I need to write this review while the tears are fresh in my eyes from the season finale of Gloria Calderón Kellett’s masterful series, “With Love.”
My goodness, ya’ll.
This is RICH!
I knew I wanted to check the series out. I love GCK’s “One Day At A Time” reboot. But let me tell you, “With Love” is a testament that she was just warming up with ODAAT (and she has been around the block and back with her experience before this, so). She has fully rolled up her sleeves and slapped the sh*t out of us with her storytelling abilities through her latest series.
It’s no wonder that after I finished watching “With Love”, I read that GCK is working on a whole slate of projects with Amazon Studios. They’ve certainly HOARDED GCK the way Netflix has hoarded Shonda content… these women know how to tell genuine, riveting stories, and they are the money-makers, the quality content-creators.
I love that Season 1 of “With Love” is defined through a series of holidays. It makes for charm and warmth and turning points, and just enough time to have passed to dip back into our beloved character’s lives to see where they’re at. Who’s arms are they in? Who’s who and who’s with who and oooooo, tell me more!
The show has a similar setup as Modern Family, with multiple branches of the same family tree, but now let’s set it in a romantic-dramedy setting with full 45-minute-ish episodes, and add in even more family members. And if “even more family members” makes your head spin a bit, let me tell you, I thought mine would, but by the end of the series, you, too, will marvel at, again, how truly masterfully it plays out.
AND.
LISTEN.
Seeing Gloria Calderón Kellet as Tía Gladys on “With Love” really, really made my day. She shines on screen, and her love and guidance as showrunner is felt at every moment of this series.
In lieu of episode breakdowns, I’ll leave you with some series stills and *SPOILERY* relations-I-ship. And I’ll say, if you’re looking for something heartfelt, rich and rom-commy to watch, especially as the end-of-the-year winds down, watch “With Love” on Amazon, ya’ll. I hope it fills up your soul as it did mine.
*SPOILERS* start now: ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
Lily + Nick
This is one of the most tender, funny and genuine “hook-uppy” relationships I’ve seen on television. I love that we know Lily’s clearly articulated boundaries throughout, and yet-he-falls way that Nick’s emotions play out, and how beautifully the story deals with that. And we split a coke at the end, smiles.
Sol + Miles
I’m obsessed with the crushing going on here, and how cutely this plays out. I love getting to know Sol through the episodes. Her friendships! The Sol-iverse is just wonderful, her relationships with her grandparents and more. And how her relationship with Miles and Charlie develops. In the end, that found family and how it comes together at that stunning altar scene (literally never felt so many emotions watching someone place objects on a mantel before).
The In-Between-Ships
So I think where this show really crystalized for me is those in-between-ships. These extremely tender and hilarious ways that this family is woven together. Lily & Sol in this bathroom scene is one of those moments where I was like, okay, so this is what we’re doing, okay, now this is interesting, okay, I am getting on board for this ride! And the shared Tía moments in the kitchen. And the interactions grandparents have with each set of family members. And how they’re all different and unique, but all, pouring-from-the-brim with love. They’ve defined the major relationships, and then created all of these stunning moments between that are just as rich… c’mon ya’ll. Expert. Expert!
Jorge + Henry
This is my favorite scene between these two will-they-make-it-birds. This relationship really kept me on my toes throughout. I wondered at so many points, will they find a way through this? I am obsessed with the mini-arc in this scene… it’s such a discovery moment of both Jorge’s needs and paramount devotion to his loved ones, and Henry’s need to have honesty, which leads to this HILARIOUS reveal of Henry’s love of incognito behavior. I was laughing and full of so much joy that they found this moment together. THIS relationship needs a Season 2, people.
Lily + Santiago
C’mon, ya’ll. Enough said. I can’t even with these two. It’s really the moments when they are apart, the way their individual journeys develop that makes these two coming together, then falling apart, then coming together so rich and meaningful. This is life. Also, I am obsessed with Andre Royo’s performances and his portrayal as Santiago’s dad is just, ::chef’s kiss::
Gloria + Jorge
Out of all the stunning stars of relationships, this is the one that had me in tears. Constance Marie, who stays working, I just… I missed her. Seeing her after the iconic George Lopez show, here, in this arc. The growth of it. I don’t have enough words for this one.
That’s it. That’s it ya’ll. That’s my review. I love it, I love it, I love it!
Thanks for hanging out with me here on nidachowdhry.com! I’m… Nida Chowdhry! I’m a TV Writer for shows like Young Justice (HBOMax), Disney’s Mira, Royal Detective, and more. I’ve also created two of my own show Unfair & Ugly and #TodayIMet – which you can watch here on my website! And guess what? I’m making a movie ya’ll!
Okay, Chicas. I have something to get off my chest.
I actually wrote this review back in July 2020. I started writing as I was watching the series, episode by episode.
And then… it dawned on me. That there is more going on in this season than I previously thought / registered.
And to be honest, it hit me, really, really hard. And I found it hard to just, write. I found myself thinking and feeling what the show wanted me to feel. And damn. It was emotional.
I knew that Lidia was in some type of internment camp at the end of Season 4. It was evident and worrisome, but, I think the whole Doña Carmen thing was at the forefront of that teaser. And I don’t think it really like, set in my mind, the full GRAVITY of that. OR. Maybe it was how the story was meant to be told… that the gravity of Lidia’s situation is supposed to unfold in front of us in layers.
All I know is that the whole thing has me sobbing, ya’ll.
This really has been such a beautiful show. It’s gone through so many topics and the main characters have gone through so many struggles. The friendship of these women, Las Chicas Del Cable, has really become a big part of my heart. It was especially hard to say goodbye to them… a real goodbye, during a tough year.
We began following these women, who coincidentally met, back in 1928. And we travel the course of their friendship for a decade. That puts us in 1939, where Lidia has found herself imprisoned in a Spanish internment camp.
It’s like all of these tough years and challenges these women have been through… it all led up to this final challenge. This test of what their friendship means. What it means to be there for someone through thick and thin. And ultimately, what these women stand for and will stand for.
I hate that this show is over. I love that this show took us to some unexpectedly tough places. Carlos was a hot idiota all the way to the end. And Doña Carmen a stone-cold monster. And our Chicas? Heroes. Imperfect heroes. That showed us, showed me that there are so many stories history hasn’t told, but through this, we can imagine.
Through tears, I say, thank you, Las Chicas Del Cable.
Now… are you ready for my Season 5 Part 2 Review? It begins now.
Written on July 2020:
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Ayyyyyyyyyyyy. My heart. MI CORAZON. I’ve been watching this show for years now, and now it’s OVER?! The final episodes are sitting in front of me. HOW CAN THIS BE. I NEED more Cable Girls. Whyyyyyyyy?!
If you’ve been here before, you know the deal. My review is FULL of spoilers. So… OMG. I’m sobbing. UGH. Why. (PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, NIDA!)
And my Season 5 Part 2 aka Season 6 aka El Final review, begins…NOW… ::sobs::
Are you ready? Let’s hold hands and ugly cry together, shall we?
VAMOS!
***SPOILERS START HERE****
Season 6 Episode 1, Chapter 38 “Power”
Robin Hood
To begin with, I can’t believe Lidia has been in prison for mas de SIETE meses. Seven months?! Omg. This is already a disaster. Of course we knew the evil bruja Doña Carmen was going to make this hell for Lidia, and she is, from the get go. And Lidia is being Lidia, of course, trying to help people even and especially when she’s in harms way. I’m going to miss this b&&&h. Ugh.
Of course her loyal loved ones are working tirelessly to save her. Francisco is looking SHARP might I add, as are Carlota and Oscar. Oh, Oscar. He looks so calm and collected on the outside, but I just know we’re in for some challenging heartbreaks here. I hope we get a good ending for all of these characters. And also, Francisco looks great, but I freakin’ miss Carlos. ::ugly cries:: Él era una hot idiota. Waaaaaaah!
Sofia – oh Sofia you caused such hell in the first 6 episodes – looks great and I’m so sad her soldier doesn’t seem to be around, at least not yet. Maybe he’ll be involved in saving Lidia? We’ll see.
AND MARGA. AND THIS HEARTFELT MARRIAGE PROPOSAL FROM HOT BOSS GUY. BUT… I CAN NOT BELIEVE THIS BETRAYAL… ON BOTH ENDS. I CAN NOT BELIEVE THEY LET ISIDRO THINK PABLO WAS DEAD AND NOW??? HOT BOSS GUY BETRAYS THEIR RUNAWAY A&&ES? NO ME DICE NADA!
Back to Lidia. OF COURSE CARMEN is slinging meds! OF COURSE! She’s evil isn’t she?! Of course she’s selling 15/20 crates! I’m surprised she’s not selling all of them!!!
OMG WAIT… OMG… this conversation with the Bishop. I’m only now just truly realizing. IS LIDIA IN A CONCENTRATION CAMP?! Que horror.
Taking a moment of silence for this.
That means Doña Carmen is a Nazi?!?!?!?!?! I just did some googling and read more about this. Shaking my head. Que despicable.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised re: Doña Carmen.
OMG. Back to this scene where Lidia Robin Hood’s the medicine and gets Donña Carmen in trouble. THIS IS NOT GOING TO GO WELL FOR LIDIA. And… it doesn’t.
::sobs::
I… can not believe Oscar just broke up with Carlota. But I can also believe it. As Oscar says, he’s not doing well right now – he only seems like he is because he needs to give that appearance in order to survive.
And NOOOOOO! Julio is dead. Ugh. Is it bad that I’m like, okay at least there’s only one Pablo now? Ugh I’m terrible
Julio no esta aqui.
Omg. Palmira… helping Lidia. Is this going to work??? No way it can… no way…
And then. NO. NO. Marga. No!
No, Marga, no!
I’m surprised Lidia ends up leaving Marga…
SHE ESCAPES!
Omg. Lidia is out to get Doña Carmen (and vice versa)… this is going to be a war.
Honestly, Lidia, you should have ended Carmen when you had the chance. But here we are, and Marga is in prison now, eight months pregnant, PERFECT HOSTAGE for Carmen. And yikes, ya’ll… hearing Doña Carmen’s plan for Marga… damn. She.is.evil. And Lidia’s impassioned speech about needing to help free the prisoners – heartbreaking.
Wait… omg… is ISIDRO a straight up COLLABORATOR?! I mean, I thought he tried to turn Pablo in as an act of anger/heartbreak/bitterness, but has he been collaboratING all along? Using the telephone company to wiretap, perhaps? YEESH ISIDRO! You’re being such a CARLOS!
Wait… wait… wait… wait… wait… NO ONE KNOWS CARLOS DIED? OMG. OMG. My jaw is fallen right now with this Elisa reveal to Lidia. Romero… “No necesito esto, Lidia,” is an underestimation on Elisa’s part. NO ONE NEEDS THIS, but these are the cards that have been dealt to us, and Elisa’s cards are a bunch of evil family members. Will Elisa come through to help Lidia? I think she will. She has a heart and eventually follows it.
Oscar y Carlota… so much pain here. Carlota has always been head-strong, which is what makes her her, I feel like she’s giving Oscar some tough love here, pushing him to be stronger for the situation at hand, but, it’s just, it’s still selfish and insensitive towards Oscar’s experience. Oscar’s flashback is hair-raising. And again… with Romero. Romero, Romero, Romero.
LIDIA IS WRITING A BOOK! Or a diary or whatever. It’s that voiceover since Season 1, baby!
AND ELISA CALLED! We knew she would, right?! We knew.
How does Marga just not slap Isidro outright?!?!?! She has every opportunity!
UGH why is Carlos dead. Can they like, bring him back somehow? Like it was a mixup? He was really in the hospital all this time? This box of Eva’s toys that he kept is too much. CARLOS, TE EXTRAÑO, CARLOS! I MISS YOU!
OMG wait, I need to keep reminding myself of this new information… are all of these bad guys NAZIS? At the very least, they’re Nazi-LIKE.
AHHHHHHHHHHH!
I DON’T MISS YOU CARLOS! I DON’T MISS YOU and I don’t care what ounce of heart you have. UGH!!! We NEED TO TAKE DOWN ROMERO AND CARMEN, PEOPLE! LET’S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!
OMG HOW did neither Pablo nor Marga not make the connection that Isidro ratted them out?!
Sofia, Sofia, Sofia. Let’s take a minute to remember whose daughter she is.
Un plan que es loco.
OMG. OSCAR AND CARLOTA! IMPRISONED, TOO!
Porquuuuueeeeeeeeee
NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Now, everyone but Lidia is in the concentration camp. The pressures on to break them out, along with as many prisoners as possible.
Season 6 Episode 3, Chapter 40 “Pain”
Well, that title can’t mean great news, can it.
Ayyyyyyyyy. This is. This is tough to watch. The way Carlota & Oscar are treated on entering the camp… the images raise the thought of even worse situations taking place in other camps :(
Alba, I mean… Lidia & Francisco, y Elisa. WHAT’S THIS REVEAL about Elisa’s limp??? Oh, Elisa. Uh-oh… Elisa, you didn’t.
BUT WAIT.
WAIT. EL WINNIPEG! The savior of us all.
Elisa tiene un plan.
Lidia. TU ESTA LOCA! LOCA! This plan is LOCA! But also, OF COURSE, YOU WOULD WANT PLAN TO DO THIS LIDIA. You heart of gold, you.
So… the plan is underway.
AHHHH CHICAS. Marga faking an early delivery. Carlota going into Carmen’s LAIR. SUCCESS! PHEW!
Mucho dolor.
Dios mio. This MOMENT between Isidro and Pablo.
OMG. MARGA y SOFIA overhearing EVIL Doña Carmen’s EVIL BABY PLAN.
Omg…. this tender moment between Oscar y Carlota. THESE TWO.
But. THIS OPPOSITELY UNTENDER MOMENT between Sofia and her PRIEST EXBOYFRIEND!
I love this papa moment between Francisco & Sofia.
WHY IS ROMERO FOLLOWING LIDIA & FRANCISCO?! Ugh. We know why but, like, ugh.
Omg this barricade plan. I am shook.
Francisco… what if we got a truck TONIGHT. TONIGHT. TONIGHT?!??!?!?!??!?! LIKE, THIS PLAN IS HAPPENING TONIGHT?!
The…. the barricade plan, TONIGHT?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!??!?!??!?!?!?!??!?!??!
WHAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!
THE GUNPOINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT IS HAPPENING SO FAST I CAN’T HANDLE PROCESS ERMIGAH
Ohhhh, hold on, let me fan myself, Felipe is here to burn down the maternity ward. Umm, wow.
Hola.
omg the barricade has begun, I am shaking in my boots fluffy socks.
OMG THIS STANDOFF. THE REVEAL.
ELISAAA DON’T GO BACK INSIDE AGAIN GIRL, THINK ABOUT YOUR LIMP, DON’T GO GIRL!
Goddamn.
AND SHE REALLY SPIT SOME WORDS IN THE END THERE DIDN’T SHE?
Fighting words.
“How does it feel to see the only person who still loves you… DIE?”
DAYUUUUUUUUUUUUMN ELISA. THOSE ARE SOME PARTING WORDS
Season 6 Episode 4, Chapter 41 “Defeat”
WE OPEN ON THE BRUJA. Need I say who. FINALLY, but, CAN’T TRUST THAT B. CAN’T TRUST HER.
“I’ve been the worst mother in the world. My children had to die for me to become aware of it.”
…..
….
…
..
.
CRICKETS CHIRPING. DID THEY THOUGH? DID THEY HAVE TO *******DIIIIIIIIE******* FOR YOU TO “BECOME AWARE OF IT? DID (HOT IDIOTA) CARLOS MF SPITTING IN YOUR FACE LEFT AND RIGHT NOT DO THAT?
For someone who is so devastated she seems to have cleaned up.
Barricade part dos. An interesting pause…
This plan with Pablo re: Salgado & Romero…. I HOPE THIS WORKS.
MARGA. MARGA IS HAVING HER BABY! AHHHHH!!!!!!!!! What a time to be delivering a baby AYYYYYYYYY
The phonecall with Pablo, I can’t.
Un throwwwwbaaaaack!
OMG LIDIA IN A WIG, WE’RE BACK TO SEASON 1 BABY!
Brujeria.
Ummmmmmmmm… Doña Carmen’s revenge is as cold-hearted as you’d expect. But it seems like the right prescription for that dude.
Wow. Wow… the Pablo, Isidro handshake…
Lawd. The truck is here. Francisco is here with the truck.
UMMMM OKAY FELIPE IS PRIEST NO MORE!
Pablo sees his baby!!!!!!
Hope personified.
THE TRUCK IS LOADED.
DOÑA CARMEN IS…..
Why?!! You need to torture them some more?!!
UMMM OKAY LIDIA DO YOU HAVE AMNESIA DURING THIS CLOSING MONOLOGUE???????????????
Seriously though, is Doña Carmen really dead?!?!?!?!?! I’m honestly expecting her ghost to hunt down the truck and stop Lidia once again.
Season 6 Episode 5, Chapter 42 “THE END” – UGH!!!!!!
I can’t. I can’t. I CAN’T WATCH THIS. I CAN’T!
The truck. Dolores dying. Lidia holding Eva in her arms.
This is just the beginning.
The train. THOSE FLASHBACKS TO YOUNG FRANCISCO AND LIDIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Honestly, this is the last of what I can write about without crying.
I truly can’t believe the rest. It’s so true to our heroine’s characters… but I so hoped…
I so hoped.
I really tried to watch those closing images and not think. Like. This can’t be adding up…
Heart……breaking.
I guess………… our Chicas are reunited with hot idiota Carlos and Angeles after all. And Elisa. And Doña f***ing Carmen.
They did leave some things open, like, we still have (freakin’) Sofia. Maybe there will be a Chicas del Cable spinoff that picks up after her adventures in America (or maybe she stays back in Spain!). Either way, I understand the show writers wanted to close the chapter on our heroines in the way they truly would have gone out. Brave, brilliant, foolish, heartful, friends, til the very end.
Sigh, chicas. If you find yourself looking for something to watch after that marathon, I have a show for you – my own in fact! It’s called Unfair & Ugly, and its about a South Asian Muslim American family in Orange County, California trying to keep it together. Give it a watch and do let me know your thoughts! <3
I have a surprise for you!
You can watch my web series, Unfair & Ugly, about a South Asian Muslim American family in Orange County, California trying to keep it together. It’s had over 300K views on YouTube and been featured on NBC, Aljazeera, and Refinery29!
PRAY TELL, who would think such a thing as, ‘What ever would happen if Gossip Girl met Jane Austen and they bequeathed a babe of the likes of Downton Abbey and lived happily ever after in one hour installments of equal parts whimsy and scandal?’ Julia Quinn did think such and such a thing.
AND HOWEVER WOULD SHONDALAND x NETFLIX KNOW?
THAT THIS IS THE PRECISE MOMENT IN WHICH WE ARE IN NEED OF SUCH A SHOW?
Hang onto your pink powdered wigs, dear viewers, for Shonda is about to blow all of us out of our tightly bound corsets.
At every turn about the room, there is a twist. Each character unfolds in layers, there is more to them than the face by which they are so deeply scrutinized and judged. And I am here to sip the English Breakfast that Lady Whistledown spilleth.
This set design though.
My favorite thing about this genre is how in all of the rules and restrictions, the way women – who are written out of history textbooks, said to have no agency, no import – are imagined to have navigated and pushed against those boundaries. And Bridgerton delivers on those intricacies generously.
A few noted notes:
“Surely, I can not be expected to wear these fashions the entire day?!” Girl, I am in my sweatpants, thank you very much. With that one line, Eloise Bridgerton immediately became one of my favorite characters.
If you are imprudently PRUDISH as I am, then FYI this is a NSFW, NSFKids and definitely NSFWatching-with-your-immigrant-parents. Oh, Lord! Literally.
Those thoughtful, hopeful, and often dashed looks from Penelope Featherington are the makings of a deeply captivating character. Color me intrigued AF.
When Simon rides in on a f*cking horse. OF COURSE. OF COURSE, HE DOES. AND WHY WOULDN’T HE? Lordy, Lord-Lord.
The fashion is undisappointingly stunning. The production value and set designs, the cinematography and lighting, sheesh. Some of the most dazzling, delightful, and FUN I’ve seen in awhile. Netflix showed me the monet on this one.
Lady Danbury is giving me those Dowager Countess vibes I live for.
Queen Charlotte’s pink powdered wig, people!!!
The ENTRANCING quality of Marina Thompson. I need to know more!
Each and every line Daphne delivers after one man or another attempts to dictate her life. GAME SET MATCH, TOUCHE, EN GUARD, ALL OF IT.
I’ve devoured the first couple of episodes, pausing to rejoice, then immediately hitting play to take it all in. In the DROUGHT OF MY SOCIAL LIFE that is pandemic isolation, this FRENZY of so many maskless people at balls is all what I need in this very moment.
Take me away.
I read ahead and there seem to be many scandals to come, including, trigger warning, a sexual assault.
I’m looking forward to watching what this show has to show, and getting DEEPLY LOST in the world of Bridgerton. GOOD ‘MORROW!
*23 Hours Later*
Okay, well, um, I watched the whole thing. Thankfully there were a generous 8 episodes, rather than that dreaded Netflix half season of 5 or 6 episodes where I’m left shaking my fist.
NOW. I DECREE. A SPOILER ALERT.
You shan’t, I repeat, you shan’t read past this line if you do not wish to know of the spoils.
READY?
we’re scrolling
and we’re scrolling
and we’re scrolling
and we’re scrolling
and we’re scrolling
and we’re scrolling
and we’re scrolling
and we’re scrolling
and we’re scrolling
aaaaaand….
Penny. You sneaky little minx. PENNY, PENNY, PENNY. There was that moment where, I do believe the show wanted us to suspect her. When she ran into the garden crying to Eloise. And then the next morning, we read the news i.e. gossip about Marina’s wombage. The way Penny looked and hugged Eloise, I was like, girl, did you do something rather questionable just now? Lots to unpack here. I almost want to go rewatch the whole thing with Lady Whistlepenny in mind.
Umm, okay, so remember 5 paragraphs ago when I was like, NSFW? There’s quite a bit of female-gaze-unlaced sexy, sexy here. Something for everyone really, whether you’re into Daphne or Simon or both or neither. They ain’t messin’ around either. There’s like a whole 3 minutes straight of “marital bliss.” Shonda took things out of the Grey Sloan Memorial supply closet and let it out all over the lawn, stairs, hallways, and dinner table on this one.
I guess I should have seen Marina’s story coming, but I didn’t. It seemed like it was going in one direction – Lady Featherington’s jealousy. But then there was the twist that laid ground for the rest of her story. I was fascinated by the tug-of-war between Marina and Penny, and the way she navigated herself in search of a way out.
Siena. A name. Great closing monologue by her!
Did Eloise figure it out in the end? Who Miss Whistledown is? It seemed like she did. What do you think?
I think Colin is going to come back with someone on his arm. And then there will be a questioning of her past. And, perhaps worse for Penny, there won’t be anything questionable.
I got some Ayla/Jondalar vibes betwixt Daphne/Simon’s troubles, in case anyone knows that reference. All that miscommunication! Just glad it didn’t last 3 billion chapters.
Oh, my. This whole mess with the Featheringtons. There are lots of questions. Is Lord Featherington really dead, or has he been kidnapped? There’s obviously foul play at hand. But… that means danger also lurks for the Duke’s friend, boxer Will Mondrich. Those horrid people know he threw that game, and subsequently came into some money. Unless they think he has the Duke’s protection and dare not encroach upon that.
Damn, Lord Featherington. I must say, this was, I did loved this dark twist of his gambling debts for Lady Featherington. I loved seeing her reactions, and how she tried to clean up a mess that was out of her hands. So real.
Lady Featherington’s fashion.
I am glad for the important issues around consent and sex education that the storyline between Daphne & Simon raises, as painful as it is to see.
Lady Danbury knows how to throw a party! I need some more Lady Danbury sauce though. Let’s hear some stories. What’s her love life like? I need details, people.
I’m glad we got more Queen Charlotte as the episodes went on, but I must say, I was left wanting to know much, much more.
That leap for The Duke/Simon, where he goes from finding out Daphne read his childhood letters to his father, to being able to… that was a bit of a leap for me (regardless of the well-established rift between them). Like, mmm… ya’ll need to have been seeing a therapist this whole time.
I love those betrayal conversations between Daphne and her mother.
Now that’s a coiffure!
And here’s the part that’s hard to write. I adore this genre. I love the escapism. I love the romanticism. I love the conjecture, the historicizing, the female gaze of it, the herstory of it. But, for as long as I’ve watched it, I have known that, I will rarely get to see a woman of color on screen. Aside from the phenomenal Belle (and I’m sure some other portrayals), it’s rather a wasteland in that regard.
So it is no small thing, how well this is done, it has changed the game. I wouldn’t be able to put into words how I feel about that. Alls I can say is, I am looking forward to seeing the next twenty-fiffle seasons on Netflix.
You can watch my web series, Unfair & Ugly, about a South Asian Muslim American family in Orange County, California trying to keep it together. It’s had over 300K views on YouTube and been reviewed by NBC, Aljazeera, and Refinery29!
I wrote this a couple of weeks ago and posting it today. I wish you safety, wellness, and happy Las Chicas del Cable marathon-watching in quarantine <3
First of all, the best most unexpected thing happened the other day. There I am, having breakfast, Netflix & bills, when I see that Season 5 of Las Chicas Del Cable has DROPPED in my queue:
¿¿¿¿¿Como?????
And devastatingly enough, there it is, in the title: Final Season.
So now, not only has one of the greatest gifts suddenly proposed out of nowhere, it also was like, and there will be no more of this henceforth.
Naturally, I put off watching because I was not ready for a full 24 hours before I was like, okay, let’s do this chicas.
And now, are you ready? I’m about to deliver spoilers in my greasy review so please grab your Tide pen and watch Season 5 before you continue reading.
AGAIN. WARNING. DO NOT KEEP READING UNTIL YOU WATCH SEASON 5! My review is episode by episode, so watch each episode and COME BACK AND CHAT!
Are you back? Okayomgggggggggggggggggggg listen.
Season 5: Episode 1
LA LETRA QUE CAMBIO TODO. The letter that changed it all.
How has Alba been through so many stressful situations yet she still looks like a 1960’s air hostess model in a magazine spread? There are no stress wrinkles, no gray hairs, and honestly, not a hair out of place after the mess she’s been through.
We’ve started off in NYC, and I’m SO THRILLED. Are we about to see some New York City action?
NO. This is a show about ESPAÑA, MI AMOR! We don’t have time for the Americans. WAR and teen conviction have whisked us away to danger in Madrid!
Does anyone here watch Netflix’s Cable Girls??? If you’re into all that is juicy, you should.
I don’t know who put me onto this show. It was either a Netflix rec while I was watching Secret of the Nile (which I am rewatching right now while simultaneously watching Season 4 of Cable Girls so yes I have been missing my bedtime and I have a wired look about me) or my friend recommended it to me, likely both.
Either way, this is melodrama done well. I don’t know what it is about these Netflix shows that hits that balance which South Asian dramas never seem to get. Maybe because we’re all…
… about it. (The stereotype vastly underrates how dramatic we can be.)
I thank you TV creators of Spanish speaking backgrounds, for I am enjoying the hell out of it.
You guys, I love Netflix’s Grace & Frankie. I can’t believe I just finished watching Season 4 – four seasons in and it’s just as good / getting better. Let me count the ways:
1) Who doesn’t love a good Lucy/Ethel, Thelma/Louise combo? Grace/Frankie have a dynamic worthy of its ranks. I appreciate the consistent stubbornness of their qualities, and how their flaws (and virtues) balance each other out. And cause chaos.
2) I haven’t been blessed to watch Golden Girls just yet, but I can’t think of another show that appreciated / embraced older women since then. How do we not? It’s embarrassing and we’re missing out. Grace and Frankie helps me appreciate who I might be and feel seen rather than slowly disappearing off the face of existence.
3) The humor is just. Next level in every way. I appreciate how honest and vulnerable the comedy is, that it stems from Grace and Frankie’s genuine struggles, hopes, and concerns in this chapter of their lives / f*ck you for calling it a ‘chapter of their lives.’
4) I love being able to see these beautiful humans with their beautiful wrinkles and not so beautiful joint pain, struggling with all of the above. It’s not just refreshing to see two women in their 70’s as leads – it’s necessary.
I can’t wait to rewatch it this summer and I’m looking forward to Season 5. Bravo to show creator Marta Kauffman, and the incredible forces that are Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.
Is there a show with older lead characters that you love? Leave a comment with your recs. I’m putting together my Summer Watchlist right now and would love to learn your favorites.
