Did you do it? Did you make it through the second season of One Day at a Time? Carmen reviewed it and also interviewed her mama about it! Carmen also recapped episode 103 of Black Lightning, in which we meet Grace Choi! Valerie recapped another very lady-centric episode of Supergirl. And I had a few feelings about Grace and Frankie. Here’s what else happened on teevee this week.

Lucifer 313: “Til Death Do Us Part”

Written by Valerie Anne

“I wanna l-l-l-lick…some ice cream with you later SEE YOU AT 8.”

I would like to start by saying that I love Lucifer. It’s funny and clever and it makes me happy. That said, there are some things left to be desired when it comes to queer content. Lucifer and Maze are both sexually fluid, which is awesome, but they also are the only two characters depicted this way, and are also the only two that come from hell. I don’t think the writers are trying to say anything, I think it was just overlooked; I think their intention was that beings from hell are not held back by societal expectations and feel free to do what (and who) they please. But as time goes on, most of the times Lucifer is with another man it’s during an orgy, and most of the times Maze is lesbianing with someone, it’s part of some devious plot. So while on its own, this episode was fun, I have Concerns.

Maze’s storyline was her sudden and newfound attraction to Charlotte. Maze is intrigued by a new vibe she’s getting from the now-fully-human Charlotte.

Maze licks her lips and tells Charlotte she’ll be back for her after she does a little bounty hunting.

Later, Charlotte is on a date with a man, and Maze crashes, calling Charlotte sexy and saying that she’d be down for a threesome if Charlotte is. It feels a little trite, but also I love the way that Maze was confident and casual about the offer, not caring if the man was in or out, but very clear that she wanted Charlotte’s consent.

Charlotte needs to think about it, and when Maze approaches her to ask if she’s okay, Charlotte says she’s “been through hell” lately. She thinks she’s being coy about her stint in literal hell, not knowing that Maze is FROM literal hell. Realization hits Maze and she takes a step back from Charlotte, the lusty gleam in her eye fading. She understands now why Charlotte smelled different to her, why she was suddenly so attracted. To Maze, Charlotte smelled like pain. Which, up until very recently, consumed Maze’s whole life. But that’s a life she doesn’t want to go back to.

And that’s all she wrote. On the one hand, we have a plotline that trotted dangerously close to some bisexual tropes. On the other, despite Maze being a literal demon, it didn’t seem to demonize her attraction to Charlotte.

Also, despite how really freaking cute it was, I couldn’t help but wonder why the A plot was of Lucifer pretending to be married to Cain, and they end up doing sweet faux relationship stuff and even kissing. Also why was this all in one episode? Do we get one Big Gay Episode? Or is this a sign of Big Gay Things to Come? I really hope it’s the latter.

I will say, I love the metaphor Maze’s last interaction with Charlotte gave us. So many of us have fallen into the trap of being drawn to someone with scars that match our own only to realize that shared pain isn’t enough to maintain a relationship.

I’m glad the show hasn’t forgotten that Maze is bisexual, but I do wish they would let her date a woman so we could see more of the softer side of our favorite hellion in a romantic way, similar to how we’ve started to see her with her gal pals. I hope to be able to report that very fact back to you soon.

The Fosters 513: “Line in the Sand”

Written by Carmen

Now THIS is the Babewatch remake that I’ve been praying for

Do you know what we haven’t had in awhile? A really good, fun, kickass Lena Adams Foster episode.

It’s rare to get a mom-centric episode of this brood in general (this week marks an even rarer back-to-back streak), but when we do talk about the moms for an extended storyline, Stef is most often in focus. Teri Polo’s care with the development of Stef Foster over these last five season is acclaim-worthy, from her current struggles with an anxiety disorder, to her previous battle with cancer, her estranged relationship with her dad. She’s handled it all with aplomb. But, Sherri Saum’s performance Lena Adams-Foster is just as carefully drawn, even if not always in the spotlight.

So anyway, today is Lena’s first official day as Principal, and whew boy it is a long one. Her morning starts with the entire Foster-Adams clan wishing her good luck over breakfast, like the multiracial gay Brady Bunch I depend on them to be. Lena’s decided to wait until next fall to hire a Vice-Principal replacement, so she will be pulling double duty for the rest of the semester. She’s also still shadowing Jesus in class as his learning aide! Wonder Woman, reporting for duty.

Lena also has to deal with a sick spouse because Stef caught the flu from Jude. When she gets home, Stef begs her babysit Hot Mess Jenna during her dinner/drinks hang with Tess, the next door neighbor. Tess’ husband has figured out that something’s afoot (Here’s a hint dude: She’s just not that into you). Stef’s too sick to go, but also doesn’t want to be an accomplice whatever home wrecking plans Jenna has concocted in her head.

Oh man, does Jenna lay it on thick. Lena tries to steer their dinner conversation towards Tess’ husband, Jenna counters by talking about the wife who cheated on her with a hot 20something back in the first or second season, and so on. Here’s the thing, Tess is very into it! She’s flirting right back. It’s all uncomfortable for Lena, but luckily — or not so luckily— she gets pulled away to another crisis.

(Yes, this is all still the same day. My poor girl, she needs a hot tea and a comfy blanket, STAT!)

Unrelated to this recap, Brandon has agreed to pull a senior prank for his girlfriend who has cancer. That involves all of the Adams-Fosters kids — minus Judicorn, who would never — and their friends covering their school with sand and beach toys and inflatable palm trees. Lena’s called in to investigate because the kids forgot about the silent alarm. She’s furious!

In the greatest move of all, Lena decides to lean into the prank. The next morning, she arrives to school in a sexy black one piece, sunglasses, and a sarong hung low on her hips, mortifying her children and cementing herself as the “Cool Principal”. Win-Win! Plus, we get to see Sherri Saum in a bathing suit. TRIPLE WIN! She tells her kids that they have until the end of the day to clean up all the sand in the hallway, or she is turning their bedrooms into a beach next. And then she saunters away like the bad mama-jama that she is!

Important Updates: Stef has made an appointment with a therapist to begin talking about her panics, but unfortunately Jude’s flu kept her away. She also confronted Tess about her undercover gay feelings, but Tess isn’t ready to deal with it yet. Ximena won her stay of deportation hearing!!!!!! She can stay in the country without fear of ICE until her trial. Her smile as she took her victory march out of the church warmed me down to my toes. She’ll be staying with the Adams-Fosters clan along with Poppy (because, OF COURSE) until her final court case. The disgruntled ICE agent has taken to following Callie now, so be on the lookout for that!

Quick Hits

The Young and the Restless: After a long hiatus, the queer storyline between Mariah and Tessa has resumed on The Young and the Restless. The road to romance won’t be easy, though: in a moment of desperation, Tessa stole Mariah’s journal and used her words to craft a new song. The fallout over Tessa’s plagiarism included losing her record deal, her relationship with Mariah’s brother and whatever was left of her friendship with Mariah. But fate’s forced the pair together and they’re slowly starting to put their friendship back together. Oh, and bonus: for their work on this storyline, both Cait Fairbanks and Camryn Grimes have received pre-nominations for Daytime Emmys. — Natalie

Coronation Street: Over on Coronation Street, after burying her friend (literally) and getting buried by her soulmate (figuratively), Rana (Bhavna Limbachia) finally confesses to her husband, Zeedan (Qasim Akhtar), that she’s fallen in love with someone else. She doesn’t confess who the someone else was but, after Zeedan threatens to beat up anyone he suspects, Kate (Faye Brookes) reveals that it was her, much to Rana’s dismay. Their affair behind them, Kate tries to move on by agreeing to a date with Sophie while Rana clings to what’s left of her marriage. Suffice to say, one of them is more successful than the other. — Natalie

grown-ish: Nomi’s storyline took a backseat on this week’s episode of grown-ish but we still got a glimpse of our girl — still reeling over her break-up with Dave — as part of Zoey’s storyline. Frustrated that Zoey’s been so consumed with her relationship to be a friend to Nomi when she needed it most, Nomi lets Zoey have it. But later, when the shoe’s on the other foot and Zoey’s in her room crying over a break up, Nomi’s there for her, comforting her and making her smile through the heartache, as a best friend should. — Natalie

9-1-1: Riese called it: back in December, she put 9-1-1 on her list of “shows that don’t definitely have queer women TV characters but also kinda do or maybe should,” and this week, the queer finally showed up. Turns out, Henrietta “Hen” Wilson (Aisha Hinds), the show’s female firefighter/paramedic, is a lesbian…a married lesbian with a kid, no less; the specifics of it, though, are a bit more complicated (this is a Ryan Murphy show, afterall).

Hen and her wife, Karen (Tracie Thoms), have a son, Denny, but his biological mother is actually Hen’s ex, Eva (Abby Brammell) who is currently a guest of the Palmar Women’s Correctional Facility. Eva invites Hen to visit her—t’s the first time Hen’s heard from Eva in over a year—in hopes of convincing her to testify at her upcoming parole hearing. Hen’s inclined to do it but Karen is reluctant to invite her wife’s first great love back into their lives. — Natalie

The Good Place: The Good Place aired its season two finale last night. A lot of things happened. Including this with Eleanor and Tahani.

Whatever, no reason. — Heather

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