AfterElton.com - "Queer as Folk" Episode 5.11

Queer As Folk recap: Season Five, Episode Eleven
(original air date 24 July 2005)

THIS WEEK'S QAF FAQ:

Why didn't we get to see more of Lindsay and Melanie reuniting?
Because Showtime hates me.
Has Brian gone mad?
Yes. Stark raving.
What did Deb's T-shirts say?
No T-shirts this time, but she was wearing a necklace that said "SEXY."

A funeral — Everyone's there, looking sad, as Brian walks down the aisle to the open casket. Deb looks shattered; Ben looks broken. We're expecting this to be Michael's funeral — I said expecting, not "hoping" (even I am not that callous) — but it's Brian himself in the casket.

And then Brian wakes up; he's been dozing at the bombed mess that was Babylon. Ted is telling him that it was a bomb, and then Carl is there to give him the bad news. Four dead; 67 wounded, 11 of those critical. Carl is a good guy — he looks kind of heartbroken about all of it.

Carl also tells Brian and Ted that Michael is still in surgery, and that he'll need statements from them and a copy of the guest list. And that they should go home.

So Brian goes off to the hospital, expecting Ted to go with him — but Ted is busy, busy, busy, so much to do, so much to avoid. Brian just lets him stew in his denial.

The hospital — Emmett is pacing; Deb asks him to sit down. But then Deb stands up and wants to know why they're not getting any news about Michael. I half expect some sort of Terms of Endearment scene in which Deb screams "Give my gay son some medicine!" But lately this show is far too serious and hmmm... actually well-written? ... for something like that to happen.

Brian shows up and tells everyone it was a bomb.

Deb: "What kind of sick fuck would do something like that?"
Justin: "The kind that went to Matthew Shepard's funeral with signs saying 'Your son's burning in hell.' The kind we saw driving down Liberty Avenue with bullhorns shouting their hate slogans. The kind that support Proposition 14."

Yeah. And sick is the only word for that. Oh, and hateful, cruel, heartless, and evil — and I don't even believe in evil. Actually, I'm not sure all of those words apply to the kind that support Prop 14 — only to the zealots. I think a lot of people who support anti-gay legislation are just stupid, misguided, and fearful, which admittedly isn't much of an improvement.

Somebody switches the waiting room TV to an action movie full of explosions. Emmett kind of panics and says he has to go. Poor Em.

The doctor shows up and says they had to remove Michael's spleen, but they think he's going to be fine. He tells everyone to go home while Michael sleeps, but Deb and Ben don't want to. Deb insists that Ben go home, and Brian tells Ben he'd better do what Deb says — after all, God did.

Okay, I don't believe in God either, but if I did, she just might take on the persona of Deb.

Reunited, and it feels so good — Lindsay is on the phone, getting the news about Michael; Mel is at the table feeding Jenny Rebecca. Lindsay hangs up and shares her joy with Mel, who says "Thank God," but then spits over each shoulder and explains she doesn't want to put a kenahora on it. Mel's mostly unmentioned Judaism has come to the fore this season; I suppose that's mostly just to draw parallels to the anti-gay stuff. It couldn't be because they actually wanted to explore her character and give her some depth and complexity.

Anyway, forget all that, because then this wonderful thing happens:

Melanie: "You know, I realized something when I woke up this morning."
Lindsay: "Oh yeah? What's that?"
Melanie: "That I want to see your face first thing every day for the rest of my life."
Lindsay: [coming over to give Mel a kiss] "Yours too."

I know I'm a cynic and have claimed an anti-marriage stance that rivals Brian's, but if anybody ever says that to me and means it (and maybe also looks good in a tank top), she'll have a hard time getting rid of me. I don't care how trite it is; it's exceptionally romantic, yet simple and down-to-earth.

However, what's not romantic is the fact that what's-his-name, that kid, interrupts Mel and Linds as they're beginning to kiss. They do kiss anyway, but Gus sort of ruined the moment, because there was Mel, being all vulnerable and in love, and Lindsay was doing that sexy confident I'm-gonna-fuck-you-senseless thing she does, and dammit why didn't we get to see some big getting-back-together sex scene? Don't tell me that was the dining room table bit — I'm over that.

Well, I suppose I shouldn't give up hope — I think this means we have two more episodes of them actually being together. It's not enough, but I'll take it because I'm a sucker.

They decide they should drop by the hospital to see Michael; Mel calls their friend Dusty to see if she can watch the kids.

But Dusty was one of the four who died at Babylon.

I kinda like that they did it this way. If one of the main characters had died, it would have seemed overwrought; but this way it's just a moving, stark example of how things sometimes hit very close to home indeed.

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