(General spoilers for Rosewood and The 100 ahead.)
By this time there have been a variety of articles written about the horrendous way that Lexa was killed off in The 100, especially in context of the previous scene having been her happy with Clarke. Autostraddle even provided a handy (depressing) infographic on dead bisexual and lesbian characters on television from 1976 to now.
This article is to add a 30th happy couple to the list that was presented by AS in response to their first post on how many women had died. Tara Milly Izzikoff and Pippy on FOX’s Rosewood. The show is a gift for two reasons. First, it is a fresh breath of air in a genre where the male protagonist is always right and fueled by the loss of a family member. Secondly it shows two women head over heels for each other and dealing with all the issues that the world can throw them together.
Protagonist Beaumont Rosewood , or Rosie is a private pathologist who has a heart defect that could leave him dead before ten years have passed. So the natural thing is to try to live his life to the fullest. His younger sister Pippy and his mom, retired principal work with him in his lab. As does Pippy’s fiancee TMI, the latter of whom has not talked to her rich parents in two years after coming out. The two other characters are Detective Annalise Villa and Captain Ira Hornstock.
The writers could have quite easily continued with the trope that African Americans are more likely to be homophobic and written a conflict between Pippy and Donna. But it doesn’t! Pippy’s first champions are her brother and father, and though there is a two month period where she doesn’t talk to her mother who is worried about the danger Pippy may face as an out lesbian, the show goes to great lengths to highlight how Donna supports Pippy. And she loves TMI just as much as she loves her biological children. Even going as far as to sit down in a country club and shame TMI’s mom for letting her daughter go.
This results in TMI’s mom attempting to reconnect with her and then bribe her to leave Pippy and her job. However, the support that TMI has received from the Rosewood family inspires to stand up to her mother! She could have agreed due to her need for her parent’s acceptance, but she doesn’t. In a media landscape where women who love women are killed off literally left and right, it’s so refreshing that the writers have chosen to write the direct opposite. Instead they have portrayed a loving couple of two women that have issues like all couples, but are able to thrive in our world together and in spite of the negativity that they may face.
Just last week, the writers continued to explore this relationship through the introduction of the girl who had kept Pippy safe when she had been living on the streets. Though TMI begins to doubt herself in Pippy’s life after meeting the famous Cassie, Pippy’s reading of her journal entry of the day she met TMI solidifies what they and the audience has known since the first episode. This is a couple that will beat anything that comes their way, together! So if you’re in need of a feel good show that includes hilarious scenes and surprisingly well done-emotional beats, Rosewood is the show for you!
Image courtesy of Fox