GLOW (Netflix) Review

When Netflix announced that GLOW would be getting an adaptation, I got really excited about seeing a modern take on an 80s women’s wrestling classic. With the Women’s Revolution going strong in promotions such as World Wrestling Entertainment and Ring of Honor with their Women of Honor, this sounded like something that would turn out to be exciting. When the revelation hit that it was going to be a fictionalized account of an out-of-work actress getting one final gasp at stardom, I started to question whether or not I’d like this. Well, needless to say, I was surprised.

Alison Brie (Commiunity, Mad Men) plays Ruth “Zoya the Destroyer” Wilder, an actress looking for her big break. Unfortunately, instead of getting her big break, she breaks a few things herself. Namely, her friendship with Debbie Eagan, played by Betty Gilpin (Nurse Jackie, American Gods.) Her desperation to find a role that suits her leads her to an audition that reveals itself to be GLOW, the women’s wrestling promotion the show takes its premise from. The show’s writing does a fantastic job making you utterly despise Ruth,. She has to fight not only the roadblocks that she set for herself but also Sam Sylvia (Marc Maron) and Debbie. Debbie, as we find out during episode 2, is thrust into GLOW as the new star, Liberty Belle, after the revelation that Ruth slept with her husband.

The beauty behind a lot of the writing here is that Ruth’s decisions led to her eventual quest to become the best heel that she can be within the show while realizing her foibles as a person. However, it isn’t as simple as that, or as isolated. Every character has a backstory, some more than others, but it all intertwines as this fantastic story of self-redemption and personal growth through the art of professional wrestling.

While this show is about the struggle of the women, the development of  Marc Maron’s Sam Sylvia is one to take significant note of.  Sam Sylvia is considered by quite a few critics and fans as one of the better characters in the show, and Maron plays the scumbag director to a T. But the sheer beauty of it all is how Sylvia’s growth sort of parallels with Ruth’s throughout the 10 episodes. As Ruth begins to have more real confidence in herself, you start to notice how Sam begins to open up about his own self-esteem issues, even to the amazing reveal that Justine “Scab” Biagi, played by Britt Baron, was his daughter and his eventual realization that he has more to live for than just his movies and director’s career.

Every character has a backstory, yet there are a couple that really stand out. One is the story behind Britney Young’s character, Carmen “Machu Picchu” Wade. Carmen has her internal battles with stage fright, but they are nothing like the battle she goes through with her father, Goliath Jackson (Winston James Francis) and her brothers Kurt and Tom (George “Brodus Clay” Murdoch and Carlos “Carlito” Colon, both ex-WWE superstars.) The Jackson men don’t want her to get involved in professional wrestling, instead wanting her to fulfill the traditional housewife role. Her standing up to them in episode 4 marked an amazing confidence boost for her that only grew throughout the series, one that was well written and easy to follow. 

As a wrestling fan for several years, it is refreshing to see a show like GLOW show professional wresting in a positive light, unlike many of its predecessors. One notable example is 2008’s The Wrestler, which featured Mickey Rourke playing a washed up wrestler trying to relive his glory days. In comparison, GLOW aspired to focus on the behind the scenes work, and highlight the hard work that the ladies behind Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling did in an era where Women’s Wrestling was seen as more of a sideshow, despite the involvement of people like Cyndi Lauper during the ‘Rock and Wrestling’ era. Showrunners and creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch take the nitty gritty moments behind the glamour and glitz, bringing them to the light that they most definitely deserve to be in. Every character is unique. Almost every scene and interaction has some meaning.

In another light, it is a reflection of the struggles of both 80s and modern day promoters, who struggle to get a wrestling show together, taped or otherwise. The struggles of getting the talent ready, finding funding, securing a venue, hoping everyone gets along. These are the everyday struggles of the non-Vince McMahons (Chairman/CEO of WWE) and Joe Koffs (Ring of Honor owner) of the world, with Flahive and Mensch portraying this in a comedic, yet dramatic fashion. Even the usage of former WWE/Impact Wrestling and current independent wrestlers such as John Morrison (Salty “The Sack”Johnson,) Alex Riley, the aforementioned Carlito and Brodus Clay, Frankie Kazarian and former Ring of Honor champion Christopher “Fallen Angel” Daniels, as well as supporting cast member Kia “Amazing/Awesome Kong” Stevens (Tammé “Welfare Queen” Dawson) and former WWE Cruiserweight Champion and show trainer Chavo Guerrero Jr. shows the care that the writers and executive producers took to stay true to the craft of professional wrestling. Hell, a nice little tongue-in-cheek rub to Stevens’ experience in the ring comes in the second episode, where she states “I don’t know anything about wrestling!”

My biggest gripe with the show was definitely how they emphasized the negatives in Ruth’s character in the beginning. Granted, Ruth does come around towards the final few episodes, the way she was made to be absolutely unbearable drove me up a wall. Had they spent a little more time explaining why Ruth did some of the things she did I feel as if there could have been a lot more sympathy towards her. Instead, they made her look like a complete nuisance at times. Do I understand the whole “self-discovery” arc? Yeah, I do, it’s needed. Unfortunately, it dominated the show in such a fashion, that it became unbearable, and it left some other parts to be desired, such as Justine as a character, or why Sheila “the She-Wolf” (Gayle Rankin) was as distant and as weird as she was.

Ultimately, GLOW can definitely sit at the top of the mountain with other fantastic Netflix Originals such as Orange is the New Black, Luke Cage, and Stranger Things. Fantastic writing, a typical wrestling cliffhanger ending and a beautifully curated cast of characters propel this show to heights it probably would have never reached if it were about any other time in professional wrestling history.