i do like sandman a lot, but episode 5 is so. the little will-they-won't-they flirty dance the show does with having a homophobic subplot is so cowardly alkdjalkdja.

like having bette tell marsh "judy's so pretty, she could have any man in town. some people are just afraid to be happy" because she disapproves of her gf, and then having her try to set judy up with mark, is very clear lesbophobia. it's not subtle, and judy's character is heavily impacted by that, as evidenced by her "everyone here judges me, you all think i'd be so much happier if i just fucked a dude" conversation with john.

which just makes the #plottwist that actually bette's just saying that because she wants to get with judy... ineffective writing?

1. it undercuts a major part of judy's character, in the same way that the classic "i wouldn't do that if i were you" "why, because i'm a woman?" "no, because (enter plausible reason here)" gotcha that people use to show that their male character is a #feminist (and thus making the female character look like a paranoid and judgemental bitch), undercuts their female characters. it renders her genuine frustration at the bigotry she faces harmless, because the bigotry she faces doesn't actually stem from people hating her for being a lesbian. and

2. Literally What Is The Point Of That Twist. like if they wanted to cut out the homophobia subplot from the comics, they could have cut it entirely? just not included any lesbophobia, and had bette be critical of donna without adding the boyfriend comments. but instead they like... half included it, in a way that cuts all the meaning and impact away from it. so the homophobia just ends up... a fun callback for comic fans to pick up? without digging any deeper into why those homophobic comments are present in the story, because the writers were afraid that portraying genuine homophobia might alienate their queer audience. bit silly.