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 she’s really impressive— about ten eps later when they’re 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
there’s 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 roots— 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 isn’t a will they, won’t they. it hasn’t come to the forefront (until the most recent arc) just because of how monster of the week is structured, but travis and griffin don’t shy away from confirming that they’re interested in each other and spend a lot of time together.)
it’s thoughtful representation, not played for woke points or written as some kind of selling point for audiences. griffin doesn’t bat an eye at listener input.
so many shows don’t consider a wlw relationship a normal shift in the dynamic between characters. it either becomes a big selling point to draw in the demographic— in which case it mostly ends in death with zero regard because they met their representation quota and don’t need to “worry” about it anymore— or the cast and show writers will literally ridicule their own audience (cough cw cough). there’s the very clear message that “we have to make this a giant plot point and explicitly show that these two characters are going to be together because that’s what we think all wlw relationships are like.” 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. it’s refusal to normalize the experience of a woman being attracted to another woman and as a lesbian who’s been watching it happen for years, it, no hyperbole, physically hurts. it’s 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 he’s accidentally contributed to it, and he actively makes amends not so he can laud it but because it’s harmful and he doesn’t want to be complacent in it. and there’s this wonderful simplicity to the progression of team sweet flips because it’s 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 there’s no unnecessary tension or stakes. it’s normal for a woman to be with another woman, or to want to be with a woman, and it doesn’t need foresight, it doesn’t need planning because that’s actually how it is.
