This GLOW Season 3 review contains no spoilers.

GLOW season 3 refocuses the show to be (much) less about wrestling and instead about the personal lives of the women and the dreary, soul-crushing nature of the hustle. What happens to the women when wrestling becomes repetitive and predictable, and what happens to GLOW when wrestling fades to the background? This season has a very different feel to it, but it’s still funny, unapologetic, and loving toward its rag-tag crew.

Following last season’s announcement, the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling have a nine-month gig at the Fan-Tan casino in Las Vegas, where they perform the same show night after night. Several characters become involved in acting classes, dance lessons, and training, leading to a lot of questioning about who they really want to be in the industry. This season finds a way to interrogate Sheila’s choices, in particular, without making a mockery of them. Ruth is also held accountable in a way that protagonists rarely are, for the way she assumes she must be special.

Lest you think there’s no wrestling, episode 5 has my favorite moments in the ring of the entire series so far. It’s so full of joy and it recaptures that initial feeling of the wrestling from season 1. But there’s still plenty of joy and wry humor elsewhere on the show this season, starting with the very dark Challenger-themed opener. Debbie and Ruth’s repairing relationship also makes for more levity, as Allison Brie and Betty Gilpin are completely magnetic performers on screen. They nail every aspect of their roles, but sometimes it’s just more fun to watch them be old friends laughing at nothing together.