New Web Series “Gabby Smashes” Is One of the Most Realistic Representations of Portland Yet

It would be easy to mistake Luann Algoso’s new web series as a Portland version of Insecure. Gabby Antonio Smashes the Imperialist, White Supremacist, Capitalist Patriarchy!, of which Algoso is the writer and star, follows a Filipina woman, Gabby, as she navigates Portland’s hotbed of gentrification. Much like Issa Rae’s character in HBO’s Insecure, Gabby works at a nonprofit and gives herself pep talks in the bathroom mirror. But those parallels are merely surface level—Gabby Smashes! is uniquely Algoso’s. The web series premieres its pilot this week, and is based on Algoso’s own experiences moving from Anaheim, Calif., to Portland eight years ago.