GLOWglows, effervescent with comedic energy and dreamy desperation.

It was an aspirational parody,my favorite comedy last yearandmy favorite drama.

In season 2, small success breeds large problems.

Ruth herself films that title sequence as a larky team-building getaway.

You think we really captured the nexus of girl-on-girl violence and consumer culture in America?

she asks, sounding like an arty goof or a critic who really lovesGLOW.

As power dynamics shift, Debbies got her own plans.

In the ring, shes Liberty Belle, the star-spangled star of the show-within-the-show.

But what she really wants is to produce, get invited into the room where it happens.

Meanwhile, theres a timely subplot about a room where itshouldnthappen.

A web link executive visits.

Mr. Grant always takes meetings in his roomsounds like a horror movie or a recent headline, right?

The bantery ensemble comedy and doing-our-own-stunts stage farce leads to darker, more raw emotional places.

Meanwhile, Maron remains a wounded delight, a middle-aged man getting over his own auteur theory.

Its a big ensemble, and some arcs develop further than others.

(There arent many, turns out.)

In the premiere, an exasperated Sam asks: You ever work aroundthismany women?

Not enough of us have, but thanks toGLOW, we can imagine it pretty well.A-