From Fate: The Winx Saga to First Kill, there’s a lot of sapphic goodness on this list
BY NIC CROSARA, IMAGE BY STEFFAN HILL/NETFLIX
The long-awaited second season of Netflix’s Wednesday comes out today (6 August). While the show has garnered a lot of love from LGBTQIA+ audiences (and many like to ship Wednesday with her roommate Enid) it also has received a fair amount of criticism for lacking in queer representation. Yes, one of the side characters in season one does have two mums, but they are a “blink and you’ll miss it” type of visibility and we know very little about their characters. Hopefully this school full of outcasts will serve up more queerness in the second season. With bisexual star Lady Gaga guest starring in this instalment, I remain hopeful.
But, in case it doesn’t deliver, here are some recommendations for shows with queer representation that have similarities with the hit Netflix show.
Legacies
I binged The Vampire Diaries during the lockdowns of 2021. While there were some queer side characters, they all fulfilled the “Kill Your Gays” trope and their relationships were not handled with the same care as their straight counterparts. Fast forward to last year when I binged the spin-off The Originals, and I was pleased to see one healthy lesbian relationship onscreen. But I was still pleasantly surprised to see not one, not two, but multiple LGBTQIA+ characters in the most recent spin-off Legacies and (so far) they are all still alive and well. I have 1.5 seasons left to watch, but I couldn’t not mention it.
Legacies follows Hope Mikaelson who, like Wednesday, is the daughter of a notorious family with a rich lore. This is not the only similarity the two protagonists share. They are also both recluses within their magic schools until their hearts are softened by the friends they make along the way.
Charmed (2018)
There have been a wide range of Adamms Family films and shows. The family name is undeniably famous. And while there have not been as many depictions of the Halliwell sisters, the three witches are still undeniably a well-known family. The original series that ran from 1998 to 2006 was a formative part of my childhood. And yes, it’s a show where there are witches, demons and more, but, looking back, the most unrealistic part is that there would be three sisters living in San Francisco and neither of them would be queer or have any queer friends or family.
This is remedied in the 2018 reboot with all of the sisters being women of colour and one of them, Mel Vera, being an openly queer woman. Thanks to Mel’s dating life the show featured a range of lesbian characters and the lesbian love triangle is arguably the biggest romantic storyline on the show.
Fate: The Winx Saga
Adapted from the much-loved cartoon, this recommendation is also set in a magic school. But this one’s for fairies. Not only do we get a queer main character (played by a queer actor), there are lots of non-canon sapphic ships to rival that of Wednesday and Enid’s. Unfortunately, like many sapphic shows, this one fell victim to the “Cancel Your Gays” trend.
First Kill
Another premature cancellation was the unapologetically gay vampire show First Kill. This is perfect for fans of the forbidden romance trope. Like Wednesday, it’s shrouded in mystery. It also follows not one, but two revered families within the magical world, one a family of vampires and one a family of hunters.
Riverdale
Like Wednesday, there are a lot of plots and subplots in this very chaotic show. There’s sleuthing, friendship and even some magic in later seasons. This one’s great for fans who prefer to spend a long time in worlds, as there are a total of seven seasons. It makes for great escapism.
The Umbrella Academy
This is one of the few items on this list not set in a magic school. Its main characters are also adults. The main characters are the supernatural Hargreeves siblings, a dysfunctional and unconventional family indeed. There’s plenty of mystery, gore and a lot of comedy. I’m still not ready to talk about the fourth and final season though.
Pretty Little Liars
This is the oldest feature on the list but it’s golden. It’s also the only non-magical show. If you prefer the mystery over the magic in Wednesday, then this one’s sure to scratch the itch. For a show that premiered in 2010, it was ahead of its time in terms of representation. One of its leads is a sapphic character who gets a happy ending (albeit with an abundance of trauma along the way).
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