“Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce Season 3 Brings Warmth to Reality TV” Says Slate!

I’m someone who believes that even the trashiest of reality shows can have a certain campy charm, but this show is genuinely charming, truly the sweetest 22 minutes on television. Part of this warmth radiates from bounce itself, which though definitely sexually provocative, often transcends that to achieve a level of pure jubilation. (It somehow occupies the same place in my mind as the New Orleans tradition of marching brass bands at funerals.) Indeed, in a later episode, a performance takes place on the birthday of Freedia’s mother, Miss Vera, who recently passed away. The fact that the performers are bouncing in celebration of her life, with the assurance that her spirit is twerking right up on stage with them, inspires a particularly luminous, moving show. The scene should give pause to anyone who doubts that shaking your ass can be more than dirty dancing—on that night, it became a hymn of love and remembrance.

Read the entire article over on Slate!