If you haven't started watching GLOW season 3, you really need to cancel your Sunday plans.

Warning: This post contains mild spoilers for GLOW season 3. Proceed with caution.

If you like your Netflix shows witty, heartfelt and complete with enormous fluffy hair and an avalanche of sequins, settle in for an evening in front of GLOW season 3.

That’s an order.

After what seems like an eternity, GLOW – the based-on-a-true-story comedy-drama set in the 1980s created by Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch – is back for a third season, and it may just be the best yet.

Heck, it may even be the best thing on Netflix right now.

Watch the official trailer for GLOW season 3 below. Post continues after video.

The season sees the cast of the “Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling” take the glitzy stage of Las Vegas casino the Fan-Tan. Which is, yes, just as deliciously tacky as it sounds. A five-hour long tourism ad for Las Vegas in the 80s, it’ll make you want to book flights and a time machine from the very first episode (which, if you’ve seen it, is equally uncomfortable and hilarious as Ruth makes an excruciating live TV faux pas in an improvised comedy skit during The Challenger’s disastrous 1986 launch into space).

But with the desert shift from the sunny scenes of Hollywood, each character – as charismatic, complex and undeniably clever as the next – has their insecurities laid bare to incredible effect. There’s not a stone unturned when it comes to the issues women face in their day-to-day lives. And we’re not talking issues exclusive to the era, either.

While season one introduced us to each woman’s journey to the GLOW audition, and season two focused mainly on the strengthening their bonds each other, season three sees them navigate the struggles that have arisen as they’ve become more and more entrenched in the world of GLOW. One which – despite many an outsider wrongly assuming it’s soft porn or merely a spoof of the “more serious” male wrestling game – is at its core a celebration of female strength.

The result, from episode one through to episode 10, is simply magnetic.

From exploring the complexities of new professional, romantic and family relationships, to tackling gender politics, LGBT rights, sexism in Hollywood and racism, GLOW is one of the most thoughtful shows on TV right now.

And with a female-dominated cast of women of all shapes, sizes and colours – it’s up there with the most diverse.

 

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A BTS look at Friday’s new season ???? Who’s glowing with excitement??

A post shared by GLOW (@glownetflix) on Aug 6, 2019 at 1:07pm PDT

Ruth – played by Community’s Alison Brie, battles her feelings for Sam in the season’s central “will they won’t they” romantic plot, while Debbie, played by Betty Gilpin, juggles motherhood, acting, producing, old boys-club politics and casual dating, while becoming somewhat of a feminist icon. She’s not afraid to appear tough, display raw emotion, and challenge the gender roles forced upon her as a mother of a young child.

But just when GLOW couldn’t stand any firmer as one of the most important odes to feminism on Netflix right now, Hollywood heavyweight Geena Davis, 63, who plays Sandy, a savvy ex-showgirl turned hotel manager and Las Vegas stalwart, gives us the rare opportunity to applaud the representation of women over 60 on television. In episode 9, she steps out on stage head-to-toe in Bob Mackie showgirl attire, diamante nipple covers and all, exuding confidence as she sings a rendition of ‘I’m Glad That I’m Not Young Anymore’. It’s a sure highlight of the season.

In fact, there’s not a demure “age appropriate” Hollywood costume in sight for Geena’s sequin-spangled character. It’s refreshing, even though it shouldn’t have to be.

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In addition to the powerful feminist commentary throughout the season, it’s one that tackles the struggles of the 1980s LGBT community to aplomb. The inclusion of drag performer Bobby, played by Kevin Cahoon, explores the devastation of hate crime in early 1980s America, and the budding relationship between Arthie and Yolanda follows the difficulties of being a gay woman of colour in an era not yet entirely accepting.

It’s as viciously funny as the last two seasons, peppered with references you need to be paying close attention to in order to pick up at times. In one scene, neurotic director Sam (Marc Maron) and “rich kid with a heart of gold” Bash (Chris Lowell) play tennis with two sleazy Vegas business men who mention they’d previously played with a “kid named Agassi with hair like a woman”. Of course, this was just a few years before Andre Agassi became the world number one.

So you see it’s not just the fashion, killer soundtrack and Geena Davis absolutely slaying as a former showgirl turned sassy Vegas bosslady that’ll have you hooked to season 3 of GLOW.

It’s the heart at the centre of the storyline, that episode after episode, never fails to leave you with the warm and fuzzies.

While it’s an ambitious season from the get-go, straddling issues of gender politics, LGBT rights, racism and bigotry, it never errs from its greatest attribute; it’s just pure fun.

So what are you still doing here?

Get binging.

Seasons 1-3 of GLOW are now streaming on Netflix.