“Fellow Travelers” follows the story of gay men during the McCarthy administration in America, when communists and gay men were being “witch hunted” and develops throughout the 1980s at the height of the AIDS crisis.

Hawkins Fuller (Matt Bomer) is a closeted gay man working for the State Department, who frequents gay bath houses for anonymous hookups to avoid any romantic relationships until he meets Tim Laughlin (Jonathan Bailey), another State Department worker who he manages to convince to spy for him, as they begin a love affair despite the ongoing witch hunt going on in Washington. The relationship between Hawkins and Tim is quite tentative as there is a bit of a power dynamic between the two. Hawkins takes advantage of Tim’s “innocence and naivete”, as he manages to get Tim to open up to him, and yet he remains quite closed off, even accusing Tim of interrogating him even though he is merely trying to get to know him.

In order to throw suspicions off each other, it becomes common cause that gay men and lesbian women pretend to be in a relationship to throw off any suspicions. Tim and Mary (Erin Neufer) end up with such friendship which in the end helps Mary ward off suspicions on her when her girlfriend is investigated.

While the show is supposed to portray romance, the setting, being Washington and the State Department to be exact, and the characters, being ambitious politicians who seem to mostly look out for themselves, the romance is quite overshadowed by the selfish choices (or self-preservation) some characters seem to make, particularly Hawkins. The show goes back and forth from the McCarthy administration, to the 1980s, where Hawkins is now married to Lucy (Allison Williams) and has children, while Tim has now contracted HIV/AIDS and seems to be on the verge of death. Hawkins decides to visit Tim, although Tim has indicated that he doesn’t want to see him. Lucy is aware of Hawkins’ relationship with Tim and is visibly upset that he has to go and see him, stating that if she was truly important to him, he wouldn’t be going off to see Tim.

The show also shows us the plight of black, gay professionals at this time, when they are faced with racism on top of the homophobia that their white counterparts are facing. Marcus Hooks (Jelani Alladin) is a closeted journalist who is friendly with both Tim and Hawkins, and acts as a sage for the two. He also has a romantic storyline with Frankie (Noah Ricketts), who he serenades with poetry at a gay bar after he has been fired due to a confrontation with a white politician during a press conference.

“Fellow Travelers” doesn’t shy away from explicit sexual scenes, which is a good juxtaposition to how ravenous people become when they have to suppress their deepest urges and how carnal the desires are. Hawkins and Tim literally devour each other on the screen (lol). Tim, who has an internal struggle with his religion, even goes to confession at one point. But he tells the priest that he is not sorry that he had sexual relations with a man, because at that point he felt pure and did not regret it. Although this changes when his relationship with Hawkins is fraught, it doesn’t change how he once viewed his sexuality in relation to his spirituality. Even though Hawkins himself refuses to apologize to his father (no matter how much he didn’t mean it) in order for him to be included in his will, he does not denounce his sexuality to his father. When the two have to face themselves, when there aren’t direct consequences (Tim during confession, and Hawkins with his father), they are brave enough to be true to themselves, however, the self-preservation kicks in when their careers are at risk and Hawkins knows this all too well.

I look forward to the bittersweet development of the series, knowing what is in store for the two characters, how they will cement their love and how they will drift apart. It should be a thrilling ride, as the show manages to both be exciting and sobering at the same time. Even without the full context of American politics, the show manages to enthrall the viewers, and the romance, although it clearly doesn’t have a happy ending, is endearing enough to want to see it through.

Rating- 3 out of 5

Streaming on- Showtime