A number of times in its three year run, SHRILL takes us into fascinating places. Probably the greatest example is episode 104, "Pool", written by Samantha Irby, in which Annie goes to her first plus-sized pool party. The sequence is an interesting example of a "new world" episode, in that it doesn't focus on some set of unique customs or practices of this community. There's no need for that here: what's interesting and fresh is just getting to see a group of plus-sized women in swim suits happily partying together.
Sometimes in a new world episode the characters we're following are already deep in the world, and we relish and discover by way of watching them. But "Pool" instead offers us a stand in. Annie walks around just as curious as we are and also feeling physically insecure, as we might.
But then as the scene goes on she's slowly drawn in. First she walks around just enjoying seeing other people so free and happy. Then she's talking to someone she doesn't know. Finally she's pulled into a group of women dancing. It's a sequence similar in some ways to her confrontation with her boss Gabe at the end of the pilot, insofar as it's not as simple as She Gets Pulled In and Then All is Well. No, it's a struggle. She tries to sneak away repeatedly, then finds herself just standing there uncomfortable while everyone else is dancing. And slowly, slowly she overcomes her own inhibitions, until she is dancing and spinning without a single thought for anyone else.
When the dancing ends she immediately peels down to her bathing suit, the thing that we've made to wonder about this whole time, and finally leaps into the pool. It's a beautifully cathartic sequence, and in a sense the fact that Annie was positioned at the start as a stand in for us makes it that much more impactful for us. As she comes into her own self-comfort, so do we.
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In episode 202, "Kevin", written by Rob Klein & Hye Yun Park, the last third of the episode happens at a queer open mike night. Unlike 104, here the setting is mostly just background to the story of Annie and Fran having a night out after Fran has dumped her girlfriend. We get cuts of people dancing or other things going on, but it's not the focus of our attention the way the pool party is.
And yet that fact doesn't really seem to matter. The sequence still hums with a glimpse of life and community that feels fresh and welcoming. In a sense the lack of focus on the setting actually lends itself to our interest. What little we see makes us want so much more.
The sequence ends with queer performer Peter Smith singing a Brian Wilson song to the gathered crowd. We've never met Smith on the show, and there's nothing prior to this moment signaling this was going to occur or that something like this is where we were headed.
But the easy familiarity with which Smith talks to the crowd and the song itself drawing us and the audience onscreen together until it feels like we've been invited into this beautiful moment of friendship and community.
I love that moment so much I want you to have it for yourself.
In both these cases, and others in the series, we've still got our characters at the center, having the desires and conflict that are the engines of the story. But "new world" episodes like these also remind us of the feeling and power a narrative can create when it offers a chance for discovery, for wonder and delight.
