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| Gizmo :( Photo Credit: WWE.com |
But before we get to that, I should note that I felt pretty uncomfortable about this week's episode. The drama was pretty much as is, but at one set moment, we see a decent picture into the psyche of Nattie and TJ upon the death of their cat Gizmo. Now, of course, reality TV will document why suddenly this recurring presence in one of the show's key relationships is suddenly gone, but it almost borders on being too real. I have no doubt that if Nattie and TJ felt the emotion was too raw, then they would have the discretion to not see it broadcast (and to validate the heartache that comes from losing any part of your family, even a pet). Still, it was almost too much, even in a genre where scenes like Lamar Odom desperately calling the Kardashians because he doesn't know what to do are a common occurrence.
That's not to say I don't understand its place, and for once it reminded us of the actual humanity inside Nattie and TJ as opposed to whatever it was that Nattie's been doing for the past few weeks. Still, we're talking about a genre that is ostensibly faked and made into a meta-Inception by being a show about a business that is fake but that we're seeing a slightly faked reality therein (my head hurts). It's not hard to get cynical and be scared that real heartache is being wrenched for fakey drama. I don't know if I needed to see Nattie and TJ seemingly really breaking down over losing a part of their lives or more cynically being told to play up their actual emotions in front of the camera. It's the type of thing that makes it really hard to defend reality television as more than a guilty pleasure.
Still, as a show balance, we have to go through the bitter tears to get rewarded with the type of moments that even under a cynical lens are hard to mess up.
1. AJ Lee
As someone who is not on the show, it is funnier to see AJ's shadow still loom over the entirety of the program. AJ is shown twice during the show entirely in the in-ring segments, and while they weirdly don't cover her anti-Total Divas speech, they do show her inherent dominance in the division.
2. Nattie
It'd be unfair to put her lower because of how I've viewed her this season, as despite how I felt about if the situation is cynically* framed, Nattie's emotions do feel genuine to the point that even when they get a new cat and Nattie does cheesy things with it, it just feels right. Nattie and TJ are good cat people. That's not an insult.
* Sorry for word over-use.
3. TJ
Same, but extra praise for his return match being against the Un-Bo-lievable Bo Dallas.
4. Brie Bella
I think I want to be friends with Brie despite her weird catty fights. She seems so chill outside of that.
5. Trinity
Trinity posed for Jet Magazine and turned me into this subhuman creature who uses terms like stonking to refer to women's bodies. But whatever, we already know that Naomi rules and is attractive and so on. Bikini shoots with Jet are just icing on the cake.
6. Nikki Bella
Most of the other Divas didn't do much this week at all, although weird semi props for Nikki saying the phrase "Come on, oral sex doesn't count" on television.
7. Sandra
I like Sandra as this omnipresent figure. If Total Divas ever needed a narrator, it would have to be Sandra the Seamstress. She's like Peter Sellers in Being There. When Sandra the Seamstress leaves, the point of everything is gone.
8. Eva Marie
There was apparently some resolution to the Eva/Bellas conflict that I guess is left on the cutting room floor, but hey, she didn't have to say much so, not obnoxious!
9. John Cena
Who knew one of the two times Cena raises his voice past a robotic humdrum is to make boob jokes? John Cena? Boob jokes? Why, I never.
10. Jojo
Poor girl. They're going to throw her off the show in a sad fashion, aren't they?