On this chapter of The Queerest Things I Watched Last Week, Darlene and Dom process their past on Mr. Robot; Edie processes possible parenthood on Almost Family; and Casey processes gay panic on Atypical.
- Mr. Robot – Season 4 Episode 6 “406 Not Acceptable” [Live]
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I have a confession to make. I know it’s not healthy or appropriate, but I want Darlene and Dom to live happily ever after.
I know Darlene ruined Dom’s life and now Dom has to work for the Dark Army or else they’ll kill her family. Also, we never really knew if Darlene hooked up with Dom to manipulate her or if she really liked her. But ships aren’t always logical, right? This show is super dark anyway, so what’s wrong with throwing in a problematic queer couple?
Dom has been sent by the Dark Army to track down Darlene and Elliot and surprises Darlene at her apartment.
Dom tells Janice from The Dark Army, Darlene won’t give up Elliott’s location, but she can get it from her phone. Janice replies, “Cool, kill her and take the phone.” Uh oh, now Dom has to shoot Darlene and we know she’s still into her because she was doing stuff while watching surveillance video footage of Darlene in a previous episode.
In an intense scene, Dom tries to shoot Darlene while Darlene begs her to see this is not who she is. She is not a killer.
Darlene insists they are taking the Dark Army down once and for all, and after that, Dom will be free and her family will be safe. At the last minute, Dom is unable to pull the trigger, and she knocks Darlene out instead.
When Darlene comes back to consciousness, she and Dom process the situation they’re in. They have less than an hour to figure out what to do. Darlene also drops this feelings bomb.
Is this real, or is Darlene using her again? I am naively choosing real.
Their storyline ends with Janice showing up at the apartment about to take Darlene’s phone and kill her when Darlene holds up a wiped phone. Now they need her alive to find Elliott.
Y’all, I really want Darlene and Elliott to defeat the Dark Army, save Dom so that she and Darlene live happily ever after. I know that’s a lot to ask from a show like this, but I’m asking for it anyway.
Also, I saw Carly Chaikin’s IG post (by clicking on the #domlene hashtag @Daburninator22 introduced me to) from the last day of filming Mr. Robot.
This means Darlene and Dom make it to the end of the series, right? This last season has been excellent so far and I can’t wait to savor the remaining episodes.
- Black Lightning – Season 3 Episode 5 “The Book of Occupation: Chapter Five” [Live]
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Meeting Jefferson didn’t go well for Grace on the last episode, but we all know who the true Thundergrade shipper is on this show — Uncle Gambi.
Uncle Gambi is going to cook Fettuccine Alfredo for Grace and make sure she doesn’t have a bad reaction to the vaccine Anissa gave her against the meta disease that’s going around. Meanwhile, Anissa is going to deliver the vaccine to the meta camp as Black Bird.
While Black Bird is on a side mission to bring a kid named Tavon back from camp to his parents, Odell is on her trail and convinced Black Bird is Anissa. This when a shapeshifting girlfriend comes in handy. Grace shapeshifts into Anissa when Odell makes a surprise visit and throws him off her trail because one person can’t be reading at home on the couch and out vigilante-ing at that same time.
Black Bird goes on to fight another day, but sadly, Tavon did not make it. Now Freeland has been pushed too far and folks are ready to fight back against the ASA.
- Almost Family – Season 1 Episode 4 “Fake AF” [Live]
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You know when you’re first going out with someone you really like and you take them to your special places? That’s what Edie and Amanda did this episode.
Edie took Amanda to Brooklyn by the water because that’s where her grandmother would take her. Her Grandmother was the only one in the family who accepted her for her true self.
Edie took Amanda to a park where her mom would take her to play chess and forget her troubles. There she dropped a bomb on her — Tim wants to have kids.
Amanda asks her what she wants and she says she’s confused. She was on a work/life train ride with Tim to Straightville when Amanda came along and confused her. Amanda asks Edie if she was happy with Tim before she met her and she says, “No, but you can’t expect life to be perfect.”
In addition to the Amanda factor, Edie told Julia she doesn’t have the intense drive to want kids in the first place.
Poor Edie. I have friends who stuck it out in unhappy situations for years because it’s what they thought they had to do. And throwing a kid into the mix only makes it 1000x worse. Sometimes blowing your life up is what it takes for everyone involved to eventually be in a happier place.
Edie gets “no one ever knows when the right time to have kids” advice from her mom and “lesbians can have kids too” advice from Amanda. At the end of the episode, Edie lands on telling Tim, “I want what you want.” Ouch, bad answer.
I know storylines like this are played out all the time on TV, but it’s one of life’s biggest challenges — settling for “unhappy but okay” or doing the hard work of dismantling what’s preventing you from being happy. We’ll see how Edie pulls through this.
- Atypical – Season 3 Episode 7 “Shrinkage” [Streaming]
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I’m still doing chill recaps of Atypical without giving away the most exciting scenes because I WANT EVERYONE TO WATCH IT! I want tons of people to binge-watch so it gets renewed for season 4. I already binged season 3 twice.
In this scene, Casey is having a case of gay panic the morning after Izzie made it clear she has feelings for her then stayed the night in her bed.
The parents’ unknowingly suggestive comments are the funniest part of this scene.
The end of this episode is the greatest moment of the entire series. If you haven’t watched it yet, please do. You will not be disappointed.
- Batwoman – Season 1 Episode 7 “Tell Me the Truth” [Live]
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Batwoman airing on Sunday nights is tough, y’all.
I watch Batwoman, Supergirl then Mr. Robot (or Shameless) on Sundays which only gives me Monday mornings to write about any of those shows, so I usually skip them (or delay a week like Mr. Robot). However, Batwoman was filled with so much gay goodness last night I had to get up early today to include it in my post.
I can not emphasize how enjoyable it is to have this show. Watching a superhero show with an unapologetically out lesbian main character is healing the collective souls of queer people who have been starved of representation their entire lives. I’m usually allergic to saying cheesy stuff like that, but look at me writing that sentence!
There was so much quality queer content in last night’s episode I don’t have time to recap it all. But here are two of my favorite moments.
Kate takes Sophie out to talk to her about the B word, but they’re interrupted by the homophobic restaurant owner. He asks them to leave for wearing sneakers, but we all know it’s really because he doesn’t want a queer couple in his restaurant. Kate is having none of it.
Kate is saying out loud the things we wished we could have every time we’ve been confronted with homophobia. Her heroics are more than catching bad guys, she’s also fiercely standing up for our community.
At the end of the episode, Kate trolls the restaurant owner in the most amazing way possible.
That was so satisfying.
These are just two scenes from this episode filled with top-shelf queer angst and adventures. Please start watching this show if you haven’t already.
This week I’ll be keeping up with my full TV schedule, as usual, looking most forward to Almost Family and Mr. Robot.
