“Fellow Travelers” takes us on a journey through the lives of Hawkins Fuller (Matt Bomer), a closeted gay man working for the State Department, Tim Laughlin (Jonathan Bailey), who meets Hawkins during his stint working at the State Department where the two fall in love during the McCarthy administration. Marcus Hooks (Jelani Alladin) and Frankie (Noah Ricketts) a couple of black queer men also find themselves in each other’s orbit and fall in love despite their differences and the need for self-preservation in a time of racism as homophobia puts a wedge in all relationships.

“Fellow Travelers” shows us the harsh realities that gay men who wanted to focus on their careers had to face, the lies and manipulation they had to concoct in order to live normal lives. Hawkins, despite being a gay man, in love with another man, marries Lucy (Allison Williams) and has children and although this seems good in theory, none of them are happy. Lucy admits that she has never felt desired in her marriage, which eventually leads to her leaving Hawkins after a life wasted. Hawkins neglects his son out of fear of projecting himself on his son which eventually leads to his son’s death. While Hawkins is a victim of circumstances, its clear that he also ends up victimizing those closest to him. Hawkins is manipulative towards Tim from the moment he meets him and cheats on Lucy throughout their relationship, and not to take away Lucy’s agency, she stays with him and has 2 kids while being fully aware of his sexuality and the situation they both are in. Lucy lastly steps out of the marriage because Hawkins clearly does not satisfy her. The systematic and institutional homophobia resulted in everyone’s misery and led to the AIDS pandemic, as the world and politicians began to view the disease as merely a gay problem meant to punish gay folk.

While poetic justice would have had Hawkins, who frequented bath houses be the one who eventually got infected, the show highlights that HIV isn’t a punishment for promiscuity and anyone can get it. Tim had been a Priest, he was the more cautious one between him and Hawkins, and yet he got the virus, not as a punishment but because the government neglected gay men and weren’t moved by their suffering. Considering how far treatments and prevention of HIV has come along, it is clear that a lot of lives were lost for nothing and the victims were above all victims of a broken and apathetic society.

Marcus and Frankie’s story, although much more grounded and less tragic also highlighted the other side of a coin. Marcus being a professional of his own right, starts out as a journalist and becomes a Professor, is still not out and proud, as he often has to hide parts of himself be it from his father, or from his students who exhibit homophobic tendencies in the classroom. Marcus has always been more self-assured and at the same time “knew his place” while Frankie was more “out and proud”, having been part of a drag show in the clubs to eventually becoming a social worker and activist fighting for gay rights and assisting with the AIDS pandemic. Marcus and Frankie brought out the best in each other and along the way fostered/adopted Marcus’ student Jerome (Jude Wilson).

Although the story of Tim and Hawkins is a love story, a lot happens between the two and there are too many times that Hawkins screws over Tim for his own benefit, including costing Tim a job. Tim loves Hawkins completely, however, Hawkins with all his social capital goes out of his way at times to make others miserable for his own sake. Hawkins is not quite as sympathetic as the dashing dominant male politician who uses others as stepping stones, while suffering in the closet. At least he isn’t a self-hating hypocrite. The show has a lot to unpack and it shines a light on how bigotry doesn’t just affect the intended, the rot spreads to everyone and innocent people suffer. Tim fights for the rights of his fellow gay men even on his death bed, and Hawkins eventually comes out to his daughter at Tim’s memorial after Tim has passed. Although it feels a little too late, Hawkins also pays the price for the life he has lived. We are left not being able to judge him too harshly.

The titular “Fellow Travelers” were two gay men that Lucy met when she was abroad who were traveling the world together free of judgement, seeking freedom and this is what everyone yearns for under all the posturing and politicking; everyone just wants a fellow traveler, someone to walk the ends of the earth with. “Fellow Travelers” takes us on a journey of yearning, romance, regret, helplessness and hope for the human spirit. At the end of the day, everyone has choices to make for their lives and wherever those choices lead, life goes on. Tim, Hawkins, Marcus, Frankie all lived their lives, as fellow travelers and all their lives turned out differently, in spite of the one thing they all had in common. “Fellow Travelers” keeps you hooked from start to finish and engages the audience, while also posing as a cautionary tale on how things can devolve if the politicians are not kept in check and if humans keep losing their empathy for fellow human beings.

Rating- 4 out of 5

Streaming on- Showtime