The Flash finally gave Batwoman fans some much-disclosed closure, and Nic wrote about it two glorious times this week. The opposite of healing? Oh, it’s The Last of Us! Beautiful trauma! Valerie Anne and Nic recapped that for you! On a related note, Heather asked Valerie Anne if they wanted to write about this newly YouTubed Bella Ramsey horror short and they said yes faster than the literal Flash. Kayla reviewed the slasher comedy series Wreck. And she wrote about the official full-length Yellowjackets trailer. And she delighted the entire internet with her Vanderpump Rules drama write-up. Riese wrapped up Love Trip: Paris. Drew recapped Drag Race. AND NATALIE KICKED OFF AUTOSTRADDLE MARCH MADNESS.
+ Top Chef returned for its 20th season this week but this time, it came with an international flare. This season is the first being filmed entirely abroad, with 12 of the 16 All-Star contestants coming from outside the US. Over half the competitors this year have won their previous Top Chef seasons. After one episode I can tell you two things: first, there seem to be a dearth of gay contestants this year and second, given who the competitors are, I expected a better. Also? It doesn’t help that this show is airing at the same time as Food Network’s Tournament of Champions which is both gayer (though not this week) and more exciting, right out of the gate.
But Top Chef still has Padma which is enough to keep me watching. I’ll keep you updated with any additional developments. — Natalie
Station 19 609: “Come as You Are”
While the pain is unbearable, there is something that I appreciate about how Station 19 is handling the fall out of Maya’s mental health distress and the subsequent (I’m hopeful, for now) break up of Maya and Carina: We are getting to see them separately, as their own people, for once. Last week we focused in on Maya, who has a lot of healing and unpacking to do now that she’s home from the hospital. But this week, we spent the largest amount of time with Carina alone that I think we’ve had since she moved from Grey’s to Station 19 full time. Stefania Spaminato is such a talent and the layers that she brings to Carina, even in “lighter” plots — which arguably could be said of this week’s episode — are always carefully drawn and shine.
But first, a little more Maya. Following Dr. Tracie Thoms’ advice, Maya is trying very hard not to call Carina, and is focusing on her meditation app. The calming voice on her phone encourages her to breath in and out, but on every inhale Maya sees Carina’s face, the laughter they shared, the sex they’ve had, the sweet sweet kisses (all excellent use of old footage from past seasons, by the way!) and on every exhale she sees each fight between them. Finally, not able to handle anymore, Maya breaks down and calls her wife. She is sorry, she is so sorry. But she thinks she’s better, she knows that Carina makes her better, and won’t Carina please consider coming back home?
Meanwhile, it’s clinic day at the firehouse. And Carina has a new patient, a very sweet pregnant Black woman with nerdy glasses and supreme confidence in her own skin (loved her, by the way). She was warned by her friends — the infamous weed lesbians from Grey’s season 14 and no, I will never know them as anything else — that Carina would be distractingly beautiful, but nothing can really prepare you for seeing Dr. Orgasm in real life. So Carina performs her exam while the patient respectfully flirts. Carina laughs and smiles like the sun and if it wasn’t for the fact that we already know that Maya’s sitting at home in a world of hurt, I would even say it was wholesome.
At the end of her appointment the patient asks Carina if maybe she’d like to go for a coffee sometime? Or a drink? (Obviously, being two hundred months extremely pregnant, she will not be drinking! But she can watch Carina drink, and they could spend time together). Surprisingly, Carina says yes. It’s been brought to my attention — hi, Twitter! — that Carina doesn’t explicitly say yes, but I felt like it was pretty implied. Sorry about that.
Ok, later that night, Carina returns home to Maya and Carina’s apartment. At first, Maya leaps up. Carina’s home, and maybe, just maybe she could breathe again. But Carina’s only there to get her shampoo (she can’t deal with the hotel bottle one more night) and in case you forgot — the reason she moved out is because Maya told her to. Maya hurt Carina, over and over again. No matter how many times Carina begged Maya to get help, Maya refused until she was being restrained in a hospital bed.
Carina’s so happy that Maya is doing better. She only wants for Maya’s wholeness. But them getting back together? That is going to take a lot more time.
