When the first half of season four ended, we had a lot of questions up in the air.
Malika had finally sorted out her poly relationship situation, and her bisexuality, with her new girlfriend Angelica, while working for/with Angelica’s ex.
Alice was just starting to face her trauma of being harassed at a show, and her ex-Sumi is now all up in her life again.
Gael’s dealing with impending fatherhood with the less than stable Isabella.
And then there’s the whole mess with the straights which are just a headache no matter how I look at it (Mariana, Davia, Dennis, new guy, Luca, Kelly, etc).
Politically Fraught
One of the things I’ve loved about Good Trouble is how they actually address the issues we’re all facing right now. With the exception of COVID, I feel like the Coterie of questionable characters have to tackle all the same shit we do. There’s racism, rampant inequality, homophobia, homelessness, balancing work/life, pregnancy… You name it, these 20-30 somethings are struggling with who they want to be and who they have to be just like the rest of us.
This back-half of the season is a little light on that in a very odd way, mostly due to timing.
The screeners dropped around the time the mess with the Supreme Court hit the fan, which means Isabella’s pregnancy doesn’t actually touch on the current issues about abortion (save to mention her parents wanted her to have one). That said, I totally expect it to show up before the end if they can. Having lost Callie (the actor wanted to stay home in Australia, can’t blame her), they still have Malika as their social justice warrior who will, more than likely, be the one to take on the tragedy of the recent rulings.
As for COVID, no one in the show masks, making it feel like they just kind of ignored COVID, which is sad since I think they could have done an amazing job. It also makes the issues Alice faces (Asian hate crimes) a little odd, since in our world that picked up after some idiot called it a Chinese Flu.
Happiness in the Storm
Even with all that, Good Trouble gives us the world as it is: an unyielding storm of unexpected offences against our basic humanity.
For Alice, she’s struggling to get back on her feet and find her comedic voice again. This comes with it’s normal setbacks, like finding management or even places to perform. But with the help of her best friend, Sumi, she’s really making a lot of progress.
Of course… Sumi really likes Alice. And not in the friend way. It’s been pretty clear all season (and even since before Sumi’s relationship with Meera imploded) that Sumi’s got feels for Alice. But Sumi believes in Alice as a comedian, and wants to help in any way. After all, she did go right for Margaret Cho and got Alice on the tour to start with. For Alice, happiness is following her passion again.
Gael and Isabella are trying hard to find balance between the kind of gross work Gael’s doing (ghost painting for someone else) and affording things for a baby. Isabella’s parents are still all-OUT of that relationship and making things hard for Isabella to deal with. For them, happiness is making it to parenthood.
And Malika, having broken up with her men, is only dating Angelica, but still wants to consider options. This doesn’t exactly sit well with Angelica. Bonus, Malika has no idea how close she is to getting fired. Always fun. For her, happiness is her work and relationships.
The Coterie Returns tomorrow
Tomorrow night, Good Trouble is back with “What I wouldn’t give for love”
Davia musters the courage to tell Dennis how she feels. Malika deals with Angelica seeing other people. Alice hires a new manager. The FCG throw a party to celebrate the launch of their app. Luca considers accepting Davia’s offer of a home.
I’m sure nothing could possibly go wrong.
