to leave with the GLOW girls to restart their show in Las Vegas.
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However, as episode 9, “Rosalie”, revealed, her feelings may not be devoted entirely onto Russell, as a close encounter with showrunner, Sam Sylvia, opened up new doors for her, even though the two never actually kissed. The feelings were nevertheless quite clear for both characters and the two, having bonded over the season due to their shared frustration with making the show the best it can be, seem to acknowledge that briefly before Ruth backs out and goes after Russell instead.
Whether she genuinely had feelings for Sam or if he simply came on too strong (which is also likely given his tendency to do so), it seems like a given that GLOW will delve deeper into this heading into the third season.
Headed for destruction?
A wrestling promotion often sinks or swims based on the popularity and marketability of its main star and right now, GLOW has that in spades with Debbie Eagan’s beloved American hero, Liberty Belle. But the smiling patriot is anything but smiles behind the camera, as season 2 revealed a frustrated and increasingly stressed Debbie making herself a producer on the show. Being a producer surely sounds nice, but with her status as a woman on a male-dominated crew, “producer” is nothing more than a nice title.
Debbie’s struggles to have her voice heard are increased with her complicated relationship with her now ex-husband, who shares joint custody with their child. Her priorities as the star of GLOW cause her to reduce her maternal priorities, despite trying hard to balance both. The stress leads to not only literally fracturing part of her friendship with Ruth, but at home, going as far as to sell almost all of the items in her home after a simple phone-call asking for her bed model.
Though Debbie seems to be in a clearer mindset by the end of the season, that may not be the case, seeing as her commute to Vegas will grant her even less time with her child. With her cocaine use now revealed to the audience, it becomes worrisome to see how things will end up for Debbie in season 3. The stress of being a star and a mother and a good friend/work mate with her colleagues might be too much for Debbie to handle, but it remains to be seen just how GLOW’s top star will thrive or crash next season.
“Is it safe to come out yet?”
GLOW can best be described as a forward-thinking show on a not-so-forward thinking time period in the professional wrestling industry. Women served a backseat role to the male-dominated area of entertainment and dreams of grand machismo and manliness took precedence over honest and thoughtful portrayals of real people. But GLOW is shaping up to be a trailblazing wrestling promotion thanks to its inclusive roster and crew.
Firstly, there’s the newest addition to the roster, Yolanda (Shakira Barrera), who takes over the mantle of Junkchain after Cherry Bang briefly leaves the promotion. Yolanda is revealed to be an open lesbian early on in her introduction, jokingly flirting with some of her co-workers. As such, this marks the first openly gay character to appear in GLOW in a major role.
However, thanks to her increasingly strong bond with Arthie “Beirut the Mad Bomber” Premkumar (Sunita Mani), it appears that Arthie has discovered her sexuality as well, sharing a kiss with Yolanda during the final episode of the season for GLOW’s series finale. Though the relationship hasn’t had much development, this is still something for season 3 to truly pinpoint some focus on, considering its progressive nature for the time period.
An even more interesting angle for GLOW to explore is the curious case of Sebastian “Bash” Howard (Chris Lowell), one of the main producers of the show. He has mostly been built up as a spoiled rich boy who enjoys splurging to accommodate his lavish lifestyle (with the help of his wealthy mother’s money of course). However, season 2 peeled back the character to reveal an energetic man with a true passion for professional wrestling. The death of his butler (the lovable Florian) has also strongly hinted at Bash’s true sexuality, given his devastated reaction to the news of his death (which also hints to AIDS being the contributing factor). He ends season 2 of GLOW by marrying Rhonda “Britannica” Richardson to allow for her to receive a green card, but season 3 is almost guaranteed to dig into the true representation of Sebastian Howard.
Conclusion
GLOW has quickly become a Netflix sensation, thanks to its quirky humor, committed wrestling sequences and thoughtful narrative. It’s the narrative, in particular, that has done a wonderful job in touching on sensitive topics like abortion, sexual exploitation in the professional wrestling industry, same-sex relationships, backstage politics, and more. Season 2 was the truest example of how a show on professional wrestling can bring depth and thoughtful discussions towards these topics without solely being used as pure exploitation.
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The sky is truly the limit in terms of where GLOW is going to head coming into season 3. These are the predictions that make the most sense, but GLOW has a tendency to catch the audience off-guard at their most vulnerable, hitting them hard with the feels at the most crucial moments. The show can be emotionally gut-punching, but the fantastic work of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling is sure to make even the most disgusting moments easier to get through, with the show being something of a comedy at its core. It is a comedy with heart and here’s to hoping that season 3 will continue that trend.
Seasons 1 and 2 of GLOW are available to stream now on Netflix!