Emmy Episodes: GLOW

It’s always my policy to watch every Emmy-nominated episode each year, which leads me to sample a handful of shows that I don’t tune in to on a regular basis. For the fifth year in a row, I’m making a special effort to spotlight each of those installments to offer my perspective on shows that I don’t review each week.

GLOW: Season 3, Episode 10 “A Very GLOW Christmas” (B+)

This is one show that I tend to enjoy when I watch its Emmy episodes, though only Betty Gilpin, who plays Debbie, has been nominated since season one, which means I don’t experience much of it. I obviously missed a lot since episode four of season two, like whatever hate crime occurred and the developments in all of the relationships each of the characters have with each other and their own romantic partners. As another showcase of Gilpin’s work, this episode did lean heavily on Debbie and her business interests. Being told by her boyfriend, played by Toby Huss from “Dickinson,” that she was always just going to be his girlfriend – or maybe eventually his wife – and good only for making dinners more bearable was the impetus she needed to come in and undercut him with Bash on his own deal. She seems fine with Ruth, which wasn’t always the case, but Ruth isn’t interested in what she counts as success. Carmen is in a better place than she’s been, though that also means that she’s leaving this world, something that her colleagues didn’t want to hear. There were some other positives, like Cherry’s husband talking about adoption rather than an affair, and Arthie coming out to a supportive and unfazed audience. I know that season four will be the end of this show, and I wouldn’t mind watching more of it if any of its players end up getting nominated.