Gay TV Recap: Men in Trees

Last Friday's Men in Trees saw Buzz's son George (Orlando Jones) return to the Alaskan town of Elmo. George's visit, it turns out, coincides with that of Mai's cousin, ice skating star Lucy Woo. George is in town scouting locations to open a new fat camp while Lucy comes to Elmo as the final stop on her ice skating tour. Meanwhile, George's brother Patrick is feeling pressured by his impending wedding and the duties expected out of the groom. One of those duties, finding a best man, is taken care of when George mistakes Patrick's grumbling as a roundabout way of asking George to fill the role.

George has a happy reunion with his boyfriend, Terri (Mario Cantone). However, Terri quickly cautions him against getting too close. "I hope you're not putting down Elmo roots for me," Terri cautions, "I'm just looking for a little fun. I'm not a commitment guy, I'm good on my own."

Meanwhile, Lucy expresses a longing for the kind of stable home and loving husband Mai has found in Elmo. Unfortunately, she can't choose to stick around in Elmo since her work visa expires as soon as her tour is over, prompting Mai to suggest that Lucy find herself a husband in Elmo. With ten men for every woman, Mai tells her cousin, a woman like Lucy will have her pick of green cards.

After hearing that Lucy's dates aren't successful, George proposes to her: "While you wait for Mr. Right, why not settle for Mr. Green Card." (I'm a little surprised ABC didn't include a disclaimer like past series dealing with sham marriages at this point.) Witnessing the proposal, Terri grimaces as everyone else celebrates.

And speaking of gay men with bad taste (is this a theme week at ABC?), George and Patrick quickly find themselves unable to agree on the details for Patrick's wedding. George wants to have French songbirds, a butterscotch fountain, a raw bar and fireworks that explode into heart shapes while Patrick prefers simpler things. The disagreement leads to Patrick telling George he'd like to find a different best man. George takes the decision in stride.

The episode closes at the Spring Skate, a last chance to go ice skating on the lake before the ice cracks. (Why are they doing a spring episode in November? Are the Men in Trees producers just cruel or was there confusion about when the episodes would air?) George and Terri perform an ice dance in Lucy's honor, but they end up bickering through forced smiles during the routine:

George: I'm just trying to do something nice for Mai. It's just a piece of paper, it's not like it means anything.

Terri: It may not mean anything to you but it means an awful lot to me. The whole institution of marriage is pissing me off. No one should get married until we can -- the gays, I mean.

George: You're jealous.

Terri: You're crazy.

George: You should be committed -- saying you don't want to be committed. 

With that confession out of the way, George calls off his wedding to Lucy, a disappointment Lucy also takes in stride, admitting, "it would be wrong to marry a man I would cuckold." George's father Buzz approves, telling him "It's better to wait for the right man, rather than to marry the wrong woman." Considering the uncomfortable glances Buzz kept making at Terri throughout the episode, I guess this was the approval George has been waiting for all this time.

There was an interesting balance I found in the episode in that George and Terri could come have off as a little bit stereotypical, with the love of figure skating and the fancy wedding frills. Instead, I found myself thinking of them as individuals who had stereotypical traits. Maybe that's because George's wedding suggestions sounded like they came from a two-year old copy of InStyle (at least) or maybe it was Mario Cantone's relatively sedate performance.

More importantly, George and Terri's story was one of many romantic storylines in this week's episode with their story being treated the same as Elmo's other couples. A theme of the episode was about couples having trouble openly communicating, with Jack and Marin avoiding each other because they're due for a difficult conversation, which mirrored Terri's lie about not wanting to make a commitment.

Men in Trees did something that's still unusual on TV by putting a gay male romantic storyline at an equal level as all of its other storylines, not making anything special out of its gay characters but treating them as part of the tapestry of Elmo.