Each week Joe and Terry discuss the most recent episode of Peacock’s reboot of Queer as Folk, alternating between our respective sites.

Missed a Review? Episode 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5

Spoilers follow for episode 6 “Pretend You’re Someone Else”

TERRY

Mardi Gras comes with a whole lot of melodrama, courtesy of Brodie (Devin Way) and Ruthie (Jesse James Keitel), Joe. And hoo boy, I’ve been expecting a blow up between Brodie and…well, everyone…but I didn’t expect the powder keg to go off the way it did here. Last week, you were curious about Ruthie’s professional fallout after being tagged at a party with her students all over social media. “Pretend You’re Someone Else” certainly gives us an answer by contrasting the present with the past. It works as a dual storyline of sorts, as episode 6 explores Ruthie’s past and present relationship with Brodie as well as her relationship with schools and places of authority in both time periods.

The episode even opens up in high school with Brodie and pre-transition Ruthie at an all boys Catholic school. The script by Jaclyn Moore and Sarah Link smartly eschews deadnaming Ruthie by bleeping whatever name she used to go by. Ruthie’s storyline has been handled with grace and authenticity since she was introduced, and a lot of it probably thanks to both Jesse as an actress and Jaclyn Moore, who based a lot of Ruthie’s struggles on her own life. In an interview with Collider, Jaclyn talked about this episode in particular, saying, “That all-boys school is directly based on my all-boys Catholic school, down to the uniforms, which are similar. The way that room looks is styled after my high school. My all-boys Catholic high school was not a great place to be a closeted trans girl. I had young love that was very complicated.” She goes on to mention that the haircut, the school, the way she was dressed all speak to Jaclyn’s own teenage years and I think that authenticity seeps through.

This story also complicates the relationship between Ruthie and Brodie because they were hooking up in the stairwells, singing “Misery Business” in Brodie’s bedroom and professing their love for each other. Meanwhile, at school, Ruthie felt backed into a corner and started lashing out at her teachers, questioning their policies on who could be brought to the dance and wearing her tie as a belt. This mix of young love and anti-establishment is contrasted with the present day drama where Ruthie was brought before the board, who lambast her with “this is so unprofessional. What would make you think this is okay?” and where her slightly misguided anger is being placed on Brodie.

I’ve been kind of harsh on Brodie because I do think he comes across as a selfish person, even when he does kind things. He craves attention and validation and while it can be relatable, it also makes it hard to completely like him. But it’s pretty unfair for Ruthie to throw all of the problems that have happened in the last six months on Brodie. His arrival coincided with the shooting and because he invited her out to Babylon that night, Brodie and the shooting seem to have become inextricably linked together.

It’s an unfortunate situation to be tethered to and “Pretend You’re Someone Else” suggests that he’s become the whipping boy, at least with some people, because of the impotent rage with the shooting. “You never show up for me, Brodie!” Ruthie yells at him during their argument and the episode shows that’s not completely true, as suggested by Ruthie’s coming out scene in the past.

My thoughts are all over the place with this episode, Joe, because I think, after last week’s slight episode, there’s a number of nuggets to dig into. So I want to gather my thoughts and send it over to you. What are your thoughts on Brodie and Ruthie, particularly with the information we’re given from their past? Did you, like me, gasp when Brodie deadnamed her? And I think we need to unpack the relationship between Marvin (Eric Graise) and Ali (Sachin Bhatt) because that is another can of worms…

JOE

Oh, I fully gasped at the deadname because it’s probably the most hurtful thing that Brodie could have ever said to her. Not to be quippy, but in an episode where we’re dancing around name dropping arguably the world’s most notable transphobe in J.K. Rowling, Brodie’s knee-jerk response to Ruthie’s tirade feels like an unforgivable sin.

To be honest, this is the good shit that I’ve been craving from Queer as Folk. “Pretend You’re Someone Else” doesn’t make me like Brodie any more, but playing off of Ruthie and seeing their history definitely enriches and deepens the character (not so Fin Argus’ Mingus…but we’ll get to them later).

What makes so much of the Brodie/Ruthie stuff work is how truthful it feels. There’s a clear authenticity in the flashbacks, and even more so in the present day scenes as Brodie desperately tries to reconnect on the float before all of their buried issues come exploding out. We know that Shar (CG) is right when they confront Ruthie at home about taking responsibility for the situation she’s in, but that hardly matters when Brodie mistakenly excuses himself from blame when Ruthie reveals she wasn’t fired. That’s when you know the shit’s about to hit the fan and, I’ve got to say, Ruthie’s tirade is cathartic in the way that only honest truth-telling can be.

It’s also incredibly harsh.

I’ve long maintained that as humans we hurt the ones we love the most, because we know they’ll let us get away with it and eventually forgive us. That’s what I mean by truthful: Ruthie is saying all the things that you and I have observed throughout the series, but to say it straight to another person’s face is something altogether different.

It’s so real and true that it hurts; their exchange cuts right to the bone. She strips his failures down to the core and he responds, in an uncensored moment of anger, by deadnaming her.

And it is rough, Terry…but also so fucking compelling.

I wish I could say the same for the flashbacks, but sadly these didn’t quite work for me. As I mentioned in the last few reviews, I spoiled myself on two major plotlines via The Hollywood Reporter interview: this was one of them. And as brave as it was for James Keitel to put herself through the trauma of de-transitioning to play the male version of her character, I found it distracting to see her and Way try to play high school versions of these characters.

It kinda/sorta works for Ruthie because she doesn’t pass, so as an audience we can always see the real woman she is underneath. But neither of them are convincing for the age, and I can’t help but wonder what the effect would have been if the show had simply cast younger actors. As an audience, we would have accepted it because we’re accustomed to flashbacks from other shows, and it wouldn’t have resulted in “bad wig” distractions.

Shifting from being too direct with your words to deliberate misinterpretation: poor, sweet Ali and dumb, headstrong Marvin. This storyline is interesting because traditionally disabled characters are a) kind, sweet, and lovable and b) infallible. Marvin doesn’t exactly fall into these pre-set categories. In fact, he’s kinda rude, abrupt, as well as opinionated. He certainly doesn’t really listen, either.

In short, he’s a regular human being.

You’ve got to sympathize with Ali, though. The poor guy keeps trying to get Marvin to hear and acknowledge his romantic feelings, but Marvin is either too focused on the verdict of the Babylon shooter, or unwilling to acknowledge that Ali is more than a sex worker. It’s a simple, fundamental miscommunication where Ali says something and Marvin either doesn’t listen to him, or deliberately misinterprets it. Naturally, after trying all episode, Ali finally gives up on their relationship and leaves.

We’ve talked before about how Marvin is incredibly observant of others, but kinda shit at using his analytical powers in his own personal life. In this case Marvin basically pushed Ali away because he wasn’t ready to hear what he had to say. The result is that heartbreaking shot at the end of the episode when Marvin finally hears the verdict he’s been hoping for, but there’s no one around for him to celebrate with.

Terry, I’ll turn it over to you for the episode’s other big revelation: what did you think about Brodie learning the truth about Noah (Johnny Sibilly)’s relationships with both Daddius (Chris Renfro) and Julian (Ryan O’Connell)? What about their lunch with Noah’s father (Nestor Serrano)? And is Mingus any more interesting now that he’s a “fuck boy”?

TERRY

I want to linger on the shooter for a moment, Joe, before I dig into your questions, because I love how Queer as Folk has used the murderer in these episodes. The show has never revealed the person, their name or any revealing details about him because they are immaterial to the damage that’s been done. Instead the show puts the focus squarely on queer people. The killer’s been a specter. Someone we know exists but doesn’t make an appearance outside of the shadowy figure seen at Babylon.

Here, the future of the killer is being decided and everyone has opinions on what should happen to him. Should he get the death penalty? Should he be incarcerated for life? Everyone has different opinions and I really liked when Shar grappled with the discussion. “Why do we protest the prison industrial complex,” they rhetorically ask, ”but once we’re the victim, suddenly we’re all for it?”

They follow this up by saying, “Alright, yeah. Fuck that dude. Throw away the keys.”

I mentioned their impotent rage above and you mentioned the sad shot of Marvin, alone, as he sees the jury’s verdict. There’s this sense that, if the shooter is punished then maybe we can move on with our lives, but the truth is far more messy. Yes, he’s going to get his comeuppance, but it’s not going to bring back the lives that were lost, nor will it fix the PTSD they’re going to live with, potentially for the rest of their lives.

In an episode where characters are unable to solve their problems and only exacerbate them further, writers Moore and Link do a fantastic job of tying their personal impotence with the lack of relief they feel when the judgment is released. I’m thinking back to when Brodie’s attention is pulled to a local bar, where the jury has released its verdict, and he doesn’t look pacified with the knowledge the killer was found guilty. And even though I’m annoyed with the use of Ghost Daddius, here he’s a gentle reminder that no guilty sentencing is going to bring Brodie’s friend back.

Instead, Brodie has to deal with the knowledge that Daddius was sleeping with Noah and while the way he finds out is very cliche (he thinks he’s getting Noah to admit to sleeping with him while Noah thinks he’s found out about Julian), it feels tied into the way the killer’s verdict still makes everyone feel powerless.

It will almost certainly unmoor Brodie’s place in his friend group even more. Shar doesn’t quite like him, his best friend Ruthie just unloaded on him, and now his former lover has been lying to him about not one, but two relationships. It’s a lot to deal with and, given how he’s reacted in the past, I wouldn’t be surprised if Brodie turns up in Mingus’s arms again, as you suggested last week.

As for Mingus’s current “fuck boy” mentality, I gotta wonder if Queer as Folk might be tipping its hand a bit too obviously or quickly. This episode shows him hooking up with multiple people at the Mardi Gras float, to the point that even Ruthie says, “hey be careful.” He’s having a number of unprotected sexual encounters (and they’re being specifically mentioned) to the point that the show might be pulling a Love, Victor and giving him an STI. So, no, I don’t find him more interesting for fucking around, though I would say “good for him” for exploring his sexuality...but yeah, wrap it up.

As for Noah, Julian and Noah’s Dad...this was the one storyline that didn’t work for me. It’s needed for the plot, to further cement Julian and Noah’s relationship and to indicate that this is serious as opposed to a casual fling. Noah makes a big to do about not introducing any of his partners to his father, so the fact the first boy he’s introduced to his father is Julian says something. As does Julian’s cringy statement that he would also love to go to Noah’s father’s home in Detroit sometime. It’s necessary to set up the reveal at the end of the episode, but it’s also my least favorite storyline of the episode.

Overall, though, this episode steps its…er, Bussey up and gives us drama while setting up some season-long dominoes that I think will ultimately come crashing down in the penultimate episode.

But back to you, Joe. You mentioned that we tend to hurt the people we love because we know they will forgive us, but do you think that the explosion between Ruthie and Brodie is healable? They’ve both said things that cut to the very idea of their persons. Will we see them reunite over the next few episodes? And what do you think the fall out will be between Brodie, Julian and Noah? Is he moving out? Finally, at this point, what can Queer as Folk do to make Mingus more interesting?

JOE

Yeah, these are all great questions and ones without easy answers. Again, if Queer as Folk were reality, I do think this would be the end of Brodie and Ruthie’s friendship. But for the purposes of dramatic conflict, we’ll likely just see the pair of them acting hurt and miserable for an episode before reconciling in the finale.

I’m not trying to be flippant, I swear; it just feels like at times the series is prone to falling into conventional narrative traps. While there have been numerous times that Queer as Folk has surprised me, other stuff - like Brodie and Noah’s “oh shit” misunderstanding - feels like textbook TV screenwriting. Although I’m sure the fall-out will be entertaining, some of these plots have felt very familiar.

I think that’s why we both immediately gravitated to Ruthie and Brodie’s drama on the float. Sure between the present day scenes and the flashbacks it’s front and center in the narrative, but their truth-telling argument and that deadname was a legitimate game changer for these characters. I don’t know how you walk back from that, so I really hope creator Stephen Dunn and his writers don’t cut corners about how seriously Brodie and Ruthie just hurt each other.

After all, this isn’t “go away and lick your wounds” petty; this is an attack on the very core of the other’s authentic self.

As for Mingus…an STI scare definitely seems possible and would be fertile ground to explore, especially considering the helicopter parenting style of Juliette Lewis’ Judy. I’m tipping my hand back to that Hollywood Reporter story, though, so maybe I’ll just leave it there.

We’re down to the final two episodes of the season, Terry! While I’m not always satisfied with some of the show’s creative decisions, we’re still finding a ton of great content to discuss in these reviews. It truly feels like we’ve barely scratched the surface of some of these characters. I’m mildly concerned that Peacock hasn’t announced a renewal yet (I’m still not ready to forgive HBO Max for canceling Genera+ion), but it definitely feels like the series is just getting started.

We’ll see where we go in episode seven next week on QueerHorrorMovies