My Review - Fellow Travelers
Streaming on Paramount
My Rating 9/10
It's so encouraging when quality stories of our LGBTQ history like this screen adaptation of Thomas Mallon's highly acclaimed novel Fellow Travellers are transferred to the screen with great skill and integrity.
This is an impressive 8part series produced with great style and sensitivity.
Impressive performances from the entire ensemble cast plus memorable and intimate performances from the 2 main stars Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey who play the lovers Hawk Fuller and Tim Laughlin.
Matt and Jonathan certainly got to know each other on this television project but raunchy as some of their lovemaking scenes are they are crucial to show the passion of their on again off again romance that lasted over three decades . This story begins in the 1950's McCarthy witch hunt era that included hunting out closeted homosexuals or sexual subversives as they were referred to back then when monsters like Joel McCarthy, Roy Cohen and J Edgar Hoover caused many a gay man to live lives of desperate and misery that often lead to suicide .
Enter the handsome Washington Department official Hawkins Fuller or Hawk who frequents the underground gay bars of the city for brief sexual liaisons to satisfy his true nature .
The charismatic Hawk is a master of the art of concealing his sexuality even managing to fake a lie detector test in an effort to hold on to and advance his political career.
He meets young eager Timothy Laughlin, a recent Fordham graduate and devout Catholic eager to join the crusade against Communism.
Their passionate encounters lead to Tim's first job in D. C. and his first love affair.
As the climate and pressure in Washington hots up it becomes clear to Hawk that he can have his cake and eat it if he does the expected thing and find a suitable bride.
He marries the very eligible Lucy Smith played by Allison Williams they have what looks like the ideal Washington marriage with children a fabulous lifestyle and a country house . Hawk eventually distances himself from Tim or Skippy as he calls him by his Pet name and goes back to brief occasional encounters.
We then travel forward and back through each episode to observe what has happened over the years to the two lovers .
First to 1986 SanFrancisco where AIDS is ravaging the city and its gay population. Hawk when finding out that Tim who is now an activist and Social Worker is ill wants to be by his side and his wife Lucy who over the years finds out the truth about her husband reluctantly gives him her blessing to go as she knows by then the true nature of her husband.
We see through snapshots of the earlier years like 1968 when Tim who is now an anti war protester then decides to join the priesthood and while on the run from the authorities reconnects up with Hawk needless to say he doesn't become a priest.
Then forward to 1979 when their passion reunites on Fire Island as Hawk takes Tim on a tour of the Gay Paradise .
I really felt that this series was very similar in its emotional intensity and intent to the 1973 movie The Way We Were.
Executive Producer Matt Bomer delivers a career defining performance as Hawk in a series that was obviously a labour of love for him and it deserves to be seen by all audiences over 18 would suggest .
I watched it drip fed over 8 weeks and can't wait to binge watch it now that all 8 episodes are available.
Each of the 4 Directors Uta Briesewitz, Destiny Ekaragha, James Kent and Daniel Minahan have skilfully bought Fellow Travellers to the screen.
