Pop Culture Punch

I must admit, Fellow Travelers was not my cup of tea. Even the promise of lots of smut couldn’t make this less of a slog for me to get through.

That’s probably got a lot to do with the fact that it centered around politics. Yes, they were politics from a very important time in history, but it was just so boring. And honestly, the takes weren’t that fresh. Hawkins Fuller is a former WWII veteran and an official at the state department who gets to know congressional staffer, Tim Laughlin really, really well. Given that most of this series takes place in the 1950s, being gay is a big no-no, so Hawk hides his desires with an almost painful rigor. He certainly puts Tim through the wringer over those years. And even though Tim is devoutly religious, he can’t seem to find the sin in something that brings him such happiness. He certainly tries to repent every time Hawk throws him to the wayside, but he always comes back.

And for that, Tim is a fool. Every time that he gives Hawk the benefit of the doubt, or truly believes he’s changed, Hawk just destroys that trust and sends Tim into a tailspin. All while this is going on, there are plenty of political fires going on involving the likes of Roy Cohn and Joseph McCarthy, but that stuff I couldn’t tell you many details about. The historical stuff never sticks in my brain because I just don’t find it that interesting. What was interesting though, was seeing how involved the state department was in uncovering homosexuals amongst its ranks. Absolutely ridiculous.

Fast forward to the 80s and it’s clear that Hawk has never embraced who he is. He’s married to Lucy and has a couple of children, all the while still hooking up with Tim in secret whenever Tim’s defenses are weakened. But now there’s the AIDS crisis to deal with, and Tim is unfortunately very sick. Hawk, to his credit, drops everything to be in San Francisco with Tim as he lives out the rest of his life in full activist mode, even now. Though it feels like it’s too little too late, Hawk does make some strides in this time.

Overall, I didn’t feel like I learned anything new from this miniseries that I haven’t already seen play out in films like Milk or The Normal Heart. Sure, we get a more inside look at what went on in the state department, but that was pretty dang boring from where I’m sitting. And even though Matthew Bomer and Jonathan Bailey had some incredibly steamy chemistry, it wasn’t enough to redeem this show for me. Certainly a lot of good to be said here, so if you’re unfamiliar with those times in history and what they meant to the LGBT community, it’s definitely worth checking out.

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