Fellow Travelers

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.

The "Lavender Scare" was a very real, despicable period in American political history that deserves to be widely-understood and known. "Fellow Travelers" is an engaging, informative vehicle for recounting the events; while the fictionalization entertains, the subject matter truth stays appropriately prominent throughout the show.

As a gay man & longtime DC-area resident, with a 30-year successful career in federal government defense contract work, the story is a close-hitting view of past discrimination faced by the LGBTQ community. Much progress has been made, with much more needed. "FT" tells the oft-ignored story of the time period, to remove the "blight" of homosexuals from our government - with great actors, beautiful period sets and costumes - and remind us that the fight is NOT over, especially for trans individuals in the present.

Federal government-employed LGBTQ people were hunted by McCarthy & his acolytes (he was the root of the "Red Scare") and when/if discovered, many had their lives utterly destroyed by the subsequent "outings" and criminal prosecutions. Many targeted individuals lost careers, families and hopes for the future, and too many lost lives to suicide. The fights to expunge criminal records and clear names continues TODAY by the families of their now-deceased loved ones who were targeted, persecuted AND prosecuted.

Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey are great in their roles. There is perhaps a little too-graphic representation of sex at times, but it's not un-real or overly-done. Supporting characters are faithful to their roles and vary in acting quality, though all are solidly good. I adore Alison Williams, and she is credible and generally wonderful as the wife of "Hawk." I like that actors of color, along with *actually queer* actors, are present throughout the plot lines. The inclusion of the AIDS crisis, which was largely ignored by political leaders in its early days, is another sad/tragic part of queer history deserving of the spotlight, too.

To me, the only drawback is the use of flashbacks to change the period of time being addressed. It happens very quickly in Ep1, without much setup, so it took me a beat or two to follow the context and characters through the transitions; once I understood what was occurring, it was not an issue. I saw negative reviews that focused on cigarette smoking (really??) and other minor elements, and while I respect differing views, to give a lowest rating for such things both diminishes the important overall message, AND misses the forest for the trees by a wide margin.

Overall, "Fellow Travelers" is a warmly engaging, well acted and accurately depicted account of an important facet of queer history in the United States. It deserves the attention and positive reviews it is receiving, and I recommend it to others, without reservations. -v/r, FEGIII.

A classic and unbeatable formula: an ardent (to say the least) but forbidden romantic entanglement against the background of thirty years of dramatic social and political upheavals. A sort of The Way We Were but with Bomer and Bailey (both perfectly cast) instead of Streisand and Redford. The McCarthy era episodes are strikingly well done with the good period detail (one carping point: the '50s seem to be in vogue at the moment and every actor is dressed so perfectly in period style that no-one ever seems stepped out of an upmarket clothing store with nary a worn or patched garment to be seen).and fine performances from the troupe of Washington politicians and their cohorts. One glaringly obvious misstep where, because everything else is so well done I indulgently suspend my disbelief, is the almost total lack of effort taken to age the characters. After 30 years Hawk is supposed to have grandchildren yet he appears to have discovered the secret of eternal youth; the secret seems to have been shared with Marcus, who, apart from longer hair and a beard is similarly untouched by time.

At 81 years old (born 1942) I'm younger than the characters portrayed (a WW II vet in 1950's to '80's) - but can relate. In 1954, with the Army-McCarthy hearings being broadcast on all 3 networks (that's all we had in those days) at 12 yrs. Old, the young question is - "why are we fighting amongst ourselves " and why can't we get regular programming? (and "why are they after me ?"- even then I knew I wasn't attracted to the opposite sex). So - many years later -having survived, thru those years that you could be arrested for being gay - until now - and having Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey bring to life those years - well - that's extraordinary. Thank you! You can quibble about production values, acting (all great), factual accuracy (and I did), but overall - it was great. I've seen all episodes - some good, some great (2nd to last) - wow. Thanks Matt Bomer (always loved you since "Chuck" and especially "White Collar") - but I also have a new love - Jonathan Bailey. Let's have some wine.

Amazing story which reminded me of my youth in the 1960s and onwards through a military career (don't ask don't tell) and 17 years in a corporate job always hiding my sexual identity. Fellow Travelers could have been written by me. I lived through all the drama, aids, loves...what in incredible telling of history: the sadness and fear in the gay culture because of aids and the government's refusal to recognize it! This drama goes behind the scenes to show the real stories behind the headlines of that period in American History which caused so many to suffer and be treated as lepers, outcasts, not worthy of being Americans.