When Grand Hotel announced Katey Sagal was joining the cast, I thought …well, I’m not sure what I thought, but I can promise you I didn’t think we’d get this. Probably because, back when the casting was announced, I still didn’t know what to expect from the show, much less a well-known guest star. But here we are, here she is, making her debut in “Groom Service,” and let me just say …it all makes sense.
It absolutely makes sense for this show to bring in a strong female character and make her the boss. And I’m not just talking the boss in she’s in charge, though she really, really is in charge, I’m talking the boss in the bad way too. So often, women get stuck in these stereotypes, we can’t be morally grey unless we’re doing it for our family, we can’t be too good because that makes us stupid, and we absolutely cannot be evil.
Not real evil.
Maybe 10 year old me would have taken that as a compliment. Maybe then I would have liked to believe that as a woman, I couldn’t be that. But the truth is, the one we’re fighting to hard for, is that, as a woman, I can be absolutely anything I want. And that includes the freaking villain of the whole story.
Or, like Gigi, a strong woman, one who pulled herself and her family out of a hole, one who hasn’t always been the best mother, and who hasn’t always known how to heal the divide between her family and Santiago’s, but someone who keeps trying nonetheless.
And then there’s Alicia, good, kind-hearted Alicia, of the open heart and trusting nature. It’s easy to look at a character like her and think that she needs to be harsher, that she needs to be more distrustful. But the truth is Alicia is who she wants to be, and this show, these group of writers, is very good at allowing women to be who they want to be, without making them stereotypes.
In the end, we can be many things. We can be all things. Womanhood isn’t about choosing just one aspect, and thought TV hasn’t always understood that in general, I’m very, very happy Grand Hotel does.
Plus, if I get to be happy about that while enjoying the insane twists and turns, the secrets and the way these amazing actors who absolutely ooze chemistry interact with each other, then what else can I ask for?
What else can we ask for?
- Gigi’s whole look in the opening scene is probably the most attractive thing I’ve ever seen in this show.
- And this show has plenty of attractive men.
- Ya basta is for when you royally f*cked up.
- But where did Santiago sleep?
- Danny and Alicia are SO FREAKING CUTE I CAN’T TAKE IT.
- It’s gonna go bad soon, right?
- Hopefully not because Danny has to actually send some of her family to jail.
- I kinda like them now.
- Jason is the best son.
- Danny and Alicia are so f*cking obvious. Like, come on.
- Of course Jason saw through that.
- Alicia, do you think your dad is blind or what?
- Carolina and Yoli are also really, really bad at keeping secrets.
- This family has too many secrets to be so bad at lying.
- Sure Danny, STAND THERE SO THE COP CAN SEE YOU.
- “Honey, she’s 12. Everyone is older.”
- Like, I was going to say something about Alicia knowing better than to call people older, but that response just made it all better.
- When are you gonna learn about Beatriz Mendoza’s secrets?
- HAHAHAHA ROADKILL.
- Awww Mrs. P.
- I feel really bad for Ingrid. It’s easy cause I know she isn’t a bad person, and there’s also the fact that women just always get the worst part.
- Look at Mateo, an actual ganster, all happy, with a job.
- “There are no good or bad people, there are just people”
- And Mateo.
- Yeah, you’ll make time Danny. You will.
- I see you, Jason.
- I see you.
- You’re just like Felix is a low blow.
- But she’s got every right to feel that way.
- I hate Felix so much. It doesn’t help that ever since Heroes, I haven’t loved actor.
- “I’ve been planning this wedding in my head for 30 years.”
- Alicia being proud of Danny is super cute.
- But Danny, dude. Time to fess up.
- TELL
- HER
- WHY
- YOU’RE
- BEING
- SO WEIRD
- Santiago, you’re a dumbass.
- “I’m not a criminal.”
- Look, Jason is my boo. But I don’t think Ingrid is who he thinks she is. So I’m TORN.
- THAT RIGHT HOOK.
- Go Gigi.
- Javi and Alicia are giving me life. They’re perfection. We don’t usually get these kind of depictions of brother/sister relationships, especially within the latinx community.
- Mateo IS going soft
- And he does wear too much hair gel.
- Yes, Danny! Yes!
- Now tell her YOUR FREAKING SECRET.
- Santiago did turn him in, right?
- I just don’t know if he did it for the reasons Felix claims.
- Look Danny, I’m all for working with the cop. JUST TELL ALICIA FIRST.
- Well, there’s your lesson Mateo.
- Yay Danny and Alicia
- Oh, f*ck the ex-girlfriend.
- Well, I mean, of all the bad that could come, that almost seems sorta tame.
- Am I masochist?
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of “Groom Service”? Share with us in the comments below!
Grand Hotel airs Mondays at 10/9c on ABC.
