If you are looking for another hit on Netflix that you should be watching , then look no further…GLOW is here. If you don’t know what it is then let me sum it up for you. It’s hot women, wrestling, and the backdrop of the 1980’s surrounded by glitter and neon. And you don’t have to be a wrestling fan to enjoy the show. I’m certainly not a fan of wrestling even though I enjoyed it as a kid in the 80’s, but a good story about wrestling is its own reward. The Wrestler with Micky Rourke is the prime example.
This new series is about the original Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling League and TV show that was created in 1986 and how wannabe actresses became infamous as women wrestlers. GLOW was very different than Wrestlemania with it’s over the top theatrics and comedy sketches, which made this wrestling show very unique and brilliant. The best line to describe GLOW as said in the Netflix series…”It’s a soap opera!” And if you know that going in then the Netflix series is the perfect dramady and satire on how this league and tv show came to be.
What makes the series great is the casting. Because wrestling is considered a nerdy thing it seems only right that one of my favorite nerdy actresses, Alison Brie, should be one of the leads. And to make her a Russian villain as a wrestler is fucking brilliant. The other brilliant piece of casting is having cynical and sarcastic Marc Maron, who plays the director in charge of casting the wrestlers, while being coked out most of the time. Some of you might say that he’s playing himself, but it’s a brilliant performance that helps the series be great and that’s what matters. The other standout is Chris Lowell, who plays Sebastin, the producer and would be announcer on the last episode. His performance as the announcer is one of the shining moments of the series and you will have rewind a few times to catch everything he says, much like Bill Murray in Ghostbuster.
Most of the first season is spent setting the first taping of GLOW and all the trials they go through from to training, to affairs, and finding money to the fund. Over nine episodes you get to know the girls, but not really all of them…just the main cast. The last episode is the live taping of the first show and yes, it’s the best episode, giving the audience the final payoff they have waited for over nine episodes. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch every episode… every one of them is a must see and they’re not that long…only about thirty minutes.
But this is also why GLOW is not a perfect series even with the 80’s nostalgia. It takes a while getting to the payoff episode while trying to allow for the audience to get to know the characters. However, it only centers a handful of characters and their backstories unlike another Netflix series, Orange is the New Black where they take their time with the audience getting to know the backstories of all the characters. All twelve wrestlers have interesting backstories and I hope that if there is a season 2 we get to know them as intimately as we did the main characters played by Alison Brie and Billie Gilipen. One of my biggest complaints is that while I love having Marianna Palka, one of my filmmakers in the show, she is very underutilized for for how funny, she can be and I for one definitely want to know more of her characters gold medal winning backstory.
Overall, GLOW is fantastic. I really couldn’t stop laughing throughout the series. I was never bored and I feel like the casting was perfect. You don’t have to be a wrestling fan to like this series. You just have to be eager to laugh and laugh you will. While not perfect, definitely worth watching again and again. Glow with its mixture of neon, glitter, and 80’s nostalgia is a perfect match for Netflix viewers. It’s 9/10 at That Nerd Show!
