We pounded out (how's that for an appropriate verb?!) the final 2 episodes of Queer As Folk over the past few days. I was a little concerned about my emotional well-being for the finale. But I fared pretty well... I think I was still a bit drained-out from this past weekend's SFU episode and Word of Todd had me pretty much prepared me to bring my stiff upper lip with me before watching the episode.
Since a few days have passed since it originally aired, I think it is probably safe to talk about it, but... if you have not and plan to see the episode... best to to skip the rest of this post.
Truthfully, I got a little more sad during the retrospective show that aired before the finale. The cast genuinely seemed to enjoy working with each other. I can only imagine how difficult it is to be going their separate ways after five years. With the possible exception of Sharon Gless, I just hope that the actors can get another acting gig!
But onto the show! Overall, I thought it ended pretty well.
Ironically enough, the thing I was most happy about in the finale was that there was NOT a happy ending for Brian and Justin. The whole "marriage" thing was just striking me terribly true to the characters. I could have dealt with Brian settling down with Justin... but the whole extra step of a ceremony just had me shaking my head. Now the show has yet to convince me that Justin is a great artist... in alternate universe where these characters still live on, Justin is back in Pittsburgh in less than a year.
Kudos to Emmett cutting Drew loose in the penultimate episode... having had my own adolescence postponed a handful of years... this was the right (and mature!) thing for Emmett to do.
Ted... uh where do we start? One of the more eye-rolling storylines of the year as, after cosmetic surger, he was able to attract men well beyond his reach... and was handed one more psycho relationship in the last two episodes... but only to have Blake return in the final moments. Now how many times has it not worked out with Blake?! I guess we were supposed to be happy about this return... but me thinks it is yet another wrong turn in Ted's search for love.
Not much to add about Mikey and Ben, didn't have much closure in the episode beyond the softening and welcoming of Hunter as an official part of their family. Never really got too emotionally involved in the Hunter thing ... just gave Mikey/Ben a chance to be pouty, foot-stompy parents... so this one didn't do much for me.
Ah... Melanie and Lindsay... they cross the border into Canada and all will be well! I hope they know that it'll take them almost as long as QAF aired to get Canadian citizenship (you have to prove that you have been in the country a full 3 out of the 4 years before applying). And what about jobs and a house for little Gus and Jenny Rebecca? Can Melanie be a lawyer in Canada? I know... I am being picayune... but life just not get better with a wave of a wand while crossing the Northern border. I did think it was pretty funny that while they were leaving "Pittsburgh," they were probably driving down some street in Toronto (where the show is filmed).
But I did like the final moments... with Michael's voice-over and the fantasy restoration of Babylon. Alas I did come close to getting emotional when Michael invoked Gloria Gaynor and said that despite this country's current political environment we, the gay community, will survive. So the show ends, with the thumpa-thumpa beating on...
I will miss my QAF friends. While I never thought the show was great... it achieved a degree of greatness by its mere existence. It allowed its gay characters to have a sex life... so for that to be considered groundbreaking... it was, well, groundbreaking.
I vicariously lived through the characters... my gay life is/was nothing like the characters on this show (well maybe something sort of resembling the domesticity of Michael & Ben). I'll leave it up to you whether that is a good or bad thing. While there were no circle of gay friends, no wild club life (other than a year or two of Saturday nights standing in the corner of a gay bar), no bed-hopping... there were also no personal (or heck even peripheral!) exposure to drug addictions, STDs, or HIV either.
So when next summer rolls around, I am sure it will be strange to not be heading back to Liberty Avenue. My mind will wonder to that above mentioned alternate universe, where I will wonder what Mel & Linds, Mikey & Ben, Emmett & Ted, Brian & Justin... and Debbie too... are up to.
I wanted to kick Justin and smack him. How could anyone like an ending where the strong and mighty Brian Kinney is left broken-hearted and alone?
This ending sucked.
Posted by: Trisha | Sunday, August 14, 2005 at 05:07 AM