Fellow Travelers - 1x08 "Make It Easy" - REACTION!

[@HarryAllen9]

What a rough episode, so tragically beautiful and it has been a PLEASURE going back to edit this for KZbin. You best believe that I was bawling my eyes out at that end scene once again 🥹

[@louisepoole_x]

I have never watched someone have so much empathy for all 3 Hawk, Tim and Lucy. Everyone always villainises one of them, usually Hawk. I'm so glad to see someone understand and empathise that this was just a SHIT situation for all involved ❤

[@HarryAllen9]

Awe thank you I appreciate it! Always saddens me when I watch something and see people hating a character without ever trying to see their point of view, we are all guilty of it but most of the time people have their reasons you just gotta be patient with them

[@danielroy5358]

Thank you for an excellent rewatch of a series I love. Your analysis has been excellent. I’m so glad a young person understood Hawk, Tim, and Lucy are all victims of virulent homophobia. You didn’t see the characters through the distortion of today’s lens but understood them as formed by their own time.

[@sinceslicedbread7422]

I'm so glad you loved this series, too. I'm deeply impressed, that you made an effort to understand the history that underpinned each era. Your empathetic reactions and insights were a joy to share. You give me hope for the future. Please continue to voice your opinions, the way that you do. Our future is in good hands.🎉🎉🎉

[@HarryAllen9]

Oh stop this was way too sweet 😭 thank you for the kind support and glad you enjoyed the journey along with me!!

[@jacquie2004]

It was incredibly brave of Lucy to visit Tim. Not just because he was an AIDS patient at a time when it still wasn't totally clear how the disease could be spread, but knowing that this was someone she had effectively been in competition with for 30 years plus. There was every chance it could have descended into a pissing contest. It didn't. I think both Tim & Lucy benefitted from the meeting, got a deeper understanding of each others perspective. However when Lucy saw that Hawk was sleeping next to Tim in the hospital, that he not only couldn't leave Tim's side, when he ran away to Fire Island and let her deal with Jackson's death on her own, but that he was ready to risk being seen by whoever happened to be on that ward, sleeping at the side of a dying gay man, she knew the game was up. She knew Hawk would never have the gumption to leave her, allowing them both a chance at real happiness, so she made that decision for them both. It was an act of love, as well as self preservation. She set all 3 of them free. There are no villains in that triangle. Only victims of their time.

[@jacquie2004]

Also. It may come as no big surprise to learn that from the early 70s to the early 80s one of Roy "skuzzbucket" Cohn's big clients was a certain thin-skinned, bloated, oddly coloured, dementia riddled buffoon, currently trying to be president of the US....again.

[@VicRez135]

Oh, Tim knows that Hawk loves him, but he just realized that his own love is not dependent on anything else.

[@louisepoole_x]

Also, with regards to your question of 'does Tim not know that Hawk loves him'. I think Tim just knows that Hawk could never love him in the way he wanted to be loved, publicly, in a proper relationship, in the way he 'loved' Lucy. Just my take on it 💔

[@treesny]

1. Ca. 18:00 -- fyi: "Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 - January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, composer, bandleader, pianist, and author." (Wikipedia) Joni Mitchell devoted an entire album to his music. 2. Although the 1950s storyline for Hawk and Tim is based pretty closely on the source novel by Thomas Mallon, the show's creator Ron Nyswaner significantly extended and changed Tim's journey -- all of the scenes in the 1960s, 70s and 80s are new -- and there is a myriad of new characters, including Marcus, Frankie & Jerome, Jackson, Senator Smith and Caroline (in the book, Mary isn't a lesbian). Lucy, who is a shadowy background figure in the book, becomes a real character. Incredibly impressive work not only from the actors but the writers and directors as well... not to mention the brilliant designers, who made Toronto a convincing stand-in for a whole range of U.S. locales, including Fire Island!

[@Moffel83.]

As others have done before, I can only recommend "The Normal Heart". It covers the beginning of the Aids Crisis in New York and it's heartbreaking but essential viewing to understand what the LGBTQ+ community was going through at the time. The movie version stars Mark Ruffalo, Matt Bomer (in another heartbreaking performance!), Julia Roberts and Jim Parsons. Jim Parsons has a heartbreaking monologue in the movie about how funerals have become the social life of many gay men at the time and how an entire generation of writers, dancers, choreographers is dying and we'll never get to see their art. It's heartbreaking. For a more British perspective "It's a Sin" is amazing. It covers the beginnings of the Aids crisis in the UK. I want to thank you for having reviewed Fellow Travelers. The show was very special to a lot of people and like others have mentioned, in all your reviews I really appreciated that you never villainized any of the characters. You always tried to understand where each and every one of them was coming from and what their motivations were. Great job!👍

[@patrickkyteler5585]

I am 58. I remember sitting in a restaurant with my friends in 1985 and listening to a group of people at the next table talking about us. Here is one snippet from that conversation made by a young woman in her early 20s. "Don't you know they are riddled with AIDS? Thank GOD they are all going to die". Yeah, that happened and it was COMMON. Our community was absolutely hated. FELLOW TRAVELERS should be required watching for every LGBTQ+ person.

[@HarryAllen9]

I- I do not even know what to say to that. Its one thing to think about what people say behind closed doors but THAT is INSANE. Sending the biggest hugs to your younger selves ❤️

[@knowledgegathererdraftsave1979]

I have watched and continue to rewatch the show as it has captured my heart and continues to move me. All the actors, storylines and love stories were all written amazingly and all of them acted out a magnitude. I admit that although the things Hawk did make it so easy to see him as the villain, but I understand he needed to protect himself and that’s why he did what he did. Along with how the world was through the decades, Hawk’s background with his father was a catalyst for him. While he went through and suffered through a lot, he always closed himself off from feeling anything - that’s where Tim came in, he was by far the first and one of the few who opened Hawk up to feeling love and everything he felt. Hawk clearly felt a lot of guilt and shame deep down for how much he hurt Tim, but in the end as Tim told him what mattered more than anything was his love for him throughout it all. Tim knew that Hawk loved him, and Hawk knowing that Tim had always loved him through everything gave him peace of mind. The final scene where he stands over Tim’s memorial and tells his daughter that he was the man he loved ❤ Thank you for this.

[@bluefriend62]

As others have said, your reactions to this show have been outstanding. You are intelligent and empathetic, and it is refreshing to see a young person so willing to take on the work of understanding what was happening in society during earlier time periods and what the motivations of the characters (and real people at the time) might have been. And I'll be a broken record (sorry) and once again recommend that you react to The Normal Heart--I really hope you do. With that, thank you for the reactions to this series and all the best to you.

[@ShelbyBaby27]

When you think about Fellow Travelers chronologically, it's even more apparent why Hawk is so self-destructive in the 70's. He's not just mourning Jackson's death, but his betrayal of Tim. Hawk did it because he couldn't see a way to have it. There's no blueprint, no old gay couple to emulate. Tim resurfaces as Hawk is becoming a father and now there's something bigger than him that he can't jeopardize (Hawk became his mother). Tim's actions seem quite deliberate in literally marking his territory with Hawk for Lucy and anyone else to see. I hate Hawk's betrayal, but I do understand it...

[@azfell999]

I absolutely loved your reactions, especially regarding Hawk, as people are so quick to judge and see him as the villain. I feel that people don’t understand because they fail to recognize the complexity of his character. He wasn’t suffering any less than Tim; he was also in pain, but he was rational, and sometimes being that way is even more painful. I’m a lot like Hawk, even though I'm not living in the 50s; it feels like I am! It’s tough, especially when you’re afraid to be who you are because you grew up in a violent environment. I’ve known someone like Tim, and I also distanced myself from him because I didn’t think I could give him all my love, which resulted in a tremendous depression because I loved him so much, yet I didn’t believe we could be together. Fear has always had a complete hold over me, not anyone, just fear. And that’s why Hawk’s character means so much to me! Thank you for understanding the situation and context in which he lived, you are very empathetic. ❤️‍🩹

[@mazvirataaja9397]

One thing I couldn’t help but think as I watched the finale - if Hawk didn’t snich on Tim, Tim would most likely not catch HIV and prehaps Hawk’s son would also not die. HIV is a sexually transmited dissease and Tim couldn’t have caught it from Hawk. Tim was also quite helpful in dealing with Hawk’s son. That being said who knows what could have happened, but I do wonder if this is something Hawk is thinking.

[@june1935]

i would like to have seen lucy brother leonard more escaply in 1968 on wards. as he went to therapy and then the law changed. i would like to have seen what happened to him. i don't think we get that suit of story much. the only time i have seen it was in emmerdale with lawrence white. that was so sad. but i LOVE this series so much and wish there was more. really great

[@ShelbyBaby27]

Fingers crossed for season 2

[@ShelbyBaby27]

In the rewatch it tickles me how Skippy is incapable of causing a scene when Hawk takes him out on a date:😂😂😂 1) The Cozy Corner (Ep 1) 2) Restaurant (Ep 3) 3) Governor's Gala (Finale)

[@brondo93]

I held off from watching this series for the longest time because I generally knew about the vibes and what the ending would be like. I finally caved and watched it the other week after season 3 of Heartstopper (likely a silly thing to do given the emotions from that😅). Let me tell you, nothing could have ever fully prepared me for it, let alone this last episode - I haven’t sobbed and ugly-cried that heavily in a very long time. Even now just seeing you watch it, I lost it again when the AIDS quilt popped up. I will be forever grateful to the teams of people who craft these stories for us. The care and sensitivity taken while retelling our shared LGBTQ+ history is, in the words of Tim, beyond measure. Glad to have seen your reaction to this series!

[@m_sorcerer04]

Has he watched the Normal Heart? It also explores the aids epidemic and if he watches it someone makes a comeback.

[@mahaesuperior]

always love how you analyze the shows you watch. i hope you can give my school president (a thai bl series) a chance, it would be so interesting to hear your views about it.

[@dkatzism]

Kind of a surprising number of F bombs in this one... not a huge deal for me, but I would say to be aware because I'd hate for you to get demonetised.

[@HarryAllen9]

Oh dw its not something I worry about tbh, has been years and had no issues. I heard they have a big focus on the first 30 seconds so I watch out for that (most of the time) but been fine otherwise