The most recent episode of Queer As Folk, July 3, 2005, should have been the final episode of the final season:
Mel and Lins came to an agreement that may or may not lead to them getting back together, but it was at least a step forward in a healthy adult relationship.
Hunter seems to have moved on to warmer, and hopefully better, climes and has written to Ben and Michael so they can get on with their lives.
Ted has finally grown up and offered to help Brian – and Brian finally came out and stated why he will never commit to a relationship.
Emmett seems to have the boy of his dreams.
Debbie is happy with her cop.
Brian sees the coming of age, and the passing of youth.
And on the horizon, the bigoted hoards keep nipping at our heels.
That should have been, and could have been, a wonderful end to the series.
If I were smart, I would stop watching now and remember this as the bittersweet finale.
I think you may have stolen the march on us Canadian folks–I don’t remember Hunter writing to Michael and Ben, or Brian stating why he won’t commit to a relationship.
Spoil me, please! What does Hunter write? Why won’t Brian commit? Who’s Emmett’s new man?
Aw…why not wait and see the episode yourself. And I wasn’t aware there was a different Showtime slot for QAF in Canada?
I haven’t been all that thrilled with the story lines or plots in the last year or so, but this is the one episode where everything really comes together nicely. Sadly, in seeing the previews, they feel they have to beat a few more tired plots to death first.
Trust me - this episode (number 8 of the final season) is worth watching without it being spoiled, so wait and savor it.
I just did a little searching, and according to this site, the final episode is going to be 513, so five episodes to go.
Still hope they don’t screw things up too much before the end. Every character in the show has gone through so much tragedy over the seasons, it would be nice to end things a little more up-beat.
Well, I don’t have Showtime, so would somebody please spoil why Brian won’t commit for me? (Use spoiler boxes if you like, but I promise I won’t tell…)
Since this thread is already labeled with a potential spoiler warning, I’m not going to spoiler box it. Anyway, it’s not that big a deal, IMHO.
Ted, still in AA mode, was trying to be supportive of Brian, and help him admit his problems. Brian has nothing to hide, and nothing to admit to. It’s all what he’s pretty much revealed before. “I have a distant mother, an abusive alcoholic father, I drink too much, take too many drugs and have pretty much redefined the term 'promiscuous.”
No big surprise really. Brian knows what he is, why is that way, and is unapologetic about it.
What’s really bothering him, isn’t his own lifestyle. It’s that his friends are moving beyond that lifestyle. They’re going for the whole married with children and living in a house in suburbia thing. Brian can’t stand that.
My current fear is that the writers of this show might be big fans of The Front Runner by Patricia Nell Warren and plan on using Emmett’s football player as the Front Runner.
This would make for a rather dismal end to the series, but I wouldn’t put it past them.
It does seem from the previews from last episode that someone’s going to die (and if that’s so and you know who, SPOILER IT). I’m holding out some small hope that it’s going to be Michael who buys the farm; wouldn’t that be dramatic.
I haven’t read the book I’m afraid. Maybe you could spoil this dismal end you’re thinking about? I kinda suspect where you’re going with it though. And I will be pissed.
I haven’t seen the previews for next episode. What did you see?
In any event, someone else is gonna die? Jesus Christ, can’t they leave these poor people alone? If Michael dies, I don’t think Brian can handle it. If Brian dies, well I could almost see that. They’d probably have him walking off in the sunset to some big gay disco with Victor.
A good candidate for a death would be Hunter. That would mess up Michael & Ben’s domestic bliss.
The book is about a track star (Billy) and his coach (Harlan), who fall in love. Billy runs a long-distance race in the Olympics and is assassinated moments after crossing the finish line.
The voiceover is something like “everything you thought you knew is changing” and there are numerous shots of people in various states of dishevelment. My speculation is that someone is going to firebomb Babylon and a major character is going to die. Not sure why I think it’s going to be Michael; something in the scenes triggered the thought but I can’t remember what exactly.
That’s why I picked Hunter. He’s more or less off the show, so Ben could receive word that he’d died, we could deal with that drama, but they wouldn’t actually have to pay the actor.
Plus, I’m not as emotionally invested in Hunter as pretty much everyone else, and I really, really don’t want anyone else to die.
Do you really think they could kill Michael? That would destroy Brian, Michael’s mother, their whole group of friends… That’d be just a totally cruel thing to do.
Killing Brian, what does that say? Everyone should get married, have some kids & move to suburbia, or they’re doomed to die from homosexual debauchery? This show needs Brian to be a counterpoint to everyone else.
The football player, what’s his name, Drew? Man, I hope not. Emmett’s already gone through this. Can’t that poor kid have any happiness?
Ted. I could handle Ted dying. The poor schmuck. His life always sucks anyway. It would almost be merciful.
But, assuming that Babylon gets firebombed, what would bring Hunter to Babylon? It makes no dramatic sense for Hunter to be there.
Dunno. It’d be pretty darn shocking though.
Ted’s spent the last couple of seasons getting his life together. He’s not the schmuck he used to be, not to mention that Ted is probably the character most of the audience can most easily identify with.
In the preview for the next episode, I’m almost positive it was Michael’s voice saying “Help me!” I’m also pretty sure that Michael wasn’t in any of the subsequent shots showing the characters walking around in shock after the apparent bombing.
That said, if Michael dies I will be royally pissed off. The entire series will be ruined for me. This show is in my heart and warrants watching over and over for years to come…but knowing that Michael will meet a tragic end would cast a pall over the whole series from the beginning. I kind of don’t see it happening, though; as levdrakon said, it would devastate all of the other characters, taking the focus away from their storylines and making the remaining episodes all about Michael’s death and the aftermath. It would just be TOO much tragedy too abruptly and isn’t really QaF’s style.
However, if they want to kill off Ben, they can be my guest. Gah, I can’t stand that smug, pompous, egotistical, look-how-deep-I-am jerk. Not to mention that he consistently treats Michael like crap.
While I also find Ben a little pompous, it’s Michael who is the real jerk. What bugs me about him is how self-righteous and condescending he is towards Brian. He’s known Brian for years. He knows why Brian is anti-relationship. He has also been involved in all the debauchery also. I hate the way he’s thinks he better than Brian because he’s “grown up” and moved to the 'burbs. I think Brian might be less condemning of the lifestyle choice Michael has made if Michael didn’t act like it makes him better than Brian. Whether Brian continues to live the party boy lifestyle or eventually decides to settle down, it’s his decision to make. And Michael has no place to act superior just because of his own choice.
Of course the dynamic of the couple cocconing and withdrawing from a group of friends is realistic. It is, however, grating the way Michael acts as if it is a sign of maturity and makes him a better person than his friends.
My dislike of the character is compounded by the fact that Hal Sparks is a horribly unconvincing actor. His only emotive facial expression is “constipated”. Mr. Furrowed-Brow, while once the linch-pin that held the group together, is now expendable. Ted’s self-improvement has led to a genuine friendship developing between him and Brian. And Ted and Emmitt have always been friends. So it’s now becoming Ted as the center of the group and he’s a more sympathetic chacter.
Interesting, Homebrew - I’ve never perceived a “holier-than-though” attitude from Michael. The way I see it, he mostly reacts to the grief Brian gives him. Now he has a holier-than-thou attitude, perpetually sneering at the pedestrian (to his mind) lifestyles of his friends, crowing about how non-conformist he is.
So I think Michael’s position is pretty reasonable. I’m not sure he’s judging Brian so much as recognizing that they no longer have anything in common. If I had a “friend” who constantly put down everything and everyone in my life, I’d stop associating with him too.
No doubt they’ll be friends again before the end of the series. Hell, I’d like nothing more than for Ben to die, Michael to rush into Brian’s arms, and Brian to have an epiphany and realize that Michael is the love of his life and the only one he wants. I know it would be totally unrealistic and a gross violation of Brian’s character, but I’d eat it up anyway 'cause I love a happy ending.
What does Hunter write? Why won’t Brian commit? Who’s Emmett’s new man?