Netflix GLOW Recaps by Penny; Episode 2 – “Slouch, Submit”

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We open with Ruth barely dodging a buick in the gym parking lot and getting conned out of her nice trainers by another wrestler. Most of the ladies are gabbing in the ring as Roxette plays in the background. The ladies are having fun when douchey Sam arrives to ruin the mood. He does his usual creepy schtick trying to decide who their characters will be, and asks everyone to talk about themselves, and the woman who scammed Ruth’s shoes calls herself Melrose and proves to be every bit the vapid shallow willing object you’d think she’d be.

Next up is the obligatory weird goth girl, Sheila, who has a wolflike sense of smell. Then Sam wants Ruth to go next. Shock and awe, Sam is more interested in Ruth’s “hot friend who kicked her ass”. As it turns out, Ruth’s now former friend whose husband Ruth boffed is Debbie Eagan, an actual soap opera star, and at least a few of the ladies have heard of her. Ruth plays off as if the whole fight was staged, hoping to work it to her advantage. Cherry interrupts, impatient to get to work, and Sam leaves to take a piss, making Cherry irked.

Cherry, who has a past with Sam, follows him to the locker room and assumes he’s checking lockers for some coke to snort, but he’s looking for Ruth’s address book to find Debbie’s contact info. Melrose comes in to pee and Sam lays on the creep factor even thicker by talking about he and Cherry’s sexual history and describes her miscarriage in terms I can’t even repeat. He also tells her he fired the Sack, which is not boding well for this show growing on me given he was probably the best part of the pilot. Sam leaves Cherry in charge and leaves, presumablly to contact Debbie, who we find looking for napkins to wipe up blood from the ever eternally hellish combo of breastfeeding and a teething infant. Sam arrives and introduces himself.

Back at the gym Cherry is trying to take the training seriously while Ruth and Melrose sing love ballads like sniggering children, mocking how the basic collar and elbow tie-up drills are like slow dancing. Trying to be badass Melrose accidentally mildly hurts Ruth and Cherry is all over her about not being safe or taking things seriously. Melrose pulls the “you don’t even know me” card and Cherry briefly turns the show into Criminal Minds as she profiles Melrose to a tee. Melrose’s face tells everyone that Cherry got a perfect read. Melrose then outright proves Cherry’s “spoiled never worked a day in her life daddy pays everything desperate to be seen as a big shot” assessment by shouting that Cherry was only hired because she fucked Sam last decade. Cherry reiterates that she was hired because she’s a pro who can make the wrestling look real. Melrose pulls the wrestling is fake retort, but soon there’s nothing but pure “oh crap” on her face when Cherry dares her to charge her for real.

The other ladies leave the ring in a hurry and Melrose pulls some stupid Karate Kid schtick and Cherry easily flips her around and ko’s her with an actual sleeper, then dismisses the ladies for lunch. Sam meanwhile is desperately trying to sell Debbie on the wrestling, saying she’s the only onewho actually made him react. He WANTS her to not be typical shitshined hollywwood smile and nod, he WANTS her to be the kind of raging angry badass 80’s actresses wanted to be but never got to. She’s intrigued, despite Ruth’s presence.

Ruth and the girls are getting lunch at a walk-up dive and Melrose slaps a $50 down when Ruth comes up short for the bill. Melrose proves she’s too stupid and self-absorbed to learn by acting like Cherry almost killed her. Ruth tries to dress her down and say how awesome it is that a woman is in charge of training them. Melrose says if she’s so into sisterhood she shouldn’t have fuck Debbie’s husband. They go back to the gym and Cherry and Carmen, (the curvy native girl with family in the business) are training them to do basic back falls. Melrose uses the opportunity to pull a really really shitty classless prank that makes me have to stop the episode and take a break to cry angrily because my ex-wife miscarried and I am not happy with what I just watched.

Cherry tells her to get out. Melrose continues to be a snotty overgrown spoiled child. Sam arrives with Debbie and Debbie isn’t happy that Ruth is still there while Cherry tries to get Sam to listen to her about Melrose’s prank she only knew to pull because Sam’s an ass. Sheila convinvces Ruth to NOT try to talk to Debbie, Debbie reluctantly agrees to hear Sam out, and Sam asks Cherry to explain the “miscarriage bullshit”. Cherry makes Melrose show Sam what she did. Sam uses it aas a character creation moment. He puts Ruth on the spot uses her to win over Debbie by painting Ruth as the asshole villain. He’s seriously overselling Melrose as a surrogate for Debbie to get Debbie interested. Melrose basically becomes Debbie versus a very uncomfortable Ruth and Sam paints it as an almost skakespearian tragedy.He gets Ruth to kick Melrose, Melrose to fake another miscarriage, and squirts them both with ketchup. Cherry leaves fuming, Ruth leaves feeling dirty, but Debbie is sold so hey mocking her trauma was SUPER worth it.

Cherry talks to her husband in their car when Sam comes up to half-assedly apologise and offer her double pay. She says she’ll think about it. Ruth meanwhile fears getting fired once she sees Debbie is all in, but Sam says hell no, she’s the villain. Ruth cries that she doesn’t want to be the bad guy and be hated, but Sam reminds her the villains always get the best lines. End of episode 2.

Well, at least these episodes are only 30 minutes so it’ll be easier to slog through. For the most part episode 2 did better. Cherry’s character is easily my favourite, no one is treating Carmen like the token fat girl, and more character development is showing a glimmer of hope that this is actually building to something and worth sticking around to see if it sticks to the wall. That whole thing with the miscarriage though I am so not happy with. But it did sell Melrose as that bitch you just just want to slap senseless until she grows a conscience.

See you tomorrow for episode 3.

Penny is a now divorced intersexed disabled lesbian in BC Canada. She's been watching wrestling and reading comics since she was a kid, and knows her stuff. She lives with her pets and passes her free time writing, drawing, doing paid photoshop work (including logos done for Pulse's Own Mike Gojira), and is a part-time Queer model.