Alec Newboles September 20th, 2019 - 5:55 PM
Netflix’s GLOW will be returning for a fourth and final season. The wrestling dramedy, which counts Alison Brie, Marc Maron, and Betty Gilpin among its stars, will conclude its story in ten final episodes. The show is loosely based on the real life “Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling,” GLOW for short, who made up the cast of a hit wrestling show in the 1980’s.
Thus far, the Netflix series has depicted GLOW in its younger stages, with the promotion progressing from a public access curiosity to a Las Vegas live attraction. Brie stars as Ruth Wilder, a struggling actress who joins GLOW as the Soviet caricature “Zoya the Destroya.” Wilder’s involvement in the promotion becomes complicated when her former best friend, established actress Debbie Eagan (Gilpin), joins the show after learning that Ruth had had an affair with her husband. As a wrestler, she dons the all-American persona “Liberty Belle.” Marc Maron joins the cast as Sam Sylvia, a washed up film director who, in the process of directing GLOW, comes to fall for Ruth. During its run, the show has taken on issues like the depiction of race in media and the pervasive nature of “me too”-esque abuses in the entertainment industry. Its main cast also includes Britney Young, Sydelle Noel, Kate Nash, Britt Baron, Chris Lowell, Gayle Rankin, Jackie Tohn, and Kia Stevens.
Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch created GLOW and have served as its co-showrunners for its entire run. They will retain that position for the upcoming final season. They executive produce in conjunction with Mark Burley, Jenji Kohan, and Tara Herrmann.
Netflix’s decision to greenlight GLOW for one final season answers a question that has stood since production began on season three. During that season’s development, it was unknown if the series would receive a fourth installment. In the face of this uncertainty, Flahive and Mensch decided against bringing the story to an end that season, instead leaving the show on a cliffhanger in the hopes of having more episodes to end the story. Speaking on the decision to the Hollywood Reporter, Flahive said, “We have a full story to tell and whether or not we’re idiots for not giving ourselves an ending this season remains to be seen. . . . This show has a big heart and a big cast and big story to tell, and other people are not going to set that limit for us. We can’t do that, because it wouldn’t be fair to what we’re trying to do. We’d love to have the opportunity to give the show a satisfying ending.”
The fourth and final season of Netflix’s GLOW does not yet have a release date.
