There we were, all uplifted and excited by the energy shift in the election and Donald Trump's falling poll numbers and the Big Tent Democratic National Convention about to formally nominate the first Black woman presidential candidate of a major party in U. S. history.
Was it too much to ask that we also be allowed to have happy lesbian couples on TV? Yes, apparently, it was.
We had really been deeply invested in the front-burner lesbian storyline on "General Hospital" between Alison "Blaze" Rogers (Jacqueline Grace Lopez) and Kristina Corinthos-Davis (Kate Mansi) since last fall. We can't remember the last time there was a true lesbian coupling on a daytime soap, but it has been forever. Maybe since "Guiding Light" went off the air.
And it has been such a rich and complex storyline, too. And both actresses are terrific in their respective roles. And because Kristina is a central character in two families of main characters as the daughter of mobster Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and attorney and journalist Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn), there was no chance she was going anywhere. Plus, Kristina has a long queer history, so this wasn't a passing phase she was going through.
Soap drama
But then the accident happened. Who could possibly have predicted such a cataclysmic shift in storyline as the "GH" writers having eight-months-pregnant Kristina get into an altercation with Sonny's ex Ava Jerome (Maura West) and fall through Ava's window at the Metro Court? Kristina fell a story into the pool, landing face and stomach first as horrified pool-goers watched. Josslyn's quick thinking as a lifeguard saved Kristina's life. But the injuries sustained by the baby were too much and she did not survive.
Nor did Kristina and Alison's relationship. A devastated Kristina who was already having trouble imagining herself giving up the baby she was carrying for her sister Molly and Molly's partner TJ was now fully immersed in the loss of her baby, the baby she had nurtured and talked to and protected even in recent weeks from her own sister and TJ, who she saw as a less stable couple than she and Alison. Oh.
Perhaps the break up was inevitable after the accident. We watched Alison's controlling mother whisk her away from the hospital when Kristina was still in surgery, asserting this was no place for her as it was just family. Because queer relationships are never viewed as familial by straight people, especially not Alison's manager/mother, the homophobic Natalia Rogers-Ramirez (Eva Larue).
And then the hospital itself failed Alison when she returned there, also not recognizing the relationship and not letting her in to see Kristina because she was not "family."
But Kristina never asked for Alison, either. Never asked to see the woman she was building a love relationship so deep with that the two had navigated Alison's mother Natalia public outing of Alison and all that had entailed. Kristina never asked to see the woman with whom she fantasized raising the baby she was carrying.
When a chance to tour as an opening act for a Latino singer presented itself in the midst of this tragedy and chaos, Alison said no. Thus, a tearful but still meddling and homophobic stage manager Natalia went to Kristina's room in ICU (she could get in, but Alison could not...) and begged her to "let my daughter go."
When Alison finally sees Kristina, who brought her the soft throw they used to cuddle under on the sofa in Kristina's apartment ("I brought you something that smelled like home"), Kristina had already made up her mind to break up with Alison.
In the most devastating part of the exchange, she refers to her not as Ali but as Blaze. We could see the knife to the heart on Alison's face.
And then it was over. A final kiss goodbye. A request by Alison for Kristina to please call her if she wanted or needed her and she would come running. After the door closes on Kristina's hospital room, she gathers the throw to her and sobs uncontrollably. How much loss can one young lesbian take?
This breakup doesn't take Kristina off the "GH" grid. In fact, she is now the central figure in the "who really killed that baby?" storyline and at the end of the August 16 episode in a dramatic Friday cliffhanger, as a discharged Kristina is being wheeled out of the hospital, she is arrested. Whut?
We get that Kristina is broken by her devastating loss, even asking her mobster father to have Ava killed. But this was a chance to have this couple hold each other up through a major life event and navigate an uncertain future together. Instead, Alison/Blaze is just gone and in a very unsatisfying and anti-climactic way. And Natalia gets to stay in Port Charles, having been fired and disowned by her angry daughter, but is hired to work for Sonny who has chemistry with her.
So now Kristina is off to jail, alone, without her beloved. And viewers deeply invested in the realness of this lesbian romance are left wondering why lesbian couples are such a drag to writers with endless imagination for straight couplings.
Orphan age
There's no lack of imagination in the lesbian storyline that we discover is the foundation for much of the plot of AMC's amazing spin off of the beloved five-season sci-fi series "Orphan Black," "Orphan Black: Echoes." This series is barreling toward its season one finale, so we are going to limit what we say here, but this is perhaps the most beautiful and heartbreaking lesbian storyline we have ever seen.
The question posed again and again throughout is: What would you do to keep the lesbian love of your lesbian life alive? We hope never to be faced with that question (We, sadly, were. (
The relationship between Dr. Kira Manning (Keeley Hawes), a scientist, and her wife, Dr. Eleanor Miller (Rya Kihlstedt), a neuroscientist, is deep and lasting, some would argue eternal. They have a child together, Lucas Manning (Jaeden Noel). Everything is lovely until Eleanor develops the devastating early-onset Alzheimer's and all that entails. The heartbreak of being forgotten by the person you love most in life is nigh-on unbearable and Kira can't bear it, so she does something she shouldn't.
That's when Kira puts her mad scientist skills to Mephistophelian use and wow—what a storyline we get out of this tragedy. What we can say about "Orphan Black: Echoes" without massive spoilers is that this is a brilliant sci-fi thriller, the acting is stellar, there are many layers of queerness beyond the relationship between Kira and Eleanor, but ohmyeffinggod the lengths writers will go to destroy a lesbian coupling sometimes feels downright MAGA.
And yet we cannot recommend this series highly enough. On AMC, AMC+, BBC America and Amazon Prime.
Possessed
"The Deliverance," the latest film from out gay director Lee Daniels reunites him with Andra Day and Mo'Nique. The Netflix original is based on a true story of demonic possession. It is a story about all the layers of possession experienced by people in historically marginalized communities who go unheard and unseen. Possession is very much a metaphor in this film for the racism, misogyny and classism which drive the lives of these characters.
Day plays Ebony, an alcoholic mother of a Pennsylvania family whose children purportedly became demonically possessed. Glenn Close is Alberta, Ebony's hyper-religious mother. Mo'Nique is a tour de force as Cynthia Henry, a social worker from hell.
After moving into a mysterious house, a struggling mother (Day) must face down her demons in order to save her children's souls. "The Deliverance" also stars Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Miss Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Caleb McLaughlin, Tasha Smith and Omar Epps. The film was released in select theaters on August 16, 2024, and will stream on Netflix on August 30. Any film by Daniels is worth watching and the powerhouse performances are extraordinary.
While no drop date has been released yet for season two of HBO MAX's "The Last of Us," the new trailer has debuted and it is quite the teaser!
Emmy-worthy
Some of our fave queer series garnered Emmy nominations, including the extraordinary "Truman Capote v. The Swans," with multiple nominees for the incomparable Tom Hollander as Capote and Naomi Watts as his bestie Babe Paley.
Also, "The Bear," "What We Do in the Shadows" and "Only Murders in the Building." "OMITB" season 4 drops August 27 on Hulu. Maybe Selena Gomez's Mabel will be allowed to be a lesbian again, if they don't kill off or disappear her girlfriend as they did last season.
There are many more Emmy nominees with queer résumés, so be sure to prep for the Emmy Awards which air Sept. 15 on ABC.
Conventional
Finally, with the Harris-Walz ticket getting its validation at the Democratic National Convention this week in Chicago, Donald Trump seems particularly lost and befuddled. On August 17, while in the pivotal battleground state of Pennsylvania, he referred to it as North Carolina more than once.
And he also asserted about the Vice President, who he has called "dumb," "not intelligent" and "low IQ," "Have you heard her laugh? That is the laugh of a crazy person. The laugh of a lunatic. Have you heard her? They prohibited her from laughing. I have been waiting for her to laugh. As soon as she laughs, the election is over."
Right. Tell it to the polls. And the cat ladies for Harris. So, for the lesbians you love and the politicians you do not, you know you really must stay tuned.
Never miss a story! Keep up to date on the latest news, arts, politics, entertainment, and nightlife.
Sign up for the Bay Area Reporter's free weekday email newsletter. You'll receive our newsletters and special offers from our community partners.
Support California's largest LGBTQ newsroom. Your one-time, monthly, or annual contribution advocates for LGBTQ communities. Amplify a trusted voice providing news, information, and cultural coverage to all members of our community, regardless of their ability to pay -- Donate today!