(CNN) Originally a fun if somewhat lightweight trip down memory lane, "GLOW" has taken on a richer texture and greater relevance in its second season, both in terms of developing key relationships and exploring the period -- and the mid-1980s excesses of what stood for "Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling" -- through such prisms as race and the #MeToo movement.

The eccentric characters remain, as well as the dynamic of two actresses -- whose friendship was fractured by betrayal -- being forced to work together. A third strand involves the show-within-a-show's cranky producer Sam (Marc Maron), who is alternately fatherly toward his charges, cruelly dismissive and, in one case, harbors feelings that come as a surprise even to him.

The basic dynamic continues, with the struggling Ruth (Alison Brie) full of big ideas -- seizing this shot to perform, even if it's in the circus tent of showbiz -- while her ex-pal Debbie (Betty Gilpin), a one-time soap opera star, chafes at the gig's absurdities, but with her marriage breaking up, increasingly needs it.

The strongest episodes, however, deal not only with their complicated bond, but issues that resonate across the years, from the painful racial and cultural stereotypes in which the wrestling show outlandishly traffics to a network executive luring Ruth to a hotel suite, exposing the complicity that goes into his predatory behavior.

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Like "Orange is the New Black," which is also made under the aegis of producer Jenji Kohan, "GLOW" zeroes in on female relationships within an unorthodox setting. Yet unlike that series, it's adept at reining in its excesses, and has the additional advantage of separately focusing on the unique insecurities associated with show business, albeit from the seamy, absurd perspective of its outermost fringe.

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