Happy New Year’s Eve, Everyone!
TwentyGayteen is almost over and all of us at LezWatch.TV wanted to do some reflecting on our favorite things from the queer entertainment world in the last year.
Mika
There’s been so much in 2018, I can’t really list all of it. It feels like just yesterday it was 2017 and I was at One Day at a Time tapings, or watching conventions from the sidelines. Now the year is almost over and I’m sure I’m going to miss something. But here are five of my favourite things from 2018!
- Vida and Eddy
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I adore Eddy and her bumbling display of family love to two broken girls. Three women who loved Vida in different, difficult ways. All she wanted was familia. I hope she gets some of that in season two. Also some better flan.
- The Big Gay Steven Universe Wedding
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Can you imagine if this had been a cartoon when we were kids? I’m still trying to wrap my head around Pidge on Voltron being a girl (blast her not being able to be non-binary) and Rebecca Sugar just blasts us away with Garnet.
- Sense8 Finale
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It’s wrong to feel so happy at an ending, but I do and I did. I get “Nothing Matters When We’re Dancing” stuck in my head all the time, still. I smile and laugh with gay delight when I remember the final shot being a still wet dildo. God bless Lana Wachowski.
- Girls named Niko/Nico
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Be it Nico Minoru from Runaways or Niko Hamada from Charmed, they’re my girls and I will kill for them. I adore them both, and can’t wait to have Detective Niko back.
- ClexaCon London
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I’ve done a lot of cons, but I’ve never done one like ClexaCon. It’s so amazing to have spent two days with all those wonderful humans, and I can’t wait to see many of them again in Las Vegas.
Tracy
TwentyGayteen was a good year for fictitious queer TV characters and their story lines. Instead of waiting around for 2 minutes of screen time every few episodes on one show, I had a lot of queer content to enjoy and write about every week.
Here are some of my favorite shows, characters and other queer things from the past year.
- Theo Crain from The Haunting of Hill House
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I was obsessed, y’all, OBSESSED with Theo Crain. It’s rare we get a queer character naturally placed in a show where their queerness is neither downplayed nor the entire focus of their story lines.
The entire series was SO GOOD I watched it three times (and some episodes more than that).
If you’re on your first or second re-watch of Hill House, check out this guide from Vulture magazine on all the hidden ghosts.
- Petra and JR becoming canon on Jane the Virgin
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I’m so used to shows never giving us fans what we want, I was shocked when Petra wound up falling for her lawyer, JR. For once, a show paid attention to all the fan love of a character and listened to our requests to make them queer.
It also doesn’t hurt that Petra and JR’s chemistry is off the charts.
Petramos is my favorite ship on TV right now and I can’t wait to see what happens to them on the last season of Jane the Virgin.
- Legends of Tomorrow Season Four
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I feel like Legends is an experiment in GIVE THE FANS WHAT THEY WANT, and this year they have brought the queer, clever, hilarious and over-the-top content we’ve been asking for.
Ava and Sara have upped their relationship to Serious status, but the show has still kept their unique personalities and story lines. They are two bosses with their own people to manage in addition to being kick ass, timeline-saving girlfriends.
I appreciate this so much. Two characters can be in a love relationship and still be entertaining without being in constant conflict.
Plus, we got this scene.
I’ve already written a lot about why that scene is so great. Now I just want to say, thank you, Legends of Tomorrow writers, for bringing us one of the best shows on television.
- The Shoot Panel at ClexaCon Vegas
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If you know me at all you know Root and Shaw from Person of Interest is my number one favorite ship of all time. I figured I missed my chance to ever see Amy Acker and Sarah Shahi on a panel together, but was so happy when the Shoot panel was announced for ClexaCon 2018!
Y’all, I was just a few feet away from them when I took that picture! I was professional on the outside and freaking out on the inside
Here is the entire panel for your enjoyment:
- The Good Fight Panel at Paleyfest
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I ran up to NYC to catch The Good Fight cast do a panel for Paleyfest. I was bummed Rose Leslie couldn’t attend last minute, but I still loved seeing the creators and the rest of the cast.
The Good Wife / The Good Fight are two of my all-time favorite shows, and I had never before seen an interview with creators, Michelle and Robert King. It was fascinating to listen to the Kings’ process and Christine Baranski and Audra McDonald were so hilarious together. I would love the two of them to have their own show.
- The Ruby / Sapphire Proposal
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I love Steven Universe, and when Ruby proposed to Sapphire during the 5-night Heart of the Crystal Gems series, it was nothing short of amazing!
The best thing about Ruby asking Sapphire to marry her, was this time it was their choice to be together. Even though the two of them spend most of their time fused together, there were a lot of positive lessons about needing to keep your autonomy while in a relationship.
Nikki
Admittedly, 2018 has been a tough year for me (and the rest of America, I think) but, as usual, queer fandom is my favorite place to turn when I need an escape! For me, this year was all about finding comfort in my favorite shows that seem to get better with every season (and one very therapeutic ClexaCon panel).
- The Big Ask in One Day at a Time
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I have such a soft spot for this show. Somehow, they do everything right! Including this Syd/Elena moment where Syd asks Elena to the school dance. I think I swooned as hard as Elena did when Syd mentioned SuperGirl, tax reform, and “you don’t even have to wear a dress.” It was cute, funny, and interspersed with the perfect one-liners from the rest of the family. ODAAT sets my heart on fire!
- Jolene in Wynonna Earp
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We all know how important Wynonna Earp is to its fandom. The show cultivates an environment where people are willing to be vulnerable and share their darkest thoughts because they know the fandom will be there to support them. And the show reflected this in Season 3 Episode 5 where all our favorite characters have to confront their own “Jolene” (played by the wonderful Zoie Palmer). Waverly’s “I’m here and I stay” scene will probably go down as one of my all-time favorite scenes of the show, but I also loved this super soft WayHaught make-up scene that comes later in the episode:
- Chyler Leigh’s panel at Clexacon
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I have to admit. I haven’t watched the video of this panel. Just looking at the screen grab makes me feel like grabbing every Sanvers fan I know into a giant, sobbing mess of a hug. But this panel was pretty life-changing for me and getting to experience it live with a bunch of other fans (who were also wiping away tears) is something I will never forget. Props to both Dana Piccoli, who is so good at being a supportive and encouraging panel host even with delicate topics, and Chyler Leigh, who amazingly captivated an entire room full of people desperate for some healing after the Sanvers break-up. Watch out for the moment where she sings us all a lullaby and heals all our souls.
- Single Anissa in Black Lightning
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Okay, y’all. Single Anissa brings me such joy. I don’t think I will ever be able to fully put it into words. You know I am one of the biggest ThunderGrace shippers out there but getting to see Anissa have a little fun was just the start I needed to this season. I had no idea that Anissa was so forward but I loved seeing this side of her! My all-time favorite moment was when she bopped along to Zoe’s acoustics musings. She might have been off beat, but this girl is confident:
- Zarlie in Legends of Tomorrow
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I am in so much pain writing this section. Mainly because of my deep, never-ending love of Zarlie (the Zari/Amaya pairing from LoT). But also because, after SwanQueen (insert tears here), I promised myself I would never, ever fall for a non-canon couple again. I refuse to be queerbaited, especially when there’s already a canon queer couple on the show. But then Zarlie came into my life. And I fell… hard. I mean, LOOK AT THEM! I am trying to trust the LoT writers to actually give them a shot as a couple. It’s a real lesson in trust for me and they better not break it! The last episode before the hiatus left us with this scene and I will be dreaming about it for the next four months:
Mia
This past year many new shows kept me entertained like Vida and The Haunting of Hill House, and I enjoyed a lot anticipated new seasons from shows like Jane The Virgin, Cable Girls, and Glow. Here are a couple of my favorite viewing experiences from 2018 that haven’t already been mentioned.
- The Prom on Broadway
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I love Broadway musicals. Someday I will have time to read the New York Times Theatre reviews, but until then, The Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will remain my go-to preview for the latest Broadway shows. After seeing the cast of The Prom perform and glancing at the New York Times review (some irony in this), our family spontaneously decided to celebrate my birthday in New York with front-row seats. The Prom takes stories of real discrimination of queer kids wanting to attend Prom with the dates of their choice, mixes in the egos and liberal politics of Broadway stars, and places the show in Indiana in direct confrontation to the current VP. The result is a classic, musical comedy with catchy songs and a lesbian protagonist with a meta-self awareness about Broadway. I hope this becomes a movie and a Broadway Junior Musical someday. If you are lucky enough to get to Broadway, I definitely recommend it.
- Everything about Everything Sucks!
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I absolutely love this show and wish more people paid attention. Throughout all 10, half-hour episodes, we get a realistic, sweet and positive depiction of coming out in high school, discovering and accepting your queerness. For me even as a GenXer, Everything Sucks is beautifully nostalgic, but our 12-year-old daughter also watched it multiple times. The soundtrack definitely strikes a significant chord with my Millennial friends. Although we only get one season, you can fully enjoy Kate’s story and won’t be disappointed with the final episode. You should be watching this right now.
What were your favorite things from 2018? Let us know in the comments!
