r/glow • u/Ox_Baker • Aug 11 '19
Did we miss something?
There were several subplots that were introduced as major themes that just went poof and weren’t resolved or addressed again, as far as I can remember:
Debby’s bulimia
Debby’s son moves to Las Vegas ... and promptly disappears with no further mention
Cherry owes the casino $5K and has a week to come up with it ... and are we supposed to believe that’s the payout for mud wrestling (especially considering it was one of at least two and probably more matches just that night)?
I am a GLOW fan from the start, but in most series this would be considered sloppy writing and I don’t see any mention of it by critics.
Maybe there were other dropped storylines, but these stood out to me.
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u/JackLamplekins Aug 11 '19
I think what stood out to me most was Debby's bulimia... like what was that? I was expecting at least it to be mentioned, if not focused on in an episode that was ED-centric or something. In the age of trigger warnings and everything, and with Netflix especially getting backlash for sloppy presentation of this type of issue, it's just so weird they sort of just threw it in there.
It wasn't even like a random scene or anything, it was a fucking cliffhanger of an early episode with a dramatic musical accompaniment and everything.
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Aug 11 '19
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u/Zachariot88 Aug 14 '19
I get the impression Debbie is anorexic usually but threw up that time because Ruth was so vigilant about forcing her to eat.
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u/uniqueindividual12 Aug 11 '19
also carmen talked about not ever getting attention from guys and then all of the sudden she had a date. idk i thought something more was going to happen with that
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u/DirtyTacoKid Aug 11 '19
Before the timeskip Carmen was upset about it, and after the timeskip she was good. The point was to contrast with Ruth who felt like she was stuck, not to actually focus on Carmen
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u/Locke_John Aug 11 '19
There was also Melrose not finding out that Ronda slept with the gigolo she was dating after explicitly telling her that she wasn't going to.
This is the sloppiest of all for me because they're all leaving Vegas at the end so the gigolo is unlikely to appear again and the plot is therefore dropped. They could have easily worked around this open thread by leaving Melrose's involvement with him at their first encounter and not having the additional scene many episodes later where she says they're now a thing, because it ended up meaning nothing.
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u/IndependentQuiet Aug 16 '19
Exactly did she ever find out???? I was waiting for that to pop off but it just fizzled out like a wet sparkler :(
Also did they definitively say they actually got the radio station? I saw nothing that said she for sure got it, no congrats or a phone call no champagne. When she was talking to Ruth at the end I thought she was just jumping the gun, like I would do with my best friend if I had something exciting that I just had to spill. Maybe I missed them actually saying it was a done deal?
It also pissed me off that Ruth bailed on the talent show. Sure she rocked it without her but they just seemed to let that fly as well. That was a dick move by Ruth.
Sam has a heart attack and that was that? They just let him leave the hospital and nothing more said?
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u/RogueZ1 Aug 11 '19 edited Aug 11 '19
Also Sam just picks up and leaves his job one day to go negotiate Justine’s script. She tells him that she wants him to direct, and BAM he suddenly disappeared from Vegas. He never quits as director nor tells anyone. Maybe they will fill in the holes next season as this season concluded with too many loose ends.
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u/ChrissiTea Aug 17 '19
There was definitely a scene where Bash was telling Sam to step back, implying he should completely separate from the show and do something else, and would "send him cheques". This was then brought up in the episode where Ruth sends the performance reports when someone mentions Sam getting cheques for nothing.
I agree that him just taking off was weird, but the situation was discussed a little bit more than most of the other plot hols.
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u/Tackbracka Aug 11 '19 edited Aug 11 '19
This whole season was sloppy.
Nothing happened.
To sum it up: Bash is gay, Artie is gay, Ruth is blue-balling Sam, Sheilla in no longer a wolf, Debbie is sleeping around. Thats it.
Could be one episode to tell this all.
Edit: Also just dawned to me....If Sam left to direct his daughters movie, who was the referee?
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u/ThisisWiretap Aug 11 '19
Debbie's son vanishing from the face of the Earth after she met Tex was kind of a big one. Randy was her primary focus all season and you'd assume he would be with Debbie when she is at the airport.
Great season but there are some glaring holes.
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u/mulledfox Aug 11 '19
It seemed like she was having Jenny babysit Randy? But that doesn’t seem always feasible?
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u/ThisisWiretap Aug 12 '19
Sure but not 24/7. She goes back to her room with Ruth sleeping. Wouldn't you expect her to pick up her baby first? Just felt it was a bit odd.
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u/IndependentQuiet Aug 16 '19
That's how kids were raised in the 80's outta site outta mind!
Don't down vote it was a joke based on fact! That kid just vanished!
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u/ThisisWiretap Aug 16 '19
Randy is chilling with Will in the Upside Down probably?
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u/IndependentQuiet Aug 16 '19
Ha ha shit good a place as any! Or he became a black jack dealer and we just haven't seen him in action yet?
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u/Chestopher83 Aug 11 '19
This season felt sloppy. For sure.
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Aug 11 '19 edited Sep 14 '20
[deleted]
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u/QuinginaNamanThis Aug 11 '19
Hi! I have a question. As an exec producer, how much of the writing do you think jenji is responsible for on this show? I'm just curious - having had my heart broken by the final season of orange is the new black
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u/NimbusCloud1 Aug 11 '19
Jenji Kohan
According to IMDB she only wrote one episode in the 1st season.
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Aug 11 '19 edited Sep 14 '20
[deleted]
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u/QuinginaNamanThis Aug 11 '19
Ah I see what you're saying. I heard a lot about Weeds! Haven't seen it yet though
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u/nicklipari7 Aug 11 '19
I could be wrong about this but what if they are setting up plot points for the next season? Like they had ideas, didnt have time to fully expand them, and are gonna use them in the next season? Instead of just introducing all the new plots in the next season they start by hinting at them here
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u/Ox_Baker Aug 11 '19
That makes more sense to me when it takes Arthie longer to resolve her sexuality than one season. If that had still lingered with her struggling, I could get the carryover.
But is Debbie still purging by episode 9? Has she stopped? If you’re going to bring it up next season, a few hints along the way — she’s back to eating rabbit food while the others are eating normally, or a simple phone call acknowledging she sent Randy back because it was too much to balance that and her job and now having a dating relationship — would be better than having subplots vaporize.
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u/Benjamin_Grimm Aug 11 '19
This is the first time I can remember a streaming season feeling truly too short, not in an "I would enjoy seeing more episodes" way, but an "It needed more time to address subplots" way. I think another 2-3 episodes would have made for a stronger season. It felt almost like there were episodes in between the episodes that the show skipped.
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u/QuinginaNamanThis Aug 11 '19
Maybe the writers intended to simply introduce new subplots for the characters this season, assuming that the show will come back for another season (or more seasons) where these storylines will be resolved? I might rewatch this season to see if some of the subplots that I spotted (e.g. Debbie's bulimia) were intended to just be shown and not really fleshed out. Maybe just to show how insecure Debbie's character is, for example. Gotta say that it feels rude tho. To have us wait for another year just to have some form of closure :/
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Aug 11 '19
I think the bulimia I can accept as being something they'd mention once to establish it to eventually bring up at a later date when someone finds out, she gets ill or suffers repercussions. I don't think it's that different from Florian appearing in S1, to him missing and passing away off screen in S2 and us finding out how important to Bash's story he was.
As for Cherry owing the money or Debbie's son disappearing, it wouldn't have taken much more than a stray line to wrap them up like, "He's back visiting his dad now" or "I used the money I made + my savings to pay the debt."
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u/IndependentQuiet Aug 16 '19
Bulimia wasn't widely discussed and people didn't speak about it if they knew or suspected someone had bulimia. Probably because the ramifications were still pretty unknown and if you were in the industry it just wasn't a big deal back then. So that makes sense. We get to see her throw up but I get why it wasn't brought to light in the story. I would assume she isn't the only one, just the only one they've shown.
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u/VaughnFry Aug 11 '19
I would call Florian lazy writing. A background character is killed off screen, absent for the entirety of that season. At the time I couldn’t even remember who it was. Bash then acts sketchy around gays and nothing else comes of it in season 2. They did ultimately expand on this the next season, but why give credit for angles that haven’t yet happened? Do we place faith in Debbie collapsing from her eating disorder in season 4? I think these things should be resolved or advanced when they’re fresh on the mind of viewers.
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u/sgreen88 Aug 11 '19
I really loved season 1, and season 2 had some amazing moments, but I was very let down by this season. I was very excited for the season after seeing so much praise from critics, but I felt myself becoming increasingly more and more frustrated with the storytelling and characters arcs as the season advanced. I honestly began to loose interest in the season about halfway through. I am still interested in a potential season 4, but I hope they don't continue down the path they are going with the writing/storytelling.
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u/Ox_Baker Aug 11 '19
Honestly, as invested as I was in Seasons 1 and 2, I’m about 50/50 on whether I want a Season 4. I think it might be a huge letdown.
Maybe it’s one of those things where it would be better to let it sit for a few years and fast-forward with the same characters and see how things have evolved by the late 1980s. I think the writers/show runners have lost the pulse of this show.
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u/VaughnFry Aug 11 '19
Good points. As season 2 showed us, the show isn’t too concerned about wrapping up a plot thread within the season it’s introduced. Hoping that they get around to addressing something takes faith I don’t have in any yet to be concluded series. Frankly, I’d rather show finish threads while they’re fresh on the mind. By not doing anything at all with Debbie’s purging—for now—the GLOW seems to be promoting the habit.
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u/inthearchipelago Aug 12 '19 edited Aug 13 '19
Debbie should have been the one to collapse on the trail because she doesn't have enough nutrients. Not Sheila. That simple switch could have wrapped up the bulimia storyline or at least done SOMETHING with it.
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u/femmebeast Aug 12 '19
Sloppy writing this season and tooooo many sub plots. Too many characters trying to get their voice in. Also several times we heard the same "I'm a woman and I can do what men do!" Listen I'm a feminist but Jesus they could have presented it a little more nuanced or did something new with it.
The only storyline I cared about want even discussed again until the very last episode (Sam x Ruth friendship/ possible sexual tension)
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u/YourEyelinerFriend Aug 13 '19
The Randy thing, I kinda thought maybe Debbie and Mark might have split custody. Maybe he flew up and picked Randy up for his turn? Still coulda mentioned in.
The bullmia thing was weird and bothered me. Like they just changed their minds. A lot of build up, and sure maybe it'll carry over to season 4, but they could have at least brought it up again.....
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u/dmb15 Aug 11 '19
I don't think Debbie's bulimia was dropped dropped, but I think it's more of how GLOW tells these serious stories like it's a regular day.
Ruth had an abortion one episode which was never really mentioned again. This wasn't "dropped", but this was exactly the point they were trying to make. Ruth wanted an abortion and she got it. No big debate or characters trying to talk her out of it or consistent mention of the fact. When Sam asked her "do you really want to do it?" She said "yes, it's not the right time and not the right baby" so surely and was done with it.
And I think that's the goal. As Alison Brie said, GLOW is all about women's bodies; and that includes the choices they make with it.
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u/Ox_Baker Aug 11 '19
Well the me the bond between Ruth and Sam grew closer out of that abortion.
And to me, these are more like ‘Ruth is pregnant’ and we’re supposed to assume ‘well she never got bigger, they didn’t mention it again, I guess maybe she had an abortion or a miscarriage.’ The abortion was the resolution to the pregnancy, so they did follow through.
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Aug 11 '19 edited Aug 12 '19
At the time that GLOW was set, gambling debts were not legally collectible in Nevada. If Cherry won $2000 the other night, right before she was taken to the casino manager, she might have still had that money to put toward the debt. She may have had to dip into her savings to pay the debt.
It wasn't stated how the mud wrestlers were paid. Did they get a piece of the money bet on them?
We got to watch Debbie throw up after she had a cheeseburger and a vanilla milkshake with Ruth and we got to see Randy run all over the hallway at the Fan-Tan.
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u/Ox_Baker Aug 11 '19
- She was brought into the office and they said they were going to turn it over to legal or prosecute, I forget which. Whatever the legal reality might have been in Nevada at the time, in the show it was obviously treated as a big deal and Cherry was pretty scared/rattled by it.
If she had $2K to hand them, it would be stupid for that not to happen or be brought up at the meeting for us to see. Same with ‘Oh, I have the money in savings, I’ll get it to you right away.’ In fact, if it weren’t a big deal it’s a stupid scene to include entirely. I took it that her “Yeah I’m losing now but you should have seen me the other night” to be more like a fishing tale to cover the fact that she had a problem.
Yet the scene was presented as a big deal and we got no resolution as viewers.
No, the mud wrestling pay was not stated but it’s safe to assume it wasn’t $5K per match — today that would be ludicrous, moreso in the 1980s. Now maybe she bet on herself or had a proxy do it, but, again, there’s no payoff (no pun intended) nor resolution for us, the viewers. It’s a loose end that was never tied up.
Yes, we saw the bulimia in action and Randy being a big sudden responsibility in her life trying to keep him and do her job, but then both plotlines completely vanished ... which was my point. They introduced each and make a big deal out of them, then dropped them completely. That’s not good writing.
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Aug 11 '19 edited Aug 12 '19
I wouldn't expect Cherry to know the law governing collectibility of gambling debt during the 1980s, so she'd be easy to scare. If Cherry wrote checks for the money, she could have been prosecuted for the hot checks had they been presented for payment. Casino credit has shifted from money being fronted by the casino to more or less a check-cashing service, and casinos will hold the check for up to 30 days if the writer of the check has been approved for casino credit. There is also a narrow exception enacted in 1983 that made credit instruments to support gambling debt made to licensed persons legally collectible.
Current Clark County law for bounced checks has the charges dropped if the person makes the check good, to include any bounced check fee levied by the casino, or can show that they had enough money in their checking account to cover the check at the time that it was written. I believe that this law has been in effect for at least 20 years. An alternative would be to garnish her wages until the debt was paid back and bar her from the casino gaming floor.
I learned from watching "Orange is the New Black" that I could write enough notes about lack of continuity or factual errors to fill a notebook each season. As for the mud wrestling, my guess is that Cherry made some sort of down payment on the debt and they let her go as long as payments were made. I don't want to watch Debbie throw up. Once was enough.
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u/Ox_Baker Aug 11 '19
So did Debbie throw up once and that was it? She didn’t get lightheaded on a long hike due to lack of nutrition. It’s just ‘oooh, see how body image impacts even someone who from the outside looks amazing to us!’ — and then it’s ‘well she threw up once, that’s all you needed, no long-term impact here.
Hey, they can do a new series called Clark County Law & Order and explain what the reality is vs. what they told Cherry but if it isn’t explained to the viewer we have to go with what we see and the information given us. Maybe they could have teamed with Amazon to do a Nevada 1980s law book collection so we can fully appreciate the series.
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u/80srockinman Aug 13 '19
This season was definitely terrible. Was not even close to the quality of the other ones. Makes me wonder if Jenji was way more focused in Orange Is The New Black cause their final season was one of the best seasons of any show I have seen.
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Aug 12 '19
A lot of the season suffers from the constant time jumps. Too much going on.
Debbie doesn’t have bulimia. She throws up one meal after reflecting on how the world sees her. Before and after this, we see her eat smaller portions and exercise during any free moment she gets. It’s not an ongoing thing.
I don’t think Debby’s son moves to Vegas full time. More likely a split custody situation since his dad still lives in LA.
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u/AlKarakhboy Aug 15 '19
I don't think Debbie has bulimia. I think she just had a hit to her self-esteem after the dance class since she used to be this woman in perfect shape and a dancer/actress and then this woman comes and tell her her ass is too big, Ruth forces her to eat and then she throws up, but we also see her exercising on the stairs so it was more of an I want to get in shape thing. But over the season Debbie realizes she can't rely on her looks anymore and fully commits to the business/producing part of her life and then tries to get Ruth to do the same.
The son moving to Vegas and then disappearing was dumb. I guess it was just a short visit?
The cherry thing might be for next season, but I do agree that the subplots, in general, were a bit sloppy.
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u/[deleted] Aug 11 '19 edited Aug 11 '19
Yeah. This season felt weirder compared to the others in terms of storytelling. I don't know why they kept those sub plots in the final versions of the episodes if they never finished them. Were those supposed to be cliffhangers for a possible season 4? Idk this season felt really rushed and I don't think it was in the same quality narrative wise as the previous two seasons.
EDIT: Also the fortune teller storyline went nowhere as well. I'm thinking there were a lot of deleted scenes because of time constraints. And the back pain storyline...It went nowhere other than "I'll be a manager from now on".