TV

Foreign Affairs: Both Sides of the Law

Welcome back, travelers. Today, we’re hoping on a train to review some of the shows on both sides of the law. Whether we’re in prison, in court, or at the precinct, one thing is for certain: Gayness will ensue. Keep your hands inside the car for the first part of today’s route, otherwise your safe return is not guaranteed, and there will be spoilers to anything and everything.

‘Till the Cage is Full

Our very first stop in this journey in which, it seems, we’ll have to teleport quite a lot, is Mexico.

On the very first article of this series, I mentioned that prison shows tend to give us a lot of BLT characters, and Capadocia: Un Lugar Sin Perdón is no exception.

As you can imagine, the show (set in Mexico City) follows the lives of the prisoners and their background stories. The characters we care about are Marta and Selma, two inmates whom, sadly, get separated through the course of the show when one of them is released. How does it end, you ask? Well, apparently pretty darn well judging by this photo.

The status of the show isn’t clear, but it appears that a new season was released every other year, and Season 3 aired in 2012, so let’s keep our fingers crossed.

While videos seem to be hard to come by, I give you this nice blog that has recaps in English. Thanks, nice blog!

Another thing you can consider is purchasing seasons 1, 2 and 3 on Amazon (subtitles included!). Or, if you are an HBO subscriber, you can try these links for streaming.

Mexico left you starving? Want to munch on some Poutine? Great! We’re heading to Canada!

Unité 9, which is set in Quebec, was called “Canada’s much gloomier Orange is the New Black” back in 2014. The series has been on the air since 2012, and as you may have realized, it’s in French.

There’s a possible English adaptation in the making which will also air in Canada. (in the circle of life, you lose one Canadian bisexual succubus for another Canadian gay assassin. Always look at the glass half-full. )

Much like Orange is the New Black, the show starts with the arrival of the lead character (Marie) to the prison. Unlike Piper, though, Marie is in prison for attempted murder. Throughout the show, we meet the other prisoners and learn what brought them to the prison.

The fun part is that there are four female queer characters on the show, all of which are principals. There are at least two main lesbian relationships on the show. One is between inmates Michele and Avril. I can’t tell you much about them, and most of their videos are gone, c’est dommage!

Season 2 brought us the corrections officer/inmate story between Melissa and Jeanne. Here’s a fanmade video. Things are about to get steamy in more ways than one, which means NSFW.

If you speak French, you can watch some of the episodes on the official website, because sadly, as of now, even the DVD doesn’t have English subtitles. Your French speaking talent also means you can catch it Tuesdays on CBC. The rest of us will have to wait patiently until one of you miracle workers reports differently.

Update: For those among you who were interested in purchasing DVDs of Unité 9, one of our readers reported that if purchased through Amazon.ca, said DVDs will arrive with English subtitles. Thanks for the tip happy viewing!

Make sure you leave no man behind as we’re going down under, to Oz (but not that prison show).

We tourists love archeology, which leads us to our next destination.

Long before there was Wentworth (or Orange is the New Black), there was Prisoner: Cell Block H. As a matter of fact, gentle travelers, Wentworth is a contemporary adaptation of Prisoner. The show aired in Australia between 1979-1986, had eight seasons and at least four lesbian characters.

In 1980, a pilot of an American version was produced, called Willow B: Women in Prison. It didn’t go very well which is probably why you’ve never heard of it. Too bad-it was an all-star cast.

You’ll find many of the familiar names from Wentworth on Prisoner. Would you actually see the physical…closeness you see on Wentworth? Probably not. But the comparison still makes for an interesting experience in TV production and progress of on-screen visibility over the years.

Or in other words, in Prisoner, Franky and Erica don’t really have scenes together, in Wentworth, though…they do. It was also recently noted to us that Celblok H, a Dutch adaptation of Wentworth, airs on SBS 6 on Mondays (it might currently be on a break though.)

You can buy selected episodes of Prisoner on Amazon. Wentworth will be back later this year for your gay enjoyment. You can read our recaps from Seasons 1 and 2 right here.

In the Eyes of the Law

I hope the danger junkies among us enjoyed our little cell to cell tour, but it’s now time to head to court.

Since we’re still in Australia, you should know that the legal drama Crownies had a lesbian lead character (Janet King) which got her own spin-off (!). It was named-wait for it-Janet King, and it followed her life with her partner, Ashleigh Larsson (bumped from a reoccurring character to a series regular) and their struggle to have a baby and whatnot (whatnot included Janet working at the courthouse as a senior crown prosecutor). Now, I’m not saying that a lesbian spin-off is what I’m wishing for Grey’s Anatomy, but a lesbian spin-off is what I’m wishing for Grey’s Anatomy.

Still, jokes aside, you got to appreciate a lesbian character getting her own spin-off.

Crownies had a single season in 2011, while Janet King (also one season long) had a run during 2014. Don’t be fooled by the short run: The show was quite popular. (Read our recaps!)

The spin-off was released on DVD and can be bought here. In the mean time, here’s the trailer for Janet King.

This concludes our law related trip. However, if this is your thing, take out your notepads, for I am a generous tour guide and I will give you recommendations for future law-y destinations.

Los Hombres de Paco got a Greek remake called Lekanopedio Attikis Police Department (or LAPD). Athina was the Greek Silvia but the show didn’t run for very long and it seems like the Greek Pepa never made it to the show. (I might be wrong about this. You’ll have to visit to know for sure.)

The UK’s A Touch of Cloth which will be back on its fourth season this year, might be worth your while. It’s a police comedy, with a bisexual lead. The whole thing is a parody. Sounds like a win in every which way. Yours truly deems the first season excellent. Also cool: Lead actress Suranne Jones who plays the bisexual Ann, portrayed Idris on Doctor Who (we heart Idris.)

Join us next time as we explore the delicate balance of neighbor’s romance, and the gossip mill that is hospital shows! Pack a stethoscope or you won’t be admitted! Get it?

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