On this week’s The Queerest Things I Watched Last Week I report on post-holiday binge-watches, Shameless manages to completely piss off me and my wife, and I need your help in deciding if we should add a character to the site or not.
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – All of Season 1 [Binge Watch]
My wife and I devoured The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in two days. We really enjoyed it. It was clever, witty and funny, but did it have a queer character? Y’all, I need your help making that decision.
The show is about Miriam ‘Midge’ Maisel (played by Rachel Brosnahan), a 1950s housewife, who decides to become a stand-up comic. Susie Meyerson (played by Alex Borstein) works at a dive bar/venue where Midge gives a drunken, spontaneous performance. Susie recognizes Midge’s talent and becomes her manager.
Susie is coded really, really gay, but it’s never said explicitly on the show.
She dresses 1950s butch, and there is a running joke of people mistaking her for a man. She also tells Midge’s husband, “You’re barking up the wrong tree,” after he compliments her.
Mika and I have a standard of only adding cannon queer characters to the site, but I feel like this show has an obvious lesbian character even though it’s never said out loud.
What do you all think? Let me know in the comments.
- Runaways – Season 1 Episode 9 “Doomsday” [Live]
It took 9 episodes, but it finally happened, Karolina kissed Nico.
The fact that the kiss was too long to fit in a GIF is a sign of progress. Nico looked a little “deer in the headlights” afterwards. We’ll see where this goes next week.
- Shameless – Season 8 Episode 8 “Frank’s Northern Shuttle Express” [Catch Up]
Shameless upped its queerest season ever game this episode by introducing another lesbian character. Everyone’s favorite butch dyke, Lea DeLaria, played Lip’s new AA sponsor, Barb.
Ok, so that was good. But then they effed it up at the end.
Fiona went on an all-day adventure with Ford the Irish carpenter and tried to kiss him, but he was not interested. That day Nessa and Mel had a happy hour at Fiona’s apartment building. We’ve known Nessa & Mel were trying to have a baby, going through fertility treatments, etc. Everyone at the happy hour was celebrating because BOTH Mel and Nessa were pregnant.
Guess who the donor is — Ford the Irish Carpenter. And guess how they conceived — Mel had IVF and Nessa had sex with him. Additionally, Ford is also a donor to a few of Mel & Nessa’s lesbian friends.
That is NOT HOW IT WORKS. 😡😡
There are so many things wrong about the lesbians getting pregnant story line this season. To be honest, most TV gets this wrong. Like, you only go to In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) if you’ve exhausted all other methods because it’s expensive and invasive. If you have a known donor, you could try the “turkey baster” method (done with a needle-less syringe, not an actual turkey baster). If there are no fertility issues, this is just as effective as doin’ it, and no one has to lose their Gold Star. This is how I got pregnant with my kid. Beyond that, there are more methods you can try before IVF, so it doesn’t make sense that Nessa and Mel “drew straws” to see who had to have sex with the Irish Carpenter.
I’d give them the two lesbians pregnant at the same time, I know people IRL who have done that. I’d give them a known donor who has donated to multiple same-sex couples in the same area, I know of situations like that, too. But having sex with your known donor…I’m not saying this has never happened in the history of lesbian moms, but NO TO THAT.
I know this is a sore spot for me. Honestly, I would prefer all the same-sex female couples on TV remain childless, because we are always portrayed as boring once we have kids and they get the whole TTC (Trying to Conceive) thing wrong.
And I know this is Shameless, a completely over-the-top show that does a decent job of queer representation, but this just made me mad. I’ve had people assume ridiculous things about me and my wife as lesbian moms, and I swear it’s because of the crap they see on TV.
- I Love Dick – Season 1 Episode 5 “A Short History of Weird Girls” [Binge Watch]
I Love Dick is one of those shows I’ve been meaning to watch because I’ve seen it mentioned in the queer media, and I’m a fan of Jill Soloway’s work. My wife and I watched the first season and, folks, this show is weird AF.
I’m a fan of weird. I love David Lynch and John Waters. I’ve been to Annie Sprinkle’s live show (a short clip from one of her shows was featured in one of the I Love Dick episodes). But I think this show was too artsy-fartsy weird for me.
Chris, a New York City artist and filmmaker, accompanies her husband Sylvère to the eclectic, academic, artist town of Marfa, Texas where she becomes obsessed with Sylvère’s fellowship sponsor Dick (Kevin Bacon). Among Marfa’s residents is Devon played by Roberta Colindrez (who played Joan in the original Fun Home cast). They are a gender-fluid struggling artist who lives in a trailer next to Chris and Sylvère. Yara Martinez (Luisa from Jane the Virgin) plays Devon’s sister Mercedes.
The only episode I actually enjoyed was this one where they give the backstory of some of Marfa’s residents including Devon.
I’ve been there, Devon. I can’t say I enjoyed watching the show, but if you’re into weird art intellectualism, you may dig it.
- Grown-ish – Season 1 Episode 1 “Late Registration” [Live]
My family is a fan of Black-ish so we checked out this spin-off show Grown-ish on Freeform. I was happily surprised with a bisexual main character!
The show follows the Johnsons’ eldest daughter Zoey as she heads off to college and begins her journey to adulthood. She quickly makes a group of friends including Nomi, a Jewish freshman who hasn’t yet come out to her family as bisexual.
Her Uncle Bert is the Dean of Students and he keeps trying to help Nomi “find the right guy.”
I don’t know about you, but back when I went to school, it was the gay guys hooking up in the bathroom. I guess times have changed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Ten Days in the Valley – Season 1 Episode 9 “Day 9: Re-Cast” and Episode 10 “Day 10: Fade Out” [Live]
This finale was so amazing I dedicated an entire bonus post to it!
Check it out: The Queerest Thing I Watched Last Week – Bonus Ten Days in the Valley Finale Edition.
Whew! That was a lot for what was supposed to be a slow week. What else can I manage to watch this week before all the regular shows come back from hiatus? We’ll see.
