Tampa Baes' true appeal lies not in its viciousness but its warmth

The Hollywood Reporter

The new Amazon reality show follows the young lesbian “it-crowd” navigating and celebrating life in Tampa Bay, Florida’s LGBTQ+ hub and the place to see and be seen. Initially, says Angie Han, "it feels like drama is all there is. The first episode maps out the complicated web of connections among its 12 stars, and sets up a simmering rivalry between two power couples (Brianna/Haley and Summer/Marissa) to serve as a narrative throughline. Tampa Baes can feel too familiar in its first couple of episodes, right down to its cast: Though the series is a rarity for its focus on lesbian women, it has already come under fire for its exclusive focus on young, thin, light-skinned women who fit conventional standards of feminine beauty, and nothing about the first season will counteract that criticism. The 'baes' quickly sort themselves into easily digestible archetypes like the party animal, the empath, the comic relief and the queen bee. They gather to drink and flirt and talk shit about each other in confessionals, all while insisting they absolutely hate drama — because as even viewers who’ve never seen more than a few minutes of Real Housewives are aware, that’s what reality TV characters are supposed to do. (Full disclosure: I’m one of those reality TV newbies.) It’s not so much that the formula doesn’t fit Tampa Baes as it is that Tampa Baes doesn’t seem to have figured out anything new to do with it. The show starts to take on a shaggier charm, though, when it’s able to set aside the intragroup squabbling to focus on cuddlier individual arcs."