My Review of Fellow Travelers: "Make It Easy"

 

Written by Anya Leta And Jack Solomon And Ron Nyswaner 

Directed by Uta Briesewitz 

Hawk (to Kimberly, re Tim): "He wasn't my friend. He was the man I loved."

Oh, wow. Eight episodes and I made it to the finale and what an absolute stunning piece of television. It's been a hell of a journey but now the story has ended for both Hawk and Tim.

Interestingly, we went back to the 1950s for some of this episode. Hawk and Lucy were married, mostly happy and the latter was expecting Jackson. Tim on the other hand, just got out of the army and yes, he reunited with Hawk.

Tim's time in the army not only made him want go move into social work, but the sexual dynamic between Tim and Hawk took a turn. Tim even got to top Hawk during a scene that had a jab at Tim drinking milk. Of course though, happy reunion wasn't going to stay on the cards.

Mary, who had disappeared a few episodes back returned to warn Tim about being an inconvenience to Hawk. Her words ended up being true but before Tim could do anything about them, Jackson was born and that kind of nixed that confrontation.

In 1986 though, Tim was getting closer to death and Hawk wanted to be with him for his final moments. There was a lovely scene with Tim and Lucy as the latter realised how much Tim meant to Hawk. I got why Lucy wanted to properly meet Tim and it certainly gave her the sense yo leave Hawk for good without any bitterness for her husband.

As for Hawk and Tim, their last scenes were some of the best we've had in the entire miniseries. Tim however did make Nawk step aside while both him and Marcus along with several other protestors made one last stand in order to bring awareness to the AIDS crisis.

The last scene with the memorial broke me a little. I knew Tim was going to be dead but watching Hawk breakdown at Tim's "beyond measure" memorial flag and admitting to Kimberly that Tim was the man he loved. Yes, I did cry at that scene but what a beautiful final moment. 

- Both McCarthy and Cohn's deaths were covered in this episode. Cohn's flag had "Coward. Bully. Victim."

- Jerome admitted to Marcus that he was positive. Frankie wasn't sad when Cohn's death was announced.

- Standout music: Johnny Mathis I Look At You and Arthur Russell's Love Is Overtaking Me.

- Chronology: 1957, 1986, 1987, 1996, 2012 throughout the episode.

Make It Easy made for a gut wrenching, absolutely beautiful finale to a poignant miniseries. I've enjoyed this from start to finish and the love the series has gotten was justified. Sublime performances from Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey but everyone was fantastic to watch along with the quality in writing and directing. Everyone should be proud of this production. 

Rating: 9 out of 10