1x01 You're Wonderful

Many mixed feelings about this pilot. There are elements i found interesting.Matt Bomer as Hawk is really good. I loved him as Larry Trainor in Doom Patrol. While he played a slightly different flavour of 1950s repressed gay boy there I can see why e was cast here. While he plays a stoic character that deliberately obfuscates his emotion Bohmer has spades of charisma and a subtly conveyed depth that made Hawk a fun character to observe.

The 1950s political scheming and subterfuge was also intriguing. I liked seeing the games Hawk played with the power brokers in DC to solidifying his own position and protect his friends. The show does a solid enough job to convey the specter of McCarthyism and the danger it posed for our central characters. I will say however that on a plot level this episode was pretty thin given the 1 hour run time. I'm most curious to see how future episodes will weave in the dual timeline because for me in the first episode it served more to undercut the stakes and unnecessarily keep us from the more immediate and engaging 1950s plot.

There are aspects of the central relationship I found engaging. I'm a big proponent of shameless depictions of queer sexuality on TV and Fellow Travellers delivered. Not only were the sex scenes hot I do like how they were used throughout the episode to tell us more about Tim and Hawk's relationship. The power dynamics shown n the sex scenes aren't just aesthetic but inform us about these characters and their relationship as it develops.

Unfortunately one of the biggest things holding me back from liking this episode was Jonathan Bailey's performance as Tim. I think Bailey just dials his character up too much. There's an unrestrained emotionality to him this was more uncomfortable than moving. Things like his crisis of faith fervent anti-communism and honestly even his infatuation for Hawk at some points just didn't stick to me because the intensity of his emotionality never quite rang true.

I also just never fell into the chemistry between the two leads in general. In all honesty I think the two worked best during their sex scenes. Hawk and Tim have a fairly engaging power exchange dynamic and I especially loved sening the moment Tim fully fell into it. But outside of those contexts I never quite got what they saw in each other. Holding out hope that their dynamic builds as the episodes progress.