GLOW Returns a Fourth and Final Time

Great news, Netflix streamers! Netflix recently announced the GLOW has been renewed for a fourth season. As a young man, I used to watch the real Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW) until it’s sudden disappearance from the TV airwaves. (Any TV show with scantily-clad ladies appealed to many 16-year-old boys back then.) Anyway, Netflix’s GLOW does an excellent job of recreating that golden era of the late 1980s. It also tells a compelling story of this ragtag group of failed actors turned pro wrestlers. So, all this is coming back for a fourth seasons. It’s also going to be its last, but that’s good news, too. Let me explain…

Here’s a not-quite-trailer-but-more-like-an-announcement of GLOW’s fourth season that Netflix released on the show’s Twitter account:

GLOW Season 4: We Don’t Know Much

Sadly, it’s true. Outside of the announcement of season four, Netflix has been pretty tight-lipped about it. We do know there will be 10 episodes, but we don’t have an official release date. We also don’t know anything about the storyline, though I suspect it will pick up where season three ended: the girls returning for another run at the fictional Fan-Tan Hotel & Casino is Las Vegas. As an original GLOW fan and watcher of a documentary about the promotion, I think I know where season four will go. To say any more would violate the no spoilers rule I have for the Streaming Saturday series.

Four and Done is Just Fine with Me

Have you ever streamed a series that dragged on a bit longer than it should have? I know my friend Stuart Sweet has. Check out his scathing commentary about Netflix’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. His issues with that series are an excellent example of the negative effects of a series that went on too long and lost the plot. With so many streaming services offering so much original programming, this is bound to happen.

I felt the same way about AMC’s The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead. (Yes, not technically streaming but stick with me here.) I gave up on FTWD first then dumped TWD shortly after, probably an episode or two before Rick Grimes died. (Quit your whining! That’s hardly a spoiler by now.) In both cases, the problem was the same:

  1. The plot/premise was stretched until it become stupid.
  2. Each episode feels like its needlessly dragging on without a clear point.
  3. The so-called protagonists were repulsive.

This is why I was glad to hear that GLOW is ending with its fourth season. It really is such a great show in terms of characters, story, plot, and setting. All of that would be thrown away if the show’s creators dragged it on and on to the point of it being annoying. Besides, the story of why the real GLOW ended abruptly is a short one, so there’s no need to stretch the fictional series out any longer than they have to.

Speaking of the Real GLOW

…Would you like to know the true story? If so, you can watch GLOW: The Story of The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. It’s a documentary that’s available on Netflix as of this writing. It tells the full story of the rise and fall of this campy yet endearing female wrestling organization. I watched this about a year before the release of Netflix’s GLOW and enjoyed getting the story behind the story. Full disclosure: the ending, which involves a reunion of many of the GLOW girls, is rather bittersweet.

There’s something else you need to know about the GLOW documentary. It provides the ultimate spoiler, which is what brought about the untimely demise of this wrestling production. If you don’t want anything to spoil the GLOW series, you should give watching this documentary some serious consideration. That said, I don’t know how long this show will stay on Netflix. Just so you know, I saw the doc first and it only made me more interested to watch the Netflix series.

My advice: check out the documentary. You’ll learn a lot and maybe even look forward to the Netflix series’ final season all the more.

About the Author

Jake Buckler
Jake Buckler is a cord-cutter, consumer electronics geek, and Celtic folk music fan. Those qualities, and his writing experience, helped him land a copywriting gig at Signal Group, LLC. He also contributes to The Solid Signal Blog.