On this chapter of The Queerest Things I Watched Last Week, This is Us nails parenting a queer kid in a low-key way. Almost Family hooks me with the perfect queer ship recipe, and after waiting for what felt like an eternity, we finally saw the premiere of Batwoman!
- The Deuce – Season 3 Episode 4 “They Can Never Go Home” [Live]
-
Last week I was 50/50 on whether I’d be adding Abby to our database or not. This episode made that decision crystal clear.
Vince and Abby have an open relationship, and even though Abby hung the “I’m gettin’ busy” keychain on the door, Vince walked in anyway. He also offered to join. Abby and Pilar gave him a strong “go away” look and he got the message.
Abby and Pilar are out on another art date, and Pilar wants to make it an overnight.
Abby needs to call Vince to let him know she won’t be coming home, but otherwise, she’s in!
That scene was pretty hot, but I think doin’ it in the back of a taxi is grosser than a bar bathroom.
Abby and Pilar are full-on dating now! I’m really curious to see where this is going to go.
- This is Us – Season 4 Episode 2 “The Pool: Part Two” [Live]
-
The queerness in this episode was subtle, but as a once gay kid, and now the parent of a teenager, it hit home for me.
Tess wants to get a short haircut (let’s be honest, she wants a gay haircut), and Beth is not handling it well. She’s putting on a supportive face, but also telegraphing her fear of Tess’ future new look.
I can emphasize with both Tess and Beth.
As a young teenager, you want to make decisions regarding your self-expression. If your parents get in the way, you feel like they don’t accept the real you. From Beth’s perspective, the kid she’s known since birth is changing, and that is terrifying. Straight parents, even supportive ones, have to deal with feeling like their kid is suddenly not the person they thought they were. Eventually, both sides learn to love the kid’s authentic self, but it can be a hard and scary road.
After Beth sees her kid with her new haircut, she realizes it’s beautiful and more expressive of Tess’ authentic self. That’s a lot of what parenting is. Being terrified on the inside and trying your hardest to keep an open mind and be supportive on the outside until whatever you were afraid of is no longer scary.
- Stumptown – Season 1 Episode 2 “Missed Connections” [Live]
-
Did you all catch Dex reveal her bisexuality last week?
Stumptown is one of my favorite new shows. I am 100% on board with Robin Sparkles as a hot mess Private Investigator. And I am so glad they kept her character bisexual like she is in the comics. I can’t wait to see more!
- Almost Family – Season 1 Episode 1 “Pilot” [Live]
-
I had plans to watch this show eventually. I figured a show with an assistive reproduction plot would have queers in it. However, my family watches The Masked Singer every week, and pure inertia got me and my wife to watch the pilot live. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
There were queer characters, but not in the way I thought they would be introduced on the show.
The show is about a Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE aka a “fertility doctor”) who uses his own sperm to successfully inseminate dozens, maybe hundreds of patients. This turns countless strangers into
half-siblings , including his own daughter.The show’s three main characters are his daughter, Julia, who works for the RE clinic, her half-sib Edie and her other half-sib, Roxy. Edie is an uptight lawyer and in an unhappy marriage to Julia’s ex. She is also the queer one!
The entire set up is the perfect recipe for getting me hooked on a queer ‘ship.
First ingredient, we’re introduced to a contentious relationship between Edie and Amanda Doherty, the foxy, queer DA.
There are few tropes I love more than “Enemies to Girlfriends.”
Next, they have a lunch where it’s obvious they’re both attracted to each other.
Even though Edie acted like she didn’t like Amanda, she asks her out to a work lunch. Amanda is flirty, but Edie tells her she and Tim (her husband and work partner) are married. Amanda had no idea because they don’t act coupley.
I love how adorably awkward Edie is.
Finally, Edie calls Amanda to meet up and kisses her.
This entire arc felt like it was on fast-forward. On a CW show, it would have taken 8 episodes to get to this point. But I’m okay with getting right to the queer!
I’ll definitely be watching this show and reporting back on how Edie and Amanda’s relationship progresses.
- Batwoman – Season 1 Episode 1 “Pilot” [Live]
-
I’m not going to recap the premiere of Batwoman — please watch the show! Instead, I want to write about how much this show means to me.
I innocently tweeted how happy I was to watch a superhero show starring and named after a lesbian character played by an out queer actor for the first time in my life. I thought maybe 10 of my friends would like it.
Wow, that escalated quickly!
A lot of men (or bots) are extremely concerned with me liking a show just because it has a gay lead and not because it’s good. Also, many of them felt the need to tell me it sucked, even though I don’t think most of them watched it.
Fellas, I want you all to know I give negative 1 million f*cks what you think about me or the show.
We have multiple queer main characters on our CW superhero shows now: Anissa on Black Lightning, Sara Lance on Legends, and Alex and Nia on Supergirl just to name a few. They are great but don’t always get a lot of screentime, and their relationships and stories sometimes take a back burner to the straight characters. That’s fine, it’s Supergirl, not Alex Danvers and Black Lightning, not Anissa Pierce. But for the first time in history, it IS Batwoman — a superhero show where the titular character is the queer character and it means the world to me.
I can watch this show and not stress over the queer character dying at any moment or only getting 2 minutes of screen time the entire episode. Kate Kane will have
full story arcs with ass-kicking and girl kissing. I finally get to enjoy what the straight dudes whining in my comments have their entire lives — a main superhero character I can relate to with her own show.And you know what? Who cares if it doesn’t win Emmys? I get to enjoy cheesy, soapy, TV junk food like everyone else. That being said, I think the show is great. I loved it and nothing these dudes say can prevent me from living my best queer TV life.
Tonight Black Lightning‘s back, and later this week, Riverdale and Legacies. I can’t wait to see what’s up with Thundergrace and meet Mishel Prada as Veronica’s sister!
