On this chapter of The Queerest Things I Watched Last Week, Alice continues to make a mess on Good Trouble, and Dex and Violet are my new favorite ship on Stumptown.
- Black Lightning – Season 3 Episode 12 “The Book of Markovia: Chapter Three” [Live]
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Anissa is still trying to keep Grace out of danger, but Grace is ready for some superhero action and proves it by starting a fight.
I found that scene to be a little awkward, but I liked it. I’m hopeful we’re on the road to Grace becoming not only a crime-fighting superhero but a series regular too.
- Good Trouble – Season 2 Episode 1 “In Good Conscience” [Live]
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On this episode of, “Oh, Alice, What Did You Do Now?” her conscience is getting on her case.
I agree, ghost Alice’s conscience, stop with the lying already!
On the morning of Alice and Lindsay’s trip to Sacramento for a show, Sumi is hanging around with no weekend plans. So what does Lindsay do? Invite Sumi to join them.
Awkward road trip!
Alice now has to give Sumi a tutorial so she doesn’t accidentally topple her Jenga tower of lies. At this point, I’ve lost track of which lies were to Lindsay and which to Sumi.
Lindsay and Sumi are practicing their set, and Alice’s conscience is on stage with them too. The only thing to make this adventure more complicated would be if Joey showed up too.
Ta-da! Awkward level turned to 11.
At dinner that night the entire truth about the Joey/Jenny/Lindsay situation comes out. If you haven’t been keeping track, Joey says Lindsay broke them and Jenny up, and Lindsay says Joey stole Jenny from them.
The truth turned out to be Jenny played them both. She lied to both Joey and Lindsay and neither of them is the bad guy. However, another truth came out — Alice knew Lindsay accused Joey of girlfriend-stealing.
Back at home, Joey confronts Alice about that lie. Alice comes clean and also tells Joey about Lindsay trying to kiss her weeks ago. Joey is fed up with the lack of truth-telling in their relationship and breaks up with her.
I am with you, Joey, I’m ready to break up with Alice too.
The only reason Alice would work so hard to not only hide things from Joey but also manipulate Sumi and Lindsay to stay away from each other would be because she’s into all three of them? Otherwise, none of this makes sense.
I feel like Alice is on a sitcom while the other characters (Mariana, Callie, etc.) are on a drama. Alice needs to be single for a while and get her shit together!
- Stumptown – Season 1 Episode 13 “The Dex Factor” [Live]
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Miles and Grey have been working on infiltrating a car thief ring for a few episodes now. I don’t completely understand this storyline, but Maddie from Imposters is in it and I’m happy to see her on my TV again. Now there is stolen heroin involved and they need Dex to go in and pretend to be a buyer so Miles can bust the ring. You would think they would get a Portland undercover cop to do this job, but no, it’s Dex.
Meanwhile, we meet an assassin-for-hire who is working for the people the drugs were stolen from. She has been sent to either get the drugs back, the money it was sold for or kill the person who took them.
She already found and took care of the drug courier.
I guess covering her victims with an off-brand Twister mat is her signature thing.
After her first meeting with the car thief gang, Dex drops into a bar where military folks meet up. Various military friends have been encouraging her to deal with her PTSD, and it looks like she’s making a baby step. Who does she randomly meet there? Violet, the foxy assassin.
A PI and an assassin — I don’t hate this.
In my opinion, the two of them have really great chemistry from minute one. Violet figures out Dex is ex-Marines and Dex pegs Violet as ex-Army. They bond over military stuff and instantly have a lot in common. Violet even lets Dex buy her a drink as long as she doesn’t make fun of her for it.
Someone in the Stumptown Writers Room knew how to craft a ship I will immediately fall in love with. It’s hard not to get Root and Shaw vibes from these two and Shoot is my favorite ship of all time.
Dex gives Violet a ride to her Airbnb in her amusing car and Violet invites her in for a drink. The show makes sure we see the stack of Bender games in case we weren’t paying attention, and then Dex and Violet continue their conversation.
I love them.
The next morning, things are still cute.
I know where this is headed because Violet has been sent to get the drugs Dex is going to pretend to buy later that day, but I’m going to enjoy this moment in time for now.
Violet goes about the rest of her day doing assassin stuff while listening to Joan Armatrading, and Dex prepares for the big bust with Miles and Grey.
The beginning of the fake drug deal goes smoothly, but when Dex leaves after dropping off the money, she runs into Violet outside.
Dex knows Violet isn’t really a medical salesperson now.
Knowing Violet is headed to kill everyone with Grey still inside, Dex’s only option is to fight.
That Dex and Violet fight scene could have been hot, but something I really like about this show is Dex is not an elegant fighter. Her fight scenes are a little sloppy and don’t always get the job done, just like her. This time she was able to keep Violet from killing everyone but she also runs away.
At the end of the episode, the bust is done, everyone is safe, Dex is at Grey’s bar and she receives a sea-breeze from a mysterious guest.
Oh my goodness a perfect ending to a perfect episode.
But now I’m in a gay panic, y’all. Did this show just make me fall in love with a Dex and Violet without a future? The sea-breeze at the end could lead to several episodes of enjoyable PI/assassin romantic angst, or they can drop it here. Or even worse the show could be canceled, there’s no definitive news on a second season yet.
I’m going to try to calm down and enjoy the two remaining episodes of the season.
This week: It’s a full schedule of regular shows. I hope something queer pops up on one of the shows I haven’t had anything to write about yet this year.
I need Stumptown available in Australia, stat. And Deputy. And Lincoln Rhyme, but that’s another comment for another day.
Oh I love Lincoln Rhyme, but then again I read the first 4 books over and over again. They really are a fascinating look into the mind of science, and that series is a lot of creepy science fun. I hope they get on air in Aus soon too!