Raw, gritty, and astonishingly bold. These are some of the adjustives that can be used to describe this parable from Nigeria. A country certainly not known for its embracement of homosexuality. In fact, it is just the opposite. This short series is both a BL and a LGBTQ+ saga, virtually impossible to separate one from the other. Its underpinning is as old and familiar as gayness itself. The story itself is abound with tropes and cliches about the vileness of queerness. But here, it is the way it is presented that makes it so unique. The protagonists are not familiar to the usual world of BL. They are not teenagers and are Black from a country steep in religious disapproval of gay behavior from both the Muslin and Christian faiths, compounded by a deep cultural conservatism heritage against anything resembling an attachment between two men.

Timi (Peter Abang) leads a successful life with beautiful, handsome physique. Working hard and living on his own with a quasi-girlfriend who is a bit demanding and controlling. One day, Timi gets some food delivered by a guy that, unexpectedly, he finds intriguing. Jeff (Tennyson Jesse) is a strikingly handsome, soft-spoken man about the same age as Timi. Both seem to click, and, for whatever reason, a devoted friendship evolves. A strong bond between the two results almost to the point that the two become inseparable. While Jeff is gay, Timi begins to struggle with the feelings he has for Jeff.

Timi’s girlfriend suspects that the ‘delivery guy’ is providing him with drugs and suspects that is the reason why this burgeoning friendship is developing. To the point, she begins to post her souring relationship with Timi on social media, claiming she is a victim because Timi is a drug abuser.

Before long, Timi and Jeff realize that their friendship is more than a male bonding, and they are both romantically and sexually attracted to each other and end up having an ongoing intimate relationship. They have fallen deeply in love with one another. In whatever way you want or however you define love in any cultural terms, it is obviously that.

Timi’s girlfriend does something cruel and purposely exposes their relationship which causes both men to lose their jobs and creates such a hostile environment for both to say nothing of the mental anguish and social abuse each receive. Timi’s parents, being devoted Christians, berate him and castigate his behavior as an abomination. So much so that his mother offers money to Jeff to leave her son alone.

Since this is Timi and Jeff’s story, it is obvious that Peter Abang and Tennyson Jesse are the standouts. Not merely because they are the protagonists but because they illicit our response that is not so much by their acting but because of what they are having to go through. We see the pain on their faces and the anguish in their lives, simply for loving. It must be unimaginable. The agony of trying to fit into a society, culture, and family that simply does not want you. Yet they make such strong efforts to do so, to comply without capitulation. Quietly trying for others to see that all they want is to love. To convey all of that through the art of acting in an environment expressing forbidden to do so, had to be not only challenging but a complete labor of love and a commitment to the message of this series. A shout-out must be given to the mother of Timi (actress unknown) who initially vilifies her son and wishes he had not been born. Yet, when he disappears to find his Jeff, realizes that nothing but nothing is more valuable than her son. Slowly she accepts and opens her own heart to what she knows is an inevitable fate and begins to see and feel the strength of love between them. Here again, all these roles had to be challenging given the subject matter of this series and the stigma that could be attached to anyone who might be associated with this project.

This is truly an everyday story of love, no doubt playing out more times than we care to count. Two men simply find each other, fall in love, and merely want to live in peace and harmony in a world that is chaotic and always against them. They display one of the strongest forms of love I have ever seen because they have NOTHING that keeps them together except each other. We see the beauty of their love. It shines on them. We can see and feel their inner peace certainly in a world that will not accept them. They must find their own acceptance and perhaps only from a few around them who will bless and sanction them. For them, that seems to be enough. Could it be enough for us who are way more privileged?

This is an astonishingly moving series that is filled with all the prejudice, bigotry, hatred, abuse, and discrimination that gay people have been facing for generations. Ironically, the individuals who are supposed to be the one professing ‘love’ through their religion are the ones projecting hate. This series profoundly shines a light of love given off by two beautiful men so intense that God would even be pleased with his or her own creation. It is sheer sublimity and perfection.

Sure, there are production issues, but I do not recall them. The screenplay is brilliant. Simple. Concise. Yet, it conveys all the pain and emotions of people loving and hating. Interestingly, I did not despise the people who hated. It made me feel sorry for their narrow-minded judgements.

All I see is a story of love. It would behoove us to see love presented so frankly. Painfully of course, which is part of life’s endurance. But its message is clear. Crystal clear. Timi loves Jeff. Jeff loves Timi. They will make it work. Whole story. End of story.

One of the best messages and therefore one of the best BLs and LGBTQ+ series for this year! Given this was made in a country that literally bans homosexuality, this ought to be on EVERYONE’S radar to watch and support.

Please take the time to watch this series. It is literally history-making!

Rating- 5 out of 5

Streaming on- JFMTV YouTube Channel