Link to the n*de dudes
Back in 2021, a dark comedy called Everyone is Doing Great dropped on Hulu, featuring a gay guy who moves home because his dad is dying of a brain tumor, and needs someone to take care of his teenage daughters. I turned it off after ten minutes -- not a fan of shows about dying people. Five years later, later, a new season has dropped on Netflix. The dying dad plotline must be long gone by now, and I'm running low on tv shows with gay characters to review, so here we go, Season 2, Episode 1.
Scene 1: Dude is moving his stuff from a U-Haul to a storage unit. He posts a selfie to someone who praises him as "sweaty boy," then drinks in the empty truck bed. Are you planning to live there?
Meanwhile, another dude is picking up trash by the road, probably as part of a community service program. He must be on probation. He finds a t-shirt with a frog on it, and decides to keep it.
Meanwhile, two actors playing cops are standing in front of a green screen, ready for a scene where they run from an explosion. They run, jump onto a mat nad...the director doesn't like it. Do it again, for the fifteenth time, but this time hold hands so we can see your chemistry, and run like Tom Cruise. They protest, but what the director says, goes.
Nope, do it again.
Someone calls out "Michael." I didn't know if they mean the actor or the director, until I checked the cast list. It's actor Michael, played by Sean Carrigan.
The lady cop protests: "Grr. That's enough takes. There are 45 more scenes in this episode. I'm going to lunch!"
"What's her problem?" the director asks. Actor Michael goes to talk to her.
The director is not named, but the only male actors not otherwise accounted for in the cast list are Bryan Greenberg (Miles) and Connor Dante (Carlos). Neither of them look much like our director, but I'm going to go with Bryan Greenberg because he has some backside shots (on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends).
Scene 2: U-Haul Guy is finally named: Seth (Stephen Colletti, top photo). After he finishes brushing his teeth from a grooming kit, he sneakily puts his toothbrush into the holder, next to the other one. I got it -- he's staying with his boyfriend, and hinting that he wants to move in permanently.
Wait -- he's living with a girl? Must be a gay man-straight woman friendship.
She announces that he can only stay for two weeks. "Or maybe a month? I'm having trouble finding an apartment."
"Ok, but stay out of my closet!" You been trying on your bff's clothes, buddy?
"Sorry, I just like your sweater."
"It was my Dad's, who just died tragically, and we're all in mourning, remember?" Wait -- didn't U-Haul Guy's Dad die tragically in the first season? They're getting redundant.
"Ok, so I'll take it off."
In other news, U-Haul Guy is excited about his Big Day coming up: a guest star role that could turn into a recurring! Every actor's dream!
Scene 3: In a room full of 12-step pamphlets, positive affirmations, and a humidifier, Probation Guy is calling to tell someone that Tyler loves them and is sorry that he cheated. "Just remember, Love is Eternal."
Back story: He's Jeremy (James Lafferty), who starred in the teen vampire-werewolf drama The Eternals (like the Twilight Saga).Now he's making money recording personal greetings for fans, for birthdays and so on.
Boyfriend Raul (Elliott Bush) comes in. He works as a tour guide. The last busload made a mess that he had to clean up, and now he's got kitchen duty. He collapses onto the bed. So it's a halfway house.
Cut to Actor Michael asking the lady cop actor if she's ok. "Don't let the director get to you. He's a hack. The nephew of a network executive."
Back story: the lady cop actor is Andrea (Alexandra Park), who starred with Probation Guy on The Eternals. I'll bet U-Haul Guy was in it, too. Maybe the two were vampire/werewolf rivals for The Girl.
Scene 4: U-Haul Guy visits Probation Guy at his halfway house.
"Oh, you're Seth!" Boyfriend Raul exclaims. "Probation Guy says your name in his sleep!"
"Still?" So they were rivals on camera, boyfriends off. Juicy!
"Um...so, you're watching Euphoria? I watched that last night with my girlfriend." Heterosexual identity established at Minute 12. But why bring that up at this moment? Is he trying to tell Boyfriend Raul that there's nothing to worry about, he's not interested in Probation Guy anymore?
"So, Probation Guy, the court said you had to spend one month in the halfway house, but you've been here two months. Why?"
"I like it here. The rent is cheap, and I can make money doing celebrity greeting videos."
U-Haul Guy brought gifts: beets, watermelon, and some kombucha. "That's got alcohol. It's not allowed in the house." "No, that's a misconception. It can't get you drunk."
More after the break
Scene 5: A new female character named Izzy is on the phone, discussing the nnumber of bridesmaids she needs, when Lady Cop Actor Andrea drops by. Why are there boxes everywhere? Izzy explains that Oliver has lived here for awhile, but he's too busy to unpack, so she's doing it for him. Then maybe he'll ask her to move in. Wait, aren't you marrying him?
Oliver is played by Thomas Cocquerel. He only appears in two episodes.
Cut to U-Haul Guy putting on a hockey player outfit, but in a storage room, not a dressing room. He punches the air a few times and practices his lines, then sends a selfie to his Girlfriend. This must be the guest spot that may be recurring. Maybe it's in a Heated Rivalry knock-off.
A guy enters and says "Hi, Jake," but U-Haul Guy is Seth, and is character is Drew, so he must be saying hi to himself. They're running behind on the scene, so he doesn't need to be in costume yet. "That's ok, I like to stay in character."
"But it will be several hours."
"I get paid to wait -- and work for free."
There is no Jake in the cast list, but maybe they mean Chanse McCrary as "Set PA Hockey Show." He is gay in real life, does drag under the name Phat Chanse, and sticks out his tongue a lot.
While waiting, U-Haul Guy has some chips and salsa and practices his lines. Uh-oh, he dripped salsa on his costume! He calls for Jake, and they try dabbing, rubbing, and so on.
Scene 6: House Manager Tony (not in the cast list) calls Probation Guy into his office. The other residents are complaining that he brought alcohol into the house ("No, it was just kombucha"), is terrible at household chores ("Well, I never pushed a broom before"), got them hooked on Euphoria, and is distracting them by "walking around in his pajamas all day." Hey, his bulge is not his fault. Therefore he has 24 hours to find a new place to live.
Cut to Oliver's house. Lady Cop Actor Andrea and her friend Izzy discuss his guitars. He doesn't play, he just likes guitars.
And his movie: About a 19th century existentialist who is exploring polygamy. "The writer is into all this archaic, medieval symbolic stuff..." Andrea can't help giggling.
Next they go over the choice of wedding dresses. Andrea doesn't like any of them: "Dude, you'd look like a window in this!"
But it's not really about the dress: "Dad was working on the roof, and he fell off the ladder and hit his head. They won't know the severity of the brain damage until the swelling goes down." That's almost like a brain tumor. Strange that they chose practically the same way to kill dads in the first episode of two seasons in a row. Plus U-Haul Guy's girlfriend just lost her dad.
Scene 7: They call U-Haul guy to the se. The director yells "Why did you put him on ice skates? We need roller skates here!"
Director: "Ok, you and the Coach are gazing into each other's eyes, having a moment. Got that?" So they're setting you up to become boyfriends?
U-Haul Guy promises that he can deliver intensity (backside on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends)
But when he says his line, the Coach (Aaron Staton, left) starts singing. U-Haul Guy didn't know that this was a musical. But on the next take, he says something different. And his phone keeps ringing!
Scene 8: That night, Probation Guy is trying to sleep, when Boyfriend Raul comes in and demands to know where he's hiding the cotton candy. Then he says "Everyone's gonna die. You just hope it's not alone."
Apparently the 24 hours is over. Walking down the street with his luggage, Probation Guy sees a liquor store. But instead of booze, he buys kombucha, which tastes just as bad but can't get you drunk.
U-Haul Guy comes home to a dinner that Girlfriend Sarah prepared. "So, how was your day?" "I got rattled, forgot my lines, and they canned me." She reassures him and goes to bed. He sits on the porch alone and drinks.
Izzy sends boyfriend Oliver a "good night" texts and goes to bed alone. See where this is going?
And Lady Cop Actor Andrea gets the phone call about her Dad dying.
Beefcake: Some random shirtless shots.Heterosexism: There are three hetero relationships.
Gay Characters: Actor Mike and Probation Guy don't express any hetero interest in this episode, and there are several queer codes -- like only one bed in the room Probation Guy and Boyfriend Raul share. But I think everyone here is straight.
Turns out that the gay brain tumor show is actually called Everything Will Be Ok. Similar titles, dying fathers -- it's an understandable mistake.
My Grade: Struggling actor shows are always interesting, and the guys have a gay subtext buddy-bond. Even if it doesn't go anywhere, it's nice to see guys who love each other. C+.
See also:The top 15 hunks of "The Twilight Saga," with some n*de vampires and werewolves
"On the Verge": Boys Who Wear Lipstick and Try on Mom's Shoes, but No Boy Named Gaga. With Sean Carrigan
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