User Reviews

Everything about this show was so elegant and poignant. Chiefly, the relationship between Hawk & Tim was so real and relatable - it had passion, drama, humor, disappointment and heartache & in the end, love!!! But equally the world in which they interacted & as they went from existellienral crisis actively suppressing who these people really were, was both dramatic, true to life and for a gay man who grew up in rural Ireland in the 80's/90's, was deeply educational.

Everyone involved should be so proud of how sensitively they adapted this source material by Thomas Mallon - which I will definitely be checking out in the new year - from the actors, Bomer & Bailey, Alladin & Williams as leads, but so too all the supporting cast, the writers & producers & showrunner Nyswaner, and all the directors & crew involved in bringing to life a difficult but important few chapters of LGBT+ history in America.

Although I'm reviewing the final episode here, my highlight (10 ex 10) episode was ep7; White Nights, a total emotional gut-punch, where Hawk finds some liberation but under dubious circumstances, made even sadder by the realization that this freedom was beginning to be enjoyed just before the emergence of HIV & AIDS in the 80's. I ranked this episode (ep8; Make It Easy, the finale) 9 ex 10, & am only docking a mark because the romantic in me wanted to see a happy-ish ending where Hawk doesn't leave Tim's side - & although this is open to interpretation - despite this disappointment for me, Hawk's final scene & admission was so perfect & earned. Special praise must also go to Allison Williams for faithfully portraying her characters arc in the final episode. Personally, I'd love to know more about Tim & Marcus & Frankie's fates after our last San Francisco scene - & for this reason I'll definitely source the novel.

All in all, in addition to being extremely well-made & moving, this show made me feel so fortunate to grow up as gay man in a time where attitudes shifted to overwhelmingly supportive & encouraging - to the point where later this year I will marry the amazing man that I have been lucky enough to find, in front of my family and life-long friends. But this piece of work - based on the lived experience of others - will ensure I will never take for granted or forget the heartache and pain (& at times, outright horror) they had to endure simply in being (& so people nowadays could be) themselves.