Good Trouble returns Tuesday night at 8:00PM ET on FREEFORM
In last week’s episode, Good Trouble decided to shake some tables, and it was quite magnificent. Mariana went out and had a threesome which she absolutely enjoyed, and everyone was proud of how the show handled this particular topic. The writers could have easily shied away from expressing how some people enjoyed threesomes and created a judgmental atmosphere for Mariana, but they didn’t go down that route which I appreciated. We saw Alice in a delightful scene make a bold move and open up herself to dating and finally; hopefully start the process of moving on from Sumi. Callie and Gael decided to put a stop to their romp in the sheets only relationship which was sincerely beginning to get on my nerves, but I am not so sure we won’t see them again having sex. Malika got her groove on, and Davia managed to savor sex with someone she thought was not in her league. Our coterie gang had fun and made some grown-up decisions.
The stories in each episode on this show are usually narrated with a combination of internal and external analepsis, and this can be very confusing if one is not paying attention. Not to say that this is a bad thing it works for many shows but Good Trouble does this irregularly and it requires patience particularly for someone like me who just wants to see things move forward.
Byte Club opens with Callie getting caught up in an uncomfortable place after hearing Judge Wilson and his son go at each other. There is a little bit of history revealed about the judge and his relationship with his children. The meltdown during that confrontation with his son made the Judge more relatable, and we were able to see a softer side. I also loved the little pep talk that the judge gave Callie about honor and Integrity. Callie has shown so much maturity on this show, but she is not one to avoid controversy. She has exhibited many times that she’s a risk taker. Callie and Rebecca worked together on a case about sexual harassment that's handled delicately. It led to the reveal of Rebecca’s admission of harassment she faced while working for a different judge. What was great about the show tackling this particular topic was how they highlighted not only the psychological harm victims endured but also the economic hardships caused by loss of income and opportunity for advancement. It was not only told from the victim Elizabeth’s' point of view but also through Rebecca’s own story of having to change from working with the inappropriate Judge and the loss of time and intellectual resources she had invested while clerking with the abusive judge. The writers choosing to make Callie accept Rebecca’s explanation for not coming forward was significant because it showed the struggle that many victims go through in these cases.
The meet up between Jesus and Rebecca was a bit farfetched, but I am willing to give this a chance and see where the writers take it. If it means having more Noah Centineo in the show, then I am all for it, but it feels crowded with all the characters they have. Jesus got him an audience with a venture capitalist Nathan via Dennis. Nathan ends up admitting that he is dating Dennis’s soon to be ex-wife. I want to see more of this storyline since Dennis attempted to flirt with Rebecca at the bar and it did not go well. Jesus got to see firsthand all the struggles that Mariana has been going through, and even though he loves her, he is a little out of touch. Mariana was right to be upset at how easy it was for Jesus to get a man to join his venture. After watching Frye festival, I wasn’t at all surprised by how simple it was for a funder to jump on Jesus's idea which was questionable at best. I think they have good chemistry and their banter whenever they are around each other is amusing. There was no Gael, Malika or Alice in this episode but Davia ribbing Callie about the situation with Gael filled us in on Bryan and him being exclusive. If I were making the hookup decisions for this show, I would definitely pair Dennis with Davia.
Over at Speculate, things turned out in Mariana's favor after Raj chose ally-ship over misogyny. Speaking up about Alex and the blue teams sidelining of Mariana was not bold, it was essential and long overdue. I was worried that Raj would continue enjoying his proximity to Alex privilege despite the second class treatment he was getting. Thank whoever made the decision to give him a redeeming arch. Raj is a good guy and reflecting this on the show is necessary. I was proud of Mariana and her gang of women engineers for getting together and strategizing on how to take control of the toxic environment at Speculate. The only downside to this was watching how the burden of proving one's worth is still on the marginalized, and it stung a little. Their plan of finding out pay discrepancy is a big step in presenting a strong case on the inequities women face at work especially when hired with the same experience and to do the same job as their male counterparts. I believe in compensation transparency, and in a more ideal world, this would not be information privy to just a few. Also, nondisclosures on revealing wages should be banned in my opinion, talking about salaries should not be a taboo subject.
Byte Club turned out to be a very triggering episode for me for reasons that are obvious if you watched. It was not the best episode narrative-wise, but it served its purpose. I loved seeing the Foster-Adam kids together sharing a cute family moment which was an indication of the excellent work Lena and Stef did to create this bond.
What did you guys think of the episode?
