Fellow Travelers

A mini-series you ought not to miss

Plot: The charismatic Hawkins Fuller is pursuing a political career and avoiding romantic relationships, until he meets Tim Laughlin, a young man brimming with idealism. Their romance begins just as Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn declare war on "subversives and sexual deviants", initiating one of the darkest periods in 20th-century American history. Over the course of four decades, Hawk and Tim cross paths through the anti-Vietnam War protests of the 1960s, the drug-fueled disco hedonism of the 1970s and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s.

Critic [source] : Whilst watching Fellow Travelers [words used by Communist party members during McCarthyism, but here it has multiple meanings] the audience notices something that has indeed been missing from streaming shows over the last few years: Extras. These people decorate scenes adding to the reality and legitimacy of every moment. Whether it is a party in the 1980s or a political rally in the 1960s, the production value is captivating and cinematic. 

Fellow Travelers, created by Ron Nyswaner – Academy Award nominee for writing Philadelphia – adapting the Thomas Mallon book of the same name, is epic in the truest sense of the word, with a focus on crafting a seismic narrative that often exceeds that of many contemporary, mainstream feature films.

Set over the course of three life-altering decades in the United States (‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s), Fellow Travelers stars Matt Bomer and Bridgerton breakout star Jonathan Bailey as two men who first meet during the height of McCarthyism in Washington, and engage in an affair that could very well harm them both.

As previously stated, what attracts the audience to this production so quickly is the use of practical locations and an array of characters, extras and all. Fellow Travelers does not feel cheap or ‘low-budget’ in a day and age where streaming shows are becoming cheaper by the second. The cinematography by Simon Dennis, known for his work with Ryan Murphy, decorates every frame with colour and life.

While the production value is impressive, the performances and characterisations, specifically from the show’s anchors, Bomer and Bailey, are charming as well as deeply tragic. The pilot episode’s decision to juxtapose their characters’ first, sexually charged meeting to the tragic realisation that Bailey’s character, Tim, is dying of AIDS, is crushing and provides the audience with a melancholic introduction to the rest of the series. It is dramatic irony in the most basic of ways, and yet it works. Each high that these characters go through and experience, is ultimately going to come crashing down.

The series includes realistic and graphic sex scenes that are not as common in mainstream media as one would assume that they should be, but they ring true. Beyond its target demographic of, um, fellow travellers, the series is a relevant tale of concealing one’s truth, featuring a spicy on-screen chemistry between its two leads, immaculate production and costuming, as well as a haunting use of dramatic irony.