Fellow Travelers Review
By Sioph LealBased on the book by the same name, Fellow Travelers is an eight-episode miniseries that follows the love story of Hawk Fuller (Matt Bomer) and Tim Laughlin (Jonathan Bailey) after meeting just months before the Lavender Scare. Hawk is a cynical veteran, highly respected federal employee who gets Tim a job working in McCarthy’s (Chris Baur) office. Tim is new to D.C. and, like Hawk, is a gay man living a lie. While Hawk’s lie is for self perseveration, Tim’s is the result of Catholic guilt – neither is helped by the workplace and the government pursuit of “deviants” in their ranks. The series spans from the 1950s to the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, seeing Tim and Hawk’s lives as they navigate the world and their desires.
The central love story of Tim and Hawk echoes throughout the decades. In the first episode, we see the start of their relationship in McCarthy-era Washington and parallel that to an old man, Hawk, who is married and getting the news that Tim is dying of AIDS. Instantly, we know they’re doomed, and there seems to be regret and guilt from Hawk. From the first meeting, the two battle homophobic politicians and struggle against Hawk’s insistence on keeping Tim at arms length for the sake of his appearance and their own desire for each other as they settle for stolen moments. The two men are almost opposites of each other. Catholic Tim cares deeply, is consumed and passionate for what he believes in, wears his heart on his sleeve, and is new to many things. Hawk has no beliefs and states that he doesn’t even vote because, like religion, he doesn’t see a point.
The years change them, and because the story spans decades, we see the two men change as a result of their environment and what they do to each other, especially Tim. Hawk consumes every part of Tim, and he knows it as well as uses it to further his own game and get ahead, but in doing so, Hawk consumes all that is hopeful and good about Tim, which leaves him somewhat jaded when we see the two men in their old age. The chemistry between Bomer and Bailey is enthralling, matched with graphic, intimate, and realistic sex scenes. It is in Tim’s nature to be the passive participant (but we see he is not passive when it comes to Hawk), and Hawk is the active participant. It is their nature and their dynamics that match their personalities so well. When Hawk is with someone he doesn’t care for, he is aggressive in bed and enjoys it rougher, but with Tim, we see him that way, but as their relationship grows, Hawk softens. Hawk will charm and infuriate because of how willing he is to throw those he cares for under the bus and how often he uses it without remorse or very little care, yet the chemistry between the two leading men captivates. It is both charming and infuriating to watch Hawk reel Tim in over the decades, for Tim to be hopeful and then be crushed when Hawk again betrays him in some way. Hawk gives Tim an all-consuming love that he does not regret, but in doing so, he takes so much from Tim. Religion, his hero in McCarthy, his ideals, and his hope You will root for the two men to be together while hoping they stay apart, if only for Tim’s happiness.
The very moment Tim gets to know Hawk’s friends and colleagues, they each note how decent Tim is and expressly warn him about Hawk. Like Hawk and Tim, their friends have their own discernible traits and feel real, fleshed out and layered. Marcus (Jelani Alladin) and Frankie (Noah J. Ricketts) are new characters created for the series and while they are a new addition, Marcus feels perfectly entwined in the story with his own desires and ambitions. He is like Hawk in more ways that he cares for. Marcus also believes that a relationship is off the table for him and believes sex is all he can have, but, unlike Hawk, he wants more than that. Still, he forgoes wanting to focus on advancing his journalistic career and fighting for equality as a black man, lamenting to Frankie that he is a black man first and a queer second. He is not ashamed of his choices and fights more than himself, which brings more depth to the story and a new perspective to add more nuance. Marcus and Hawk focus on how they are perceived and hide their sexuality for fear of their careers, but where Marcus grows and we see him in his old age, happy, committed, and with a family, but accepting of his true self and unabashedly open about it, we do not see that for Hawk, who still lives a lie and drags others down with him to keep up appearances.
While Marcus fits in well and has a compelling story of his own, other newer additions seem lost or shoehorned in. Frankie gives nothing other than quippy comments that come off as stereotypical and lackluster, which does a disservice to Marcus’s story as Frankie predominantly shares scenes with him. It isn’t that those scenes take away from Marcus or the story, but they feel redundant.
Another new character added for the series is Hawk and Lucy’s son, Jackson (Etienne Kellici), which is jarring if you have read the book and remember how affected Tim was by the couple having children and the relief when it was only a girl. A boy, to Tim, would be too much of Hawk, and he could not fathom it, but a girl he could see as solely Lucy’s. The character seems to have been created to send Hawk into turmoil in the two least enjoyable episodes of the series. It takes away from the story that is being told and feels so randomly forced into the plot. Kellici gives a strong performance, but it is a shame the character does not work and takes away from the story.
Fellow Travelers is an almost perfect example of adaptation, but it is now without its faults. Mary Johnson (Erin Neufer) had a larger presence in the book, but in the TV series, her part is reduced to her book counterpart. Besides her job and relationship with Hawk and Tim, Mary is a new character. She is now in love with a woman, which works well to contrast the lives of Hawk and Tim and opens up her friendship with Tim, as well as opening his eyes so that he does not have to live in shadows and steal moments. Sadly, the one episode and a scene or two after that are all we get of their friendship, which is a shame as Bailey and Neufer create a good dynamic in their short scenes together. Mary could have played a larger role, and it seemed that was going to happen, but she is dropped until the last episode to break the spell Hawk has over Tim, at Hawk’s insistence.
Jumping through the different years does, for the most part, work well, but the years between Hawk’s and Tim’s first separation lack anything from Tim’s perspective. Given it was a story about the two of them, it seemed like a waste to miss out on so much of the years that had shaped Tim, turning him from a man who burned with passion with every fibre of his being to one who was more jaded. The show offers no explanation other than hints; it is mostly due to Hawk’s hot-and-cold treatment, but it felt as if something more happened, more so in between Tim’s time in the army and in seminary school. It felt as if Tim’s story was lacking details, and given Bailey’s incredible performance, it was a waste not to include more of Tim’s story, specifically his time in the army.
Both Bailey and Bomer give incredible performances in Fellow Travelers. Bomer perfectly plays the cool, superficially gracious, and sophisticated Hawkins Fuller, who is self-serving and focused on his own self-preservation. Bailey offers viewers a hopeful perspective on the show. He wants to change the world for the better, not just for himself. The dynamic between the two leading men is captivating, but these are perfectly flawed characters who are blinded either by their own needs or, in Tim’s case, his desire to see the good in the world, even through the most difficult of times.
Lucy Fuller, nee Smith (Allison Williams), is a character with more involvement than in the books. Having a friendship with Hawk, then having it develop into something more, only to lead her into a loveless marriage. Williams brilliantly brings up suspicion and tension throughout the decades of Hawk’s story. Lucy is a complex character who, like Tim, changed and sacrificed so much for Hawk that she could have come across as a bitter, scorned woman, but instead she has this quiet strength and compassion for her. She is not resentful of Hawk and Tim; instead, she is lonely by the lack of desire and exhausted by her one-sided competition with Tim. Lucy and Tim are each the perfect match for each side of Hawk. She is the perfect wife of that time, and Tim is perfect for the real Hawk. Both relationships were doomed and stressful, manned by the selfish Hawk, who was completely enamored and captivated by his charm.
Fellow Travelers is an aesthetically pleasing period piece that captures the anxiety and anguish of being a gay person in the 1950s. The show could have easily been a cliched love triangle between Hawk, Lucy Smith, and Tim, but it successfully veered away from that overused plot without taking the emotional hurt that Lucy and Tim endure by loving Hawk. The new additions bring a new layer to the story, but it is the exceptional performances from Bailey and Bomer that drive the story forward in such a way that you will root for the two men to be together while hoping they stay apart, if only for Tim’s happiness.
Fellow Travelers premiers on Showtime on October 29th.