Inclusive Screen Weekly #40: The Ultimatum: Queer Love is the hot mess lesbians can’t stop talking about

Also this week: Proud of people for showing up in the Budapest Pride | Lafufus | A show idea about a woman pissed she was buried in a bra...

Jul 06, 2025

I went to see Taylor Tomlinson’s Save Me tour in Rotterdam this week, and I cannot recommend it enough. She has this unique ability to joke with the audience and never make jokes at the expense of people. One of my biggest fears in life is being called out by the performer at a comedy show. Taylor manages to do some bits with the audience while never putting anyone on the spot. During the Rotterdam show, she just asked for volunteers. I saw other shows where she had people write in anonymously.

All of this to say that Taylor Tomlinson is an absolute treasure, and I hope she gets everything she wants in life.

Stories that stuck with me this week

Hungary banned Pride, so hundreds of thousands of Hungarians turned up for the biggest Pride march ever!

Ok, this technically happened last weekend, but I kept seeing photos this week, and I had to mention it. The story gives me hope for a few reasons:

The mayor of Budapest decided to host the event as a way to circumvent the need for official authorisation. This is 100% due to my ignorance of Hungary’s politics, but I didn’t expect to see a local politician stand up against the government. It’s nice to see this can still happen. And in the capital city, nonetheless.
People turned up in protest against the government and in solidarity with the queer community. All of this despite threats of “legal consequences” for people attending the march.

You can read more here. It’s just heartwarming to see!

And in other news…

Are you tired of people using sports metaphors in the workplace? This TikTok proposes that we start using make-up metaphors. I suggest we use TV show metaphors like: “We’re in the final season arc now, no time for filler episodes.” or “We need fewer solo storylines and more ensemble scenes.” or “We’re risking a mid-season cancellation here.”.
You thought we had seen the last of Karen Read now that the trial is over? Wrong! She is now working on a screen adaptation.
Imagine going to prison for writing spicy romance stories… It’s unfortunately become a reality for women writing gay erotica in China.
I wrote about Labubus, but have you heard about Lafufus? They’re knock-offs of the popular monster doll, and people have started to seek them out to make comparison videos. I just can’t get over how hilarious Lafufu sounds. I don’t even know why. It just does.
Sinners will include a version in Black American Sign Language on the streaming platform Max. As mentioned in this THR article, BASL is “a distinct dialect of American Sign Language (ASL) with its own dynamic history and unique grammar, signing space, rhythm, facial expressions and cultural nuances,”
Did you know about NYC carpet men? Apparently, some men just hide under carpets on the street so that people walk on them. Yep it’s weird…

What I’ve been watching

In the hot seat: The Ultimatum: Queer Love | Season 2

⭐⭐⭐⭐ • 🇺🇸 • Netflix • Fate Unknown

Is it worth watching? Probably only if you’re into dating shows or reality TV or if you’re a queer woman. It’s the type of show you put on to see people being messy on screen and have fun judging all their terrible decisions. I mean, the premise of the show is insane enough: One person issues an ultimatum to their partner to get married or break up. Obviously, the solution is to force them to break up, have a 3-week “trial marriage” with one of the other contestants, then get back with their original partner and see if they want to get engaged, stay single, or get with a new person.

Something the show helped me see from a different perspective:

Watching Ashley and Marita clearly love each other, but still struggle to be happy together, was something I hadn’t seen very often in such shows. There’s usually one person to blame in TV breakups. In that case, there wasn’t. At the end of the day, they were just incompatible, and I’m glad this ended with them going their separate ways.
AJ thanking the host at the end was very sweet. There’s been a lot of hate and backlash online about the show having a straight woman as a host. I can see people’s point, but I have to agree with what the cast said at the reunion. She was a very sweet host and having a straight host can help build a bridge and show allyship in action for people who are not as accepting right now.

My final take on the season: It was exactly as messy as it promised to be.

Here’s my final review of each couple. Heavy spoilers so skip if you plan to watch and haven’t yet.

AJ and Britney: I was fully expecting them to break up when AJ started going around heavily flirting with everyone. How did they turn out to be one of the most stable couples? I saw a theory somewhere that they came purely to advertise Britney’s business, and it would make a lot of sense. I also really loved Britney’s friendship with Marita after their trial marriage. It sounds like they had a great experience, honestly, in such a messy show.

Haley and Pilar: They've been together for 10 years. Pilar isn’t ready to get married because her family hasn’t spoken to her since she came out, which I honestly understand. So what does Haley do? She issues the ultimatum and ends up sleeping with and “falling in love” with her trial marriage partner 😲. I honestly felt bad for Pilar, but I was happy they ended up together.

Kyle and Bridget: They were kind of meh in a sea of messy lesbians. They both came off a bit immature to me. I absolutely loved Kyle’s mother, though. The chat she had with Pilar was really touching.

Mel and Marie: What to say… Mel is definitely the villain of the season. I still don’t understand why she kept denying what happened during her trial marriage, considering this is all filmed, and Marie would eventually find out. By the end, it just felt like Mel wanted Marie to break up with her but didn’t dare to break things off herself.

Dayna and Magan: Oh boy. They’re the couple that made me very glad I’m in a stable and sane relationship. Those two are so toxic together. People seem to love Magan from reviews I see online, but the way she acted with Haley after their trial marriage was a big turn-off for me. Maybe they deserve each other at this point.

Ashley and Marita: I was sooooo glad Ashley ended things. They seem like great people individually, but they are not meant to be together. They just kept having the same fight. Marita was unhappy because she wanted more romantic gestures from Ashley, and Ashley just felt like nothing she did was ever enough. It just looked like they needed different things, and I hope they find the right person because they seem sweet. They were really messy at the reunion, though 😂.

Rapid Fire Reviews:

🥲 Murderbot • Season 1 • Apple TV+ • 🇺🇸 • Episode 9: This show is so ridiculous sometimes but it’s what makes it so charming. I really enjoyed this episode. It had a bit more action and it stays true to its core with Murderbot once again reminding us that all he really wants to do is watch his favorite show.

Worth watching? Yes. Let’s see how the finale goes but it’s been a very entertaining season. I think it’d make for a good binge too considering episodes are so short.

😒 Nine Perfect Strangers • Season 2 • Hulu • 🇺🇸 • Episode 8: I can’t believe they went with another weird, unfulfilling happy-ish ending. It’s not that I want people to suffer, but it feels like nothing ever really concludes. No consequences. No closure. This show confuses the hell out of me. Honestly, it feels like the ending was written by someone mid-psychedelic trip. That said, I would 100% watch a spin-off with Brian and Agnes spreading joy at children’s hospitals.

Worth watching? It was an entertaining season but it’s the type of shows that builds to some kind of revelation or conclusion. Since the conclusion is so disappointing I would say stay away if you haven’t started it.

🙄 And Just Like That… • Season 3 • HBO Max • 🇺🇸 • Episodes 3, 4, and 5: I’ll start with the one positive. I think Miranda’s romance with the British lady has potential. The poor woman had to be with Che Diaz for 2 seasons, let her have some happiness. Other than that, it’s just more ridiculous. The two scenes that particularly got my blood boiling were: (1) Carrie being like, “You didn’t see the sign???” after she lets Seema back up the car over those spikes. Lady, if you saw the sign, why didn’t you say something BEFORE? (2) Carrie walks in heels into her apartment and acts all shocked when her downstairs neighbor comes to complain. I’m sorry, but if you’ve ever lived in an apartment, you should know heels inside are an absolute no.

Worth watching? The writing is terrible. The acting is terrible. It’s the perfect show to hate without feeling guilty for hating on it.

A TV Show idea I’d pitch if anyone asked

Welcome to the section of my newsletter where I share ideas I have for shows that no one asked for but that I think would be fun.

A woman wakes up as a ghost after a tragic death, only to find out she was buried instead of being incinerated as she asked.

I guess watching The Mortician on HBO got me thinking a lot about the afterlife lately. And you know what? I think I would be a lot more pissed if I found out I was buried than if I found out I was incinerated with hundreds of other people.

So hear me out. Imagine a show centered around a woman who suddenly wakes up as a ghost, only to find out that their family did not respect their dying wish and had them buried instead of burning them. The worst part: they buried her in a very uncomfortable bra. Now she has to live her life as a ghost forever, uncomfortable, unable to take this stupid bra off, and she is angry. First, she tries to take revenge on her family, only to realize they are overwhelmed with grief, and there isn’t much she can do to make them more miserable.

Eventually, she moves on to accept her fate and decides to dedicate her ghost life to make sure no one else gets their afterlife wishes disregarded again. It could be something like Dead Boy Detectives, where she partners up with someone who can see ghosts. Or maybe she can send signs to the living families of recently deceased people to make sure they don’t bury them if they didn’t want to.

A parting GIF

a netflix ad shows two women looking at each other — She should have walked away…

That’s it for me! Now it’s your turn to let me know about all the interesting news and new shows you’ve seen lately. And of course, your ideas for TV shows that no one asked for but that you think would be really cool.