Review: GLOW Season 1
GLOW is a Netflix
series. It is based on the popular 1980’s women’s wrestling program, Gorgeous
Ladies Of Wrestling. It stars Alison Brie, Kia Stevens, Ellen Wong, Chris
Lowell and more. It also features guest cameo appearances by professional
wrestling stars Joey Ryan, Brooke Hogan, Alex Riley, Laura James and more.
GLOW starts out with
an aspiring actress named Ruth Wilder. After auditioning for a role for a
female secretary, she chooses to read the man’s lines instead of the woman’s.
After realizing she is not going to get the part, Ruth confronts the woman
hosting the audition and it is revealed that Ruth wants roles where women are
depicted as powerful and strong. The woman hosting the audition eventually
contacts her back informing her of an audition for a television show looking
for women that are more eccentric and defy the norm.
Ruth goes to the
audition, only to discover it is located at a gym. The director hosting the
auditions, Sam, reveals that the television show that Ruth and the other ladies
are trying out for is called GLOW, otherwise known as the Gorgeous Ladies Of
Wrestling. Pending that they are casted for the show, the ladies would be
trained to wrestle. Ruth eventually ends up getting cut from the tryouts, due
to being at odds with the director. Determined to prove herself, Ruth returns
to the gym, only to be confronted by her best friend and former soap opera
star, Debbie Eagan, who lashes out at Ruth for having an affair with her
husband.
Ultimately, Ruth and
Debbie’s confrontation makes them the promotion’s top stars. This is not
without complications, however, as we see Ruth and Debbie struggle throughout
the series with both of them trying to find and understand their gimmicks and
backstories, Ruth dealing with an unexpected pregnancy and Debbie refusing to
work with Ruth at first. Additionally, we see the other ladies deal with issues
of their own throughout the series including Cherry being ridiculed for a past
miscarriage, Carmen’s father disapproving of her getting into professional
wrestling, Carmen’s panic attacks before wrestling a match, Justine trying to
reach out to the father she never grew up with and Justine also trying to deal
with her romantic attraction to a local pizza delivery boy.
Some of the things I
enjoyed about the series were the portrayal of the ladies wrestling gimmicks,
particularly Liberty Belle, Zoya, The Welfare Queen and The Beatdown Biddies.
If you are a fan of the original GLOW wrestling program, you may also catch the
references to some of the original GLOW stars such as The Housewives, Godiva, Hollywood,
Mountain Fiji, Americana, Ninotchka etc. There are also references to other famous
wrestling personas outside of GLOW, such as Miss Elizabeth and Hulk Hogan. Of
course, the show wouldn’t be complete without a GLOW rap, which is shown when
Britannica (Rhonda) tries to calm down the crowd after Liberty Belle (Debbie)
walks out of her match against Zoya (Ruth) to confront her husband upon his
discovery of her being a lady wrestler, to which he ultimately disapproves
of. In the final episode of season one though, we see Liberty Belle defy
her husband's wishes for her to not be involved with professional wrestling as
she faces Zoya once more in the ring, this time for the prestigious GLOW
crown.
