the two most prevalent wlw couples of taz really do warm my heart because they show how immediately open to representation griffin is like
killian introduces carey and says sheās really impressiveā about ten eps later when theyāre reunited (after a few months of people posting abt and reacting to the crystal kingdom) and they have a really cute reunion and are just dating from that point onward, no fanfare or anything, just as seamless as anything else
thereās a consistent subplot in petals to the metal of hurley being really conflicted about taking down sloane because they were together before sloane found the sash (and kind of were even after that) and they have this really bittersweet reunion and griffin has them turn into a tree with them still embracing at the rootsā that honestly was already more than most shows were giving their dead wlw during the height of bury your gays (which, christ, is barely even over), but griffin took that context and comparison to heart (and explicitly said so) and literally unburied them in story and song
(and as for amnesty, aubrey and dani isnāt a will they, wonāt they. it hasnāt come to the forefront (until the most recent arc) just because of how monster of the week is structured, but travis and griffin donāt shy away from confirming that theyāre interested in each other and spend a lot of time together.)
itās thoughtful representation, not played for woke points or written as some kind of selling point for audiences. griffin doesnāt bat an eye at listener input.
so many shows donāt consider a wlw relationship a normal shift in the dynamic between characters. it either becomes a big selling point to draw in the demographicā in which case it mostly ends in death with zero regard because they met their representation quota and donāt need to āworryā about it anymoreā or the cast and show writers will literally ridicule their own audience (cough cw cough). thereās the very clear message that āwe have to make this a giant plot point and explicitly show that these two characters are going to be together because thatās what we think all wlw relationships are like.ā the message that wlw are not something normal. that seeing two female characters be/get really close over time and interpreting it as gay is wrong unless explicitly stated otherwise. itās refusal to normalize the experience of a woman being attracted to another woman and as a lesbian whoās been watching it happen for years, it, no hyperbole, physically hurts. itās this horrible, sinking feeling right in your solar plexus because you can hear them telling you that you will never be normal
the complete absence of that mindset in taz is so incredibly refreshing that it literally has made me cry. with hurley and sloan, griffin gets told about the prevalence of a harmful trope and how heās accidentally contributed to it, and he actively makes amends not so he can laud it but because itās harmful and he doesnāt want to be complacent in it. and thereās this wonderful simplicity to the progression of team sweet flips because itās treated as normal. we watch them get married and it feels normal. aubrey and dani can be in this period of testing the waters and thereās no unnecessary tension or stakes. itās normal for a woman to be with another woman, or to want to be with a woman, and it doesnāt need foresight, it doesnāt need planning because thatās actually how it is.
