I actually thought this was a pretty good episode, It just felt wrong to me to have Brian going back to his old ways money wise while he’s trying to start a new company and doesn’t know where his next paycheck is coming from. The turnaround just seemed a bit abrupt, and he was acting like that all through the episode- even before landing the drug account.
It’s a bit of a pet peeve of mine about this show how magically wealthy everyone is…
And I am in utter agreement with Sampiro regarding blake, it’s good to see him back.
Besides the big drug company account, it did show Brian landing a couple of small accounts. Admittedly they’d probably not pay his electric bill for one month, but the episode didn’t entirely ignore the money issue. But landing one major account like that could be enough to pay the bills for several months and it will certainly make it easier to get more in the future. So buying shots for his friends is not a big departure.
But everyone isn’t wealthy. In fact no one’s wealthy. Debbie works multiple shifts at the diner to make ends meet. Vic was living on disability for the first couple of seasons (there was some old business where he and Debbie blew a lot of money on a trip because they thought Vic was going to die soon). Emmett and Michael both started out working retail and Emmett is working hard to build his party planning business (with Vic). Mel and Lindsay have been known to struggle a little financially with their initial decision to have Lindsay stay at home with Gus, and there was an arc in S2 I think where Lindsay had to go back to work early because she and Mel split up temporarily. Ted’s unemployed and pretty close to destitute, having lost everything he earned as the porn king of Pittsburgh in yet another stupid legal storyline. Ben’s a college professor and Michael owns a small business so they probably aren’t going to be rich any time soon. Other than Brian, none of them have been shown to have vast disposable income except for when Emmett was temporarily a madcap heiress.
That’s what I mean, actually. I realise it’s a common TV convention, but everyone on this show lives way beyond their means. There might be a storyline involving money problems, but everyone lives in huge apartments with extensive wardrobes and spends all their free time clubbing.
I don’t live like that, none of the gay men I know live like that. How could Michael and Emmet possibly afford their apartment from the first season on the wages of a department store manager and a waiter?
That’s one thing the British series did much better was having the characters be believably working class.
What’s the rent on a two-bedroom apartment in what looks to be a somewhat run-down neighborhood in Pittsburgh? Split in half it doesn’t seem like it’d be that unaffordable on two halfway decent salaries. Factor in that Emmett worked in a clothing boutique and probably got an employee discount, not to mention Michael’s probable discount at the Big Q and that Michael’s wardrobe consisted in large measure of comic book character t-shirts and I’m really not seeing money being that great an issue. Ted was a high-paid accountant before becoming PKOP, Brian was making a huge salary at his job and so on. And of course most of them didn’t initially have any expenses beyond their own personal ones (no dependants to pay for) so they would have more “disposable” income. The best example I think is Debbie and Michael, the only time we see two generations of the same family with any regularity (I exclude Justin and his mother and Brian and his mother because the parents aren’t regulars). Debbie is getting by, working hard but keeping a roof over her head, and Michael is doing a little better. Just how real life parents and grown children so often are. I hate to focus on this to such a degree but I really don’t see the critique as valid.
Like I said, it’s a bit of a TV convention that everyone always lives in a bigger apartment than they could afford… it just bugs me a bit on this show. Partly because of the DINK stereotype:
I mean, I’m a gay man and I couldn’t even begin to afford the lifestyle the guys on this show have, for me and my friends a night clubbing is a luxury- on this show it’s every night. These folks live in huge apartments.
As I said, on the British series it seemed more like the characters lived in reasonable sized apartments for their occupations.
That’s cool, I like the show but this is one of the things that bugs me about it. Disagreement is the spice of conversation.
I’m going to have to go with Otto. I don’t see this as a valid complaint. First off, it’s Pittsburgh, not New York. Michael and Emmett’s apartment isn’t very big and seems well within their reach. It’s also been shown several times that Emmett is frequently strapped and Ted used to help him out occassionally. Ted’s income as an accountant could easily have paid for his apartment, as could Brian’s as a high-profile advertising executive.
A night clubbing for you might be a luxury. But what is your age and income? (rhetorical question, no answer needed). These guys are in their 30s and aren’t making stocker wages at the Albertson’s. It makes a difference. I’m sure I don’t make anywhere near the kind of money that Brian or Ted did; but I have my own house and I could afford to go out for a drink or two as often as I wished - if I lived in a town with a gay bar. It’s not like paying a measly cover and a couple of drinks is going to break someone with a regular income. If you’re a 20 year old working at McDonalds, maybe; but not a a professional.
Well said, Homebrew. None of the characters are portrayed as outlandishly wealthy. It’s not as if QAF is portrayed as the gay Dynasty, which the L Word, however, seems to have adopted as its regular diet.
When I first caught Queer As Folk on paid TV I kept paying for it. Nothings free.
I also liked that Showtime show Going to Claifornia. Two guys in an old car driving across the United States looking for some guy. The situations they got in.
What got my attention to QAF was Cagney. She plays the mother of all mothers! Shes fat & sassy and has a gay son who she raised from day one, a brother with aids, a cop lover who dumped her all the while working as a waitress at the greasy spoon. And she flips shit to those growing boys while sounding soft smartly strong dressed flambouintly. Role of a lifetime.
They are all great actors. I can’t pick a favorite, I like them all.
As I expected, the Pink Posse is headed for trouble. Going out trolling for bigots outside straight bars ain’t gonna end well for our pink shirted wannabe heroes. Defending yourself is one thing. Picking a fight is another. Will Justin end up in jail?
This might be the first time I’ve been disappointed in Emmett. I understand him not wanting to be around Ted; but being pissy towards Michael was over the line. And once again Brian shows just how much he cares for Michael by confronting Emmett.
Good going Vic! But is this a way to get him off the show? I like Vic. I was hoping they’d actually develop him more this season.
Sadly, no drag queens.
Justin’s mother has really come a long way. She may not be Debbie, but she has come to accept Brian as well as can be expected and she really seems to be supportive of Justin.
Ted landed the perfect job for himself. He should have been more professional when Michael and group showed up. But Michael was being rather pushy to show up like that. It could easily have come off as if they were coming to see how far he’s fallen and to gloat. It wasn’t very thoughtful of them. Blake was right. Give him room and time. Ben seemed to get it when he agreed to spot Blake.
Vic and his boyfriend (Oliver?) moved in together, meaning Debbie is now living alone and is obviously insecure about it.
Emmett initially got angry at Michael (and the rest) for not dumping Ted as a friend after what he put Emmett through. After another little chat with Brian, Emmett made up with Michael (and will presumably make up with everyone else off-screen).
Ted landed a gig as a singing waiter at a cheesy Itailian theme restaurant.
Pardon the hijack, but could you believe how passionately some people feel about that little three-letter word? Sheez… I don’t like the words “skillet” or “anyhoo”, but I never got worked up enough to start a Pit Thread.
First let’s wrap up last week’s discussion: Dear Sampiro: makes rude gesture with hands
Okay. This was probably my favorite episode so far this season. The pacing was good, the characters were mostly consistent and the stories fair.
It’s about damn time Michael stood up to his Mom. I could feel Ben’s frustration and annoyance. Debbie had a lot of damn gall to just drop by like that considering her resistance to Michael dating Ben to begin with. Go bug Vic.
Ted to the rescue! Yes, that one’s an accountant to the core. It nice to see someone bail out Brian for a change (along with the time Justin spotted the bracelet on Brian’s nephew). And was that a slight grin betraying actual emotion when Ted accepted his offer? I was ready to slap Ted when he turned down the offer at first.
It’s just a matter of time until Justin gets into serious trouble with the Posse.
Would removing Mel from the case help or hurt the case? I don’t think it makes a difference, although having the boss as co-counsel would probably help.
Emmett has never lived alone?! It’s time. You’ll love it.
[QUOTE=Homebrew]
Ted to the rescue! Yes, that one’s an accountant to the core. It nice to see someone bail out Brian for a change (along with the time Justin spotted the bracelet on Brian’s nephew). And was that a slight grin betraying actual emotion when Ted accepted his offer? I was ready to slap Ted when he turned down the offer at first.
QUOTE]
Please spoil the Ted:Brian plotline.
I’ve wondered if one of Emmett’s relatives will ever be brought into the storyline. He’s made several comments about them (a large clan of Hazelhurst, Mississippians so poor they once lived in a tent who have essentially disowned him [save for an insane great-aunt he was fond of]). An interesting plot might be for him to pick up a cute young (perhaps 21) trick at Babylon with a redneck accent and in the process of making out discover it’s a nephew he hasn’t seen since the kid was 10.
Vic still shows up. He drops by Michael’s comic book store.
Brian’s accountant leaves on vacation and fails to make a payment for a major ad. It turns out to the be accounting firm that Ted worked for. Ted is able to break into the accounting server and make the payment thus saving the day and Brian’s ass. Brian offers him a job as accountant and bookkeeper. At first Ted turns him down saying he’s not ready to be back among his old friends.
At the restaurant, a table of older women are having trouble splitting their bill and he steps in and quickly figures how much each should pay. One of them remarks that numbers are in his blood and he should be an accountant. So he goes back to Brian and accepts the offer.
“I won’t let you down,” Ted says to Brian.
“If you do, I’ll have you murdered,” Brian responds with the barest of smiles.
At first Ted grins thinking he’s joking; but then decides if he’s not sure whether Brian was joking.
Debbie and Ben made peace with her resistance back in S2 when he was hospitalized. That she was willing to drop over whenever is proof that she considers Ben part of the family.
Michael certainly didn’t seem to have any problem previously dropping back home whenever he felt like it so how is Debbie supposed to know that he has a problem with her doing it? Michael basically has no idea how to deal with his mother, so whenever something comes up he dials it up to 11, never learning from past experience that his best course of action is a middle ground. But then if he took the middle ground there wouldn’t be drama.
The producers have always said that the story of QAF is “boys becoming men.” Brian this season has been the poster child for growing up. Starting his own agency (although where he got the money to acquire and refurbish the baths is beyond me), taking the donations to help retire his “Pittsburgh for the Truth” debt and so on illustrate it.
I don’t understand the status of this case. Last season they said the case was accepted by the state supreme court for appeal, but then immediately started talking about lining up witnesses and doing other trial activities. Now it’s back before a single judge. I hate it when they do legal stuff on this show because they always fuck it up.
Anyway, I don’t think it’d make that much difference to the judge who argues the case. I think Mel would be a better advocate as far as oral argument is concerned. Who knows though if the judge would even know who Melanie is or that she’s a lesbian or that she’s pregnant? Mel is supposed to be in her second trimester and apparently isn’t showing, but then I don’t know when it’s typical for women to start showing.
He has lived alone. He lived alone for months when Michael went out to Portland with David. Damn forgetters-of-continuity!
Sometimes I think those two would prefer to forget the 1st Season.
And as for Justin…that boy needs a keeper! Damn. So is the 2nd season agreement, that Justin and Brian can fool around with other people still in force? Or does this then make the second time that Justin has cheated on Brian? (first was with Ethan, unless we count the poor virgin boy in 2nd season that Justin fucked then ripped the heart out of, which would make the thing with Cody his third cheat).
