Pop Junction

As Delta rages through the global population, we seriously contemplate a 24-hour Truman Show-style version of the pod for the end times. We also thank our son/lover Lil Nas X (and his prison baes) for singlehandedly transforming the culture and solving the problem of misogyny. And then it’s on to the absolute shitshow that is The L Word Season 3. It begins with Big Bonkerstown Bisexual Behavior (thanks, Alice) and ultimately ends with a finale worthy of Lifetime (thanks, Bette). Sing it: Ohhh, we’re halfway there!

Shout-out to our new mixer Brogan Molloy for his work on this ep and for serving Irish Name Realness. 

If there’s a world in which OUR mother MJ Rodriguez--AKA Blanca Evangelista on POSE--doesn’t win that Emmy, we don’t want to live in it, thanks. We talk other noms, and how Gabriel Byrne saved the plot disappointment of Gillian Armstrong’s Little Women with his eternal hotness (and made us horny at the age of 11). We continue our lookback at The L Word (OG) with Season 2 and ask ourselves the age-old question, can exes truly be friends? And should Tim have just kicked Jenny’s ass out? 

All aboard the Shane Train! It’s finally happening: after more than a decade of hating on The L Word (without having watched a second of it), Caitlin is watching IT ALL for the very first time. The first installment of our six-part deep-dive in honor of Pride. We talk about it all: from Jenny being the Dawson to Laurel Holloman’s High Camp performance when Tina finds out Bette’s been cheating on her. And! Mia drops an epic bomb on air.

The L Word theme song (AKA “Kicking Punching Fighting Fucking”): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRnlpBCDYgY

To quote the great Cher Horowitz: did you know the wounds of adolescence can take years to heal? We must’ve been on hiatus because we are ALL OVER THE PLACE in this ep -- from high school bullies to mobster ex-boyfriends’ sisters giving us subpar service at Applebee’s, this ep’s GOT IT ALL.

But mostly, we’re here to talk about the travesty that is FX’s POSE ending. During our hiatus, Season 3 came and went, and we’ve got lots to say about it. POUR ONE OUT, and happy Pride, bitches!

House of Abundance first walk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qXaQaofKHk

The trauma of Issa Rae’s Insecure is our trauma. Not a throwback episode, but an ep that honors the show--and its brutal honesty about what it’s like moving from your late twenties into your thirties.  To be fair, we also watch it for the mancandy.  (We can’t wait for the spinoff, Men With Feelings).  Tune in for our hopes and predictions for the fifth and final season.  We’re off next week, but we’ll be back on 3/12!

It’s the WHITNEY HOUSTON ep!  WhitHOUS!  This episode can only be described in one word: unhinged. And just to bring you all of its wacky goodness, we edited it with a light hand.  We start with queer representation on The Jetsons, revisit our own iconic looks from high school, and ultimately end up duking it out over our respective top five Whitney songs.  The minute this pandemic is over, we’re hitting the (gay) club and immediately requesting the Thunderpuss Remix of It’s Not Right.  Untz untz untz.  Whitney, we love you.  We miss you.  We’re grateful for your music and your light.

"When Whitney Hit the High Note" by Danyel Smith: http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/14673003/the-story-whitney-houston-epic-national-anthem-performance-1991-super-bowl

"Can I Be Me" Whitney documentary on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/movie/whitney-can-i-be-me-beaf70e8-d522-44a5-b355-579e3c70969b

It’s A Different World! (From where you come from). Ah, remember the days when TV shows had theme songs? Remember the days when they had MULTIPLE VERSIONS of their theme song? And OH, the BTS drama of Lisa Bonet’s departure from this Cosby Show spinoff and piece of UTTERLY formative media. BUT: it gave us the epic love story of Whitley Gilbert & Dwayne Wayne. Excuse us, Dwayne CLEOFIS Wayne. CLEOFIS. Cleofis. Also, we discover that a Jamaican accent is not that far from a Minnesota one, dontcha know.  And that Vulture’s scathing review of Netflix’s Malcolm & Marie is GOD-DAMN levels of harsh, but we gotta give kudos for its mastery of the essay form.

Mental health struggles abound! Darkness is spreading, to quote Chappelle’s Show. Luckily, Caitlin is able to get a last minute therapy sesh in which she’s finally delivered her Good Will Hunting breakthrough fantasy (“Will, it’s not your fault”). But what we’re actually here for is POSE, the groundbreaking FX series about NYC ballroom culture. That soundtrack is B-A-N-A-N-A-S, Angel and Papi are relationship goals, and they make a night of 80s coke-fueled mania look good. We also make forays into the Bobbi & Whitney of it all and our favorite of Aunt Viv’s sisters on the Fresh Prince. (Also, never question the timeline of Fresh Prince, for that way lies madness).

POSE soundtrack on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5zrcRVNZtWVO1ScTVrbtlU

In which Mia & Caitlin revisit the super formative YA horror series and discover that RL Stine’s writing--and the way he saw women--was pure trash. But the books were so beautifully formulaic that we were able to devour three at a time at age ten. Conversation quickly veers into how we miss our adolescent imagination and its ability to conjure drawn-out, detailed crush fantasies. Shout-out to B. Dalton and Waldenbooks, but mostly B. Dalton.

Caitlin’s brother is turning 40, and we are feeling our impending midlife crisis something fierce. Also: a look back at beloved romance and bisexual dilemma, Love & Basketball. Quincy McCall was Capital “P” levels of Petty and Monica Wright was hot but only serving doses of Feminism 2.0. Also, was Quincy in good hands with Allstate Dad? Not with all that toxic masculinity he wasn’t.