Last year felt like Ruth's season, this year felt like Sam's, and for a show about feminism and self-described by a lot of its cast and staff as a haven of women's lib, it sure did feel like the camera had a much more male gaze this season. During the #MeToo plotline, it's hard not to see Sam as the hero of that story, with Betty and Ruth left to #bothsides the debate and let the man decide what's morally right. And there was a scene as a hetero male I was extremely happy with late in the season that seemed to definitively frame this show as slightly more voyeuristic than it was before, though I understand Gilpin is an actor that's unafraid to show out and her character was building to that sort of vulnerability. It still felt like something that would've been less fan servicey just last year.

There were a lot of smaller instances throughout the season I felt that vibe, and again it didn't make it a worse show to me but it did feel different this year and that was the big one. I'm stunned at how good Maron is on this show considering how much I disliked his own show so it's great to get more of him, but he took time away from the girls when Debbie and Ruth's dynamic continued to develop layers and be the most interesting part of the show.

Now, having said all that, BETTY GILPIN. She's got a goofy face that I kind of love, especially that lip curl thing she does when she finds something absurd. And she's got other things that are, uh, decidedly NOT goofy. I used to date a girl that made a similar face and rocked a similar build so I get funny feelings whenever she's on screen to begin with. It didn't hurt that she did the hell out of her more extended scenes and had the most interesting arc on the show this year. Suddenly I want a lot more Betty in my life.

Lastly, I love Bash and I don't mind at all they turned him into as much of a cartoon character outside of the ring as any of the actual wrestling characters. I felt like the last bit of his arc was super rushed, but part of that is probably that this is a show I'd gladly take an old school 22 episode order of. I actually probably dislike more than half the characters/cast on this show but the characters I like I like so much I just want to give them more room to breath, especially if they suddenly want to take a main character on an emotional rollercoaster worthy of a full season in basically two episodes.


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"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
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