On this chapter of The Queerest Things I Watched Last Week, after watching Vida season two twice, I decided the next 10 weeks of this column are going to be a love letter to Tanya Saracho. #NotSorry
Also happy Memorial Day and Mika’s birthday, everyone!
- Gentleman Jack – Season 1 Episode 5 “Let’s Have Another Look at Your Past Perfect” [Live]
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The Reverend Ainsworth is in town to visit Ann, who he assumed will accept him with open arms, but Anne is waiting for him ready to go 1800s Time’s Up on his ass.
He sends her letters, and she sends replies back saying, “I’m not feeling well, don’t visit.” But he is having a hard time accepting her answer. He puts together a scrapbook for her and hand-delivers it knowing she’s not up for visitors, but trying to find a way in anyway. She turns him away again, but he’s still not comprehending the fact that she doesn’t want to see him.
Anne pays him a visit and tells him she knows exactly what he did, and if he doesn’t leave them both alone she will expose him. When he says Ann wanted it just as much as he did, she gets more threatening.
Don’t mess with Anne Lister!
Even though Anne took care of him, Mrs. Priestley who is on Team Ainsworth is trying to get to Ann’s head. She makes sure she finds out two men got hanged for doing “illicit acts” with each other, and she would be ostracized from society if she continues to hang out with Anne. Nothing explicitly gay is said by anyone, but people make it clear they know what’s going on.
Ann freaks out and tells Anne to put the breaks on their plans to travel then move in together. Anne does her best to talk her down.
As great as that speech was, it didn’t do the trick. Ann thinks she should marry Mr. Ainsworth and see Anne on the side. Anne is absolutely not okay with that and leaves. On her walk home she gets gay bashed by a man who warns her to, “Leave Miss Walker alone.”
Poor Anne, she’s having a hard week. I know getting beaten up will not keep her away from Ann though.
- Jane the
VirginTelenovela Writer – Season 5 Episode 9 “Chapter Ninety” [Live] -
Petra and JR are working on JR’s relationship with the girls, and it’s going pretty well. Now it’s time to level up to JR hanging out with them alone.
That made me laugh.
The one-on-one time experiment didn’t go well. JR took the girls for ice cream and wound up yelling at them because they were behaving horribly. Yelling is my parenting style too.
This causes a fight between Petra and JR.
To be fair, yelling at the kid often causes my wife to get mad at me.
Later Petra realizes JR never set any rules about what her place is with the girls, and she comes by JR’s work to apologize.
I loved that, “You are. Trust me.” at the end. I love them.
The next day when the girls are acting spoiled again, JR uses the iPad threat technique and it works like a charm. If only threatening to take electronics away worked like it does on TV, I would be a more peaceful parent. Everything is going great and the four of them are getting along like a happy family, so of course JR gets an ominous phone call from her mentor.
Nooooo, not the moving away for a job trope!
I know this is a soap opera and you gotta keep a certain level of relationship conflict going, but I love seeing these two resolve their issues like healthy grown ups. I’m not ready for a job to tear them apart. I really hope it doesn’t.
- Vida – Season 2 Episode 1 “Episode 7” [Streaming]
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I watched Vida season two twice already. And I’m going to do it again week-by-week as it airs so I can cover it here via a love letter to Tanya Saracho.
Dear, Tanya Saracho.
You have managed to create a show with the best and most authentic queer representation on television. In addition to finally having a show I feel has truly been made for us, it is also beautifully shot and written.
I love how this episode opens with The World's Saddest Orgy™ and Emma in full Femme Bitch Top realness. It's a bold way to open season two. It tells us this show will not get tamer as we get to know the characters better.
I also like the twist of Eddy and Vidalia not being legally married.
We spend a lot of time trying to figure out if Emma has the capacity for feelings. With the marriage's legality in question, she has an opportunity to gain 50% control of the bar. Will she do this or will she honor her dead mother's partner?
I love that Emma brought Eddy home after visiting her in the hospital.
Emma can feel real compassion for Eddy even though she has long term resentment for her mother.
The show you created is all about complicated feelings. Feelings of not being the right kind of queer or Latinx. Being angry at your mom who kicked you out of the house for not being straight but having compassion for her widow.
You show through these characters there is no right way to be anything. Everyone is valid as they are (except for predatory asshole Nelson), and no one should feel held to the rules of cultural policing.
This is why I love your show. Culture is complicated, and no single person should feel the weight of representing every member of their community. We can only represent ourselve, and that is the definition of authenticity.
The last scene was perfect. We all knew the bar needed to be named Vida, even Emma.
Thank you for this show.
Love,
Tracy
PS. Emma telling her Lyft driver to stop talking is my new sexuality.
This week should be a quiet week of regular shows before a whole bunch start up in June. I just hope I wont be writing about JR moving to Houston next week.
