Boobs on Your Tube: After Five Years, Alice’s Finally Growing Into the Confidence of Her Convictions on “Good Trouble”

Look at you! You made it to the end of another week (and some weeks that is harder to do than others, so congratulations to you). The biggest television news this week is the Emmys, which had historic levels of wins by queer Black people and that’s bitterwseet, but great. Sai also interviewed the composers of The L Word: Generation Q’s musical episode about being Emmy nominated (they didn’t win, but it’s still pretty freaking cool!)

If you saw Mean Girls last weekend, you might appreciate a run down every moment that’s gayer than the original. Drew is still keeping you up-to-date on Drag Race, and she’s also got some feelings on Jodie Foster’s True Detective. On the reality tv beat, Anya is ready with your weekly recap of Traitors. Ted‘s got a queer cousin, crass humor, and I’m assuming still has a talking teddy bear at the center of it all? Valerie Anne’s got you covered. Valerie also watched Death and Other Details, and whew does it have a lot of queer women on its murderous cruise. And speaking of this trend, SkyMed has freak accidents and also a lot of queer characters.

Sort Of is back for its last season on Max and Drew wrote one of the greatest queer comedies we’ve ever seen a send off. Valerie watched Hazbin Hotel, a musical extravaganza about a bubbly queer princess of hell (what a description!!). Stef wants to talk about Emma Stone’s award-buzzy Poor Things and what it has to say about the monsters we all know.

And finally, AUTOSTRADDLE IS BACK AT SUNDANCE!! Drew’s going to have daily reviews for you, starting with Justice Smith’s I Saw the TV Glow, easily one of the hottest queer films at the festival this year.

Good Trouble 513: “Hanging by a Moment”

Written by Natalie

For the first time since he blindsided her by voting against the women’s center, Councilman Jack Hauss approaches Malika in the hall. She calls him out for lying about his vote and he takes great umbrage to her characterization. He chastises her for not understanding how things work and reminds her that she shouldn’t risk offending people whose help she might need down the line. Both Malika and I are annoyed by his smugness, but I’ve been around legislative politics enough to know that he’s right: there are no permanent allies or enemies. Still, the interaction grates on Malika and, with Hauss on the verge of becoming Council president, she sets out to derail his candidacy.

She sets out to expose Hauss’ real feelings on policing and turn public sentiment against him. She enlists Tracy in her efforts, who reaches out to an assistant in Hauss’ office to get his schedule. Because she’s the more senior of the pair, Tracy knows that their fingerprints can’t be on any effort to upset Hauss so, instead of approaching him directly at a local meeting, she recruits a friend to be their stand-in. Malika feeds the stand-in information and she holds Hauss’ feet to the fire. Instead of confronting Malika directly about her suspected antics, Hauss takes his complaints to Lucia.

Malika’s boss is far more forgiving than most would be in this situation. She insists that Malika’s vendetta against Hauss will only hurt them both, especially once he becomes president of the Council. Malika still approaches politics with the perspective of an activist — someone who can be pure hearted — but Lucia reminds her that, in politics, “sometimes have to bend [your values] to achieve the greater good.”

Later, Hauss crosses path with Malika again and offers her a deal: if she agrees to stop crashing his community meetings and “spreading untruths” about his stances, he’ll promise to push her women’s center proposal through once he becomes City Council president. Malika’s rightly skeptical of taking Hauss at his word — after all, he’s lied to her once before — but he commits to putting his promise in writing this time. If she backs off, she’ll have her women’s center in just a couple of months.

Meanwhile, Alice returns to the writers’ room with a new determination to show some brave leadership. She admits that they failed with the first draft of their script and that the network is in search of fresher jokes. Morrie, Murray and Morty are committed to the bit but, in the spirit of compromise, are willing to change all their jokes about gout to jokes about eczema or osteoporosis. Alice tries to test out some younger skewing jokes, as they make their way through the ferret clips, but none of her colleagues grasp her humor. The guys stubbornly cling to the style of jokes that built the show, but Alice reminds them that those same jokes might now cost them their jobs. Frustrated with their inability to compromise, Alice sends the team home early and ends up working on the script alone.

She returns to the writers’ room the next day having submitted all of her rewrites and, of course, the network loves it. Their boss touts the “fresh and funny” rewrite as exactly what the network is looking for and Alice accepts the plaudits on behalf of the team. Morrie, Murray and Morty seem just as annoyed as I am that, five seasons in, Alice still doesn’t have the confidence of her convictions. Morty insists that, in order to be a good leader, Alice can’t just step in and do everything on her own; she has to demand that the rest of them rise to meet the challenge. She does and the guys promise to follow wherever Alice leads them.

Boobs on Your Tube: Team Work Really Doesn’t Make the Dream Work as Work Woes Sour “Good Trouble”

Well friends, this Friday the biggest news in queer TV is… drumroll….

Presenting the Winners of the 6th Annual Autostraddle TV Awards!

So make sure that you click on over to that first (we’ll wait!) before reading the rest of this round up! Are you back? Ok good! Drag Race is back for another season and that mean Drew is back with the weekly recaps you don’t want to miss! Drew also interviewed her girlfriend Elise Bauman on being queer and competitive in new Canadian sitcom One More Time. Max cancelled Our Flag Means Death and Nic’s writing in response to that devastating news is a must read. After this week’s episode of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Kayla would like us to ponder if Maybe All Real Housewives Are Bisexual.

Also, our latest Anatomy of a Queer Sex Scene entry is here to argue that Multiple Maniacs has the best lesbian sex scene ever. Kayla watched All Fun and Games, and is ready to argue that your favorite silly horror movie doesn’t need have an elaborate backstory. Stroking an Animal is a sensuous portrait of polyamory. Riese wrote you an epic list of the 60 best lesbian movies on Tubi.

And finally, it’s Mean Girls Premiere Friday!! Valerie and Nic promise that the remake left them too gay to function, and that is a gift to us all!

Notes from the TV Team: 

+ La Brea is back, which I tell you because there was once a brief queer character on it, but alas I don’t spy any queerness this season yet. I’ll be sure to report back if that changes! — Valerie Anne

Good Trouble 512: “With a Little Help From My Friends”

Written by Natalie

When Malika’s proposal for the women’s center failed, she was so heartbroken, I wondered if Malika would ever return to her job as a political staffer. Losing a vote is always hard but to be blindsided like that? It’s hard to get over. Too hard, Malika surmises, so she returns to the office only to tender her resignation. But when she turns up, it’s just in time to catch the bus to the office’s staff retreat… a retreat for which Malika is woefully overdressed.

Once there, Malika’s phone is confiscated and she’s forced to join her colleagues in some team-building activities. She barely makes an effort, though, admittedly, doing a hula hoop pass in a flowy dress and stiletto booties would be difficult for anyone. Later, she can’t avoid participating the “Circle of Truth” and confesses how dejected she felt after the women’s center’s failure. Having all experienced that feeling before, her colleagues move across the circle, and Malika realizes she’s not alone. Will, the office’s Chief of Staff, encourages Malika to truly become part of the team: he assures her that working with others takes the sting out of the losses. She returns to the Coterie, reinvigorated by the hokey retreat (of course!) and determined to persevere on her dream of building a women’s’ center.

Meanwhile, Alice is greeted in the Ferrets & Friends‘ writers’ room by a gift basket from the network, welcoming her to her first day as head writer. She keeps the news of her new leadership role from Morty, Murray, and Morrie but they’d already seen the gift’s card and admit to being hurt that Alice didn’t tell them. Alice insists that the change is just a formality and nothing has to change: all that matters is that they weren’t cancelled and they still have jobs. The guys agree and they persist with their usual fodder and antics. But the next day, the network exec calls Alice in and chastises her for delivering the same tired jokes that had Ferrets & Friends on the verge of being cancelled. The exec insists that Alice be the fresh, young voice the network hired her to be.

“You have an opportunity to prove yourself, Alice,” Kathy, the network exec, pleads. “Don’t blow it because you’re too afraid to lead.”

Both Malika and Alice’s storylines this week left me feeling like the show had done a disservice to its characters and the story they’ve told for the past five seasons. Was Malika attempting to handle the women’s center alone or did Lucia saddle her with a bulk of the work to add strain to her relationship with Angelica? It feels like the writers forgot how we got to this point and settled for making Malika look oblivious instead. Meanwhile, we’re five seasons into this show, and Alice’s story is still about her lack of confidence. How many times do we have to go through this? I’m tired.

“Good Trouble” Episode 511 Recap: Imagining the Past, Looking to the Future

Last month, Freeform announced that Good Trouble‘s fifth season would be its last. With the first half of the season having already aired in the Spring of 2023, the remaining nine episodes would be Good Trouble‘s swan song. It also means, barring some last minute deal with Hulu or new spin-off announcement, the end of our time with the Adams Fosters. A decade in the Fosters-verse and it’s over, just like that.

“Both Good Trouble and The Fosters have shaped me into the person I am today. It was been one of the greatest privileges of my life to play a character on a show for 10+ years that has helped get important conversations started and pushed for transformative change in the world and has inspired people to be themselves,” Cierra Ramirez (AKA Mariana) wrote following news of the show’s cancellation.

Cancellations are always hard but, in a moment where the commitment to diverse representation at all levels seems to be waining, this loss stings even more. Good Trouble was that show — is that show — that offered space for so many voices that don’t get to see themselves represented in media. It should be regarded, alongside Pose and The L Word, as one of the queerest shows ever on television.

I’m going to try to savor these last episodes and mourn the loss of this show. But also? I want to celebrate of decade of queer greatness and be grateful that we got 10 seasons of watching Callie and Mariana Adams Foster grow.

Mariana returns home to the Coterie from Dennis’ party, with her heart pounding from an anxiety attack and her face wet with tears. She finds Silas, the vengeful, abusive cult leader, standing in her loft. He apologizes for his henchman’s actions. Mariana is, understandably, skeptical and grips a nail file in her left hand, in case she has to defend herself. Silas insists that he’s only interested in helping the women at the farm heal from their childhood traumas. He only wants to hasten the suffering of those who, like Mariana, have been abandoned by a parent.

He persists, recounting details of Mariana’s life like he watched the entire run of The Fosters, and it’s so unsettling. Mariana yells at Silas to get out and he does but not before assuring Mariana that he sees her. The moment the door closes behind him, Mariana rushes to secure the locks…but then, seconds afterwards, Joaquin knocks and calls out from the other side.

“Did you see him? Is he still out there?” a clearly shaken Mariana asks. But Joaquin didn’t see anything or anyone and the interaction leaves Mariana convinced the she hallucinated it all.

The next day, Malika approaches Mariana with a request: She’s invited Isaac to move into her loft at the Coterie as he’s works through his recovery and asks if she can crash in Mariana’s loft in the interim. Mariana agrees and I am thrilled. Mariana needs this — the absence of a true friend in Mariana’s life since Callie’s departure has only left her more vulnerable — and, frankly, the show needs it too. Good Trouble thrives when it focuses on its chosen family and invests its energy in building the relationships between those characters (i.e., Alice and Malika, Gael and Davia) but, as I lamented during the midseason finale, that’s been missing lately. I hope that this is a harbinger of good things to come.

Mariana finagles an appointment with a therapist and finally has the opportunity to talk to someone about the trauma that she’s experienced. Unfortunately, even within the safe confines of therapy, Mariana refuses to be honest about what she’s experienced. She admits to being anxious and “having dreams that feel real,” but doesn’t acknowledge the panic attack she experienced or doing any self-care in the wake of the shooting. It’s clear that Mariana’s invested all her energy in ensuring that Evan recovers — from overseeing his medical treatment to shepherding his company through his absence — and now that he is, ostensibly, back, Mariana doesn’t have anything to distract her from feeling the weight of her own trauma.

Rather than leaving her settled, the therapy appointment leaves Mariana frayed and when Joaquin brushes against those frayed edges — by suggesting she tell the truth in her sessions — Mariana lashes out. He should go to therapy, she suggests, and figure out why he thinks he knows everything about everyone. Mariana retreats back into her loft and is greeted by Malika and her stuff…and it’s all just too much. She lashes out at Malika for the mess and then collapses onto her bed. She apologizes and Malika presses her about her reaction. She confesses to having a panic attack and that she came home to find Silas in her loft…or, she thinks she did…she doesn’t really know if he was real or a hallucination. At Malika’s suggestion, they check the security footage from the Coterie lobby for signs of Silas and find nothing.

“So, he was never here,” Malika determines.

“That’s good news,” Alice notes.

“Yeah, but the bad news is I really am losing my mind,” Mariana confesses.

She returns to the therapist’s office the next day and admits that she had an anxiety attack after Dennis’ party. She talks about imagining Silas in her loft and recounts the personal history that he seemed to know. Her therapist tries to comfort Mariana with the knowledge that what she’s experiencing isn’t unusual: lots of trauma victims process their feelings through hallucinations, especially if self-blame is involved. She assures Mariana that she’s not losing her mind at all; instead, her mind is just trying to help her process her feelings. Mariana breaks down and, with tears streaming down her face, finally acknowledges how close she came to death.

Mariana returns to the Coterie looking lighter than we’ve seen her in months and, again, apologizes to Malika for the way she behaved. She assures Malika that she’s glad she’s staying with her for a while — she needs her — and Malika corrects her: They need each other. But unbeknownst to Mariana, Silas sits at a computer somewhere across town, requesting background information on Joaquin from a private investigator…the same investigator who provided a deep dive into Mariana’s history. Then, he picks up Mariana’s Callie doll — a doll that she kept on the mantle of her loft — and toys with it as he recalls his visit to the Coterie…including his narrow getaway, down the fire escape.

Do I still hate the way this cult story has subsumed the tone of Good Trouble, like B613 did with Scandal? Yes. Do I wish that the show would find a way to hasten its end? Also, yes. That said, thanks in large part to an incredible performance by Cierra Ramirez, we’ve finally arrived at a point where I truly feel invested in this storyline — Threatening Mariana Adams-Foster? Not today, Satan! — and I can’t help but wonder what took so long for us to get here. This story needed to be anchored in a character that we cared about, not this Coterie newcomer and his sister…and now that it is, I wonder how we’re going to resolve all this before the show’s finale.

Good Trouble Coterie Sundries

+ Isaac moves into Malika’s loft and the two settle into an easy rapport. The flirting is effortless and the tension is, at times, palpable. It’s easy to remember why I liked them together (though, admittedly, less so now because of the IRL stuff). At dinner with the Coterie fam, they toast Isaac’s return and Kelly wonders if his move means they’re getting serious. Malika insists that they’re not back together and later, when the two are alone, they reaffirm a commitment to being just friends; the focus of his time at the Coterie, Malika insists, has to be about recovery. I don’t know if this promise will last — they still have undeniable chemistry — but I hope it does…in part because I think the Malika that Isaac fell in love with is not the same Malika we know today. And also because Malika’s still not over Angelica.

+ The network calls Alice in and, thanks to her viral campaign, they’re agreeing to renew America’s Funniest Ferrets & Friends for one more season. There is one condition, though: They want Alice to run the writers’ room. Alice demures, at first — she’s the new girl after all — but the network executive makes it clear that either Ferrets returns with Alice at the helm or the show doesn’t return at all.

+ Last we saw Luca and Gael, they were affixing Gael’s #transparent mural to a spot high enough to avoid it being painted over. But as they’re finishing up, the cops show up and chase the pair in opposite directions. Gael manages to escape but Luca gets cornered, facing arrest and possible deportation. But mercifully, a garbage truck interjects itself between Luca and the cops at precisely the right moment, giving Luca the opportunity to escape. He returns to the Coterie and, as they share an embrace, Luca and Gael both breathe a sigh of relief. They promise to never do something that dangerous again.

+ Boy, Good Trouble really does love a love triangle, don’t they? Now it’s Luca’s turn to be subjected to the most overused plot device on the show. On the one end, he’s got Riley, a girl in his dance class with whom he’s smitten, and on the other, there’s Mabel, the adorable sous chef who works alongside Luca at Dennis’ restaurant. Luca is his most candid when he’s with Mabel — he tells her about his money issues and history of being unhoused, while keeping that from Riley — but he’s oblivious to her interest. I hope they give Riley some more complexity so that the triangle doesn’t seem quite so one-sided…and so I don’t grow to resent Luca for not choosing Mabel when it seems so obvious that she’s the better fit.

Next Week: Guess who’s back!

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.

“Good Trouble” Tackles Lesbian Anniversaries and Trans Parenthood

Here’s a question for those of you in relationships: when’s your anniversary? It seems like a simple enough question — it’s just a date, right? — but which date is the question. First date? First kiss? First commitment? And if you’re one of those couples that’s reunited after a break-up, which firsts do you celebrate? Your actual first or the first since you reunited? It’s all complicated…and it’s the situation that Alice and Sumi find themselves in this week on Good Trouble.

Sumi thinks it’s their anniversary — the anniversary of the first time they kissed — but Alice insists that it’s not. Technically, it might be the anniversary of their first kiss but given that that kiss was followed by cheating, a break-up, and two years of not kissing, Alice doesn’t think it counts. Sumi tries to press the issue but Alice and her colleagues are going to spend the day writing at the Coterie and she has to prepare.

When Morty, Murray and Morrie arrive, they’re greeted, first, by their biggest fan, Kelly, who regales them with all her favorite characters from America’s Funniest Ferrets & Friends. Then, they get to meet Sumi…and when they find out she’s Alice’s girlfriend, they are, rightly, impressed (Alice snagged a girlfriend with a real job). Later, while working on sketches for the show, Alice’s personal drama with Sumi leaks into her work. Morty and Murray both agree that the break-up nullified any previous anniversaries but Morrie insists that a first kiss is a first kiss.

“Who remembers the date of a first kiss?” Murray wonders.

“Lesbians,” both Sumi and Alice answer.

Sumi pulls Alice away and takes issue with her sharing their personal business with her co-workers, particularly when they’re in the middle of a fight. Alice just keeps digging her hole even deeper: admitting that she didn’t even know they were fighting and pointing out that the consensus was against recognizing their anniversary. Realizing that she isn’t being heard, Sumi gives up the fight and storms out of Alice’s loft in tears. Later, Alice’s co-workers chide her for not fighting fair. Morty points out that arguing with your partner takes trust and honesty, both of which are requirements for a solid relationship. They send Alice off to finish her argument with Sumi.

Alice apologizes for sharing their personal business with her co-workers and for not fighting fair. But while she’s genuinely sorry for dismissing Sumi’s feelings about the anniversary of their first kiss, Alice offers a better explanation for why she’s not interested in celebrating that anniversary. It’s not about the kiss, it’s about them, Alice notes; she doesn’t want to celebrate who they were back then. Sumi’s sufficiently persuaded by Alice’s argument that she pledges that they’ll celebrate all their new firsts instead. Their first resolved argument, Alice’s first orgasm with another person. Worried that they’ll be overheard by Morrie’s bionic hearing aid, Sumi leans in closely and whispers in Alice’s ear…maybe she’ll just express her feelings — ahem! — non-verbally. Okay, that was very hot.

After her midday “break,” Alice returns to the makeshift writers’ room and finishes out the day. As they’re about to leave, Morty pulls her aside and acknowledges that Ferrets & Friends has been cancelled but he hasn’t had the heart to tell Morty and Murray yet. He assures Alice that she’ll be fine, after all, she’s got so much other stuff going for her but he worries about what he, Morty and Murray will do without the show in their lives.

Meanwhile, Gael and Jazmin are signing Lyric up for baby classes. Nearby, a parent bemoans the non-binary options on the application process and insists it’s confusing for both parents and children. Kiddie Class Karen hopes aloud that her child never tells her he’s trans or non-binary. She finishes her application and disappears with her stroller. Both Gael and Jazmin are stunned silent by Karen’s audacity, neither knowing how to respond in the moment. Later, as they’re putting Lyric down for a nap, Gael apologizes to his sister for staying quiet but admits that he didn’t want to say anything that’d make her uncomfortable. Jazmin admits that she’s rarely clocked as trans and often has to decide whether or not to out herself. Because of how quickly everything happened, neither Jazmin nor Gael have really given much thought to what it means for them to be queer parents or for Lyric to have queer parents. Lucky for them, Gael lives at the Coterie with Mariana, a product of the greatest lesbian moms on the planet, so they turn to her for advice.

“[Our moms] told us that some people in the world wouldn’t approve of our family,” Mariana admits. “But they also taught us that love is nothing to be ashamed of. I think what was really important was that they didn’t hide who they were or make us feel like we needed to hide anything. I think that if they weren’t out and proud, it would have sent us a message that something was wrong with our family.”

Listen, I get what the show’s trying to do here — it’s all very kumbaya — but, particularly in this political moment, it feels wanting. I’ll spare you my usual soapbox but, sufficed to say, I don’t think the experiences of two cis lesbians (or a bisexual cis man) should dictate how a trans woman moves through an increasingly hostile and unsafe world.

When Gael and Jazmin show up for their baby class, Jazmin introduces herself as a transgender woman and shares her pronouns. Spencer follows, sharing his pronouns and affirming how proud he is to be married to Jazmin. Then Gael introduces himself as Jazmin’s queer brother and announces to group that they’re all co-parenting Lyric together. Kiddie Class Karen feels chastened by their introductions and approaches Jazmin after class armed with a half-hearted apology. She insists that she doesn’t have anything against transgender people but Jazmin challenges her to look at why she felt comfortable saying what she did. In his sister and her response, Gael finally finds the inspiration to pick up a paint brush again, painting a mural that affirms Jazmin as a transparent.

Good Trouble Coterie Sundries

+ Mariana is really going through it, y’all, and I am seriously starting to worry about our girl. The pressure at Speckulate continues to ramp up and she’s forced to tell Evan — even though it threatens his recovery — that there’s a not-so-covert effort by the Board of Directors to remove Evan as CEO and take the company public. He needs to raise $20M to thwart their effort and that requires him to, among other things, liquidate his assets, including Bulk Beauty. Mariana realizes that, in order to pay Evan back, she and the Byte Club will have to sell their app.

And if that wasn’t enough, Mariana continues to involve herself in Joaquin’s shenanigans: helping him locate a young woman who went missing after her stay at Silas’ farm. To his credit, Joaquin tries to keep Mariana away from his investigation but she’s determined to make Silas pay for what he’s done and won’t be deterred. It’s a lot for one person to take on all at once, especially on top of the trauma that she experienced herself…and I worry that Mariana might be headed for a breakdown.

+ Well, Chekhov’s gun finally went off: Ivan tracks down Luka outside Dennis’ new restaurant and threatens him if he doesn’t return the money he stole. Dennis’ shady business partner interjects and gives Luka the $500 he needs to pay back Ivan. But, of course, the shady business partner is going to be shady so he sends his henchman to get the $500 back from Ivan — an exchange that Luka witnesses — but still tries to hang the debt over Luka’s head. I hope that Luka tells Dennis what’s going on…this situation is going to get bad very, very quickly.

Our Favorite Lesbian Moms Are Back on “Good Trouble”

It’s Thanksgiving at the Coterie and everyone’s families — both chosen and actual — come together to celebrate the occasion. Malika invites her father and brother to join in the festivities. Though Sumi’s spending the holiday away from the Coterie, Alice invites her parents and brother to join her for Thanksgiving. Lyric celebrates her first holiday with her co-parents — Gael, Jazmin, and Spencer — and her grandparents. And the Mamas, Ka’maya, Callie, Jamie, and Jude join Mariana to give thanks and gratitude for everything they have. But, as is their wont, holidays at the Coterie never go quite as expected.

“I just wanted to be a nice, normal family for Thanksgiving,” Malika laments, as she helps prepare the dinner buffet.

Gael chuckles and confesses, “well, I hate to break it to you, but you are.”

“Yeah, every family fights on Thanksgiving,” Alice adds. “Family drama is the definition of Thanksgiving.”

With 27 place settings on the table for dinner, Stef’s social anxiety is starting to kick in. As is her wont, Lena tries to calm her beloved wife but Jude seems to have the better idea: he shows up to the festivities completely stoned. Thanksgiving is, Jude notes, the perfect day to have the munchies which is sound logic to me. Surprisingly, it’s Lena not Stef who takes a weed gummy from her son to ease her anxiety…well, on second thought, maybe that isn’t all that surprising.

Later, Lena slides back in next to her wife, after having left her alone to engage in awkward small talk with the other Coterie parents. It only takes a second — and an offer of a marshmallow — for Stef to realize that her wife is also high. Lena insists that she needed an edible to cope with her social anxiety but Stef reminds her that she doesn’t have social anxiety. The timbre of Stef’s voice changes and Lena picks up on her agitation, asking if she’s really mad.

“I do not approve of you doing drugs with our kids,” Stef insists.

Lena mocks her in return — “okay, Officer Foster” — and I chuckle at my television while Stef storms off in search of another drink. I guess she really is mad.

Meanwhile, Callie’s keeping a secret: she and Jamie are engaged. I’ll reiterate here something I noted in Callie’s final episode as a series regular: am I thrilled that Callie — of all people — has ended up engaged to this Republican? No. Is it still better than all those years watching The Fosters where the audience was cheering a relationship between Callie and her brother? Lord, yes. Thank goodness for the lowest of low bars, I guess.

But, for the moment, Callie wants to keep their engagement a secret — much to Jamie’s consternation — because of everything that Mariana’s going through and she doesn’t want to monopolize the holiday. But Mariana senses that something is awry between her sister and Jamie and presses Callie for answers. Callie confesses that she’s engaged and assures Mariana that she’s the first to know. Mariana sees through her sister’s reluctance to share the news with everyone: it’s fear. If Callie tells people, then suddenly it all becomes very real. Callie insists that’s not the reason but it’s clear the lady doth protest too much. When Mariana calls her bluff by promising to share the news herself, Callie rushes to stop her and concedes the point. But before Callie can explain further, Mariana asks to see the ring…and Callie goes to dig it out of her suitcase only to find that it’s missing.

Mariana realizes that the best course of action is to ask the moms for help — “where was this smart thinking when you decided to infiltrate a cult, Mariana?” I think to myself — so she invites them into the loft and shares Callie’s good and bad news: the engagement and the lost ring. Callie admits that she’s been reluctant to share news of their engagement because, once she does, it becomes real…and when something becomes real, so to does the possibility that you might lose it.

“When you were young, you had the rug pulled out from underneath of you so many times so, of course, you feel like you can’t trust that anything good can last but it can,” Stef advises before listing all the good things that have happened in Callie’s life. “I think that you can trust that this is another one of those good things.”

This entire time, Lena’s been standing there — still very, very high — only intermittently engaged with the conversation. She picks up a picture of the Adams Foster kids from Mariana’s vanity and gets emotional over the prospect of another one of her babies getting married. She sits down next to Stef and listens intently as Stef comforts their daughter.

“That’s very deep,” she says, while rubbing Stef’s back, “Good job, mom.”

And then Callie laughs and Mariana laughs and I laugh. Then Lena forgets that it’s Thanksgiving (“what is this day called?” she asks) and I laugh until I’m near tears. Gosh, I miss The Fosters so much. Can we have a reboot of that show but with Good Trouble‘s humor? I’d love that. Also? I would very much like some of whatever edible Jude’s handing out. That looks like fun.

Persuaded by her family, Callie invites Jamie in for a chat. He reads her tentativeness as reluctance and promises to slow things down. Callie assures Jamie that it’s not about that and just when she’s about to tell him about the missing ring, she spots it: superglued to one of Ka’maya’s dolls. She announces her engagement to her Coterie family over dinner and passes the doll around so everyone can get a good look at her ring.

As the party’s starting to wind down, Lena questions if Stef’s still mad that she got high with Jude. Stef confesses that she was never really mad, she just felt left out. She felt like the uncool mom. Lena, having seemingly come down from her high, admits that sometimes she feels left out when the kids go to Stef with all their real problems. She reminds Stef that kids go to different parents for different needs but what’s most important is that they have someone to go to for everything. They kiss and make up and promptly go see if Jude has anymore gummies.

Alice’s parents are upset with both Alice and her brother, David, when they arrive at the Coterie. Alice is understandably aghast — she hadn’t even done anything — but they blame her for inspiring her brother to leave his well-paying job at the bank for a career in acting. Immediately, Alice understands their frustration and chastises her brother for doing something so stupid. Later, David corners his sister about her lack of support for his new dream. She assures him that there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be an actor but notes that it’s always been her dream, not his. He’s talented, Alice acknowledges, but in other things and the shift to acting just feels impulsive. David admits that he doesn’t know whether acting is something he’ll be good at it but he wants to try…and he thought, if anyone would support him in exploring this new career, it’d be Alice.

Before dinner, as everyone expresses gratitude for their family members, David adds, “I’m grateful for my sister, Alice, for inspiring me to follow my dreams. She doesn’t know this but even though she’s my little sister, she’s always been the person I look up to most.”

It’s a touching moment and Alice turns to him, looking contrite but then he whispers “and scene!” to let her know he was just showing off his acting chops. Well played, David Kwan, well played. Later, Alice assures her brother that he always has her support and he assures her, he wasn’t entirely acting.

Malika’s dad and brother, the newly minted roommates, both show up with mac n’ cheese and she immediately senses the tension between them. Malika is determined to have a great holiday with her family so she touches base with each of them, individually, to figure out what the issue is. But when that doesn’t work, Malika sits them down and pushes them to address whatever is threatening to upset the special Thanksgiving that she planned. Dom admits that when his father moved in with him, he thought it’d be an opportunity for them to reconnect, to make-up for all the time that they’d missed. But, instead, his father’s been absent, again. His father acknowledges that he’s been spending a lot of time at his girlfriend’s place but he’s doing it so that he can stay out of Dom’s way. He offers to spend as much time with Dom as Dom can stand and the two share an embrace. Malika joins them and cheers that they can finally begin their perfect Thanksgiving.

Before dinner, Gael’s parents gift Jazmin with the christening gown that both Gael and Jazmin wore, just in case they change their minds about baptizing Lyric. Jazmin’s surprised to hear her mother suggest that they wouldn’t baptize the baby but she’s just repeating what Gael told her. Later, Jazmin initiates a conversation with her brother about making this decision about Lyric without their input. Gael assumed (as I would have) that Jazmin and Spencer would agree with him. The co-parents spar over the decision but, eventually, Gael puts his foot down: asserting his rights as the biological father.

Later, Gael approaches his father for advice on how to handle disagreements when you’re co-parenting. For his father, disagreements with his wife usually meant an argument, a walk in the backyard to cool down and, ultimately, acquiescing to whatever his mother wanted. He admits that, maybe, that won’t work for Gael’s unique situation. But no manner the circumstances, his father tells him, Gael should strive for compromise and neither him, nor his sister or Spencer, can act as if they have a greater say than the other person. The advice gets through to Gael and he apologizes to the couple after dinner. He admits not realizing how difficult co-parenting would be and promises to look towards compromise in the future.

In that spirit, he suggests having a special blessing at the Coterie. They could invite all their friends and family and everyone could offer their own blessings for Lyric.

Boobs on Your Tube: Maya and Carina Pull a Callie and Arizona on “Station 19”

Happy Yellowjacket Friday! Kayla not only wrote you a recap this week; she also made you a list of shows to watch if you love Yellowjackets! Also, on the recap beat is Drew, who both recapped Drag Race and interviewed Peppermint about her new comedy special. In brand new TV this week, Kayla reviewed Dead Ringers, Shelli reviewed Slip, and Netflix dropped the trailer for their new reality show, The Ultimatum: Queer Love. A.Tony wrote about how they’ll watch anything where survivors get justice. And Riese let you know where the cast of The Real L Word is now.

Notes from the TV Team:

+ I’m sure that Carmen will have plenty to say about last night’s episode of Station 19, but I wanted to take a second to note the passing of the torch behind the scenes: as Krista Vernoff hands over showrunner duties to Zoanne Clack and Peter Paige. I’m not as familiar with Clack’s TV work but Paige’s hiring feels like a real gift. A former actor on Queer as Folk turned creator/producer of The Fosters and Good Trouble getting to shepherd the next chapter of Maya and Carina’s love story? That feels like such a win. — Natalie

+ On Grey’s Anatomy there’s nothing explicitly gay (though we do get a Helm sighting, as she shows up at Teddy’s office to defend Intern Yasuda the love of her life and tells Teddy to do something about burn out culture among the interns, which I loved). But I wanted to note that Amelia is really mourning Kai. Addison showed up and gave one of my new favorite Addie/Amelia sisters scene. Honestly, if they just wrote Kate Walsh back into the show permanently I would be so happy. I genuinely think she could be a linchpin to this entire new era of Grey’s and if we have to break Addison up with her Private Practice husband Benjamin Bratt to do it, well that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. Henry’s about 10 years old now? He could move to Seattle with his mom.

Anyway, the last thing I wanted to say was that there were references to old Grey’s galore, including Addison’s love of Hot Chocolate juju, that so many of the doctors are mass shooting survivors, and at the end…. A NOTE FROM CRISTINA FUCKING YANG (!!!) with medical supplies, telling Addison to keep up the good fight. And yes, I did cry. — Carmen

+ Your Friday night TV plans are about to get a lot more exciting: Friday night WNBA games are coming, every week, to ION. — Heather

Station 19 615: “What Are You Willing to Lose”

Written by Carmen

As far as I’m concerned, this was easily a Top Two Marina episode — and there’s a strong argument that it’s not #2. Despite my proud Love Is A Lie badge that I carry around in my wallet at all times, there is nothing that gets me going quite like an epic Shondaland romance. And last night Carina and Maya proved once and for all, if they were any doubters left, that they deserved to be listed among the greats.

After their last fake!first date ended with delivering a baby to a woman who had gone on a real!first date with Carina not too long ago, Maya and Carina decide to try again. Carina’s exhausted though, so they scrap Maya’s original plans and decide to head to Joe’s Bar. The very same bar where they first met (and yes there was a shot-by-shot recreation! It was perfect!)

At Joe’s Bar they encounter Helm (has anyone else noticed that Helm or Kai always show up like mascots when an episode is going to be especially gay?), who is bartending for a Bachelorette Party that going on now hour 17 of partying. Of course, the bachelorette falls and busts her face open, which leads to Carina and Maya tending to her.

While taking care of the freaked out bachelorette, Carina tells her that if she’s marrying the person she’s meant to be with, the bruises on her face won’t matter. None of it will matter. Her person matters. Maya agrees, saying that the day she married her wife was at once the most grounding and best day of her life. Yes, this is when I started squealing into my elbow.

The bachelorette party realizes that Maya and Carina are actually married to each other!! Prompting the bride-to-be to declare that they’re the hottest couple ever (correct) and that she now regrets marrying a man (also correct!!).

Then, in what I do believe was meant to be a stand in and shout out to the Marina fandom directly, Helm tells Carina and Maya that they are hashtag Goals and role models of what’s possible. Which, in another world, would maybe be too on the nose? But in this moment? Just felt perfect.

(Also it’s reminiscent of when Helm thought Meredith Grey was Goals, Helm is a queer woman who falls in love with unattainable women over 35 and that is probably the most authentically lesbian thing about her tbh.)

Ok so then Maya jokes that they really can’t seem to get through a fake!first date with out a medical emergency, so Carina, still all caught up on their love confessions from just a little while earlier, lowers her voice and looks at Maya beneath her eyelashes and suggests maybe… they take the date back to their apartment, and take a hot shower. You know.

You know that means they have sex. Extremely hot sex. Calzona Season Six Shower Sex, but Maya goes down on Carina whereas in ye olden days of Grey’s Anatomy the camera cut away, which probably means this is the hottest gay sex scene we’ve had yet in Shondaland. Thoughts? Let me know in the comments.

Later, safe and warm and in their bed, Carina worries that their shower sex Means Something^TM that she’s not ready for it to mean, that being back in their apartment is too soon. It’s all too soon. The last time she was here, she was so hurt. Maya hurt her. Maya left her alone.

And Maya — ok this is when, an episode that already had me near tears from joy, and then for a while, lust, and now in absolute just, devastating, emotional honesty — Maya holds Carina, hair still wet from the shower, and promises her this: She knows that the day she was committed, the day she yelled at Carina that “We’re OVER” — something died between them that day. She knows that. But this? This part that comes next. This part that they are rebuilding? It’s going to be stronger, more brilliant, than everything they had before.

I, for one, cannot wait.

All American 516: “My Name Is”

Written by Natalie

Back when Coop finagled her way into a law professor’s class, Skye was there. She took selfies, she brought snacks and she affirmed that Coop was up to the challenge that the class posed. This week, though, when it’s Coop’s turn to be the supportive girlfriend, she doesn’t return the favor.

For weeks now, Coop’s relationship has taken a backseat to her academic pursuits and when she runs into Layla in the kitchen, she’s got a full day of studying in the library planned. Coop’s plans surprise Layla; after all, Skye is giving the keynote presentation at LAInfluencerCon later that day. Coop tracks down Skye at Slausson Cafe — again, thanks to Layla — and the divide between the couple is apparent. Skye’s kept the news about her grandmother’s fall and her presentation to herself, knowing how busy her girlfriend is, but Coop insists that she wants to know what’s going on in Skye’s life. Coop promises that she’ll come to the presentation but later she runs into her professor who informs her that, thanks to another student dropping his class, she can now take the class for credit. It’s great news but there is one caveat: she must take the students’ place in a study group…a study group that, of course, meets that afternoon.

(Sidenote: Has anyone in the All American writers’ room been to law school or even applied to law school? Do they know anyone else that has? Because all I keep thinking, as I watch this storyline is: “That’s not how this works! That’s not how any of this works!”)

Coop misses Skye’s presentation…but, to make matters worse, when the couple reunites, it’s clear that she forgot about it entirely. Coop insists it’s not her fault — she had to be there for her classmates — but Skye wonders when her girlfriend will start to prioritize her. Coop urges Skye to calm down and stop acting like she doesn’t love her…and that, my friends, is when the wheels come off. You’ll recall that Coop had been reticient to say those three little words before so to hear them dropped, for the first time, in the middle of a fight? Skye knows she deserves better than Coop’s excuses and ends their relationship.

Meanwhile, Patience takes in Skye’s presentation and walks away even more frustrated about her social media future. Skye’s presentation encouraged more engagement on social media but all she wants to do is retreat and go back to being this “anonymous, boho indie singer.” Since they all need a bit of an escape, Layla encourages Patience and Olivia to pretend to be someone else and sneak into the quinceañera going on down the hall. They revel in their anonymity until the celebrant recognizes Patience and assumes that she’s the party’s entertainment. Rather than correct the misunderstanding, Patience takes the stage and finds happiness, reconnecting with the old Patience — the boho indie singer — as she sings during the father-daughter dance.

The Rookie: Feds 120: “I Am Many”

Written by Natalie

When Simone broke up with Dina (AKA DJ), it wasn’t for a lack of interest, it was all about timing. Simone was still new in her role as an FBI agent and she couldn’t give as much as she wanted to the job and still give Deena — or anyone — what they deserved in a relationship. It felt like a bit of kindness at the time but, apparently, DJ wasn’t comforted by Simone’s chivalry…no, she was big mad…and she’s been nursing a grudge ever since.

But now, Dina’s mom and Simone’s dad are growing closer — they’re even talking about moving in together — and the tension between the two daughters is becoming untenable. Their parents invite them to dinner in an attempt to mend fences and DJ begrudgingly agrees, while throwing a little salt in Simone’s direction. Unfortunately, Simone can’t commit to dinner plans, as she’s working on a case in Idaho, and DJ scoffs that, once again, work is Simone’s priority. But when Simone’s questioning of an inmate in Idaho doesn’t yield results, she returns to Los Angeles just in time for dinner.

Cutty announces that his relationship with Ruth is getting serious and they won’t allow their daughters’ messy split to threaten their future. Simone takes issue with the characterization but DJ thinks “messy” is the best way to describe it. The parents leave for dinner, hoping that in their absence, their daughters’ will be able to make peace with each other. When they’re alone, DJ’s coolness thaws and she extends some warmth to Simone…warmth Simone clings to after spending a day on death row with a mass murderer. The two share a kiss and the hope that this time their relationship will end differently. They fall into bed together but, later, Simone is roused from her sleep by a nightmare starring the Idaho inmate. She leaves DJ in bed and takes the FBI jet back to Idaho to question the inmate again.

Once the case is wrapped up, Simone returns home to find Cutty, Ruth, and Dina sharing dinner. Simone asks for a moment alone for DJ and she admits that she was doing too much when they tried to date the first time. Now, though, she recognizes that what she really needs is some balance — room for the professional and the personal in her life — and after their night together, Simone thinks maybe she and Dina can try again. But DJ pumps the brakes on Simone’s relationship talk and suggests that they just remain friends instead. Simone counters that offer with one of her own: friends with benefits. And, of course, because no one in their right mind says no to that offer from Niecy Nash, the two sneak away and kick off their new situationship.

A Million Little Things 511: “Ironic”

Written by Natalie

When you think about all the shows that have been cancelled prematurely and all the happy endings we’ve been denied, A Million Little Things‘ gay wedding feels like it should be a victory. But this wedding — this entire pairing, if I’m being honest — just feels hollow. There’s nothing bad about it necessarily. There are even some heartwarming moments. It’s fine. But it’s so anodyne that it hardly sparks any emotion (Gary’s speech notwithstanding). If Corporate Pride could write a storyline, this is exactly what it’d write.

But, okay…let’s recap…

It’s Katherine and Greta’s wedding day and things are off to an auspicious start. The wedding officiant and coordinator, Carter, continuously pesters his boss with updates about the day’s festivities (he even brings hand-painted sweatshirts). Theo digs through old family photo albums to ensure that his Best Man wedding day fit is better than his grandparents’ wedding party. The pictures spark memories of the earliest memories of Greta’s crush on Katherine — stories that Katherine didn’t even know — and it seems clear that Katherine’s father always knew his daughter and Greta were meant to be something more. And, of course, as is his wont, Eddie arrives and assumes that everything is about him.

But then, everything starts to go sideways. A “passing drizzle” turns into a torrential downpour and the boat that Katherine and Greta were supposed to get married on — heavy-handed homage to the Love Boat — is no longer an option. Does it make sense that Katherine, of all people, would plan a wedding on a boat without a contingency plan? No, it does not, but honestly, that’s some of the episode’s less troubling retconning. The group stumbles into a rundown nautical-themed bar to escape the rain and Delilah suggests having the wedding there. The friend group gathers and they all work together to transform the bar into a suitable wedding venue. But just as they’re starting to turn things around, more things go wrong: Greta’s suit has an unfortunate run-in with a toddler and finger paint and Greta’s parents arrive to unwittingly suggest that the worst wedding days result in the best worst marriages. Oh, and her mom brought lingerie for Katherine!

At the end of her rope, Greta’s ready to just call the whole thing off. Thankfully, Katherine’s there to be the voice of reason.

“If you’re asking me, ‘Do I want to get married in this tacky bar?’ the answer is no. But if the question is, ‘Do I always want to be able to say that I was married to you for as long as possible?’ the answer is absolutely yes. So I pick this dump of a bar today over any beautiful venue that we might be able to find two weeks from now. Because that way, for the rest of forever, I can say that I was married to you for two weeks longer than I would have been.

Yeah, that was one of those heartwarming moments…and it’s the perfect prelude to Katherine and Greta getting married (with Greta wearing Katherine’s father’s suit). Afterwards, everyone dances — to Lizzo, natch, because Corporate Pride — and has a great time celebrating. I try not to be annoyed by it all. But it takes Gary reminding me that this show has put Katherine through it…that she’s given the friend group — and this show — so much more than she’s been given. If anyone deserves a happy ending, however hollow, it’s her.

Good Trouble 506: “Once a Cheater”

Written by Natalie

When Angelica and Malika broke up, the love was still there. In fact, they’d exchanged those three little words for the first time minutes before they split. Malika lets her go but the love she has for Angelica remains…and so, even when other potential love interests present themselves, Malika demurs. She is in love and she’ll do whatever she can to win Angelica back.

Angelica has an issue with Malika’s polyamory? Okay, Malika decides, she’ll commit to monogamy in order to see where their relationship is going. Angelica doubts whether Malika has time for kind of relationship she wants? Okay, she’ll work on improving her work-life balance. She’s been transparent about what she’s doing — “you might notice that I’m here with friends, not working,” she points out to Angelica during Queer Night at Duoro — and why she’s doing it.

“My plan is to show her that I’m maintaining a work-life balance, so she’ll let me out of the friend-pen to graze in the relationship meadow,” Malika explains to Davia, as she looks ahead to dinner that night with her ex.

At work, Malika gets word that the vote on her Women’s Center is imminent. The vote is close, Lucia reports, and the councilman whose vote they need keeps ducking their calls. Of course, when Lucia finally gets intel on the councilman’s location, it’s when Malika and Angelica are in the car on the way to dinner. Since Lucia can’t leave her charity event, it’s up to Malika to solicit the councilman’s vote in his stead. But, surprisingly, it’s Angelica that comes up with the best way to approach the councilman — smartly using their shared love of the Lakers to lure him into a conversation — and Malika closes with her pitch for the Women’s Center. They manage to win the councilman over and, the next day, he rewards their lobbying efforts with courtside seats to a Lakers game.

Later, Malika rushes over to Duoro to apologize for the intrusion into their dinner date and shares the tickets as a great consolation prize. She reaches across the bar, as she acknowledges work intruding on their personal time before, and Angelica pulls her hand away. Malika’s been doing everything she can to win Angelica back except listening to Angelica. She said she wanted to be in Malika’s life as a friend. When they were at Queer Night, Angelica volunteered to help Malika find someone else. She never said she wanted to be anything more than friends but Malika wasn’t listening. So when Angelica says, her lack of work-life balance isn’t an issue anymore now that they’re just friends, Malika is absolutely gob smacked.

(In Malika’s defense, though, I’m not sure why Angelica would agree to that dinner invitation when Malika’s intentions were always so clear.)

But, on the plus side, things will undoubtedly improve next week because it’s Thanksgiving at the Coterie and THE MAMAS (and Callie) ARE BACK!

Fantasy Island Episode 210: “War of the Roses (and the Hutchinsons)”

Written by Valerie Anne

“My bonnie lies over the ocean, my bonnie lies over the sea, my bonnie lies over the ocean, oh bring back my bonnie to me.”

This week’s island guests are seemingly unrelated at first: a younger couple who wants a few days away to forget their fertility troubles, and an older couple who wants to enjoy their retirement. But of course, the island has a sense of humor, and it turns out these two couples are feuding neighbors. Of course, it all works out in the end, but one thing I wanted to mention about this that I enjoyed is that the younger couple eventually came to realize that they were only trying so hard to have babies because it felt like the next step, it seemed like it’s what all their friends were doing. Get married, move out of the city, have some kids. It seemed like the only path. But through all this they realize that actually they miss living in the city and don’t want to have kids yet. And they also decide that if they do ever want to have kids, there are other ways to grow their family, which I appreciate them saying.

As the guests leave the island after their stay, Elena catches Ruby staring out into the sea. Ruby admits she hasn’t heard from Isla lately, which she’s bummed about, because she thought they had something special. Elena expresses empathy for her pain but doesn’t come clean to Ruby about Isla being a mermaid nor about her telling her to leave Ruby alone. Ruby just smiles sadly and says, “You can’t catch a butterfly.”

But then when she goes to play gold later, she gets a magical hole in one, so her love affair with Isla might be over but her love affair with the island isn’t.

The Power Episode 106: “Sparklefingers”

Written by Valerie Anne

“Don’t let my brother see this, his whole worldview might implode.”

I’m finding listening to UrbanDox on this show very upsetting, which I know is the point, but he’s ranting about how men should be using their “bigger bodies” and “real weapons” to take their power back, and the men (and boys) are eating it up.

We check in briefly with our British lesbian, where Roxy’s dad is trying to use her like a weapon but she isn’t having it. She used her powers to kill the man who killed her mother, and her brother died in the process, she’s not interested in zapping random men just because daddy says so. Which honestly is impressive considering how desperate she was for her father’s attention in earlier episodes; growth!

Back in Seattle, Margot is enjoying her new spark, much to the dismay of her chief of staff. Margot decides to keep it hush hush that she has the spark, because as her CoS points out, she’s receiving enough death threats as it is. And this decision was wise, because the senator surprises her with a visit and a new rule he’s implementing where he’s testing women for EOD and registering anyone who has it. Margot is pissed; she knows damn well that a list starts as a list but is a slippery slope. Luckily she beats the test herself but she’s determined to stop the madness.

Jos’s storyline this episode made me raise an eyebrow. First, she almost sexually assaults her boyfriend. Then, he comes out to her as intersex, and even though he had surgery when he was little so he presents as – and, he clarifies, identifies as – a boy, he does have the skein and the EOD because he grew up with some extra estrogen. And Jos gets really mad at him. To her credit, after he’s done explaining the first half, that he’s intersex, she makes it clear that doesn’t bother her. She likes him, she doesn’t care about the rest. But when she finds out he has the EOD, she’s upset that they’ve been dating this whole time and despite her confiding in him that having the EOD was stressful, and not being able to control hers, and having the school quarantine her and tie her hands up etc, he didn’t tell her that he had the EOD too. Which is fair. But the way she goes about expressing this ends up sounding a bit like common transphobic rhetoric. Rhetoric that gets trans people killed. Which is maybe the point, because her boyfriend even says that if it got out that he was a boy with a skein it might get him killed. But it felt… I don’t know, it felt a little off to me. But maybe that’s because my view of this show has a whole shifted a little after I wrote my first review and a bunch of people who had read the book (which I have not done) told me that the book doesn’t have the “what if the playing field was more equal” or even a “a matriarchy would be better than a patriarchy” stance I thought the show was taking, but instead more of an “absolutely power corrupts absolutely” theory, which, frankly, isn’t what we need right now. And I started to see that in Jos’s scenes this week, but maybe I’m just feeling overly cautious. I’m willing to see it out.

To her credit, it does seem like later, when talking to her mom, Jos starts to realize that maybe she overreacted earlier. But I’m on edge about the whole show now.

Speaking of overreacting, by the end of the episode, we start to see how UrbanDox is causing problems. Margot’s son says some awful/dumb shit at dinner that pisses off his mom and sister, a man pulls a taser on a bartender and tells her she should know her place, and then later a man walks into a press conference Margot is holding and lights himself on fire right in front of her.

Boobs on Your Tube: Fantasy Island’s Lesbians Want to Be Part of Your World

Happy Yellowjackets Day, friends! Kayla’s recap is ready for you! Lots of other good TV stuff this week, too! Kayla checked on Riverdale’s new gay biker, Lizzo, and also with Riverdale’s whole crew more generally. Valerie Anne reviewed The Power, which they are liking an awful lot! Drew reviewed Tiny Beautiful Things, which she wishes had been a little more fully realized. Kayla reviewed Beef, which stressed her out a little but which she also loved. Carmen wrote about how she’ll watch anything where Black girls kiss. Heather wrote about the BIG BISEXUAL REVEAL on Ted Lasso. She also wrote about The Owl House’s beautiful series finale and made a list of other cartoons you might enjoy. HBO dropped Jodie Foster’s True Detective trailer. And Amazon announced A League of Their Own really is ending with four final episodes.

Notes from the TV Team:

+ Food Network’s Tournament of Champions wrapped up its fourth season this week by crowning a new champion. Unfortunately, Chefbian Britt Rescigno fell just short of taking her Cinderella run in the tournament all the way ’til the end. But while Rescigno didn’t win, there was something really heart-warming about the New Jersey chef’s finish: she won effusive praise from her opponent, Maneet Chauhan, and TOC host, Guy Fieri. Even Rescigno teared up as the judging panel, which included Iron Chef (and noted Chefbian) Cat Cora and Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud, celebrated her food. I can’t wait to see what Chef Britt does next. — Natalie

+ The second season of Single Drunk Female kicked off this week on Freeform and while I’m still loving the show, it’s getting decidedly less gay in its second season. Sam’s sponsor, Olivia, is decamping to Maine to stay with her sister. Mercifully, this means we won’t have to see her annoying wife again, but still… that means this show is less gay and that Sam will be without the person that’s most contributed to her sobriety. The entire second season of Single Drunk Female is available to stream on Hulu but I’ll be watching week to week on Freeform and will update you with any gay happenings. — Natalie

+ Gotham Knights had a brief sweet scene where Harper and Cullen talk about how Harper took a risky mob job to earn enough money for Cullen’s top surgery because even after they escaped their abusive home, Harper could tell her brother was still trapped. Nothing else interesting to report on that show’s front. — Valerie Anne

Fantasy Island 209: “Gwenivere of Glendale”

Written by Valerie Anne

I feel…foolish that I did not see this coming. I was too distracted by the well-lit lesbians (and her name literally translating to “island”) to come up with the MOST OBVIOUS THEORY.

Ruby wakes up with a song in her head, a tune she’s whistling on the way to work. Elena asks her what it is, but Ruby isn’t sure, it’s just been bouncing around her head. She’s also been sleepwalking, but happy wandering. She feels…joyful; Elena posits she might be in love, and Ruby can’t disagree.

The guest of the week is Tiny Jane from The Bold Type as a woman named Gwen, and her fantasy is to be a princess because she dropped out of med school and can’t decide what to do next. She ends up in a medieval time and in situations where she has to rely on her medical training. She almost bails at one point, explaining to Elena that a professor told her she couldn’t hack it. Elena says, “You let one man’s opinion determine your reality?” so Gwen gets her shit together and saves the day.

But on to the gay stuff!

Ruby walks the beach at night, and almost walks directly into the ocean, but Isla runs up to her and wakes her up and brings her inside to safety. The next day, they opt for the pool instead, much to Isla’s dismay. But Ruby is wary of the ocean; she says she felt like she was looking for Isla. Changing the subject, Ruby tries to define the relationship but Isla says not to overcomplicate things, to just enjoy what they have without labels. Isla tries to show her how much fun it can be even without a title by having an underwater kiss about it.

Later, Ruby and Elena have one of those conversations where they’re both talking and neither of them are listening. Elena is overthinking a conversation she had with Javier, while Ruby is wondering aloud if her girlfriend can hold her breath a little longer than is normal, if the song stuck in her head was not unlike a siren song…if mermaids exist. Elena’s face briefly twinges at the word “mermaid” but she’s quick to dismiss Ruby’s concerns, saying mermaids aren’t real, even on Fantasy Island.

However, we later see Elena oceanside, and Isla emerges from the water. Elena tells Isla that she won’t let her take Ruby, that Ruby is too important to the island. Isla protests, saying the island needs them, but Elena says that they need the island more, and repeats her demand: stay away from Ruby. Isla huffs and swims off, a pink tail splashing as she goes.

Now, until a commenter mentioned the mermaid theory last time I wrote about this show, I was 200% convinced Isla was a manifestation of the island. Her name was a red herring (or a pink herring?) and for some reason I never considered that there could be fantasy creatures on fantasy island, which is ridiculous considering the character I write about the most is a 20-something lesbian who was elderly when she landed on the island. But of course Isla is a mermaid, of course she is. Because in my experience, all roads lead to me being #HornyForMermaids.

That night, Elena finds Ruby waiting on the beach but Isla doesn’t show. So Elena invites Ruby for a girls’ night, and Ruby drowns her sorrow in the suite of endless cheese. The next morning, the song in Ruby’s head is gone and Elena is pleased with herself, but if she stole my lesbian romance from me, I will riot.

Survivor 4407: “Let’s Not Be Cute About It”

Written by Anya

This episode kicks into gear at the challenge — which is a (somewhat convoluted) immunity and reward challenge. In this challenge, the tribe is split into two teams of five, meaning there will be not one but two individual immunity winners (one from each team). On top of that, who survives the longest, their entire group gets immunity. So, yes, at the end of this challenge, out of the eleven contestants remaining, only four will actually be able to be voted for. On top of all that, the only people allowed to vote are those in the group whose individual immunity winner did not last the longest. So, out of eleven people, only five will be able to vote, and only four will be eligible for receiving votes.

It has to be said. I think this is getting a little silly. It’s hard to keep all these advantages and twists and turns straight! It used to feel like a twist felt like a sharp turn in the road — now there are so many that it’s just like we’re on the Long and Winding Road.

Anyway, there were some fun parts of this episode! Last episode, we saw Frannie scale a seemingly vertical wall like it was nothing, which was our first clue that she would be, as we say in the industry, a challenge beast. And sure enough, she was! She won individual immunity, and what’s more, she stood on the beam holding another beam with a ball on it for the longest amount of time (beating the other group’s winner, Brandon), winning immunity for her entire tribe.

So the only people eligible to receive votes are lover boy Matt, Yam Yam, Jaime, and Lauren. Only after winning immunity for her group does Frannie realize that she may have endangered the very presence she seeks to protect — her guy Matt!

After yet another twist that I’m not even gonna go into because it ends up not really making a difference, we get to tribal. In a surprisingly emotional tribal, Matt ends up going home. Frannie is absolutely devastated, and at this point I have to admit that I have really come around to Fratt/Mannie — they seem pretty in love! But sadly, Matt is now gone, which I’m hoping ushers Frannie into her ruthless, no holds barred, villain era.

9-1-1 613: “Mixed Feelings”

Written by Natalie

While on shift, Hen and the Station 118 crew are called to a local hair salon where the stylist wields fire, instead of scissors, to give clients their “fire cut” (which, as it turns out, is a real thing). But when the stylist’s would-be client, Cherie, gets frazzled by the approaching flame, she knocks the torch over, starting a fire. But it’s not the fire that causes Cherie’s injuries, it’s the water from the overhead sprinklers: she’s allergic to water (also, an actual thing). As Cherie’s loaded into the ambulance, her mother looks on, exasperated. She laments not having a candid relationship with her daughter but Hen urges her not to be too hard on herself.

“Kids are utterly unpredictable when they’re trying to figure out who they are. The best we can do is show up for them when they need us,” Hen tells her. Unbeknownst to Hen in that moment, she’ll spend the rest of the episode struggling to take her own advice.

After dropping Cherie off at the hospital, Hen and Chimney are heading back to the ambulance when Karen calls, worried when Denny doesn’t arrive home on the school bus. According to his friends, Denny hasn’t been taking the bus home for months. Before the worry can truly set in, Denny appears in front of Hen, accompanied by another paramedic, following a car accident he was in with his biological father, Nathaniel. Unbeknownst to his moms, Denny’s been meeting with his bio dad for months…and when they confront him about his choices, he has the audacity to get mad at them.

Thankfully, Hen’s mother, Toni, is there to act as an intermediary. She helps Denny to recognize that his mothers’ anger and disappointment is justifiable and, if he wanted to build a relationship with his biological father, he had to go about it the right way. But Toni defends Denny’s desire to have a relationship with his biological father to his parents. She reminds Hen about how she was the same at Denny’s age: longing for a relationship with a father that wasn’t there. Toni assuages their greatest concern — that Denny’s actions are a response to some failing on their part — assuring them that they are great parents and their son’s love continues unabated. Denny just needs this, Toni notes…and so, as the great parents they are, Hen and Karen decide to give him what he needs.

They approach Nathaniel at the hospital — he’s still recovering from his accident injuries — and he quickly jumps in with the apology. He admits that he never expected things to go this far but that he grew ennamored with having a son and allowed that to cloud his judgment. Nathaniel’s girding himself for Hen and Karen to announce that he can never see Denny again but they surprise him: for Denny, they’ll find a path forward. They remind him, though, that he has lost their trust and will have to work to earn it back.

As Denny, accompanied by his grandma, steps in to visit his bio dad, Karen turns to her wife and asks, “Are we ready?”

“Not even a little bit,” Hen answers, grasping her wife’s hand as they watch their son embrace Nathaniel.

A Million Little Things 510: “The Salesman”

Written by Natalie

The wedding day is almost here! Invitations have been sent out, RSVPs are rolling in and now, all that’s left, is for Katherine to finalize the seating arrangements for the big day. Greta’s of no help — she takes more joy in sowing chaos (and annoying Katherine) than helping plan everything — so Katherine’s mom volunteers Greta to take her shopping while her daughter works. The invitation comes as a surprise to Greta, Katherine and me…since the last time we saw Katherine’s mom, she wasn’t exactly warmly embracing her future daughter-in-law. But who needs conflict on an hour-long drama, right?

Before Greta leaves, Katherine offers a warning about her small, but scrappy, mother. She advises, “There are a few items on the grocery list that are for my mom’s place. She will try to pay. Do not let her. She’s on a fixed income, and she’s really stubborn about money, okay?”

The warning doesn’t prepare Greta for what comes next. As she’s loading their parcels into the trunk, Katherine’s mom hands Greta a check. Per her fiancée’s instructions, Greta demurs, insisting that the groceries are on them. But no, Mrs. Kim gives the couple money for their wedding: $5,000. Greta thanks Mrs. Kim for the generous offer but acknowledges that Katherine wouldn’t take her mother’s money. Of course, that’s why the small, but scrappy grandmother chose to give it to Greta instead. The two play push-pull with the check until a stranger intervenes on Mrs. Kim’s behalf. Knowing she’s won, she assures the stranger she’s okay and says that they can go home now. Well played, Mrs. Kim, well played.

Meanwhile, Katherine searches for a new dry-erase marker for the seating chart in Theo’s backpack and happens upon an unsent invitation for Delilah Dixon. Theo admits that he doesn’t want the woman who broke up his parents’ marriage and caused his mother so much pain at the wedding. Katherine admits that she used to carry around the same anger but she encourages him to stop keeping his anger pent up inside. She picks up the phone to call Delilah and explain the mishap but Theo volunteers to do it instead, in person. Delilah applauds Theo’s honesty and assures him that if her not being at the wedding makes his mother’s wedding day better, then she won’t go. Ultimately, Theo relents and insists that he and his mother both want her there.

Later, Greta tells Katherine about her mother’s gift. Katherine insists that Greta give the money back but Greta assures her, she tried. Katherine calls her mother into the room and tries to return the check herself but encounters the same resistance. Her mother stands firm: she’ll decide how to spend her own money.

“I thought you would never be happy again,” she explains. “But you have made my daughter the happiest I’ve ever seen. That is why I want to help pay for wedding.”

It’s cute, I suppose…and it’d be a far more emotional scene if the show had devoted any time to showing how Mrs. Kim went from running out of the room at the mere sight of her daughter with Greta to asking Greta to call her 장모 (jang-mo or “mother-in-law”). But, hey…this show is clearly not invested in affording this couple the depth they give to Gary and Maggie…and there are only three episodes left so… 🤷🏾‍♀️

Good Trouble 505: “I Gotta Feeling”

Written by Natalie

Since season one of Good Trouble, one of my absolute favorite things about the show has been the friendship between Malika and Alice. And, for most of last season, I’ve been lamenting its absence, particularly when their storylines — Alice’s re-emerging feelings for Sumi and Malika’s embrace of her queerness — would’ve benefitted from the interaction. But this week, we finally got it…they’re finally back together and hanging out…and it makes for my favorite episode of Good Trouble in a very long time (the Mariana/Evan stuff notwithstanding).

Leaning into her promise to reconnect with family and friends, Malika invites Alice out for drinks. Alice assumes the invitation is for her and Sumi but Malika clarifies: she just wants some one-on-one time to catch-up with her bestie. Alice seems thrown by this and tentatively asks Sumi for permission to go out. Of course, Sumi is unbothered: she insists that spending solo time with their friends is a good thing. She encourages Alice to go out and have a fun girls’ night out.

But soon, one-on-one time turns into something else. Malika spots Gael, with only a NannyCam video of his daughter to keep him entertained, and invites him to join her anId Alice on their night out. Am I a little bummed that I won’t get the conversation between Alice and Malika that I’ve been longing for? Yes…but also: all the Coterie Queers together for a night out?! This is great. And then, when they show up at Duoro for drinks, it turns out the bar is hosting Queer Night! Just when I thought I couldn’t love this episode more, they give me what I want: more gays.

But there might be one too many gays for Malika because, of course, Angelica is at Duoro. You can tell right away that Malika’s undone by Angelica’s presence — she 100% called to make sure Angelica wasn’t working tonight before going there for drinks — and so Malika doesn’t pay attention to Alice’s request not to post pictures of their night out. Later, Angelica tracks Malika down and asks if she’s having a good time. Malika admits that it’s her first queer party as a queer person and Angelica volunteers to be her wing-woman. I understand that this is meant to build the romantic tension between Malika and Angelica but this is exactly what Alice should be doing…it’s her right, as the lesbian best friend, to scope out women for her newly single, newly out hot best friend. It’s Rule #451 of the Gay Agenda.

That said, Angelica does appreciate the dual role of a good wing-woman: first, to find potential suitors for your friend and second (and often underappreciated), to rescue said friend when things go awry. When she spots Malika’s eyes starting to glaze over when she’s talking to another woman, Angelica swoops in and pretends to be Malika’s girlfriend to pull her away. The moment feels real (and sobering) for Malika who points out that she’s out with her friends, instead of working. Angelica admits that she’s noticed and Malika adds, “no job is worth…losing you.” But before Angelica can respond, a drunk Alice intercedes, allowing Angelica to make her escape.

From the moment that Malika invited her to drinks, Alice has been frazzled by the prospect of being without Sumi…and, as the night goes on, it becomes clear why. Alice is still carrying the scars of their last break-up — Sumi cheating on her with her friend, Meera — and spends the entire time worried that history will repeat itself. If they stay close, Alice has reasoned, Sumi can’t find someone else. So, at first, she’s constantly checking in with Sumi…but then, when she learns Sumi also opted to go out with her friends, Alice drowns her sorrows in tequila. She returns to the Coterie, drunk, and searches Sumi’s loft for someone else. Sumi refuses to have a fight while Alice is drunk but promises that they’ll continue this conversation in the morning.

(Sidenote: I’d forgotten how much I love drunken/stoned Alice but, my goodness, do I love her. So fun.)

True to her word, Sumi confronts Alice the next morning and Alice admits that she doesn’t trust Sumi when she goes out with her friends. Sumi notes that she’s apologized for her mistakes already and, at some point, Alice is going to have to genuinely forgive her. She promises to check in with Alice when she’s out with her friends and Alice, happily, accepts that compromise.

The Power 105: “Scarlet Minnow”

Written by Valerie Anne

I wish I could give my mother an electric shock and have her suddenly understand me better.

Of course the day after I review the first four episodes of this show and applaud it’s multiple LGBTQ+ storylines and characters, we have our first episode without any of them. This week focuses mostly on Tatiana and Margot, though other characters intertwine in their stories. (Including Jos who I’m not counting out as potentially being bi just yet, because she’s Gen Z and played by a queer actor.)

We learn Tatiana was married off to her now-husband when she was still a teenager, and she thought it was going to be in exchange for a fast track to the Olympics, so she agrees, but instead the man decides he doesn’t want his wife in the Olympics and her dream is crushed. Her mother is unsympathetic so Tatiana storms out of the house, screaming at her mother and telling her little sister Zoia she hates her, even though she doesn’t mean it, just so this whole situation will maybe hurt a little less.

In the present-day, Tatiana’s husband has banished all the young women from the house, but she has managed to keep her assistant. She finds her assistant secretly playing with her sparks and corners her, demanding she give her the spark, and so her assistant does just that.

At the same time she receives hers, her sister Zoia gets hers too, in a very different way. She has been sex trafficked and she’s being held, pregnant, with other women; they manage to get the spark from the girl who delivers them snacks, and so they pass the spark around and fight their way out of captivity.

Also receiving her spark today is Margot; after a day of interviews – including one with Tunde – she has a bonding chat with her daughter Jos, who explains that her mother doesn’t understand what it’s like. That sometimes it’s scary but also in a lot of ways it’s the opposite; she can go for a run with both earbuds in, walk in the dark without holding her keys between her fingers, not have to worry about what she wears to a party. She feels empowered, she has let go of so much tension and stress she hadn’t even realized she had been carrying and she’s thrilled her sister might be able to grow up in a world where she never knows that constant fear.

Margot decides she wants the spark, so Jos presses her hands on her collarbone and passes the gift, from daughter to mother. And now maybe Margot will not only be the face of this movement to stop horrifying legislation like forcing people with the spark to register themselves as a weapon, she’ll be able to fully embody the movement.

Station 19 614: “Get It All Out”

Written by Carmen

This week on Station 19 it is Carina and Maya’s first date. And yes, Carina and Maya are wives. But as you’ll recall, they are taking it slow to rebuild their foundation, so today they are on a first date and Maya cannot seem to get her name right (when she called Carina, “Karen” I laughed). In the middle of giving Karen/Carina a tour around the firehouse to meet her friends, Carina gets a phone call that a patient is both stuck to a vending machine and simultaneously also in labor, so they take Ben Warren and an ambulance and off they go.

The trapped patient is the same woman who was flirting with Carina a few episodes back and invited her out for drinks. Now just for a very quick moment I do have to say that at the time, I erroneously noted in my recap that Carina accepted this woman’s invitation — at the time, she had not, at least not on camera. But this week we learn that in fact she did accept this woman’s invitation off camera, so please excuse me while I give myself a pat on the back.

Ok this woman is in labor and also her hand is stuck inside a vending machine. The whole time Carina is tending to her, Maya is picking up vibes and mostly tries to play it cool but the whole time her eyes are darting and she’s slyly asking follow up questions about these “drinks” they had — because she swore she knew all of Carina’s “friends.” But it mostly goes well, the woman both survives and also delivers her baby, and everyone goes home to the fire house.

At the fire house, Maya tells Carina the big secret we all know she’s been carrying — that last week she received intel that the Chief is sleeping with Boris Kodjoe, in hopes that she will pass it along to the Union, setting off a set of dominoes that ends in her being given her job as Captain back by nefarious means. The thing is, Maya so wants to be Captain again. But as she tells Carina, “not like that.”

Carina is so grateful for this moment of intimacy between them, this moment of growth for Maya, that she smiles so bright it lights up a dark firehouse. And they say a lot of very sweet things to each other after that! Words of trust, and partnership, but to be honest with you I couldn’t keep track. I was too busy watching how they look at each other. How their bodies move together as if they are two sides of one coin. In moments like this, it’s hard to argue that there is any better couple on television. They are so sweet, so gentle, (so hot), and so, so perfect.

Grey’s Anatomy 1914-15: “Show Your Love” & “Mama Who Bore Me”

Written by Carmen

OK so I have to say, I’m a little mad at the writers of Grey’s Anatomy right now. There was once a time this season when things were looking up and more importantly, they were looking gloriously gay. Even though Helm was working at Joe’s Bar now, we were seeing her more regularly than we ever did when she was a Surgical Resident. We had a new sapphic intern in Yasuda. And yes, we were slow walking Amelia and Kai’s relationship a bit, even back then — but it seemed promising! After all, they had reunited the couple the season before, even though by pretty much every measure they should have broken up for good (Kai doesn’t want kids in their life, and Amelia has Scout). I could handle a little slow walking, I assumed that once Meredith was gone for good, we’d circle back around and gain momentum on all the other storylines.

Well my friends, it is almost May and there’s only a handful of episodes left this season, And still it feels like very little has gotten done! Yes, Helm and Yasuda have shared some flirtations, but we’ve really not moved past a Dance It Out at the intern house party. And Kai and Amelia have been long distance dating for an entire season. Until this week, when Kai shows up at Amelia’s door.

First of all, and we obviously need to get this out the way now — but Kai? Akfdajflakfdja. Never been finer. E.R. Fightmaster is a gem of a person, so I hope they don’t mind a little thirsty objectification, but my god. I just. Whew. You know? Ok. OK. Okay.

So Hot Doctor Kai shows up at Amelia’s door, and adorable Amelia’s first thought is that Meredith sent them. Because Maggie is leaving Seattle, and obviously Meredith just left Seattle, which means Amelia is going to be left alone, triggering all of her abandonment issues. I thought they were going to more directly tie all of this to Amelia’s sobriety, but I appreciated the graceful and elegant hand they took here. Anyway, Kai and Amelia spend the next 24 hours in bed — only leaving to get food — because, of course they do. Hot queer people have sex. And we love that for them. (I’m not joking here! There’s a long history of forced celibacy on queer characters on network TV. I love that if nothing else, Kai and Amelia will always be hot for each other.)

In bed together, Amelia’s crying because she’s obviously sad, but also she’s grateful for how she’s never felt this free and open in a relationship, like someone knows all of her inside and out. That she doesn’t have to hide what’s dark, and trust me there’s a lot of dark. Kai holds her and E.R. Fightmaster better be acting because as the camera zooms in, you can see a little tear as they wrinkle their nose and look away.

Of course we can see where this is going, Kai is going to be the latest person to leave Amelia. They’ve been offered a chance to lead a research lab in London, and they cannot turn it down. The next day Amelia and Kai work on a case together at Seattle Grace and Amelia decides to fight for their relationship. She asks Teddy if Kai could have a lab in Seattle, and Teddy says yes! But Kai? Kai says No. Amelia and Kai work right now, precisely because they are long distance (not London long distance, but still!). They are part time. And the other half of the time, Amelia gets to be with Scout. Kai still doesn’t want kids in their life.

And cue my frustration! Because… did we not quite literally just do this last year?? Why reunite Kai and Amelia, and put them through a year of long distance, only for them to be in the exact same position they were a year ago? It makes no sense.

(Maybe all is not lost? E.R. did post this adorable photo? But I’m having a hard time with hope.)

Everyone’s Favorite Lesbian Moms Return on This Week’s “Good Trouble”

So, if you only check into Good Trouble when the Mamas visit, here’s a quick recap of where we are: last season, a new face joined the Coterie: Joaquin, an investigative journalist who moved into his sister’s former residence to track her down, after not having seen her for eight years. He grew close with Mariana and she used her tech savvy to help him. They eventually find his sister, Jenna, at a cult/commune/farm outside town and struggle to help Jenna escape from the leader’s tight grasp. Channeling some Fosters era Callie, Mariana snags an invite to the farm to try and get to Jenna. When they cross paths, Mariana and Jenna make a plan to escape, with Joaquin and Evan arriving just in time to shepherd them away. But as they’re fleeing the cult farm, a shot rings out: striking Evan, Mariana’s former boss and boyfriend, leaving him comatose and in danger of full paralysis. While he’s incapacitated, Mariana’s been left in charge of Evan’s medical decisions and his company.

Her first big decision at Speckulate is to fire underperforming executives, in lieu of firing high achieving low-level employees. But the medical decisions aren’t nearly as easy. The doctor tells her that Evan needs a risky surgery that could kill him to avoid paralysis and the decision is hers. Recognizing that she can’t make this decision alone, she calls in reinforcements: a girl needs her mamas.

Am I still hard-pressed to imagine a world where Stef and Lena — the Coach and Tammy Taylor of gay TV — wouldn’t have made a beeline for the Coterie the moment they heard about the shooting? Absolutely, yes. And am I hard-pressed to imagine Stef Adams Foster, in particular, not immediately stepping back into cop!mom mode to investigate the men who terrorized her daughter? Also, yes. But this is Good Trouble not The Fosters so we’ll just have to make due with the infrequent Adams Foster reunions.

When the Mamas arrive, they react exactly as you’d expect loving parents in this situation to react: they’re angry at everyone but their kid. They’re mad at Joaquin for roping their daughter into this mess. They’re mad at Evan for putting Mariana in the position, both personally and professionally, to make decisions in his stead. They can’t be mad at Mariana right now — they love her and she’s clearly hurting — but everyone else is fair game. Mariana, though, continues to heap the blame upon herself and so she’s not interested in hearing them deflect responsibility for this onto anyone else but her. She begs her moms to just focus on helping her make a decision about Evan’s treatment.

Stef recommends seeking out more than one doctor’s opinion about Evan’s treatment but that doesn’t make the decision any clearer. One doctor recommends they operate now to remove bullet fragments that could shift and cause paralysis. Another doctor suggests that the surgery itself might be the greater threat to Evan’s ability to wallk while a third doctor worries if Evan’s current condition is stable enough for surgery. More confused now than ever, Mariana turns to her moms for an answer. Stef urges her to take a minute to process all the information before coming to a decision.

“Trust your moms,” Ghost Evan advises when Mariana asks him what to do. “They’ll know what to do.”

But Stef and Lena actually disagree about what to do. Lena doesn’t think Evan should have the surgery, Stef thinks he should…and both their choices are informed by their past experience. Stef puts herself in Evan’s shoes — having once been the victim of a shooting herself — and insists that she would have wanted the chance to have the best quality of life possible. But Lena can only remember being on the other side of that shooting…waiting for word on the person she loved…and all she wanted then — and all she wants for Evan now — is more time. Lena would’ve rather had Stef alive, even if she couldn’t walk, than to lose her entirely. Plus, Lena adds, what if Evan dies during surgery, Mariana would never forgive herself. But Lena also recognizes that if Evan ends up paralyzed, Mariana would blame herself for that too.

Stef can barely contain her anger at Evan for foisting this responsibility on Mariana but Lena suspects that he did it because he has a lot of faith in Mariana. Now, Lena suggests, the impetus has to be on Mariana having faith in herself…so they set out to restore that faith. Lena leads Mariana through a meditation exercise that allows her to quiet the mind and find the answers that already exist in her body. She encourages Mariana to feel, not think. Stef watches the whole thing, skeptically, but the exercise does help: Mariana opts to go ahead with the surgery. She begs Evan not to die before they wheel him into surgery.

Thankfully, the surgery goes well. But once the doctor issues his prognosis for Evan’s recovery, the Mamas turn their attention to their daughter and the guilt she’s carrying. Stef encourages Mariana to just let it go but she insists she can’t just decide to let it go. Lena and Stef press their daughter on why she feels the need to carry all this guilt and Mariana admits that she’d feel guilty if she didn’t feel guilty. But her mamas remind her that she’s experienced a terrible trauma…and the guilt is keeping her from dealing with her own trauma. They make her promise to see a therapist to help her process all she’s gone through.

The next day, she gets a call from the hospital that Evan’s woken up from his coma and rushes to the hospital. She finds him sleeping and slides her hand over his. Her touch wakes him up and he looks up to be greeted by her smiling face. Unfortunately, though, Evan wakes up with amnesia; he doesn’t recognize her at all.

Mariana might want to get that therapist on speed-dial.

Meanwhile, Alice continues to struggle in her new job in the writers’ room of “America’s Funniest Ferrets & Friends.” She can’t get her colleagues — three cantankerous old white men — to focus long enough to write a good joke. With a deadline rapidly approaching, the stress is starting mount and Alice lets it show. She yells at Larry, Curly, and Moe to focus on their work but they can’t be bothered…at least not until the writers’ room is fully stocked with great snacks. Despite the looming deadline, the men insist on a mid-morning grocery run to replenish the snack supply. I know Alice is agitated by this but, truthfully, this is some highly relatable content for me personally.

Two hours and a comedy of errors later, the trio and Alice emerge from the grocery store with snacks in hand. Now, Alice insists, they can finally get back to work but the stooges remind her that it’s now lunch time. They rationalize that by the time they’re seated, order their food and are served, the day will pretty much be over so they opt to just start fresh the next day. Exasperated, Alice yells at the stooges in the parking lot, and insists if they don’t care, neither does she.

The next day she arrives at work and the stooges are already hard at work. She apologizes for how she reacted the day before but they sure her that everything’s fine. Moe notes that writing has its ebbs and flows and sometimes when you’re stuck, you just need to walk away from it for a while. I’m not sure what she’s learning about comedy from “America’s Funniest Ferrets & Friends” but that’s a valuable life lesson…and Alice promises Sumi that she’ll adhere to in the future.

Good Trouble Coterie Sundries

+ Isabella hasn’t just left her baby behind with Gael while she gets the help she needs, she’s completely relinquished her parental rights? Admittedly, I wasn’t expecting that. Left with the decision about Baby Lyric’s future, Gael asks his sister, Jazmin, and her husband to share in the parenting responsibilities. They’ll co-parent the baby, just as they’d planned and the siblings are understandably elated…and so am I…more Hailie Sahar on my screen is never a bad thing. Gael suggests spending evening at Jazmin and Spencer’s place until Lyric adjusts to the new arrangement.

But it’s not just the baby who needs help adjusting to the arrangement, Gael does too. He’s reluctant to spend anytime away from Lyric and when he oversleeps, he lashes out at Jazmin for not rescheduling the baby’s doctor’s appointment so he could be there. But, thankfully, the Mamas are there to share a lesson that they learned while co-parenting Brandon with Mike: this can’t be all about him, it has to be about what’s best for the baby. He apologizes to Jazmin for snapping at her and assures her that he wants to make this work. She gives him the night off from “Daddy Duty”…which affords him just enough time to find out that the job he was counting on to support his daughter is now gone.

(“How do these kids figure anything out when we’re not here?” Stef jokes, as Gael leave. “Yes, how?!” I yell back to her.)

+ I know the Mamas can’t be everything to everyone but I was sad that we didn’t get to see an interaction between Lena and Malika in this episode. Now that Malika’s followed Lena into public service, I would’ve enjoyed hearing them talk about their experiences.

+ Still recovering in her brother’s loft, Jenna is showing all the signs of Stockholm syndrome. She makes excuses for Silas’ behavior and insists that he’s a brilliant and insightful healer who helped her overcome her pain. She admits she misses the farm but Joaquin reminds her that Silas also locked her up in a room. When the detective calls Joaquin and Jenna into the police station for a second round of questioning, Jenna’s reluctant to implicate Silas in any way. The police are able to arrest Silas’ henchman, Adam, but insist that there’s nothing that they can charge Silas with. Frustrated, Joaquin confronts Silas in the police station lobby and threatens to kill him if he comes near Jenna again. Silas warns Joaquin to stay away from his farm and his girls and invites Jenna to “come home” whenever she’s ready.

Irate at Jenna’s changing narrative, Joaquin lashes out at her when they return to his loft. She cowers and cries as he suggests that she call Silas to pick her up and take her back to the farm. He realizes his misstep, draws close to his sister, and pledges to get her the help she needs.

“You’re my sister, I love you, you’re all that I have. Please, don’t go back to that farm,” Joaquin pleads.

+ This show took its name from that emphatic charge from the late John Lewis, the Civil Rights Icon and longtime Georgia Congressman, to “get in good trouble, necessary trouble, [to] help redeem the soul of America.” I’ve lamented, in my recaps, the writers’ decision to break away from that original premise and focus on drama for drama’s sake (this is my most charitable read of what’s happening on-screen).

But yesterday, Justin Pearson and Justin Jones were expelled from the Tenneessee State House for the sin of exercising their First Amendment Rights while black and, as this episode aired, social media was awash with folks praising the two for getting in good trouble. As I watched tweets about this show intermingle with tweets about what happened in Tennessee — a jarring juxtaposition, to be sure — the show had never seemed smaller…and never felt more far away from its origins. I hope it prompts the writers to reconsider their current course.

Check out our regular Good Trouble recaps now as a part of our weekly Boobs on Your Tube column.

Boobs on Your Tube: Nicole Maines Arrives on “The Flash,” Dreams Do Come True

It’s Final Four Day, baby! (Basketball!) And Championship Voting Day, baby! (Autostraddle March Madness!) Who are you cheering for? (Both!)

This week, Stef reviewed Mae Martin’s new stand-up special. Heather reviewed The Big Door Prize. Kayla recapped Yellowjackets. Drew recapped Drag Race. The Gen Q cast said their goodbyes to the show, while Riese led our TV Team in ranking all the Gen Q sex scenes. Kayla also wrote about why she’ll watch anything with a toxic mentor/mentee dynamic.

Notes from the TV Team:

+ Another week, another upset win for the gays on Food Network’s Tournament of Champions! James Beard Award winning chefbian Karen Akunowicz stepped into the arena this week to face #1 seed Tobias Dorzon in a surf and turf battle. The chefs faced each other on TOC last season and Chef Tobias came out on top…but not this time!

The Randomizer doled out their challenges: the chefs had to create a candle light dinner with crab meat and filet mignon, utilizing a rotisserie oven. Honestly, it was one of the best spins of the Randomizer we’ve seen all tournament…one that didn’t hamstring the chefs and allowed the cooking to just shine. Chef Karen thrived, developing an updated take on a romantic steakhouse dinner: a feta creamed crab spanakopita with butter-basted filet mignon and crab bearnaise. In the end, only two points separated the chefs but it was enough to earn Chef Karen the win. — Natalie

+ It’s hard to know what’ll become of All American: Homecoming given what’s happening at the CW. Previous reports suggest that the network only expects to have three scripted original series next year. All American has already claimed one of those slots, leaving just two slots of the rest of the CW’s scripted fare to compete over.

But, if All American: Homecoming ends here, it will have done so giving Nate Hardin two impressive wins: first, she defeats her ex, Nico, in the race for SGA president and, then, she finds the man behind the mask. Turns out, Nate’s dance partner at the masquerade ball was the reporter that’s been covering her campaign. He admits that he’s liked Nate this entire time but, as a nerdy journalist, didn’t believe he had the swagger necessary to approach her. Nate swoons a little bit and the pair share a kiss. — Natalie

The Flash Episode 907: “Wildest Dreams”

Written by Valerie Anne

I love these two as friends!!!

DREAMER IS BACK! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!

This week’s episode of The Flash opens with Dreamer, fully suited, in the dream realm, having a spooky dream about ravens and spiders and someone in a cozy bathrobe with glowy blue eyes. The Robed Woman takes Nia’s dream energy when suddenly a wild Iris appears…and the Robed Woman promptly kills her. Nia snaps awake and makes her way to Central City as fast as she can to see her new friend Iris West-Allen.

Iris is surprised to see Nia between the mimosa brunch she has with Nia, Kara, Alex and Ryan (I told Nic this after her weecap of the last Flash but I imagine Sophie, Lena, and Kelly have an “in-laws” brunch at the same time. Maybe Brainy and Barry can hang out then too.)

Hilariously, Nia tells Iris that she’s her career role model, which I support, but no one has ever in-universe acknowledged that Kara isn’t actually a great reporter before.

By the time Nia finishes explaining her dilemma to Iris, the Robed Woman shows up and knocks them both out with dream energy.

While they’re real life bodies are asleep and overheating, Nia and Iris go on adventures through Iris’s psyche, where she sees a version of her life where she’s a cop like her dad (eye roll) or the manager of a Jitters to have a job she could leave behind when she clocks out.

Meanwhile, Barry is in the real world running around trying to find someone to help. Kara, Brainy and John are reportedly “off-world.” And my question is: IS LENA OFF-WORLD. Because the only way I will stand for this darty witch erasure is if it’s known that when Kara is off-world, so is Lena.

ANYWAY,

Nia and Iris try to solve the mystery of why they’re stuck in the dream world, and Iris realizes that she’s felt like she’s stuck on a path without any control over her fate because she knows so much about her own future; did she really earn her Pulitzer if she knows she’s going to earn one before she even finishes her article? Or if she has access to information because she’s married to The Flash? (Nia could have pointed out here that Kara practically got her Pulitzer by accident and also IS Supergirl but it’s fine.)

Nia points out that just because she knows what’s going to happen doesn’t mean it was pre-ordained; Iris chose to be a reporter, and she chooses it every time she follows a lead, every time she stays late to chase the truth. Destiny isn’t one choice, Nia says. It’s a lifetime of choices.

Iris teaches Nia a lesson right back, saying Nia can’t control everything, so Nia gives up control and the Robed Woman reveals herself as The Original Dreamer.

Original Dreamer gives Dreamer her dream energy back, and then some. Nia and Iris wake up, Nia now with a new invisible friend by her side. Nia hugs Iris and says she’ll see her at brunch, and we watch her head back to National City one last time.

Survivor Season 4405: “The Third Turd”

Written by Anya!

Somehow this is the gesticulation Carolyn used to describe the bro alliance

At the start of the episode, Carolyn’s beefing with Yam Yam, who’s (understandably) upset that he was left out of the previous vote. It’s also worth noting that Tika is now an ALL-QUEER TRIBE! Has that ever happened before?!

Back on the Soka tribe, everyone meditates, which I am simultaneously impressed and annoyed by. You know who else seems to be holding multiple truths? Frannie! On one hand, she truly seems to have a crush on Matt — she divulges that after this is all over, they have plans to get Ethiopian food, and “whatever happens, happens”. Okay Frannie! But I also keep having this feeling that she would (and will) gut him if she has to. She knows she’s more strategic than he is, evidenced by when she tells Jamie that Matt’s biggest asset is that he’s… a nice guy! Lol, sure. Multifaceted queen!

At the challenge, the Tika tribe loses, and is sent to Tribal. But before that, the winning Ratu tribe chooses three people to send on a journey: Brandon, Danny, and… Carolyn! I did enjoy the twist that there was no hike or advantage on this journey — it was just a nice meal! However, the meal went from sweet to sour when Carolyn realized she was simply a spectator watching the formation of a bro alliance. Honestly, it was very sexist and hard to watch! Brandon and Danny were literally strategizing as though Carolyn had already been voted out, and ended up discussing their two-person plans, as she sat right freaking there. However, Carolyn was anything but defeated — she left that journey more self-assured and fired up than ever before. Don’t count Carolyn out, and don’t get on her bad side!

Back at camp, the Tika tribe deliberates about who to send home; Carolyn, absolutely rage-filled at the impending bro alliance, wants to team up with Yam Yam (rekindle their friendship!!) because she knows Brandon and Danny want to bring Josh into their bro alliance (they literally said as much). All the strategizing is for naught, however, because just before Tribal, Matthew leaves the game due to extreme shoulder pain — it’s sad to see someone’s dream vanish in front of their eyes, but I had been struggling to feel that bad for a guy who dislocated his shoulder by… climbing a random rock for no reason! So anyway, bye Matthew.

All American 515: “United in Grief”

Written by Natalie

The morning after Patience’s video release party, Layla shares the truth about Patience’s #1 fan with the artist. Understandably unnerved, she wonders how Miko was able to find out their address. Layla lays out Miko’s history — the constant DM stalking, then the “accidental” run-in at Slauson Cafe, and now the flowers being sent directly to Patience’s house — and warns that there’s something seriously wrong with her. She insists that Patience stay away from Miko and, of course, Patience agrees. Layla tries to take Patience’s mind off the situation with Miko by checking the numbers on the video but even those are underwhelming. Patience storms off in frustration.

But later the views on the video start to skyrocket…thanks, of course, to a post on one of Miko’s fan pages. Layla tries to suppress Patience’s instinct to reach out and thank Miko but Patience suggests they cut the stan some slack. Layla reminds Patience that she’s been down this road before — that All American has done this storyline before — and that Miko is not the kind of person who can be reasoned with. She encourages Patience to cut off all contact…and, of course, Patience doesn’t listen.

Instead, she meets up with Miko at Slauson Cafe and tries to set some boundaries. Miko insists that she’d never do anything to intentionally make Patience uncomfortable and apologizes for having done so. Miko chastises herself for the misstep and Patience tries to assuage her guilt. But when Patience steps away to take a picture with some fans, Stan Miko comes out: she grabs Patience’s phone, unlocks it somehow, and installs spyware that allows her to listen to Patience’s conversations.

Meanwhile, Spencer continues to struggle with his grief over Coach Baker’s death. Coop stops by the beach house to drop Spencer’s brother off and sees firsthand that her best friend’s grief is manifesting as anger. She confront him about what’s going on but he assures her he’s fine and that there’s nothing else to worry about. But she recognizes how Spencer’s pushing away everyone who loves him and encourages him to be honest about his pain. He tells her to back off but Coop continues to press…until Spencer explodes. He scream at her to leave him alone and punches a hole in nearby cabinet. Freaked out by his anger, Coop leaves, and insists on taking Dillon with her. Spencer insists his brother is safe with him but his brother doesn’t agree and leaves with Coop.

“Listen, man, I’ve been rocking with you for way too long,” Coop admits. “I’ve seen every side of you — the good, the bad, the ugly — but this, this Spencer James? I don’t know him, and that scares me.”

The moment is the catalyst that Spencer needs to finally reach out and get professional help. So the next time he crosses paths with Coop — and the rest of his friends and family — he’s fully prepared to accept their comfort and embrace.

Accused 108: “Esme’s Story”

Written by Natalie

So, I should start out with a warning: Accused is a difficult watch. Not just this episode — which I’m recapping because it stars Aisha Dee and has a lesbian relationship at its center — but all the episodes. The show’s meant to be provocative and it succeeds at its mission but I’m always left wondering: to what end? It’s never been clear to me. But I digress…

Esme “Essie” Brewer is on trial for first degree murder. The prosecutor offers her a deal — second degree murder which would eliminate the possibility of life without parole — but she rejects it outright. She won’t express remorse for something that she doesn’t feel regret over. What’d she do? She killed two white supremacists.

The show flashes back to happier times: Essie with her girlfriend, Aaliyah (Aisha Dee), perusing a local market. They’re happy — blissfully so — until a band of white supremacists show up and launch a protest. Essie tries to pull her girlfriend away but, channeling her inner Kat Edison, Aaliyah tries to draw closer to the protest. When a fight breaks out, Essie finally convinces Aaliyah to leave and just as they do, a speeding car crashes through the crowd. The car strikes one of their friends, leaving him potentially paralyzed, and drives off.

Convinced the police aren’t doing enough to find the driver, Aaliyah tries to find him on her own. She starts online, pretending to be a white supremacist in hopes of crossing paths with someone with information about the hit and run. Essie tries to get Aaliyah to stop, knowing from personal experience how dangerous it is to wade into those waters. But while she’s temporarily distracted, Aaliyah persists with her search until she finds a white supremacist who was at the market that day. Enchanted by the stories that Aaliyah’s concocted — stories based on Essie’s youth, growing up as the child of white supremacists — he tracks her down to see if she’s real. Aaliyah pleads for Essie to go in her place and, eventually, she relents.

She spends time with the bigot, Ancel, first at the bar and then he sends one of his bigot friends, Shaggy, to bring her back to the bigot farm in Upstate New York. Aaliyah urges her not to go but Ancel shared that his group has something big planned and Esme feels obligated to try and stop it…as a way to make amends for her and her family’s sins. Shaggy seems skeptical of Esme immediately but it’s only when he grabs her phone and sees a picture of her and Aaliyah on the lockscreen that he realizes who she is. He was the driver at the market that day and grew incensed when he saw “a white girl, kissing up on her black girlfriend.” He ran into the crowd because of them.

Shaggy threatens to kill Esme but Ancel intercedes. They get into a fight and it gives Esme just enough time to escape in the car that struck their friend. Unbeknownst to Esme, though, she’s driving home with the “something big” in the trunk…and the bomb explodes just outside her apartment, killing multiple people. By the time the police arrive at the farm, the bigots have scattered. Esme finds one of their targets discarded on the ground and notices the name of a gun shop on it. Assuming that the bigots will eventually return to the shop, Esme camps out there in wait. Aaliyah begs her to come home but Esme refuses. When she spots Ancel and Shaggy coming out of the gun shop one night, Esme rams her car right into them.

She’s taken to trial and Aaliyah is forced to testify against her. Aisha Dee gives a heartbreaking performance on the stand — angry but calm and measured — that makes me want to see her in absolutely everything. But Esme’s found guilty anyway…and she’s carted off to prison…and the life that she and Aaliyah had planned to build together will remain just a dream.

A Million Little Things 508: “Dear Diary”

Written by Natalie

With their engagement cemented, it’s time for Katherine to meet Greta’s parents…or to reintroduce herself to Greta’s parents, to be more precise. After how things between Katherine and Greta ended in high school, Katherine’s anxious that Greta’s parents might still hate her. Greta assures Katherine that they’re over it but, just in case they aren’t, Katherine’s packed enough of Greta’s mom’s favorite candles to lull her into an Autumn Sunset-scented complacency. Greta promises that the weekend will be absolutely perfect but the broken zipper on Katherine’s suitcase says different.

When Katherine arrives at Lon and Lana’s place, she’s still on pins and needles. Lon charges at them, as soon as they arrive, and responds angrily: “You gotta lotta nerve coming back here.” Panicked, Katherine reaches for the speech you know she’s been practicing in her head since they decided to make the trip, but thankfully, Lana intervenes and assures it was just a joke. A Star Wars joke, inspired by Theo’s suitcase that Katherine’s been forced to bring along. They wrap Katherine up in a hug and welcome her into the Strobe family.

Over dinner, Greta’s parents continue their embrace of Katherine. Lana insists that she always felt that there was a special connection between the girls and she’s grateful they found their way back to each other. They all toast to the happy couple. And while, on the surface, everything appears to be going swimmingly, Lon and Lana’s reluctance to tell the story of how they fell in love catches my attention. But Katherine doesn’t notice something’s awry until she happens upon Greta’s parents fighting in the kitchen. Later that night, Katherine tells Greta what she saw but Greta shrugs it off — “married people fight,” she says — and convinces Katherine that she’s just looking for stuff that’s not there.

But the next day when Lon, Lana, Katherine and Greta gather to take their Hannukah photo, she notices a notification from a dating app on her father’s phone. She questions her father about it and he assures her he’s not cheating on her mother. Lon and Lana finally come clean: they’re separating but had tried to keep it a secret so as not to upset Greta’s happiness. Greta’s stunned by the admission. She thought her parents’ relationship was solid and wonders what chance she has if they can’t make it work.

“Listen to me,” Katherine insists. “That’s not gonna be us, okay?…Because we both got it wrong before and we’re gonna get it right this time.”

Good Trouble 503: “About Damn Time”

Written by Natalie

I really hoped, after last week’s episode, that Good Trouble had turned the corner…that last season’s tone derivation was an anomaly…that the reunion between the Adams Foster sisters was a harbinger of better things to come. But then this week’s episode opened with a drug deal — from packaging to delivery — and I realize that this is just how it’s gonna be now. This is what we’re doing…and I absolutely hate it. But there is a bit of positive news from this week’s episode: first, the theme song is back (much to my relief) and second — and this is the most important thing — THE MAMAS ARE COMING! Now, admittedly, the fact that Stef and Lena aren’t in Los Angeles immediately following the shooting strains credulity but, at this point, I’ll take what I can get.

Here’s what you need to know to get ready for the Mamas’ arrival next week:

While Evan’s recovering from his gun shot wound, Mariana’s been left in charge of his company and his medical decisions. Stepping back into the halls of Speckulate is hard: the bro-hole culture at the company persists, thanks in large part to Dylan, the company’s chief communications officer. When one Speckulate employee asks about lay-offs during the all-staff meeting, Dylan assures everyone that the layoffs are just rumors and no one should worry. But privately, Dylan tells Mariana that the rumors are true and she’s the one who needs to make the decision about which 25 people are laid off.

She returns to the hospital and wonders if she should tell people at Speckulate the truth about what happened. But Evan’s ghost reminds her that sharing the information would only undermine their confidence in her. She notes that the layoffs are going to do that on their own but Ghost Evan assures her that she’ll think of something, she always does. She admits that she’s so afraid of failing him and Ghost Evan simply responds, “then don’t.”

But a conversation with Dennis, as she’s getting ready for work, sparks an idea. Instead of getting rid of 25 low-level employees, she ousts three of Speckulate’s VPs, much to Dylan’s chagrin. He tries to get her to reconsider — tacitly threatening her with a reminder of the upcoming vote about her tenure as CEO — but Mariana stands firm (and looks great doing it!). Dylan begrudingly fires the underperforming VPs but assures them that they’ll be rehired when the board ousts Mariana. Her bold move earns Mariana the respect of her employees, though, and she leaves Speckulate later with her head held high.

Unfortunately, her good mood is undone by Evan’s doctor who reports that Mariana’s ex needs surgery immediately — the bullet kniicked his spine — or he may end up paralyzed. He warns Mariana that the surgery isn’t without its own risks and notes that Evan might not survive. Evan’s sister refuses to make the decision so the choice falls to Mariana. Unsure about what to do, she calls the people she knows can help her make a decision: her Mamas.

Meanwhile, Malika continues to strive for work/life balance in her new job but, unbeknownst to her, that just means that assignments that Lucia needs done ASAP fall to other people in the office. While Tracy works to get Lucia the report she needs, Malika spends time reconnecting with her brother, Dom. The siblings update each other on the details of their lives and he presses Malika about work and her relationship with Angelica. Malika admits that their connection caught her by surprise — she didn’t know she was into ladies — but it doesn’t matter because she works too much. Dom suggest that she stop by Duoro on Thursday, when both he and Angelica are scheduled to work, and show her that she’s achieved new balance between work and her personal life.

At work the next day, Tracy drops the report she had to stay late to finish on Malika’s desk. She laments that Malika got the promotion but she’s the one that’s being forced to do the work. Malika confesses that she had know idea and relays that Lucia told her it could wait until morning. Later, Malika approaches Tracy with a peace offering and apologizes for Lucia asking Tracy to do Malika’s work. However, she refuses to apologize for taking the promotion and criticizes Tracy for being salty about it. She notes that when she first arrived Tracy was indifferent to their work — she insisted she was just there for the benefits and job security — but Tracy confesses that that was just a defense mechanism. Malika encourages her to vocalize her amibition in the future and promises to team with her to get her noticed.

Later, Malika confronts Lucia about passing off her work to other staffers but Lucia insists that it’s a consequence of the boundaries that Malika set. It’s enough to make Malika let go of her firm grasp on those boundaries so, instead of heading to Duoro to show off for Angelica, Malika spends the night in, writing a memo for Lucia.

Gotham Knights Episode 103: “Under Pressure”

Written by Valerie Anne

This whole show is shot in the gloomiest filter. I know Gotham is smoggy but ffs.

This episode is about a gang called the Mutant Gang, which is NOT the owl-themed group they have been talking about for two episodes, and may or may not involve actual mutants. They’re going to attack a gala that Stephanie is attending, so the teens have to work together to stop it.

Also, Cullen infiltrates the precinct to try to steal files, and somehow his disguise works even though he looks like a little boy dressed in his dad’s uniform. This convinces his sister to stop being overprotective, though Harper promises him that she’s always known her brother is a badass.

Once faced with a bomb Turner almost accidentally sets off on account of being useless, science-babe Harper and hacker-extraordinaire Stephanie join forces to try to dismantle it. They sass each other about what to do, both relying on their own expertise, neither of them being able to find a solution, until they’re finally out of time and Stephanie takes a swing and cuts a wire, just in time to save the day. Harper is pissed, and Stephanie doesn’t understand; it worked, didn’t it? Harper somehow concludes that Stephanie choosing her faster solution means that she thinks Harper’s solution that they literally did not have time for was bad and therefore Stephanie thinks she’s better than her. She tells Stephanie to look down at her from elsewhere and stomps off, leaving both Stephanie and me confused about what her entire deal is. Based on what I know about the Rules of CWTV, probably this means they’re going to have a princess-and-the-pauper romance, and I really wish I cared more about this show as a whole, because two smart cookies from two different worlds could have been fun if I didn’t also have to suffer a white man giving cheesy speeches about hope and a teen boy whining about how his daddy didn’t pick him to be his special little bat boy.

Other random thoughts I had that I don’t have room to unpack: Brody’s mom is hot. I like that Duella calls Robin “little bird.” I’m doing my best to stop comparing this show to Batwoman/blaming it for Batwoman’s untimely demise but it’s hard when they have a girl with a batarang! Don’t get me wrong, Robin is an adorable little badass, but the batarang scene just made me miss Ryan Wilder. Also, it’s hard to not miss Sophie, who realized she couldn’t fix the system by participating in it, when she was replaced by Harvey Dent, the chief of the corrupt GCPD who is not only participating in it, but doubling down on it by running for mayor.

How I Met Your Father Episode 210 & 211: “I’m His Swish” & “Daddy”

Written by Valerie Anne

I don’t even like sitting on my brother’s bed, so this is wholly unrelatable to me.

This week is a double feature!

In the first episode of the set, Ellen hangs out with her brother to cheer them both up since they’re both blue; Jesse because Sophie has a new man, and Ellen because Rachel is still out of town.

But while Jesse is ordering a pizza for them, Rachel calls and says she’s on her way home because she can’t deal with her aunt’s “don’t say gay” friends in Florida. Ellen doesn’t want to bail on her brother, so while he goes downstairs to get the pizza, Rachel sneaks in. When Jesse goes to look for his sister, he gets more than he bargained for, because Ellen and Rachel are fooling around in his bed.

Ellen panics and apologizes and promises it wasn’t her boob he saw and when Rachel makes a joke about how at least someone’s using it. They then embark on my least favorite joke on TV which is “he hasn’t had sex in weeks, what a loser!” So Ellen and Rachel become his wingman, and he finds someone to take home, but she’s immediately turned off when she finds his sister’s bra in his bed.

The second episode is Ellen-light, but has guest appearances by Paget Brewster as Sophie’s mom in a flashback, and Neil Patrick-Harris as Barney Stintson, who Sophie accidentally rear-ends when she is running away from her new boyfriend because she’s afraid he’s actually her bio dad. Barney is intrigued by this potential incest and offers to wave the cost of fixing his car if she tells him her story, so she does. It turns out her boyfriend wasn’t her father, but he did hook up with her mom, and Sophie can’t get past that enough to continue dating him. Barney tells Sophie that finding her long lost father isn’t going to fix all her problems; she has to fix herself, and then maybe she can find room for her father in her life. That said, learning how Barney found his father later in life inspires her, and she tells her friends she wants to find her father, and they all promise to help.

The Watchful Eye Episode 110: “Hale Fellow Well Met”

Written by Valerie Anne

I’ve enjoyed our adventures with the Queer Nanny Squad!

In the season finale of The Watchful Eye, chaos erupts. James locks Alex in his bathroom, Elena’s mother blackmails her for half the money she’s getting from blackmailing Mrs. Ivy, and Matthew is being accused of killing Allie.

Kim calls Alex because even though she’s miles away from her best friend, she knows something is off because Alex was a no-show at work and that’s very unlike them; also she tracked their phone and they’ve been at James’ apartment. So Ginny and Roman go to check on Alex, and when they get there they find out that Elena has been kidnapped by him, too. They manage to overtake him and free Alex and call the cops and James admits he’s been extorting the Greybournes but had nothing to do with Allie’s death.

Elena goes to Tory to try to get her to believe her that Matthew didn’t kill her sister, but that she thinks someone did, and offers Tory a deal: she’ll tell her everything she knows for $5 million. Tory agrees, and Elena tells her everything she’s learned about Mrs. Ivy’s true identity. Tory starts to have a bit of a breakdown and goes to confront her aunt, but Mrs. Ivy turns the blame to Tory’s husband. That he was just supposed to keep her from trying to open the trust to a new branch of the family, but he took things too far. When Tory leaves, Jocelyn’s ghost tells her Ruby she’s ashamed of her, but Mrs. Ivy says that’s not her name and ignores her mother’s voice.

Ginny takes Alex back to her apartment and comforts them when they are startled by a knock at the door. Turns out, it’s Kim, who is happy to see her best friend and her best girl safe and sound. They all decide it’s time to talk about Elena.

Meanwhile, Bennett takes off with Roman, and Darcy admits she forged the note that blames Matthew for Allie’s death, and the detective steals the birth certificate and calls Elena’s mom. Elena steals a quiet moment with Jasper to play with him and keep him smiling, and looks up to see Allie’s ghost standing in the doorway; she smiles approvingly at Elena before disappearing.

Across the hall, Tory brings her husband a smoothie and after he’s taken a few gulps, flat-out asks him if he killed her sister. See, she poisoned the smoothie and will only give him the antidote if he tells her the truth. He says he just wanted to scare Allie by drugging her but it gave her suicidal ideations and he didn’t stop her when she climbed up onto the windowsill. The doorman had seen him, which is why he had to die. Tory gives him the antidote but then the dummy keeps talking. Calls Allie “the pretty one” and claims Tory secretly wanted Allie to die. But Tory sure did not, and she proves it by stabbing him to death.

When Elena goes to find Tory to tell her about the forged note, she finds Tory standing over her husband’s dead body. Tory says, very matter-of-factly, “We’re gonna need a shovel,” and that’s where the season ends. Whew! What a ride.

Boobs on Your Tube: Give Us Our Queer Friends to Lovers Story, “The Rookie: Feds”!

Happy Yellowjackets Season Two Day to all who celebrate! Kayla’s first recap of the new season is ready for you — and we’re hosting an A+ watchalong tonight! If you’re looking for a warm-up for Yellowjackets, Kayla suggests Class of ’07.

In less exciting news, The L Word: Generation Q has been cancelled by Showtime (but also an Ilene Chaiken-helmed reboot in NYC might also be in the works with the original cast?).

Daisy Jones and the Six has  a stunning tribute to Black queer love, freedom, and disco; Carmen wrote about it. Voting is now open in our Autostraddle March Madness: Trope-y Wives, round of 32! Nic reviewed the exciting second season of Shadow & Bone, which, unfortunately, did not do right by its sapphic characters. You’re not just imagining it: GLAAD confirms that these infinite cancellations are really killing the vibe for LGBTQ+ TV characters. In this week’s I’ll Watch Anything, Valerie Anne wants you to know why they’ll watch anything with witches! Kristen Kish’s new travel show is here, and Shelli Nicole wants to tell you all about it. The midseason trailer for Vanderpump Rules has landed, and our very own Bravo Dyke has some feelings about it. Drew recapped the latest episode of Drag Race. She also reviewed the new queer French film, The Five Devils.

Notes from the TV Team:

+ This week on Station 19, post-“lasagna love story,” Carina and Maya are finding their way back to each other. Carina describes it as the flirty early stages of their dating, except they are already married, which I’m sure is equal parts adorable and frustrating for all involved. But while Carina works through her own fears of losing herself in Maya’s storm (there’s a whole deer/antler analogy, don’t ask), Maya confronts some of the dark shit she did while in her depression, namely giving alcohol to Captain Beckett and potentially kickstarting his relapse (don’t worry, Ben reminds her that we are not our darkest actions). They end the day with some incredibly sweet texting, but my biggest takeaway from yesterday’s episode is that they want me to believe Tracie Thoms can play a woman who’s straight! Not possible.  — Carmen

+ I keep waiting to care about Gotham Knights, but it hasn’t happened yet. I find the Bat Brat to be bland and not compelling. I found myself sort of wishing Duela and the siblings would have gotten the hell out of dodge. The best part of the second episode for me was when six cops’ heads were put in boxes and mailed to Harvey Dent. I find the dialogue predictable and I feel like we weren’t given enough reason to believe these teens who met each other yesterday would risk their lives for each other. Maybe it’s the Ravenswood filter, but I swear I’m trying and I just can’t get into this damn show. — Valerie Anne

+ Upset Alert: for the second time in as many appearances, Chefbian Britt Rescigno has pulled out an unimaginable upset on Food Network’s Tournament of Champions. This week, she was challenged by Darnell Ferguson and forced to create a surf n’ turf, champagne brunch dish using lobster tail, longbone ribeye and the meat grinder. Chef Britt created the perfect Las Vegas brunch and won a narrow victory. So now, Chef Britt has taken out a reigning champion and a SuperChef, can she follow-up by dethroning an Iron Chef? We’ll find out when the chefbian takes on Jose Garces in the Elite 8. — Natalie

+ #CancelYourGays had become such a fixture in queer TV over recent weeks, I nearly forgot #BuryYourGays was a thing, but this week Truth Be Told swooped in with the timely reminder: the bullet that struck Eva killed her. RIP, Eva Pierre and RIP to my hopes of seeing Gabrielle Union make out with more women. — Natalie

The Rookie: Feds 118: “Seeing Red”

Written by Natalie

At one point in this week’s episode of The Rookie: Feds, Simone’s father wakes up to find his daughter sharing coffee with Naomi. Simone introduces her dad to her friend, Naomi, and he raises a skeptical eye. He asks, “your friend or your friend friend?” Simone assures him that they’re just friends and I literally scream, “NOOOOOOO!” at my television.

Admittedly, their interactions haven’t been overly romantic. When they first meet for breakfast in this episode, their conversation is entirely about Simone’s extra effort at work. She’s been staying up late, reading old case files, in an effort to keep the “black girl magic” going. But Naomi reminds Simone that she’s not a black Superhero, she’s a 50 year old — 48, Simone corrects — woman who’s doing too much. Simone admits that she’s tired but insists she’s worked too hard to take her foot off the gas now. Before Naomi can offer a rebuttal, they get pulled into a case.

But despite her assures that she’s good, Simone is not: burning the candle at both ends is starting to catch up to her. On her way home after a long day of work, she narrowly avoids hitting another car when she falls asleep behind the wheel. She shares what happened with Naomi who gently scolds her for putting herself and the public at risk. Simone admits that she’s worried about being seen as a liability but Naomi assures her she could never be seen that way. She encourages Simone to not just rest her body but to rest her mind. If Simone continues down this path, Naomi warns, she’s going to burn herself out within six months.

Later, Naomi shows up at Simone’s door again with something that she promises will relax her body and mind. For a moment I had hope — maybe these two haven’t been friendzoned — but then Simone peaks into the bag and it’s yarn. No, I think, we’ve definitely been friendzoned. She’s not sure that knitting will be the thing that keeps Simone from burning out but pledges to be there to help Simone find what will.

Listen, I know…I know I’m the one who’s always talking about letting queer characters exist in community…that we should have platonic gay friends. And, yes, I’ve said that the introduction of another queer character shouldn’t automatically trigger a romantic storyline. I stand by what I’ve said…but for these particular characters, played by these particular queer actresses of color…nope, I’m going to need the Rookie: Feds writers to queue up a good Friends to Lovers story, ASAP.

And yes, this could be the start of a great slow burn but…1. this is a cop show so who knows what danger awaits these characters and 2. I refuse to believe that a queer woman who caught Niecy Nash’s eye would want to move slow. That just doesn’t make sense.

How I Met Your Father Episode 209: “The Welcome Protocol”

Written by Valerie Anne

I do wish we got a little more of them together on screen but this was a cute montage.

This week, Jesse has a new gal pal. Her name is Dana and even though they’ve only been dating for like a week, he requests that his friends roll out The Welcome Protocol. We learn what that is by way of a flashback to when Ellen rolled out said Protocol when she introduced Rachel to the group.

They employed Hype Men to brag about Ellen in front of Rachel, a Bathroom Bestie for a surprisingly deep conversation by the sinks, Human Fodder to bond them in group ridicule, and The Giggler to laugh at all of Ellen’s jokes. It works and Rachel enjoys her time with the group. I think this is actually very sweet because usually it’s Pack vs Individual, not the group trying to show the partner a good time.

When Jesse brings Dana around, everyone loves her. She has something specific in common with each of them, and they are ready to welcome her with open arms…but Jesse isn’t into it. He fakes an emergency, then she has an actual emergency, and he accidentally ruins their chance at getting a new platonic addition to their group by sticking his foot in his mouth about it. This leads Ellen to scold her brother, saying, “We could have had a gay grandma-in-law, thanks for nothing.” All in all very fun.

Also this is neither here nor there but Wendie Malick who is famous for a lot, including a show I remember weirdly well from my childhood Just Shoot Me, but dearest to my heart as Eda from The Owl House.

The Watchful Eye Episode 109: “The Serpent’s Tooth”

Written by Valerie Anne

I’m glad they had time to grab some New York Bagels before downloading about the S.O.S.

As Elena prepares to do a little blackmail then leave the Greybourne once and for all, she goes to Matthew’s apartment to say goodbye to Jasper. Much to her surprise, she opens the door to find her brother inside. Matthew seems desperate to get Elena to say.

While finalizing her plans with Roman, Elena gets a text from Alex that says it’s a 911, and Elena knows Alex doesn’t typically cry wolf, so if they’re asking for help, they need help. And it still feels new and awesome to have a non-binary main character and have other characters casually using they/them pronouns for someone; I know it’s not the first but I can’t wait for it to be so common it doesn’t feel so novel. Props to The Watchful Eye, though! Credit where credit is due.

Elena meets up with Alex and they tell her about James lying, which Elena files away as odd but frankly she has bigger fish to fry at the moment. So Alex goes to Ginny instead and they decide to stalk James, where they see him get a thick envelope from Otis Winthrop. Also I don’t know if we knew exactly how Ginny’s clients, the Chans, fit into all this, but Mrs. Chan is Otis’s sister; just in case that’s important later. They tell Elena this too but she is focused on what she hopes is her last act at the Greybourne.

Elena goes to Mrs. Ivy’s and blackmails her with the birth certificate, asking for $5 million. Mrs. Ivy agrees, says to come back tomorrow for a check. Despite this seeming a little too easy, Elena is ready to celebrate, until she goes upstairs to her room and hears Jocelyn crying. She follows the sign and finds Mrs. Ivy in the secret room, blocking her ears, telling herself that she’s imagining the sounds. But Elena hears it too, and even sees Jocelyn while she begs her not to hurt her baby. Mrs. Ivy is relieved someone finally believes her, after all these years.

Elena goes to Matthew’s again, and he tells her that since her brother is in town, she can stay in his guest room while her brother stays up in her room, and of course this leads to them sleeping together again.

But then Darcy, who saw something scandalous on one of her parents’ computers, calls the detective and gets Matthew arrested for Allie’s murder.

Meanwhile, James calls Alex, who decides to play it cool to get more info. James “confesses” to them that he was fired months ago, and they go home with him. But while James is out of the room, Alex snoops around his room and finds a box under his bed with a phone that has Morgan on the lock screen (presumably Morgan’s even though no one I know in real life has themselves alone as their own lock screen), stalkerazzi photos of Elena with Jasper, and Elena’s missing phone.

The episode ends with Elena’s brother reporting the events of the day back to Elena’s mother, who has a mischievous grin on her face. Dun dun dunnnn.

All American 514: “Make Me Proud”

Written by Natalie

Though the death of Coach Baker still looms large on All American, everyone’s trying to find a way to keep living: for Patience that means unveiling her new music video at a premiere party. But because this is Diva!Patience and not the Patience we met in All American‘s first season so before the party, she needs three hours of “self-charge time.” Coop mocks her but Diva!Patience insists, “Charm like mine needs a relaxed headspace.” Who is this person and what has All American done with the real Patience? Who is this person who’s complaining about upstairs and downstairs sweatshirts like someone who’s been pampered their entire life? Bring back the Patience from Crenshaw.

During her respite period, Diva!Patience heads to Slausson Cafe and runs into her #1 fan, Miko, who’s become a regular at the Cafe since they shared lunch there. Miko expresses her excitement over the forthcoming video drop but mentions that online trolls are already hating on it. Diva!Patience is taken aback by the hate — the video hasn’t even premiered yet — but rushes off to get her pre-party massage.

While waiting, she talks to Layla and Gia about doing something for her OG fans before tonight’s video launch. Diva!Patience suggests taking a picture with the gift that her fans (read: Miko) had sent over and posting it onto the ‘gram. Missing from this entire conversation is Sky, the person that Patience hired a few episodes ago to be her social media manager but, honestly, that’s the least of All American‘s continuity issues.

Later, Gia admits that she found the gift on the doorstep to the mansion when she arrived. She assumed the gift was from their friend group but, upon confirmation from Layla, realizes that they were sent to the house my Miko. Layla looks concerned as she realizes that Patience’s #1 fan — a fan that Layla set her up with, mind you — now knows where she lives.

Good Trouble 502: “It Was Not Your Fault But Mine”

Written by Natalie

There’s a moment in this week’s episode of Good Trouble…when, in the middle of an argument with her sister, Callie crosses a line. She accuses Mariana of being the reason Evan was shot. It’s a low blow and she knows it right away. She apologizes and goes back to offering Mariana the unconditional love and support she needs. Mariana insists she doesn’t have a choice about taking over as interim CEO at Speckulate; anything less than that and she’ll be crushed under the guilt of what she caused. Then, just as the scene ends Callie wraps her sister up in a tight hug and apologizes again for what she said.

“I’m sorry,” Callie whispers. “That was really mean. That was so mean, I’m sorry. It’s just — you scared me”

It’s such a real and intimate moment, between two sisters that we’ve known for almost 10 (!!) years, and it’s deeply affecting to watch. The show is at its best when it allows the relationships and emotion between the characters to carry the weight of the storyline. Let them bend and break and rebuild in front of us, without the theatrics of murderous cults. It’s what this show is genuinely good at and it’s what the show got away from far too often in season four.

Meanwhile, Alice finds a note in the suggestion box critical of her management skills and she’s convinced that Callie’s behind it. Sumi is rightfully skeptical that someone would travel cross country to submit a complaint about a place where she no longer lives. She tries to talk Alice off the ledge but to no avail; instead, Alice creates and distributes a survey about life at the Coterie. That goes over about as well as you’d imagine: Alice finds the surveys later, completely unanswered. She admits to Sumi that she believes the criticism was warranted: by focusing too much on her career, she has dropped the ball. If Alice sees some truth in the critique, Sumi suggests, then she should work harder and stop obsessing about the note and who wrote it. But, of course, just when Alice stops obsessing about the note, she discovers who’s behind it: Kelly (natch!) and moreover, the note wasn’t about Alice, it was about Sumi’s stint as manager while Alice was away. It’s a light-hearted storyline that offers a little levity to an otherwise heavy episode.

Speaking of:

– Isabella absconds to her former nanny’s home with her baby. Understandably frantic, Gael is forced to reach out to her narcissistic parents about where Isabella might go. They offer him no information but soon thereafter, Isabella’s mother shows up at the nanny’s house, full of apologies and promises. At first, I worry that Isabella’s going to fall for her mother’s schtick — Isabella’s been waiting to hear these things for her entire life — but when her mother suggests that they’ll raise Baby Lyric together, Isabella sees a future for her child that she doesn’t want (when she said, “words can’t undo the broken parts of me,” I felt that). Isabella admits that she needs help and that she’s not ready to be a mother yet…so she hands Lyric back to their father.

– Luca meets with his long lost aunt (found through a DNA registry) in order to track down his birth certificate and, finally, get an ID. But she reveals that Luca was actually born in Calgary…so, on top of everything else, he’s undocumented. Mad at himself for getting his hopes up, he lies to Davia and sets out to leave the Coterie. Thankfully, Davia and Malika stop him. Malika acknowledges that this must feel like “a major setback in a string of never-ending setbacks” but encourages him to stay and fight with the help of his Coterie fam. To that end, Callie promises to connect Luca up with an immigration attorney.

– Jamie proposed to Callie…but we don’t get to see her say yes and she doesn’t tell her sister when given the opportunity. Are we thinking she said yes but doesn’t want to tell Mariana at this moment or did Callie actually say no?

Boobs on Your Tube: Station 19’s Lasagna Love Story Finally Puts Maya and Carina Back on Track

IT’S MARCH MADNESS, BABY! Not just women’s basketball but also AUTOSTRADDLE TROPE-Y WIVES! So far, Natalie has unveiled our Enemies to Lovers region and our Forbidden Fruit region.

Shelli Nicole is covering another film festival; this time it’s SXSW. She reviewed Cora Bora and interviewed Meg Statler!!! She reviewed Who I Am Not. She reviewed Bloody Hell. She reviewed Swarm. And she’s not done yet!

More movies? Okay! Drew reviewed Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin’s new movie, Moving On. Valerie Anne reviewed Bella Ramsey’s horror short, Requiem. And A.Tony reviewed Scream VI.

The Last of Us’ first season came to a tear-jerking end this week, and of course Nic and Valerie Anne were here to recap it all for you! Also here to recap it all? Drew, with a brand new Drag Race rundown. Heather reviewed Perry Mason’s second season and introduced our new TV Team series, I’ll Watch Anything. Anya introduced you to the queer women of Survivor’s newest season. We heard A League of Their Own was coming back for four more episodes. Then we heard it was still fighting for #MoreThanFour. Riese reminded us of all the sapphic shows that have been cancelled after one season. And Heather made a list of TV comedies where lesbians are actually in on the jokes.

Notes from the TV Team:

+ This week on Tournament of Champions, two chefbians stepped up to face the dreaded randomizer…though, thankfully, they didn’t have to face each other. In the first contest, celebrated pastry chefbian Elizabeth Falkner faced Joey Sasto in a battle that required: chicken thighs as the protein, rutabagas as the produce, metal skewers as the equipment and buttery as the style. Falker offered a Turkish chicken thigh with rutabaga hummus, a dish so creative that I was surpised Falkner didn’t take the victory. She lost by just one point.

In another battle, James Beard award winning chefbian Karen Akunowicz went head-to-head with Christian Petroni. The randomizer forced the chefs to work with pancetta as a protein, arugula as the produce, a ricer as the equipment and boozy as the style. Akunowicz was successful at showcasing the protein and the style in multiple ways which helped her secure the win. There’s a rematch with the chef that defeated Akunowicz in the last edition of TOC. Go gays! — Natalie

+ This week’s episode of NCIS: Hawai’i was a real testament to the growth that Kate Whistler’s undergone over two seasons. She’s no longer the DIA agent to felt like she had to be in control at all times…here, she’s admitting that there’s something she’s not immediately good at and allowing herself to be vulnerable with both Lucy and Jane Tennant. — Natalie

Station 19 610: “Even Better Than the Real Thing”

Written by Carmen

It all started with a lasagna.

In season three of Station 19, when Maya and Carina were still in the verrrry early stages of their relationship, well, there was a lot of sex. But also, there was lasagna. Lasagna baked by Carina and brought to the firehouse to surprise her girlfriend before pressing her hard up against bookcase. There was Maya telling Carina that she didn’t know how to have a girlfriend, because she was worried that she broken. There was Carina telling Maya, “I’m not in the habit of fixing broken people.”

There was them, this lasagna was them.

And I believe that’s why this week, Maya baked Carina a lasagna. Because she was right, she has been broken, but also she is healing and she wants to heal the hurt she’s caused Carina, too. So on her first day back at work, while the rest of Station 19 is out on a call, she tells Jack that she’s going to skip over to Grey Sloane to win back her wife with baked cheese and noodles.

Carina, who is in a meeting with Bailey, doesn’t respond with the warmth Maya was hoping for. Carina’s been asking for space, you see, and Maya is trying to respect those boundaries — but she also wants her wife to know that she’s here. She’s ready to fight for their marriage. But Carina does let her in the office, which is a start. And after Maya leaves, Carina does eat some of the lasagna at Bailey’s suggestion. Her wife made it for her, and she’s been having such a bad day.

That was a mistake, because Maya — overeager, overzealous impatient puppy of a woman Maya — she maaaaybe took the lasagna out a little bit early, in a rush to get it to Carina while it was still hot.

(An aside from the home cook in me: All the parts of lasagna are fully cooked before they go into an oven, and taking it out early should not have caused food poisoning — if anything, just undercooked noodles. But don’t let me ruin a good time!)

Here is Carina, back in the hotel room she’s been living in, sweaty, and nursing a toilet bowl. Maya shows up, having heard about the unintentional pain she’s caused, and at first Carina turns her away. But patiently, Maya stands by the bathroom door. I’d say it was even romantic, if it were not for all the vomiting. And wow, Station 19 sure did commit to the audio effects of the vomiting.

Eventually, when she’s done yelling at Maya, Carina relents. Having gotten it all out — her physical guts, her sticky emotions, her hurt, all of it — she slumps against the bathroom wall. She’s cold. Can Maya bring her a blanket?

Never have I seen a woman sprint across a hotel room to be helpful as quickly as Maya Bishop to bring her wife a blanket, and if I didn’t already know she was a Gold medal winning Olympian, there would be no doubt. In a flash, she’s by Carina’s side, wrapping her softly in a rust colored throw from the bed. Carina leans against Maya, she lets Maya hold her softly, her cheek pressed against the sweat of Carina’s hair. They talk almost in whispers, so much said without being said.

Maya doesn’t want to leave. She’s afraid that if she gets up and walks out the door, she won’t see Carina again. But Carina promises this won’t be their last time.

For one, she’ll call Maya in a few hours so that Maya knows that she’s OK. And for second, well Carina doesn’t say anything about what comes next. But I have a good feeling about this.

Survivor Episode Three: “Sneaky Little Snake”

Written by Anya

Frannie entering her villain era (I hope)

What happened with our three gals this episode! Well, at the start of the episode, we go back to the Tika tribe, where everyone is trying to get Sarah on their side. The main take-away from our time with the Tika tribe is that Carolyn is thriving; she and Yam Yam have a truly incredible rapport and friendship that I hope lasts the whole season long (and beyond!).

On the Soka tribe, our girl Frannie is still apparently flirting it up with Matt, and everyone seems to agree that their showmance puts a target on both their backs (I agree), because no one likes to keep people that are so obviously loyal to each other around — it’s threatening!

Firefighter Danny seems to be the only person this season that figured out exactly how to use the birdcage idol — he hid the fake idol back in the birdcage, LITERALLY EATS THE NOTE SAYING IT WAS FAKE, and then Matt discovers the fake idol with the note saying it’s real. Poor Matt! He may be getting played and duped on like, every level!

None of our queer gals are on the red tribe, so not much to share there, although we do learn that Matthew made a fake immunity idol and Jamie discovered it (when she wasn’t busy like, eating every worm she could find) (I mean that literally, she got really into eating worms???).

At the challenge, Claire sits out again, for the third time this season, Jeff is sure to point out. The Soka tribe loses the challenge which means they have to go to tribal. Back at camp, Danny rallies folks to vote out Claire, arguing that she hasn’t contributed at all during the challenges (true).

But the part that REALLY stands out is when Frannie tells Claire who she wants to send home, and how they’ll make it happen. Her face completely shifts when she tells Claire that Matt is “predictable, and extremely malleable.” CLAIRE! Do those sound like the words of a little lamb in love, or the words of the titular SNEAKY LITTLE SNAKE who will eventually control this game?!?

Unfortunately, Claire does end up getting voted out, and Frannie herself switches her vote to Claire — ultimately, I think, a strategic move to stay aligned with her tribe, when it became clear that nobody else with a vote (Matt lost his in the first episode) wanted to keep Claire around.

Sigh… and then there were two. Let’s see what Carolyn and Frannie do next week!

How I Met Your Father 208: “Rewardishment”

Written by Valerie Anne

Love a girl who loves a platonic sleepover.

This week’s episode is all about Rewardishment. Everyone in the group has something they’ve been putting off, so they give themselves 48 hours to do them. If everyone does their task, they all get a reward. Ellen picks Megabed Sleepover (I have done this, 10/10 highly recommend), and everyone agrees to it. If one of them fails, they all fail, and they have to accept a punishment: drinking shots of the bar’s drink mat drippings.

Some of these things definitely would take more than 48 hours in the real world but we’re in sitcom world so they all get cracking. Ellen’s task is to stand up to her coworker who sits next to her in an open-plan office and puts her bare feet on their desk which, in my opinion, is a war crime. Ellen practices standing up to Rhonda to an empty chair but once she’s faced with Rhonda and her new “office snake”, she can’t do it. So she takes her brother to the office to practice, but Rhonda interrupts. Her snake gets loose and bites Jesse, and Ellen snaps. Even though she put up with months of abuse quietly, as soon as Rhonda’s actions affected someone she loves, Ellen stands up to her.

All of the friends accomplish their goals, though they all take a trip to the ER for one reason or another; but unfortunately Jesse doesn’t nail his hula hooping trick until 10 minutes past the 48 hour mark. So they all take their shots and end up right back to the ER. But they all rage-loved each other into doing their tasks, because friendship, and a win’s a win.

The Watchful Eye 108: “Spellbound”

Written by Valerie Anne

These people sure hang out in this haunted building a lot. The city is big, go outside!

This week, after telling her boyfriend that Ruby is not the key to their fortune, but a baby, and their plan is donezo, Elena heads to the Greybourne to end her undercover adventure. While she’s packing, she gets a visit from Jocelyn, who begs her not to go, saying there’s more to learn.

This takes us to a flashback to 1944, when Jocelyn arrives at the Greybourne to apply for a nanny position. Mrs. Iris Greybourne has two kids, but can’t have any more. After a quick chat, she gets the job, and senses a spark with Iris’s husband Alistair while she’s at it. Eventually this leads to a full-blown affair and a baby; Jocelyn tries to quit, saying the baby daddy is some rando, but Iris offers to take the baby in and make the infant a Greybourne, protecting them for life. Eventually playing nanny to her own daughter takes its toll, and Jocelyn wants to run away with Ruby and Alistair. Alistair gets cold feet, and Iris catches Joceyln stealing her baby back, and in a struggle for Ruby, Jocelyn bashes her head and falls unconscious. Iris calls her brother, a Winthrop, and even though Jocelyn isn’t dead, he yeets her out the window. Then he goes down to the secret basement and kills his brother-in-law and pays the chief of police to say they’re both suicides.

In the present day, Elena goes on an apology/goodbye tour, which ends with her hooking up with Matthew. Which still feels icky even though she quit but whatever.

Ginny and Alex meet up, Alex saying Kim practically floated away after saying goodbye to Ginny. Ginny says she doesn’t want to mess things up, but Alex reassures her that she can’t. Alex says the reason she came is that something fishy happened in the elevator; it seemed like Mrs. Ivy and James knew each other. They do some Nancy Drew-ing and find out that James was fired from being a nanny months ago, so he’s been lying to them for a while.

The last stop on Elena’s tour is Mrs. Ivy’s, where she vouches for Matthew on the way out, but then is distracted by the photo of Jocelyn, Iris, Alistair, and baby Charlotte Ivy. She whispers a goodbye to Jocelyn, and we get one last pop into the flashback one last time and see Iris Greybourne change baby Ruby’s name to Charlotte. After Elena leaves, Mrs. Ivy hears Jocelyn sobbing in the secret room, so she plays the piano to drown it out, which explains why she ignored Elena last night.

On her way out, Elena stops to tell Roman that the money in this building is passed down through the Winthrop line, and Elena just realized that Mrs. Ivy might not be a Winthrop, so maybe, just maybe, they can leverage this info and finish their get-rich-not-so-quick scheme once and for all.

Gotham Knights 101: “Pilot”

Written by Valerie Anne

Gritty teens being gritty.

Despite CWDVTV seemingly going dark, one show slinked out of the shadows: Gotham Knights. It’s about a bunch of teenagers who live in Gotham City, but specifically Bruce Wayne’s adopted son Turner, who starts off the show by trying to get us to feel bad for him because he “doesn’t fit in” with all the other rich kids at his rich kid school, even though he doesn’t seem to have trouble getting half the school to show up to Wayne Manor on a dime for a party. Poor little rich boy.

Other teens of interest are: Turner’s best friend, the tech-savvy Stephanie; a girl named Carrie who turns out to be Batman’s Robin; Duela, who is The Joker’s daughter; a bisexual girl named Harper who is a genius but dropped out of school because her father was abusive, and her trans brother Cullen, who doesn’t want his sister to keep fighting his battles for him.

The premise of the show is that Batman is dead, and Turner, Duela, Harper and Cullen are being framed for his murder. Turner is being accused of wanting to inherit Bruce Wayne’s money faster, and the troublemaking trio is who the GCPD are accusing of being the hired hitmen. Well, hit-teens. DC regular Harvey Dent is seemingly the only non-corrupt cop amongst a sea of corrupt cops, but the A in ACAB doesn’t stand for “a few.” So.

So, the truth is: I am bitter that the CW chose this version of Gotham instead of Ryan Wilder’s Gotham. So that might be tainting my opinion. And pilots are hard. But despite this show being up my alley on paper, I found it a bit…dull. “The cops are corrupt” is not new or exciting, and trading a show about a team of badass and hilarious people lead by a Black lesbian for a team of dramatic teens lead by a straight, cis, white boy feels like a downgrade.

Things I did like about this episode: Obviously love that a bi and trans character were introduced right off the bat. I also like that they’re siblings because more than one kid in a family being LGBTQ+ is more common than TV thinks. And I also liked that Robin is a young Black girl. And I do think Duela is pretty funny. End of list.

Maybe there’s an alternate universe where Javicia Leslie’s Batwoman never existed and Gotham Knights excited me more. But I’m tired of Batman stories for a reason, and I have a feeling a Son of Batman story isn’t going to stray too far enough from that to be my jam. But I’ll keep you updated!

A Million Little Things 506: “Mic Drop”

Written by Natalie

It’s Greta’s birthday! To kick-off their celebration, Katherine surprises her girlfriend with breakfast in bed and then invites Greta to determine what the rest of their celebration will bring using an origami fortune teller…which Katherine calls a “cootie catcher” and, honestly, that revelation is the most shocking thing about this episode (did you know that’s what these things were called?!). The cootie catcher reveals that the couple will be celebrating Greta’s birthday weekend at Martha’s Vineyard.

The fortune teller is just one part of the nostalgic weekend that Katherine has planned, though: they drive to catch the ferry in the exact car that Greta drove in high school. On the radio? Donna Lewis’ 1996 pop earworm, “I Love You Always Forever.” Greta wonders if their trip down memory lane means that Katherine will finally return the hypercolor slap bracelet she borrowed and never returned. They trade jokes about the bracelet and everything is going swimmingly until the VW Bug sputters out and they’re left stranded on the side of the road.

With an hour until the tow truck arrives and no chance of making the ferry, Katherine and Greta opt to take a stroll along a nearby beach. They walk along the beach and happen upon a picnic with a rainbow slap bracelet in the champagne bucket. Greta looks around and realizes that they’re on the beach where she once asked Katherine to Homecoming. Katherine acknowledges that it seemed like the best place to come to right her past wrong. She’s realized that things over the last few years that felt like setbacks were actually just redirecting her path towards Greta.

And then Katherine gets down on one knee and proposes. The very thing she said, three episodes ago, she didn’t want to do. “Never gonna happen,” she said. So much for that. Greta says yes and now they’re engayged. Yay…I guess.

Here’s the thing: this storyline is fine. It’s fine now and, aside from the Greta’s tattoos, it would’ve been fine in 2004 when Massachusetts first legalized gay marriage. That is not a compliment. If TV writers want to pen queer stories to show how committed they are to equality, great…but the way to do it is to afford those queer characters the same complexity and depth afforded to every other character on-screen. AMLT hasn’t done that with Katherine and Greta and it feels like an absolute waste of Grace Park and Cameron Esposito.

Good Trouble 501: “Shot in the Dark”

Written by Natalie

Last season, in the wake of Maia Mitchell’s departure, Good Trouble decided to try something new. The show had always tackled serious issues but only just enough for the audience to feel the emotion, to build the empathy, to understand a character’s motivation, before pivoting towards the character’s experience and activism. It was about creating good and necessary trouble, to paraphrase the late John Lewis, and somewhere, in the crafting of season four, they forgot that. Instead, the show asked the audience to have sympathy for characters they didn’t know (Joaquin’s sister’s cult) and to be moved by circumstances that the show wouldn’t name (Isabella’s mental health). Malika’s storyline notwithstanding, the show became a shell of its former self.

I tuned in this week hoping there’d be some indication that the writers understood their misstep and were looking to right the ship. I did not get that affirmation. Maybe it’s too soon to judge — you can’t turn around a trainwreck of a season in one episode, right? — but they changed the theme song to something far more ominious so I am not optimistic. So what’s going on at the Coterie? Let’s see…

– Mariana’s safe, relatively speaking; it’s Evan whose body we heard hit the ground in last season’s finale. She returns to the Coterie, still caked in his blood, and reports that he’s stable but in a medically induced coma. Mariana spends most of the episode by Evan’s side at the hospital, being interrogated by his ghost. Evan’s attorney stops by to alert Mariana that Evan made her his proxy: she’s the acting interim CEO of Speckulate.

She’s stunned but doesn’t give into the emotional weight of any of it until she walks into her loft to find her best friend/sister standing there. CALLIE’S BACK, Y’ALL!

– Malika returns to the Councilwoman Lucia Morales’ office and receives a hero’s welcome for stopping the sweep. She pitches an idea to Lucia: use her discretionary fund to address the immediate housing needs of those living at the encampment. Lucia’s interest is peaked and she rewards Malika with a job offer: deputy policy director. I’m shocked, Lucia’s chief of staff is shocked and Malika needs a little time to consider the opportunity.

But now, suddenly, Malika has an work/life balance issue. I don’t mind that this is an issue — it’s a real issue for a lot of political staffers — I mind that it’s being brought up when the circumstances of Malika’s life haven’t changed. She opts to take the job but establishes some firm boundaries in hopes of achieving a better work/life balance.

– Apparently, someone in the Good Trouble writers’ room heard about Reboot’s cancellation so they decided to take one of their stories and give it to Alice. Thanks to Sumi, she gets an opportunity to join the writers’ room — with three cantankerous, but funny, old white men — on “America’s Funniest Ferrets & Friends.”

– Isabella and Gael have a beautiful baby girl (Lyric) and Isabella insists on keeping her. She apologizes directly to Jazmin and her husband and, though clearly heartbroken, they are far more gracious about it than I would be. Gael’s still stunned by Isabella’s about face and hopes she’ll come to her senses once the euphoria of new parenthood wears off. Isabella overhears the confession and, the first time they’re separated — Gael’s out buying diapers — she takes the baby and runs.

Truth Be Told 309: “Only Little Secrets”

Written by Natalie

Surprising absolutely no one, Eva’s a suspect in the murder of Andrew Finney. Detective Aames shares that cameras caught Eva in the parking garage minutes before the murder and Poppy responds by telling Aames about Eva’s likely motive: she was once one of Finney’s trafficked girls. Aames urges Poppy to stay away from Eva now that she’s a suspect but, of course, Poppy doesn’t listen. She shows up at the high school…not to warn Eva about the police investigation but to search Eva’s office when the principal steps out. I try not to hate Poppy in this moment for being more invested in solving Finney’s murder than helping a friend grapple the the trauma she pushed to unearth.

For her part, Eva’s consuming all the news of Finney’s death, as if she needs the reassurance that the monster that destroyed her life is finally gone. She presses Poppy on investigating and bringing down more of the johns and insists that this is how she’ll heal from her trauma. She joins Poppy at her home, watching the videos used to blackmail the johns. Among those videos? One of Andrew Finney with an underage girl. Eva watches the video and recognizes the girl (Nadia) from her days in the trafficking ring. If they track Nadia down, Eva surmises, they might be able to bring down the trafficking ring once and for all. Poppy tries to reign Eva in but the principal refuses to be slow-walked. Eva puts it to Poppy plainly: she knows Nadia’s last name and if Poppy wants to find her, she’ll need Eva’s help.

“Oh, yeah…ain’t no fun when the rabbit got the gun, huh?” Eva asks mockingly (I laugh impossibly hard at this).

Sometime later, Poppy stops by Eva’s office again and finds her phone left unattended and unlocked on her desk. She picks it up and checks Eva’s Questeur DMs (her name is @Bottom2TopEnergy and, again, I find myself laughing out loud). This time, though, Poppy is caught snooping and Eva asks the podcaster what she really wants. Poppy insists that she just wants the truth and Eva invites her to explain what the truth is, as she sees it. Poppy claims that Eva lied to her and just used Poppy to get closer to Finney…and when she couldn’t get justice, she went to see him. Realizing that Poppy thinks she killed Finney, Eva tells her what she told the cops: she didn’t kill Finney but she wishes she had.

“I wish I could trust you,” Poppy admits.

“Did you ever?” Eva shoots back.

Turns out Eva was telling the truth: a witness saw a younger girl pick up the car that killed Finney. To get back at Poppy for her lack of trust, Eva calls her podcast company and shares the truth about Poppy withholding information. But, after a candid talk with Trini, Eva recognizes that she went too far and reaches out to Poppy to make amends. They go together to meet Nadia.

After Eva apologizes and recommits to making amends, Nadia offers her forgiveness. But Eva quest to make amends may have died on the courthouse steps: she jumps in front of a gunman aiming for Trini and takes a bullet to the gut

“Good Trouble” Episode 418 Recap: One Epiphany Away

As Good Trouble season finales are wont to be — remember last season’s cliffhanger-palooza? — this episode was a lot. A lot. So, I’ll dispense with the pleasantries (or, more accurately, my disappointment) and hop right into this recapping business.

Still stunned over the revelation that Sumi got an audition for the movie role she coveted, Alice wakes up and expresses her disbelief. Sumi reminds her that she’s the reason that she didn’t get the audition: she wasn’t committed to the scene. She insists that Alice is scared — afraid to own the air she breathes — and Alice has to be able to sell herself. Alice acknowledge Sumi’s point but says it’s moot anyway: she didn’t get an audition. But Sumi reminds her that she did and volunteers to let Alice go in her stead. Honestly, the fact that Sumi doesn’t take the audition for herself — that she doesn’t expand her idea of what’s possible for her — is, perhaps, the most surprising moment of the Good Trouble season finale.

Sumi sends Alice to the studio lot, armed with Sumi’s ID and secure in the belief that people cannot tell Asian women apart (“they always think we’re sisters,” Sumi singsongs). But Sumi’s assurances that everything would go fine fall short: as soon as Alice walks into audition, she’s face-to-face with the director they ambushed at the hotel. The director who knows, for sure, that she’s not Sumi Liu. Already thrown by the fact that she doesn’t look like any of the other Asian women who’ve answered the casting call — they’re all in make-up and heels — the director’s presence sends Alice into a bit of a tailspin. Suddenly she starts to share her inner monologue…and, somehow, talks herself out of a job.

Alice: I have a hard time selling myself but I’m perfect for the role of Kristi Chen.

Yeah, I was a total nerd in high school. A nobody. I’m still a nerd. I went to prom with my brother — yeah, we didn’t kiss — and I’ve always dreamed of going to my high school reunion, showing all those people that I’m a somebody. Of course, I don’t think I’d have sex with everyone who was mean to me in high school. I can’t even have an orgasm with another person. And I still see my mother when I look at my own vagina. So, I’m not really sure how this is gonna make me feel better about myself or why, honestly, this is supposed to make Kristi Chen feel better about herself.

I mean, I get that it’s funny but the joke’s kind of on her. This isn’t even empowering to women in general. It’s kind of offensive. Definitely not something I want to perpetuate. Huh. Maybe I really don’t want this part after all? Wow! But, hey! You know, I’m really proud of myself for doing this.

Alice returns back to the Coterie and Sumi’s there to greet her and ask how her audition went. She barely gets the words out before Alice kisses her and they collapse together on the bed. They have sex and, miraculously, Alice has her first orgasm from another person. Listen, I am thrilled for Alice. I’m glad this storyline was satisfying for somebody because it was wholly unfulfilling for me.

Good Trouble has a propensity for tackling these serious issues then executing those storylines in a way that belies their seriousness. Oh, that thing you think is rooted in deep-seeded cultural conservativism, homophobia, racism and misogyny? That thing that academics have spent years studying? Nah, this show posits, just stand up and decide this isn’t something you want to perpetuate…and magically, you’ll be cured. Everyone’s one epiphany, one head-clearing moment away from curing years of society’s programming about sexual pleasure. It’s trivializing. The Alices of the world deserve better (perhaps they’d be better served by checking this conversation between Xoai Pham and Jayda Shuavarnnasri, the Sex Positive Asian Auntie).

Malika returns to the encampment to share the news for its residents: Lucia is planning to use the money from her discretionary account to build the women’s center at the site. At first, they criticize her for going back on her promise not to allow the women’s center to drive the residents out but Malika defends her decision. The choice wasn’t about whether the encampment would continue to exist — it wouldn’t, that was inevitable — the choice was between the women’s center and some condo development. Eventually, everyone agrees that its preferable that something exist in the space to benefit the community.

Malika assures the encampment’s residents that they’ll have time before they’re asked to move…and, as soon as the promise comes out of her mouth, I’m absolutely certain that they won’t. Political staffers shouldn’t make promises. While she pledges to do everything in her power to secure housing for the residents in the interim, the specter of impending doom feels inescapable in the moment.

Later, Malika meets up with Marquis Jet Xavier and treats him to the cup of coffee she owed him. As they walk and talk, Malika admits that securing the women’s center doesn’t feel like a clean victory. Xavier admits that most decisions come with unintended consequences but urges Malika to take the win: she’s accomplished so much in a short period of time. He invites her out to celebrate her accomplishment over dinner.

“Thank you for the invitation but if I’m reading you right and I’m honest with myself, I’m still in love with someone I can’t get over…and I don’t think I want to,” Malika admits. It’s an admission that I don’t expect and one that, frustratingly, isn’t addressed any further in the finale.

There’s no time for any celebration about the women’s center or Malika’s admission, though, because trucks arrive to raze the encampment. Luca alerts Malika who rushes to Lucia’s office to beg her to intercede. The Councilwoman insists that the order came from the mayor and there’s nothing that can be done. Malika argues for compassion; the residents need time. Razing the encampment, with no notice, will mean everyone who lives there will lose what small piece of home that they have left. Sensing Lucia’s reluctance, Malika promises to act on her own but the councilwoman reminds her that, as a staffer, she can’t join the protest.

Malika reminds Lucia what brought her here, “Lucia, you approached me about this job. You said that you needed someone like me on your staff, an activist with passion who could just push back on politics as usual and make a difference. Did you mean any of that?”

Lucia insists that the women’s center will make a difference but Malika yells back that it’s not enough. She reiterates her intention to join the protest at the encampment and accepts the possibility that Lucia will fire her for her actions. Malika’s fire is enough to convince the office cynic, Tracy, to join her at the protest. They join Luca and Xavier at the site and stand between the city workers and the encampment. As Malika leads the fight with the megaphone, Angelica joins them: she saw Malika’s post about the protest and came to support her.

Their reunion is interrupted by the arrival of police cars. Things start to get tense but thankfully, Lucia arrives in time to defuse the tension. She takes the megaphone from Malika and urges the LAPD and the Department of Sanitation to fall back. Everyone cheers Lucia’s proclamation and joins Malika in urging “services not sweeps.”

Good Trouble Coterie Sundries

+ Mariana Adams Foster Hernandez spends the night at the farm, continuing her search for Joaquin’s sister. Meanwhile, the farm’s leader, Silas, searches online — a resource only he has access to, seemingly — for information on her. When his search proves fruitless, he approaches Mariana with platitudes and vagueries and, like a good fortune teller, one of them captures Mariana perfectly (“someone close left you”). The exchange is enough to placate Silas and Mariana stays focused on finding Jenna. Unfortunately, she’s being kept isolated — a consequence of Joaquin’s interference — and Mariana’s forced to spend another day at the farm.

Finally, they meet just before dinner. Mariana introduces herself as a friend of Joaquin’s and Jenna explains the abusive conditions she’s endured. Jenna’s tried to leave the farm before, only to be caught and brought back against her will. Once Jenna reiterates her interest in leaving, she and Mariana plot their escape. Under the cover of night, Mariana releases Jenna from her confinement and the two make their way towards the road. They run into Joaquin, who’s snuck on the farm to try and rescue Mariana and his sister, and make their way to his truck (where Evan Speck waits as the getaway driver). But Silas’ henchman tries to thwart their escape: chasing the trio and then firing a single shot (over Silas’ objections) from his rifle.

As the season fades to black, we hear the bullet hit someone and a body drop to the ground. We don’t know who it is or if they’ll survive. I guess that’s a question for Season 5.

+ Honestly, I want to feel some sympathy for Gael, I really do. But I can’t help but recall those wise words from Maya Angelou, “when people show you who they are, believe them.”

Isabella has shown him, time and time again, the kind of person she is. She admits having impulse control problems. She’s smashed windows and thrown things (assaulting him in the process). She volleys between loving him and not. She clings to him one second and throws herself at Dennis the next. She goes from wanting a child to believing adoption is the best course, only to change her mind again seconds later. When people show you who they are, believe them…and Isabella just keeps showing Gael who she is but he never wants to believe her.

In his first quasi-assertion of his rights as a father, he answers Isabella’s interest in adoption by proposing a solution: he’ll co-parent with his sister, Jazmin, and her new husband. The baby will have a home, surrounded by love, and Isabella will be freed of her obligation to focus on her own recovery. It’s everything that Isabella said that she wanted but, of course, she changes her mind. After giving birth at the Coterie, Isabella decides she wants to keep the baby. It’s a wholly predictable outcome but Gael’s shell-shocked because he never wanted to believe her. And now Gael has to contend with the fatherhood, help Isabella grapple with her mental illness and deny his sister, who has always wanted children, the chance to be a mother.

+ In the mid-season finale, Luca returns to the encampment and acknowledges how lucky he is to have found a home at the Coterie. He promises not to leave behind those not as lucky as him. When the sanitation workers arrive, Luca helps lead the protest. Given how he finished the midseason finale — recovering from a withering attack from Ivan — I’m grateful to know that he’s safe (even if Chekhov’s gun (AKA Ivan) never went off). That said, the show never made any effort to develop his character beyond his homelessness. What happened to that effort to find his birth certificate? What happened to his relationships with Davia and Joaquin?

+ Davia and Dennis got back together. This is my surprised face. 😐

“Good Trouble” Episode 417 Recap: Pulling a Callie

This week’s episode of Good Trouble gave me Fosters flashbacks… and not at all in a good way.

It echoed of The Fosters season four finale when Callie climbed into a van with a dangerous pimp in an ill-advised, last second effort to save someone else from his wrath. She had a plan — Callie always had a plan, as stupid as it often was — to go with this pimp, have her cop mom track her phone and swoop in and save the day… and much like all of Callie’s plans, it went awry. That season ended with Callie, trapped alone with the pimp, singing “You’ll Be Okay,” as her cop mom tracked a cell phone headed in another direction. That episode our left Autostraddle’s recapper and, honestly, almost everyone who was still watching the show at the time (myself included), exasperated.

I felt that way again as I watched the prelude to Good Trouble‘s own season four finale. In it, Mariana visits the farmer’s market stand where she and Joaquin spotted his sister selling honey. Jenna’s not there this time but Mariana strikes up conversation with the women manning the table. She pretends that she’s new to the area — from a small town in Nebraska over her family’s objections — and had struck up a friendly conversation with Jenna during a previous visit. Mariana laments the loneliness of Los Angeles and the women invite her to the farm for dinner. They spin a glorious tale about the farm…almost making it sound like the Coterie, but with horses, chicken, gardens and a mountain view. I guess calling it a cult — where the charismatic leader, Silas, uses women for their bodies and their labor — doesn’t sound as good for marketing purposes. Mariana’s convinced to leave her car at the market and travel with the women, in their van, out to the farm…a farm that’s 100 miles outside the city.

You can almost excuse what happened on The Fosters. Callie was young and dumb. She’d always been prone to making bad decisions and had a particularly well-honed savior complex. At the time that she climbs into the van, Callie thinks her life is over: the next day she was slated to accept a plea deal that’d send her to jail for three years. And, at least, Callie tried to let others know where she was: Daphne knows and, plus, there’s that cell phone plan that doesn’t work. I mean, it’s still nonsense, but maybe — if you twist yourself up into knots — you can see it. But what happens on Good Trouble? Absolute nonsense.

Mariana Adams Foster is a whole ass adult, with a degree from MIT. She knows better than this. Stef Adams Foster taught her better than this. Unlike her sister, Mariana learns from the past and she doesn’t share Callie’s savior complex or penchant for impulsiveness. Mariana is a grown woman with a business that’s in the middle of a crisis. Why isn’t she focused on saving the company she’s invested so much of her career building? Why does she brush off their growing PR crisis to go save the sister of the dude with whom she has a casual relationship? Admittedly, Mariana doesn’t know the full extent of Silas’ villainy — Joaquin uncovers some dastardly shit while she’s on her solo mission — but she knows that he’s dangerous. She even makes Joaquin promise not to do anything stupid… so, instead, she opts to do the stupid thing. She pulls a Callie.

I am exasperated. I’ve been frustrated by this storyline and its discordant tone from the beginning but this week’s developments just made me angry. Not only did it take time away from storylines that could’ve benefitted from being fleshed out further, it compromised this character that many of us have been watching since 2013. Mariana is not her sister and Good Trouble diminishes that character by pretending like she is.

Last week, Alice confessed she’s never had an orgasm with another person before and, after their sexual pleasure workshop, Sumi’s determined to become the person that finally gets Alice that sweet release. She starts the episode beneath the covers and between Alice’s thighs. It should be a blissful moment, one that elicits gentle moans from Alice, but instead the comedienne just wonders when Sumi might be done. She laments at how long it’s taking and worries that Sumi might get lockjaw. Alice tries to focus on feeling the pleasure but it’s fleeting and she collapses against her pillow in frustration. She glances up at the ceiling and notices a new water stain which suddenly morphs into a disapproving image of her mother.

Freaked out, she beckons Sumi back up and apologizes for taking so long. Sumi assures her that she doesn’t mind but Alice is just ready for it to be over. Sure, she didn’t orgasm, but Alice insists that it was still nice and they don’t need to be so fixated on achieving the goal. To my surprise, Sumi doesn’t push Alice on the issue and, instead, just settles in next to her. Alice quickly changes the subject, asking her girlfriend/manager if she’d secured her an audition for an upcoming movie role. Sumi admits that she hasn’t heard back from the casting director yet but she promises to find a way to get Alice in the room.

Later, Alice meets up with her brother. It’s the first time we’ve seen them together since they repaired their relationship in last season’s Lunar New Year episode, and I love that we’re getting to see them interact. Alice dives into the deep end right away: she asks David if he’s ever thought about their mother while having sex. He’s taken aback by the topic but rather than change the subject to something (anything?) more comfortable, he recognizes that this is something his sister needs to talk about…so he let’s her.

“I mean, not in a sexy way, gross, of course not,” Alice explains, after David asks for some clarification. “Just, I think about whether she’d approve of what I’m doing.”

David acknowledges that her mother most certainly would not approve, not because it’s lesbian sex but because it’s sex, period. They recount the limited amount of sex talk they got from their immigrant parents. Alice recalls that the only thing her mother ever really told her about premarital sex was not to have it (“no one wants to pick a flower with no petals”). David admits that their parents’ decision to never talk about sex has made it harder to have healthy feelings about it. David (jokingly) volunteers to give Alice some pointers on pleasing a woman and, as any sister would, she recoils in horror at the mere thought. She returns the favor, though, by mentioning that she’s honed her acting skills by learning to fake orgasms… which falls squarely into the TMI category for David and now, it’s his turn to recoil. I love this relationship and hope we get to see more of them.

Back at the Coterie, Sumi returns to Alice’s loft with good news: she hasn’t secured Alice an audition for the movie through the proper channels but she has found a way to get her foot in the door. The only thing? They’d have to ambush the movie’s director, who’s staying at a hotel in downtown LA, and use the opportunity for Alice to pitch herself for the role. Alice agrees and waits with Sumi in the hotel lobby for the director. But there’s one thing we know about Sumi, it’s that she’s indefatigable: if there’s something she wants, she’s going to find a way to get it.

She manages to get the director’s room number and her current location — poolside, natch — from the front desk clerk. Sumi orchestrates a scenario to get Alice some face time in front of the director. The impromptu display is awkward and obvious and compels the director to threaten to call security. The threat is enough to see Alice scurrying for the exit but Sumi stays and apologizes for ambushing her. Sumi explains the circumstances and the director invites her to audition. Sumi scoffs at the notion — she’s there on Alice’s behalf after all — but the director likes Sumi’s fire and commitment and wants her to try out, not Alice. Sumi seizes the opportunity and passes along her business card to the director.

When Alice — who’s been cowering around the corner, wrapped in pool towels, this entire time — asks what happened, Sumi insists that they’ll talk about it later. So maybe we don’t have to worry about Alice’s lack of sexual gratification after all, because when she finds out about Sumi snaking her audition, they might not be having sex anymore anyway.

Good Trouble Coterie Sundries

+ The time spent on Mariana pulling a Callie would’ve been better served fleshing out Gael’s change of heart about becoming a father…because the shift felt so abrupt. I can appreciate that he’s felt obligated to follow Isabella’s lead throughout this pregnancy — that’s a noble thing to do, I guess — but if he’s never really wanted to be a father, this entire storyline feels like a waste.

+ Not the Denvia merry-go-round again! It’s not even worth investing in Dennis or Davia’s new relationships because the show will always, predictably, bring us back to them. That said, I did think they’d give Davia’s problematic relationship with Asher a little more time before his ex-wife showed up.

Next Week: All hell breaks loose!

“Good Trouble” Episode 416 Recap: Chosen Family Among Friends

Just inside the Coterie doors, there’s a sign that tells residents and visitors about the type of space they’re entering. It says, “The Coterie at the Palace is an intentional community where we share resources to enrich our lives and the lives of others by cultivating friendship, social progress and artistic expression.” Inside those walls, the residents of the Coterie eat together, share facilities and utilities and find a chosen family among friends. That’s the spirit of this place — no one is alone — and it’s a message that’s punctuated firmly by Good Trouble this week.

“Just remember: Someone is on your side, someone else is not/ While you’re seeing our side, maybe you forgot/ They are not alone, no one is alone,” Davia sings at the request of her his school music teacher. But while the message is there — and it’s been there throughout our time in the Coterie — there’s a difference between knowing you’re not alone and being willing to accept the help that’s being offered.

To wit, we catch up with Alice and Sumi in bed together, still caught up in the honeymoon stage of their newly rekindled relationship. Sumi collapses against her pillow, sated from Alice’s performance. She takes a minute to congratulate Alice on the incredible sex and then slides beneath the covers to return the favor. Alice pulls Sumi back towards her and asks that they cuddle for just a second.

“Don’t you want me to…” Sumi asks, trailing off as she again tries to slide beneath the covers, only to be stopped again by her girlfriend. Alice insists that she’s good — totally satisfied — and then slides out of bed to put on some pants. She reminds Sumi about Kelly’s salon on “personal inventory” and assures her that she’ll enjoy the session. The response underscores how uncomfortable Alice is in this moment: a desperate attempt to take the focus off of herself (and sex) and put it on, literally, anything else…even if that anything else is the notoriously unpredictable Kelly.

The salon turns out to be a personal inventory about sexual pleasure and, when the moderator announces it, poor Alice looks like a deer caught in headlights. Everyone else is excited to talk about pleasure and labias in the public space but Alice is mortified by the prospect. Even just writing down her fantasies in a notebook — a step towards being able to articulate them to your partner, the moderator explains — is too much for Alice. Instead, she doodles in her journal.

Sumi, on the other hand, has no such issue. When it comes time to vocalize their fantasies to the group, Sumi shares that she wants to “feel her legs squeeze my head as she shouts my name in ecstasy.” OKAY, SUMI. But when it’s Alice’s turn, she admits that her fantasy is fast-forwarding to the end of the salon. The group takes Alice’s joke in stride and just moves onto their next activity: vagina gazing. Once again, the moderator circles the group to ask the participants for their thoughts as they look at their vaginas in a mirror beneath a blanket (Kelly’s is a Twilight blanket, natch). Everyone else comes up with powerful descriptions of their vagina — beautiful, soft, hungry and happy — but when Alice looks at hers, she sees an ape, tumbleweeds and a cowboy and a venus flytrap. She admits that all she feels is confused.

I should pause here and note that this is an uncomfortable conversation and Alice’s discomfort at being forced into it is apparent on-screen. But what Alice is experiencing isn’t unusual. We don’t live in a society that values female sexual pleasure. And, in particular, women who come from conservative communities and cultures bring those conservative values — about gender roles and the value of sex — into the bedroom. Unpacking and unlearning all that is uncomfortable…which is why we don’t talk about it and which is why television doesn’t showcase it. I appreciate Good Trouble stepping out and addressing it. People need to see it, women need to see that they’re not alone.

Later, Sumi tries to talk to Alice about what happened at the salon and Alice resists having the conversation. Alice insists that she doesn’t need a workshop on sexual pleasure because she derives her pleasure from pleasuring Sumi. But Sumi pushes back: she wants that opportunity too. Alice doesn’t understand why things have to change…when they were together before, Sumi was fine with being a pillow princess. Sumi admits that she was selfish back then and now she just wants to give her girlfriend an orgasm. Alice assures Sumi that she already has but it’s clear that she’s lying. Sumi pushes her for the truth and eventually Alice confesses: she’s never had an orgasm with another person.

Sumi links their hands together and says, “I would really love it if I was the one you trusted enough to be your first and your last and your only…if you’d just give me a chance.”

Alice recoils from Sumi’s request and insists that they talk about something — anything — other than this. Sumi retreats back to her end of the couch but it’s clear this issue isn’t going away any time soon.

Meanwhile, Malika delivers the episode’s message to the unhoused population that’s living in an encampment on the property that was slated to become her women’s center.

The young staffer has been working doggedly to prepare for an upcoming pitch meeting to secure money for permanent housing for LA’s homeless. Her boss interrupts to check on her progress but then pivots to ask about Angelica. She insists she’s only asking because her propensity to work long hours is what drove them apart and, oddly enough, I believe her. But the question clearly makes Malika uncomfortable so instead of telling Angelica’s ex the truth, she lies and says things between them are great.

Later, she heads over to Duoro and to talk to Angelica about her lie. She wonders if Angelica will keep the news of their breakup a secret for a little bit longer. She admits that Lucia asked about it and she just wants to keep the news on the down low until the women’s center garners approval from the City Council. Angelica agrees but wonders if it’s healthy for Malika to work for someone who’s looking for an excuse to fire her. Malika admits that it’s not but it’s a sacrifice she’s willing to make to bring the women’s center to fruition. Angelica laments that Malika’s undervaluing herself and pushes her to trust that she’s an assest to Lucia.

Admittedly, this is not the first conversation I wanted Malika and Angelica to have, post-breakup, but it’s clear the love between them is still there. In fact the chemistry between them might be as palpable as it was the first time they kissed at Duoro. Malika admits that she misses Angelica and Angelica confesses that she misses Malika too…but then she promptly gets up to leave, maybe fearing that too much time together might weaken her resolve to stay broken up.

Back at work, Malika makes her presentation to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), with Luca, Tracy and Marquis Jet looking on. She highlights the humanity of the city’s unhoused population and notes the community that’s been built in the encampments. She points out that her proposal to buy a pre-existing apartment building would be much cheaper than their current proposal to build something from scratch. She even acknowledges her own history of having been unhoused for a year before finding stability at the Coterie. In short, she pulls out all the stops…and, of course, LAHSA still says no.

“I won’t stop trying,” Malika tells the population of the encampment after learning about the decision. “I mean, I promise you, here and now, I’m not going to let them use the excuse of building my women’s center here to drive you out. You have my word.”

I recoil in that moment because she sounds more like Malika Williams, the activist, and not Malika Williams, the City Council staffer. You can’t — you shouldn’t — make promises like that a political staffer…it’s akin to a doctor promising someone that they’ll definitely save their family member’s life. So much is out of your control. And sure enough, when she returns to the office, Lucia offers to make her women’s center a reality…as long as its built on where the encampment stands. Before Malika goes off to ponder what she’s willing to sacrifice to bring the Center to reality, she pauses at the door and tells Lucia the truth about her relationship with Angelica. Lucia admits that she’s sorry to hear that…and, again, I believe her. I wonder if this is what Wallace Shawn (AKA William Halsey) felt like when Adele convinced him to wrestle control of “Lez Girls” from Jenny.

Malika asks Lucia not to ask about her personal life going forward and her boss acquiesces…but I’m left wondering how long this will last.

Coincidentally, there’s a portion of “No One is Alone” that doesn’t get sung this week: the part about how people make mistakes, even our mothers and fathers, because they think they’re alone. It’s a message that both Gael and Isabella might have benefitted from hearing.

After their fight last week, Gael decides he needs some time and space to think. He packs a bag and leaves the loft for the night. While Isabella insists that she understands his impulse, it’s clear that even the short departure feeds into her fears of abandonment and ultimately makes the situation worse, not better. Still concerned about Isabella’s well-being, though, Gael asks Dennis to check in on the expectant mother. I’m not sure that helps either, particularly after she learns that Gael didn’t tell Dennis that he’d asked Isabella to get married. She wonders if his proposal just another thing that Gael has taken back — like his love — and Dennis insists that Gael’s not the type to fall in and out of love…which frankly, makes me wonder if Dennis has watched the first two seasons of this show.

“What if my baby doesn’t love me?” Isabella asks.

Dennis notes that it’s not about the love that a parent gets from a baby — all they know how to do is “eat, sleep, poop and look cute” — but about the love that’s given to that child. He confesses that, as a parent, you have to be prepared to put the child first and not expect anything in return. And that’s the problem, right? Because Isabella wants…no, Isabella needs…this baby to fill this hole that’s been inside her for so much of her life. Dennis acknowledges that kids don’t fix what’s broken inside their parents, they just reveal what inside. Sometimes that’s good, sometimes that’s bad but it is always revealed.

With Gael gone, Isabella is left alone with her thoughts…but it’s her mother’s thoughts that permeate. Isabella hears the worst: she was always an annoyance to her mother, she doesn’t really love Gael, she latches onto anyone who will show her any attention, she’s a potential danger to her child, Gael will leave her eventually. It’s all just a nightmare but those messages sink in and when Gael’s not back the next morning, she panics, as though the worst has been confirmed. She runs to Dennis for comfort and all I can think is, “why won’t anyone tell Isabella that she needs help?”

By the time, Gael returns, he’s determined to make things work but Isabella’s mother’s voice has taken over. She confesses that she no longer knows whether she truly loves Gael and expresses doubt that she knows how to love anyone. Finally, she comes around to her parents point of view: they should put the baby up for adoption.

Good Trouble Coterie Sundries

+ Given the nature of this site, I feel like I should have more to say about the Bulk Beauty storyline but, honestly, I just found it to be comically bad. At one point, Mariana laments that Zelda “[unmasks] herself like a Scooby Doo villain,” and all I can think is “why is the show writing Zelda like a Scooby Doo villain?” In the last episode, Zelda seemed perplexed by the idea that people other than women have periods but now she’s spouting TERF propaganda like she’s been studying it for years? Also, as a general rule, I’m annoyed by shows that don’t consider the racial dynamics of a situation before injecting an issue into a storyline…and Good Trouble is usually better about it than this.

But, just so we’re clear: for me and my house, it’s fuck TERFS, forever and always.

+ Throughout the back half of this season, I’ve been lamenting how much Davia’s current path — as a teacher for a privileged homeschool kid — feels divorced from her arc over Good Trouble‘s run. This week, though, the show revisits something that’s been part of her character’s story since the beginning: her toxic relationship with her mother.

Davia returns to her hometown for the funeral services of her favorite teacher from high school. She tries to avoid her mother — she doesn’t even call her to let her know she’s coming, in fact — but the two cross paths at the funeral. Bonnie remains every bit as toxic as she’s ever been, pairing even the mildest of compliments with a criticism of her daughter. But thankfully Davia isn’t the same girl as she was…the one who carried the emotional weight of her mother’s critiques and channeled it into unhealthy habits (her affair with Jeff or disordered eating). She’s closer to the woman her high school music teacher always thought she could be. She’s learned to love her body and, more importantly, to set personal boundaries.

Bonnie half-heartedly apologizes for not being the perfect mother but Davia insists she never asked for that. All that she ever wanted, Davia tearfully confesses, was for her mother to love her just the way that she was. Instead of listening to her mother’s pleas to continue the painful conversation, Davia climbs into her car to go to head back to the airport, “I can’t take care of you this time, I have to choose me for once!”

+ That said, before I give Davia too much credit for her willingness to set boundaries, she’s coming ever so closer to violating her professional boundaries by considering a relationship with the father of the kid she’s homeschooling. Even the kid notices the closeness between them this week and gives her the okay to pursue a romantic relationship. She doesn’t even bother to correct the kid in the moment…which is how you know this whole thing is about to go sideways.

Next Week: “Do you ever think about mom when you’re having sex?” Wait, what?!

“Good Trouble” Episode 415 Recap: Anger Management

Maybe we were always headed here. Back when Isabella was introduced on Good Trouble and she was a little too aggressive in her pursuit of Gael. Or when Isabella finagled her way into sharing Mariana’s loft? Or when she made a play for Mariana’s then-boyfriend only to deny she’d ever done it? Maybe this was always where the writers of Good Trouble were going to go. Maybe we were always headed to this moment, where we’d have to address questions about Isabella and her mental health.

But what had been a slow build — or breakdown, to be more accurate — over multiple episodes, through multiple seasons, came to its jarring and startlingly fast climax this week, following her arrest for vandalism.

When she explains it to Gael, though, Isabella paints her actions as the result of a one-time break…a frustrated reaction to her parents’ insistence that she give her baby up for adoption. If Gael paused and pieced the history of his relationship with Isabella together — from her aggressive pursuit of him to her demand that he tell his parents about their relationship at his sister’s wedding — maybe he’d realize that there’s more to be worried about here than some criminal charges. But Gael is blinded by love and his devotion to his soon-to-be family so his greatest lament is that Isabella didn’t tell him about the incident when it happened.

“I was just afraid of what you would think of me. I didn’t want you to think that I was crazy or something,” Isabella tearfully confesses. She swears that she’s never done anything like this before but then I remember when Raj told her he couldn’t do birthday parties with her anymore: she picked up a nearby shoe and threw it across the loft, breaking the mirror above the mantle. So, clearly, Isabella is still lying…to Gael and perhaps to herself. But Gael is understanding and wraps Isabella up in a big hug.

Later, they meet with Rowan — an attorney from Callie’s old law firm, played by trans actor Emmett Preciado — to guide them through the legal proceedings. Isabella’s sentencing is slated for Friday and she’s stunned that things are moving so quickly. Gael calmly reassures her that it’s for the best: they can put this behind them before the baby arrives. Isabella asks for the worse case scenario and Rowan admits that it’s possible that Isabella could face some jail time. She’s astounded — “girl, you asked!” I yell back at my TV — and peppers Rowan with questions about how long her sentence could be. He explains that could be facing six to nine months in jail but he assures her that because she’s taking responsibility for her actions and this is her first offense, he and his boss, Kathleen, expect her to be sentenced to community service. She breathes a sigh of relief and Gael assures her that whatever comes, they’ll handle things together.

When the sentencing hearing rolls around, things go almost as predicted. The prosecution plays the video of Isabella’s destruction of her father’s car and while Isabella lowers her head in shame, Gael seems taken aback to witness the anger that she’s capable of, for the first time. The judge admits that she’s worried about Isabella’s impulse control but she accepts the plea deal that’s been offered: 50 hours of community service and 18 months of probation. But before Isabella can celebrate the case’s outcome, her parents stand up and address the judge. They ask the Court to intervene for the safety of their daughter’s child. Her father notes that Isabella has a history — though not a criminal one — of erratic, dangerous behavior and anger management issues. Her mother recounts multiple instances of Isabella lashing out, including a fire that nearly burned their house down, and her father concedes, “We love our daughter but she’s not fit to be a mother.”

Rowan rightfully objects to Isabella’s parents’ requests and the judge agrees: her parents’ arguments are a matter for family court, not criminal court. It’s an outcome anyone who’s watched a couple of episodes of Law & Order could’ve predicted and I’m shocked that Isabella’s parents didn’t consult a lawyer before making a claim in open court. On the plus side, at least now Gael finally knows what he’s facing and can move forward with all the information at hand. For one of the first times since she left, I’m really wishing that Callie was still at the Coterie.

Things are understandably quiet on the way back to the loft following the hearing. Isabella admits that some of what her parents said was true but she chalks the behavior up to being just teenage hijinks. She insists that she’s changed now, she’s a different person, but Gael points out that the incident with the car just happened last month. Isabella contends that she was protecting their baby but Gael pushes back, “how is lashing out and risking your freedom, protecting the baby?” He says it calmly and without making a move towards her…he’s just sitting on a chair trying to process it all…which only makes Isabella’s reaction seem more erratic by comparison.

Isabella starts pacing in the loft, accusing Gael of judging her. He assures her that he’s not judging her and invites her to sit down but he can’t calm her down. She questions if Gael’s going to leave her or if his feelings for her have changed. She notes that he’s the one who asked her to get married and he hasn’t said anything else about it since that night. Gael points out that they’ve had bigger things to deal with and Isabella accuses him of lying. She maintains that he never really loved her or chose her, he only wanted to be with her because of the baby. She picks up Gael’s art supplies and starts tossing them indiscriminately across the loft. Gael stands and begs her to stop but, instead, he gets hit by a book she’s thrown. She rushes to try to apologize but he pulls away.

Somehow, they end up sharing a bed that night. Gael waits until Isabella falls asleep and grabs his phone. I’m grateful that he doesn’t call Isabella’s parents; instead, he reaches out to Dennis, who meets him in the Coterie lounge, where Gael finally admits how scared he is.

Good Trouble Coterie Sundries

+ Things at Bulk Beauty are going great: their partnership with online influencer, Zelda Grant, is paying off and subscriptions are through the roof. Hiring Zelda for another promotion campaign feels like a no-brainer for the Fight Club Girls. But when they announce that the next stage of Bulk Beauty’s expansion will include an Italian company (Per Tutti) that produces a line of inclusive menstrual hygiene products, Zelda’s perplexed by the inclusive language.

“Wait, why people and not just women? I mean, only women get periods,” Zelda asks after hearing the company’s tagline (“For people who get periods.”)

Mariana explains that the tagline is meant to be inclusive of trans men and non-binary people who also get periods but Zelda scoffs. Her reaction catches the FCGs completely off guard and, suddenly, they start to question whether they want someone who’s not inclusive representing their brand.

+ Mariana gets inadvertently locked into the stairwell with Evan and they’re finally able to clear the air. The kiss he witnessed wasn’t a mutual kiss, Mariana explains, it was just Joaquin kissing her. Hope flashes on Evan’s face before Mariana extinguishes it again: she wanted to discuss their relationship but when he was, at first, unwilling, and then determined to keep things professional, she started exploring things with Joaquin. The Internet seems very frustrated that these two can never get their timing right but not me…I haven’t seen a single thing to suggest that the dynamics that doomed their relationship the first time around have changed.

+ One of my TV pet peeves? When someone changes their mind, easily, about not having children. It frustrated me when Arizona and Amelia changed their minds on Grey’s Anatomy and it bothered me on Good Trouble this week with Dennis. Every person I know that has said that they don’t want kids has come to that decision after serious thought…it’s not an easy decision. But here, Dennis plays with one kid for a little while and suddenly he’s open to the idea? Ugh.

+ Obviously there’s a burgeoning issue of Davia growing a little too close to the family she’s working for — the newly single dad, Asher, and his son, Elliot — but I’m still taken aback by how drastic the pivot has been on Davia’s character this season. So much of her storyline on Good Trouble has been about her teaching in low-income schools (with Teach for America) and learning how to engage black and brown students (and unpack her own privilege in the process). But now all that’s been thrown out the window and she’s home-schooling this one, rich white kid?

+ Can Rowan move into the Coterie? Cause he’s someone I’d very much like to see on my screen every week. Signed, The TV Team’s Resident Bisexual.

Next Week: Dis tew much

“Good Trouble” Episode 414 Recap: Love Is (Not?) A Lie

Is love a lie? It’s a question we spend lots of time positing around here. And while there’s an understandable impulse to chalk our constant questioning up to nihilism — hey, it’s a valid coping mechanism! — the truth is queer television hasn’t been great about showcasing that love actually exists. Actually, that’s an understatement. Queer television has been bad…so, so bad. And, though we don’t acknowledge it often, that representation matters too. Representation, not just of identities but of ideas and of possibilities. Sometimes, you need to see a thing — even a fictional thing in a fictional world — to know that it can exist for you and to set expectations for what that ought to look like.

Going into this week’s episode of Good Trouble, I figured that we’d get a testament to fact that love is most definitely not a lie. After all, it was a big Coterie wedding…how could it be anything other than a celebration of love? But then again, maybe it’s only against the reflection of true love and commitment — what Jazmin and Spencer have — that we can truly recognize what we…or, in this case, everyone else at the Coterie…doesn’t have.

Jazmin/Spencer – Is Love a Lie? Absolutely the fuck not.

Jazmin Martinez makes a beautiful bride. She glides down the aisle to a rendition of Camila Cabello’s “Havana,” which reminds me of that time she performed (with her future fiancé) an entire dance number to Jennifer Lopez’s “El Anillo” and leads me to rewatch that scene a half a dozen times. Halfway down the aisle, Jazmin urges the crowd to their feet…to share in the joy that radiates off her…and everyone responds with cheers and applause. She’s met by her friend Evelyn (played by Nicky Andreas) who takes her hand and walks her the rest of the way down the aisle.

The pastor asks, “who stand in support of Jazmin on her wedding day?” and Evelyn acknowledges that they do. The pastor asks, “who else?” and Jazmin’s parents and her grandfather stand and affirm their support. And then the pastor asks again, “who else?” and the entire audience stands and proclaims their support. We don’t get to see much of the actual wedding after that — the show fast forwards to the reception — but it’s enough to make me tear up and to make some of the guests re-evaluate their lives.

As Jazmin interacts with her guests, her father laments to Gael that he wasn’t the one to walk his daughter down the aisle. He admits wanting the opportunity, seeing it as a public acknowledgement of how far he’s come in accepting Jazmin. Before Gael can chastise him, his father admits that Jazmin’s happiness is the most important thing…though, at that moment, I’m not sure he believes that. But, as the night progresses, he comes to a stark realization.

“I realized tonight, I didn’t earn that honor, because I wasn’t there for you when you needed me most,” he admits. He promises that, from this day forward, he and her mother will always be there for Jazmin…and he and his daughter share tears, hugs and their love. I’m not crying, you’re crying.

Alice/Sumi – Is Love a Lie? Not when you deploy grand romantic gestures

Things between Alice and Sumi remain frosty after the revelation that Alice was looking to replace Sumi as her manager. They haven’t talked since…that is, until Sumi approaches Alice at the reception to call off their fake relationship. Apparently, seeing Jazmin and Spencer proclaim their true love got Sumi reconsidering this masquerade she and Alice had embarked upon. While Alice took comfort in calling their relationship “fake,” it was never that for Sumi. Their “fake” relationship was her way of making up for past mistakes. She acknowledges that she didn’t treat Alice well when they were first together but insists that she’s proven herself to be trustworthy. Unfortunately, though, as Sumi’s redeemed herself, Alice has shown herself not to be worthy of Sumi’s trust.

Later, Malika spots a morose Alice leaning against a wall and comes over to find out what’s wrong? Is this the conversation I’ve been waiting for Alice and Malika to have all season? Sort of…I imagined that it’d be more intimate and there’d be more weed or alcohol involved, but apparently this is the closest we’re gonna get.* Alice laments that Sumi’s mad at her about looking for new representation and that she ended their fake relationship. Malika’s surprised to hear that their relationship was fake but Alice explains that they concocted the relationship to cover for Gael who wanted to keep Isabella close.

“Look, I need Sumi,” an exasperated Alice admits. “She’s the most important person in my life! I just can’t live without her.”

Malika questions whether Alice means she needs Sumi just as a manager or if she wants something more. She notes that it sounds like Alice is in love with Sumi. At first, Alice denies it but ultimately admits that she loves Sumi but is afraid of being hurt again. Malika assures Alice that it’s not too late and pushes her to come up with a big romantic gesture to win Sumi back. Does this sound like advice Malika would normally give? No. Does it feel like advice that’s been overlly influenced by the saccharine nature of weddings? Absolutely.

Alice takes the advice to heart and approaches Sumi for help with an upcoming audition. Under the guise of a story about Sandy and her “beautiful, sexy, brilliant” hairdresser Aaliyah, Alice confesses her love for Sumi. She assures Sumi that she does trust her and wants to be with her, if she can be forgiven. Sumi answers Alice with a kiss and the two, FINALLY, fall into bed together.

(* I remain frustrated that the conversation was entirely about Alice and Malika’s relationship with Angelica — again, her first relationship with another woman! — doesn’t get talked about at all.)

Mariana/Joaquin/Kelly – Is Love a Lie? Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, we don’t talk about it.

Remember when Joaquin arrived at the Coterie and Kelly was, surprisingly, fawning all over him? I didn’t take it seriously because this show has always used Kelly for comic relief. They’ve never given her much depth. But, apparently, I (and Mariana) should’ve taken Kelly’s interest in Joaquin more seriously because, now that she’s discovered Mariana and Joaquin’s situationship, she’s angry — “You broke a code, Mariana. You broke the most important and sacred of codes…the girl code!” she exclaims — and a little bit hurt.

When Kelly corners her about Joaquin, Mariana dismisses Kelly’s concerns: there’s nothing going on between them, at least not any more. Earlier, Joaquin lashed out at Mariana’s efforts to help his sister and she’s stung by the rebuke. Unbeknownst to them, Joaquin’s still smarting from a conversation with his mother, wherein she accused him of being selfish and foresaking his sister, and he misdirected his anger towards Mariana. After watching Gael and Jazmin together, Joaquin realizes his misstep and rushes over to apologize to Mariana. They don’t talk about what’s going on between them but just the sight of them together is enough to hurt Kelly’s feelings all over again.

Later, Luca — who’s filming a video for the newly married couple — catches Kelly and she takes the opportunity to address Mariana’s criticism of her. She denies not taking anything seriously but acknowledges using her humor as a defense mechanism to keep anyone from getting too close. She admits to having a lonely childhood and never really having a boyfriend…but then she suddenly realizes she’s said this things, out loud and on camera, and rushes to try and erase the tape. I both want to hug Kelly and tell her that she deserves better than that True Detective cast-off.

Davia/Dennis/Ryan – Is Love a Lie? It’s the one we tell ourselves.

As a gift to his sister, Gael invites Davia and Dennis to the Coterie stage to perform a rendition of “Can’t Take My Eyes off You” for Jazmin and Spencer’s first dance. The chemistry between the two remains palpable and like so many times before, they sing the words they cannot bring themselves to say to one another, much to my chagrin.

Noticing their chemistry, Isabella asks why Dennis and Davia aren’t together and Gael notes that they can’t seem to get on the same page at the same time. And, of course, who would be standing behind Gael and Isabella as they acknowledge the obvious? Dennis’ new girlfriend, Ryan. And, despite the fact that this storyline has put so much emphasis on how age-appropriate Ryan is for Dennis, when her relationship is threatened, she behaves like a catty teenager…acting icy towards Davia when they find themselves in the restroom at the same time. And while the interaction (plus a warning from Gael) should make Davia avoid Dennis at all costs, she can’t help but be drawn to him…and she spends the night looking heartbroken as she watches him dance with Ryan.

After the reception, Dennis and Ryan retreat to his loft and Ryan questions him about his intentions directly. She makes it plain: she’s in search of a serious relationship and kids and she doesn’t have time for a casual relationship. Dennis looks over to the artwork that memorializes his son and I think the mention of kids will send him running for the hills but, instead, he admits he really likes Ryan too. She questions him about his feelings for Davia and he acknowledges that he loves her but just as a friend. He insists that he’s not interested in casual dating either.

Isabella/Gael – Is Love a Lie? Yes, repeatedly.

Does it feel odd to add a pairing that ends this episode engaged to the list of those who affirm that “love is a lie?” A little, yes…but every moment in Gael and Isabella’s relationship feels tenuous. Despite the fact that they’re just a few months out from sharing a child, the foundation of their relationship is so shaky…built on a slew of omissions, misdirection and manipulation. Their love is a lie…and this week, it gets exposed for what it truly is.

Much to my surprise, Gael tells Isabella about the texts from her father soon after he gets them. He stands firm behind his commitment to not involve their families in their relationship and to respect the boundaries that Isabella has with her parents. Isabella breathes an audible sigh of relief as Gael deletes the message and blocks his number. Still, she can’t keep her father — and his demand that she put the baby up for adoption or risk going to jail — at bay. He calls and reiterates his threat via voicemail. It’s telling that Isabella can’t follow Gael’s lead and block her father’s number. It’s hard to outgrow (or outrun) that desire for affirmation from your parents, even when they’ve let you down so many times before.

But while Gael respects Isabella’s boundaries with her parents, does Isabella do the same? Not really. Gael hasn’t told his parents that he and Isabella are a couple. Last we saw his parents, Gael was still with Callie — much to his mother’s dismay — and seemed firm in his belief that his only relationship with Isabella would be as co-parents. Now that things have changed, Gael doesn’t want to invite his parents in to add aditional pressure to their new relationship. He assures Davia that Isabella’s okay with that and she, like me, doesn’t believe that for a second.

“No, that’s bullshit. There’s no way that she’s okay with being pregnant with your child and being in a secret relationship with you,” Davia insists. And then, because like most people, Davia’s better at dispensing advice than taking it, she adds, ironically, “If you’re not having doubts, then what are you waiting for?”

Later, Isabella questions Gael about his intentions and wonders if he’s been manipulating her the entire time. I’m stunned by her audacity — after all, she’s the one who hasn’t been honest about her parents’ blackmail attempt — but she uses it as a cudgel to get Gael to acknowledge their relationship in front of his parents. He does, announcing their relationship to the whole room…which, while Jazmin said it was alright, still feels like a shitty thing to do at someone else’s wedding.

Spurned by all the love and goodwill from the wedding, Gael affirms his commitment to Isabella and their growing family: first, he decides to go to work for his father (an avenue he’s steadily avoided since we first met him) and then, he wants to make their family official: he wants to get married. This is why going to weddings is dangerous…people get all sorts of crazy ideas. Isabella accepts and later she texts her father with proof of her happiness. She urges him to just let her be happy.

But, of course, that ain’t happening…and the next day, just as Gael’s about to share the news, the cops show up to arrest Isabella.

Malika/Angelica – Is Love a Lie? No, But Also: Yes

After their first fight, Malika and Angelica retreated into their own corners to lick their wounds. Malika’s ego keeps her from reaching out but, thankfully, Angelica finally shows up at the Coterie, ready to talk. I gird myself for the break-up but it doesn’t happen; instead, Angelica apologizes and Malika answers with her own apology. The whole thing gets resolved way too quickly — and without any mention of Lucia — and I should be on high alert…but then Angelica strips off her coat and settles into Malika’s lap and there’s talk of make-up sex and, suddenly, I forget what I’m supposed to be mad about. I’m only human!

Angelica joins Malika at Jazmin’s wedding but they both take different lessons from the showcase: Malika touts the romance and the celebration of love and Angelica celebrates the commitment and the promise of forever. It’s at this point that I’m snapped out of my revelry: they are fixated on different things — they want different things — and now all that’s left is for both of them to come to that realization.

Swept up by the romance of the day, Malika makes her own grand gesture: as she dances with Angelica, she confesses her love. Angelica’s breath is taken away by the revelation and she steps back and rushes out of the room to catch her breath. Malika finds her later and it’s clear that some thing is amiss. Malika apologizes for moving too fast and admits that she got caught up in the moment. But Angelica insists that it wasn’t too soon and confesses that she loves her too. Malika’s eyes fill with joyous tears that only make the rest of the conversation more difficult to watch. The wedding made Angelica realize that she wants what Jazmin and Spencer have and while Malika insists that she wants that too, Angelica doubts whether she can truly have that in a relationship with someone who’s poly.

From the script to the screen, the heartbreak is palpable.
_____
Stream #GoodTrouble on @Hulu. pic.twitter.com/xEwNPWViIe

— Good Trouble (@GoodTrouble) August 7, 2022

“Loving you is starting to hurt,” Angelica tearfully confesses…and, admittedly, I don’t really get it, but just the way she says it feels like a dagger in the heart.

Malika acquiesces, “you know, if I’m being honest with myself, I need someone who can love me and accept me for all of who I am so I’m not on eggshells waiting for them to bail.”

I’m stunned that we’ve gotten to this point so quickly. I don’t mind Angelica and Malika not being together — I suspected it wouldn’t last from the outset — but I wish the progression to get to this point made sense.

Next Week: Locked Up and Locked In

“Good Trouble” Episode 413 Recap: Comparison is the Thief of Joy

The following recap contains spoilers for Good Trouble episode 413, “A Penny With A Hole In It.”

A few months after I finished college, I found myself back in my mentor’s office, frustrated by the pace of life. I’d done everything that’d been asked of me — I got an education, I’d worked hard for very little money (shout out to unpaid internships!) — but it all seemed for naught. Everything I’d done felt fruitless: the opportunities I’d expected to await me after graduation just weren’t there. Meanwhile, stories about my friends’ successes redounded. I couldn’t understand it…they hadn’t worked harder than me, they weren’t more talented than me…and yet they were getting the opportunities I’d coveted. After listening to me rant, my mentor repeated words that have echoed in my ears regularly in the years since: “Comparison is the thief of joy.”

It’s a lesson that Alice learns the hard way this week on Good Trouble and, in the end, she comes a little closer to realizing that the source of her joy isn’t what she’d thought it was.

When Good Trouble picks back up this week, Alice is still trying to lean into her “Year of Yes.” Among the new gigs that her new manager/pretend girlfriend, Sumi, has lined up for her? Facilitating an early morning online sexual harassment training. I’m not sure who thought it’d be a good idea to invite a comedian to lead a session on such a serious topic but it goes about as well as you’d imagine. Before she can get to the section on dating co-workers, all the participants abandon the call. The only person left? Kelly, who stumbles into Alice’s loft, and mocks her performance with a slow clap.

Afterwards, Alice puts her foot down: she refuses to do any more online seminars or pet adoptions. She laments that just one month ago, she was opening for Margaret Cho and now she’s been reduced to this. Sumi assures Alice that she’s on the right path and mentions that she’s secured Alice a new gig at a very hot coffee shop. Alice laments the news: she wants to perform somewhere where the crowd’s interested in laughter, not lattes. Then, as if Alice’s day couldn’t get any worse, she turns to see posters advertising a new sitcom called Hiss & Hers starring Derek, the least funny comedian and general asshole from Alice’s CBTV diversity program. Sumi celebrates Derek’s success but Alice is incensed.

“I was the one they were supposed to give the comedy deal to,” Alice rants. “This is supposed to be me! He tried to sabotage us! I had to do the right thing. I had to be Ms. Big Person and now look at him! I was supposed to be Hiss & Hers! This is my life!”

Sumi tries to calm her client down by reminding her that everyone has their own path to success. She reiterates their “Year of Yes” strategy and urges Alice to run her own race and try to find joy in the wins of her friends. But, as soon as the words come out of Sumi’s mouth, a bus approaches, wrapped in an advertisement for Hiss & Hers and I think that’ll be easier said that done. Back at the loft, Alice surveys the social media of her CBTV crew and it seems like everyone’s winning but her. Derek has his sitcom, LB’s making their stand-up debut on Jimmy Kimmel, Magda’s booked a national commercial and they’re all racking up Instagram likes and views. Determined to match their success, Alice starts cold calling new prospective agents.

Malika interrupts her call and, for a second, I think we’re finally going to get that friendship moment that I’ve been waiting for all season: Alice can share her frustrations about her friends’ success relative to her own and confess about her fake relationship with Sumi and Malika can get some perspective about what to do about Angelica. Finally, Malika and Alice would get to showcase the deep friendship that’s been one of my favorite parts of Good Trouble since season one. But, season four of Good Trouble is like, “you thought!”

Apparently, we can’t waste time on friendships between core cast members because we’re too busy pretending that this is a season of True Detective and we need to spend our time rescuing this new guy’s sister from a farming cult. Seriously, how is it possible that Malika is in her first relationship with a woman — which even under the best of circumstances is a scary venture — and Good Trouble‘s never given us a conversation between her and her lesbian BFF about it? HOW SWAY?! I thought this show understood the value of community. But I digress….

Alice laments that managing is not Sumi’s true calling and she might be better off with someone else. Surprisingly, Malika advocates for Alice to stick it out with Sumi: after all, when she had to step in as Coterie manager, she did a great job. Plus, Malika reminds her, no other manager will care more about her than Sumi does. Later, Alice’s gig at the coffee house goes really, really well. She even manages to catch the attention of a casting director who’s picking up her latte. Unfortunately, though, when it’s time to connect the agent with her manager, Alice is without one: Sumi quits when after spots a text message on Alice’s phone from Michelle from D&M Management looking to set up a meeting.

Alice tries to apologize…to get Sumi to talk to her at all…but to no avail. She lies alone in her loft, all her joy gone, and returns to Instagram to offer likes and supportive comments on her friends’ successes.

Meanwhile, Malika approaches Lucia to voice her concerns about the site of the women’s center. She’s worried about the optics: she doesn’t want it to appear as though they’re using the women’s center as political cover for displacing the unhoused encampment. The councilwoman reminds Malika that they’re clearing the encampment for a noble purpose, not to build a Target. Lucia assures her staffer that they’ll relocate the unhoused to shelters but Malika knows that’s an insufficient solution: shelters are temporary and force the unhoused to conform to their conditions and curfews. Malika recommends that the unhoused be offered permanent housing and an exasperated Lucia responds with a simple question: “Where?” Lucia reminds her that the women’s center is an opportunity to improve people’s lives and provide them with necessary services but if Malika has a better idea, she should present it.

“You’re gonna need to learn, Malika, that there are no perfect solutions to the problems that we face,” Lucia lectures. I generally loathe political storylines because so few shows invest energy in getting the minutiae right. Shows like the focus on the glamorous parts — the television appearances, the speeches, the town halls with voters — because that makes for better television. But that also creates a false perception about how government operates and what it has the capacity to do. The reality is, governing is often boring and thankless work and it forces even the most idealistic among us to embrace pragmatism. To Good Trouble‘s credit, they are the rare show that’s getting it mostly right…so much so that Lucia’s words give me flashbacks to my days as a junior staffer. Yikes!

But I’m pretty sure Malika stopped listening to Lucia after the invitation to present a better idea because she devotes herself to tracking down another solution. She comes across a story from Philadelphia about organizers who got the city to buy empty apartment buildings to shelter the unhoused. Tracy admits that a similar proposal had been floated in Los Angeles but the deal fell apart. Malika pushes Tracy to work with her to get a meeting with the real estate developer who was involved with the LA proposal and even the office’s cynic can’t say no to Zuri Adele’s face.

As they wait outside the developer’s office, Malika checks her phone repeatedly and Tracy calls her on it. Malika admits that she and Angelica got into a fight and she’s hoping to get a text. Tracy encourages her to just text Angelica but, apparently, she’s not familiar with this new plot device version of Malika who avoids conflict and won’t be honest with her girlfriend. Malika admits that Angelica was both right and wrong in their fight and because wrong always outweighs right, the onus is on Angelica to respond first. Tracy compliments her on her reasoning and its dash of pettiness.

Just then, the developer, Mr. Redford, and his son arrive and Malika gives him an elevator pitch about reviving the proposal to purchase his apartment buildings. Unfortunately, Redford’s not interested: he’d offered to sell his properties to the City at minimal profit but they were “penny wise and pound foolish,” preferring to spend millions on temporary band-aids than to invest in a long-term solutions. But while the developer’s not interested, Tracy clocks the interest of his son, Xavier, and pushes Malika to take another swing. If she can convince Xavier, maybe he can convince his dad to recommit to the proposal.

I should pause here and note that the developer’s son is played by Nick Creegan, who Autostraddle readers might remember from his recent stint on Batwoman (RIP). Now, I’m sure that young man is a talented actor, capable of playing a myriad of characters, but he’s very good at playing a maniacal villain, so I automatically start to worry. Lucia, AKA Adele from The L Word, has already proven that Good Trouble isn’t above typecasting…so, nope, keep Marquis Jet and his pretty eyes far, far away from my beloved Malika.

The next day, before work, Tracy and Malika track Xavier down at his favorite coffee cart. Malika handles the conversation with the skill of a seasoned political operative: first, she pretends as though she didn’t already know Xavier was the developer’s son, and then she pivots to pushing him to step up to do what the older generation could not. He agrees to talk to his father about it. Later — while she’s scrolling through Angelica’s instagram — he texts Malika with news that he was able to convince his dad to reconsider the housing deal: if she can get the City Council on board, they’re in.

As she gets the news, there’s a knock on her loft’s door and — surprise! — it’s Angelica…and she thinks they need to talk.

Good Trouble Coterie Sundries

+ Good Trouble isn’t above using misdirection in its trailers — the show’s brand of storytelling is conduscive to that, TBH — but I felt burned by last week’s trailer. Angelica’s invitation to talk was featured in the promo, suggesting that there’d be additional conversation in this week’s episode, but that ended up being the extent of her appearance. We’ll have to wait yet another week to see if their relationship can survive their lack of communication.

+ There is no episode of television that can’t be made better by an appearance by Hailie Sahar and this episode was no different. I can’t wait to see her wedding next week. Is it too much to hope for another Jennifer Lopez dance routine?

+ Even though Gael pushed for Isabella to leave their families out of their personal relationship, what do you think the chances are that he ignores the text from Isabella’s father? Slim or none?

+ Can someone just call Stef Adams Foster so we can put this True Detective storyline behind us, once and for all?

Next Week: (Fake) Break Ups 2 Make Ups?

“Good Trouble” Episode 412 Recap: Thirsty Thurs-yay

The first sign that this particular episode of Good Trouble isn’t going to go well for our ‘ship comes during an ominous cold opening. Lucia’s Chief of Staff, Will, is performing a magic show, with Angelica and Lucia serving as his assistants. Malika is the trick’s volunteer, locked inside Will’s magic box. He takes out a blade and saws Malika in half. Angelica and Lucia pull apart the halves and Will bows to applause from the unseen crowd. But then the magician and his assistants blood dripping from the box…all the while, Malika’s still locked in the box, smiling brightly, blissfully unaware of what’s happened.

Yeah, I should’ve known: this is not going to go well.

Much like in the real world, municipal politics in Good Trouble‘s version of Los Angeles is consumed by the homelessness crisis. Will announces that the issue is Lucia’s chief concern and that the office is soliciting feedback from constituents about their biggest concerns are, related to the unhoused. He urges the staff to come up with some fresh and innovative ideas to address the issue.

In a private conversation with Lucia, however, her campaign manager, Dana, dismisses the idea of a survey outright, especially when the answer to what voters want is so obvious. Dana insists that Lucia’s entire campaign hinges on how she addresses (or fails to address, as the case maybe) the burgeoning crisis. She notes that the campaign’s already experiencing blowback over the encapment that’s in the middle of Lucia’s district. To her credit, Lucia pushes back. She notes that every unhoused person in her district is also a constituent and that they deserve to have their needs addressed as well. Lucia points out that while voters might be opposed to encampments, those same voters are resistant to the idea of sweeps (which, frankly, I wish were true). Dana urges her client to tread carefully and come up with a creative solution to the problem.

Malika catches up with Lucia as she’s making her way out of the office and offers her boss a new way of looking at the women’s center proposal. The idealistic staffer notes that there’s a lot of overlap between the issues faced by the unhoused and women impacted by incarceration. Perhaps, Malika suggests, the women’s center could be expanded to include a residential component. Lucia loves the idea and predicts that the inclusion of a housing solution would make the City Council more likely to approve funding. She compliments Malika’s work and promises to make some calls about the idea. She urges Malika to attend the office’s upcoming happy hour event to lobby the other Council staffers that might be there.

Everything sounds great until Lucia adds this gem, completely unprompted: “And I hope you’ll bring Angelica. I don’t want there to be any awkwardness between us.”

At this point, alarm bells are blaring — Danger Will Robinson! Danger! — and it’s obvious to me, even if Malika should go to this “Thirsty Thurs-yay” event out of a work obligation, she absolutely should not bring Angelica. Somehow, though, neither Malika nor Angelica recognize the warning sign for what it is because they both show up to the happy hour.

Angelica’s clearly a little awkward about the whole thing but she’s trying to swallow her feelings so that she can support Malika. Soon after they arrive, Lucia approaches and though the exes exchange pleasantries, the tension is thick. Lucia pivots and shares the latest news: there’s growing support on the Council for the women’s center with its new housing component. Lucia’s already identified a potential location for the center, a city-owned lot on 3rd and Temple, right in the middle of her district. Malika’s understandably elated and Lucia encourages her to talk up the proposal to other staffers.

After Lucia steps away, Malika notes that it’s the most excited that she’s ever seen her boss be about the women’s center. Angelica, however, is skeptical: she pours them both a glass of wine and then pours cold water all over Malika’s dreams (rhetorically speaking). Angelica wonders aloud what the catch is but Malika defends Lucia, insisting that her boss is just interested in doing something about the unhoused crisis.

Later, as Malika joins Lucia to talk up her proposal to a staffer from Councilman Amin’s office, Angelica watches from afar. Her misgivings about the alliance between her ex and her new girlfriend are obvious. Malika returns to her side and introduces Angelica to her co-worker, Tracy, who, unbeknownst to Malika, warned Angelica that she might be too idealistic for the political world. As they make small talk, Angelica spots Lucia across the room kissing someone else.

Once Tracy leaves, Lucia re-approaches, this time with her new love interest in tow. She introduces Malika (her “new star staffer”) to Beth, a city attorney, and reintroduces Beth to Angelica. The tension that’s permeated the room somehow manages to go thicker and Angelica shoots daggers in Lucia’s direction. If Lucia’s intention was to make Angelica jealous and want to come back to her, she has clearly misstepped and so she heads off to introduce Beth to everyone else. After Lucia’s out of earshot, Angelica asks to leave.

“If you’ve mingled enough, I’d like to leave,” Angelica spits. The anger in her voice is obvious but Malika’s oblivious to the cause. She asks her girlfriend if everything’s okay but Angelica refuses to offer any insight — at least not there — and instead just insists that she wants to go.

The tension from the party sticks with the couple as they make their way back to the Coterie. Malika asks again about what’s upsetting Angelica and she finally explains that Beth had been an issue in her past relationship with Lucia. Beth had inserted herself in their relationship — always hanging around, openly flirting with Lucia — and anytime Angelica brought it up, she was accused of being irrational. Malika insists on giving her boss the benefit of the doubt and suggests that, maybe, nothing was going on while she and Lucia were together. Angelica insists that the issue is the way Lucia gaslit her and claims that, clearly, Lucia only urged Malika to bring her to the happy hour to make her jealous.

Malika: Are you [jealous]?
Angelica: No, I’m annoyed that Lucia is always playing games. Like she is with you and your women’s center, by the way.
Malika: Are you…playing games…with me and Gillian?
Angelica: Gillian? Is that what you think?

It’s at this point that the fight that Malika and Angelica are having spirals out of control…like a snowball rolling down the hill, adding to its mass by collecting all these other issues that have gone unaddressed between them this season. A fight that started out about Lucia, turns into one that’s also about Angelica’s feelings about Malika being poly and about Malika’s feelings about Angelica dating other people and about Malika’s frustration — still lingering from her break-up with Dyonte — about not being supported. It all becomes a part of this snowball that threatens to destroy their relationship.

“I don’t know what’s happening here,” Angelica admits.

“Neither do I,” Malika responds.

“Me either!” I yell at my television at home.

Relationships have communication issues, I get that. Sometimes it just feels easier to avoid the hard conversations for fear of what having them might actually bring. I get that, I have done that, it totally makes sense. But I’m less sold on this particular couple having these communication issues. Angelica, in particular, has always shown a vested interest in having open and honest communication…until now. What’s more? It feels like all the relationships are Good Trouble are being thwarted by the same communication issue. Davia won’t have the conversation she needs to have with Dennis and Mariana and Evan just keep avoiding a conversation about their personal life. It just feels repetitive and juvenile. I can maybe understand it with the straights but the gays? C’mon…lesbian processing is an infamous stereotype for a reason.

Flabbergasted, Angelica decides that she needs some space so opts to head back to her place for the night. She pauses, as if she’s waiting for Malika to ask her to stay so that they can talk things out, but, of course, she doesn’t. Instead, Malika encourages Angelica to do what whatever she feels like she needs to do and watches — almost willing herself not to cry — as Angelica walks out.

The next day, as she’s walking into work, she’s greeted by a group of protesters calling for an end to the homeless encampment sweeps (#ServicesNotSweeps). Among the protesters? Luca, who introduces Malika to his friend, Nikki. She’s just received notice that the encampment where she lives is about to be swept. The location of the encampment? The vacant lot on 3rd and Temple, the site of Malika’s women’s center.

There’s the catch. I knew we couldn’t trust Adele…I mean, Lucia.

Good Trouble Coterie Sundries

+ As someone who absolutely loathes political storylines because most shows get them very, very wrong (ahem, The Chi, Gen Q), I have to give kudos to Good Trouble who mostly gets it right? I can’t speak to Los Angeles’ particular political landscape but the minutaie of that kind of work environment feels very authentic.

+ The absolute highlight of this episode was the scene with Luca, Malika and Mariana in the Coterie bathroom. Three former foster kids who, somehow, all ended up here? It’s kinda magical. Their conversation revolves primarily around their outreach to their biological parents — which gave me some nice Fosters flashbacks — and both Malika and Mariana admitted that, in the long run, doing so was beneficial. I’d love to see more of these three talking about their experience as foster kids.

(Surely, though, if Luca ended up in the foster system, there’s a governmental record of him having existed somewhere, right?)

+ As Luca’s dropping his genetic testing kit in the mail with Davia, the guy that’s been hunting him, Ivan, spots him. Now he knows where Luca’s staying and I’m worried about everyone’s safety. Personally, though, I’m ready to fly to LA and protect Luca at all costs.

Next Week: Famous Last Words: “I think we need to talk”