"It's Not Like That": Preacher starts dating his dead wife's best friend. No, he's not Eli Gemstone. With surprising queer codes and n*de dudes

   

Link to the n*de dudes

Amazon does not have a great track record on LGBTQ rights.  I still buy books from them, but when Amazon Prime recommended a new comedy series called It's Not Like That, I was skeptical, and did some research.  Sure enough, it was produced by the Wonder Project, a new studio that plans on delivering fundamentalist, faith-based, family-friendly,  protest Pride, take back God's rainbow content..  I'm going to have a lot of fun moving into enemy territory to look for gay subtexts produced by accident, and describing the hotness of men who would be horrified to discover that they are an object of male desire.

Premise: Pastor Malcolm (Scott Foley), dealing with grief over his wife's death (of course), starts dating her recently divorced best friend, Lori.  

Pastor Malcolm has three children, a boy (Justin) and two girls (Flora and Penelope), all traumatized by the death of their mother.  Wait...Flora?  What year is this?

Lori has an ex husband and two children, a boy (Merritt) and a girl (Casey), both traumatized by the divorce. 

I'm actually going to review/find gay subtexts in Episode 3, because it features an imam (Ahmad Ghafouri, left) and a rabbi (Rachel Leah Cohen).  Wait -- a female rabbi?  She must be Reform, which is pro gay, even permitting gay rabbis.  I doubt that the writers know this fact, or will have the backbone to mention it.

Scene 1: Pastor Malcolm, getting dressed, notices his dead wife's clothes hanging in the closet, and flashes back to when she was wearing one of the dresses in front of the church: Grace Community Church, with a sign saying "Where all are welcome."  Presumably it means all heterosexuals.  

She's planning a rummage sale, and suggests partnering with some of the other religious groups in town, like the Temple and the Islamic Center.  "We could make it an interfaith rummage sale."  These people are super liberal.  When I was a Nazarene, we weren't even allowed to hang out with Baptists.

Back in the present, Pastor Malcolm is overcome by grief, but thinks "That wasn't a bad idea."

Cut to Pastor Malcolm asking his daughters to go through Mom's stuff and find things to sell.  They resist:  "You want to pretend that she never existed!  I'll never forget her, even though you have!"

"Why don't you throw out all of our stuff, too, since our lives mean nothing to you!"

"This is so unfair!"  

Scene 2: At Lori's house, amid some disasters, Surly Son Merrit (Caleb Baumann) is on the phone: Dad David is trying to convince him that his new apartment is cool.  Nope, he's not staying there.  Lori lays down the law: Dad gets you on the weekends, so you have no choice.

Merrit and Shy Daughter Casey resist.  "You're the one who got the divorce.  Why should we suffer?"

"Why don't you just sell the house, and throw out all our memories, since our lives mean nothing to you?

"This is so unfair!"

The parallels are cleverly constructed.

Cut to Pastor Malcolm and Lori at the coffee shop, commiserating on how hard it is to be a parent after a major trauma, like death or divorce. But they stand firm: "It's the right thing to do.  It will be hard for them, but I'm ready." 

Scene 3: At school, Merritt joins Pastor Malcolm's daughter Flora for lunch. She's looking for a writing project, so he suggests one: "It's about us."  Flora is shocked.  But he actually means their parents' hookup, har har.   Queer code #1: He's not romantically interested in her.

Flora has not heard this before, and doesn't believe him.  "Dad's not ready to forget about my mom yet." You accused him of that like five minutes ago.

Meanwhile, in the restroom,  a girl asks Shy Daughter Casey, "Are you doing anything this weekend?"  Queer Code #2: Asking her for a date.  Casey is surprised because she bullied her before, but: "That's just what we do.  I really like you."  

"Ok, but this weekend, we have to go stay with my newly divorced Dad."  The Girl tells us that her dad left when she was six, so she's an expert on divorce.  She offers to teach Casey the tricks of the trade.  First lesson: how to cash in on their guilt. Hey, no fair to ask her out wihtout a follow-up.

Scene 4: Lori is at work, spying on her kids' text messages and being depressed, when her friend Gail comes in to ask about her date last night.  She had a good time, but refused to kiss him, and now he is ghosting her. At Nazarene summer camp, the preacher said that you shouldn't kiss before marriage, but it was just a recommendation, not one of the rules in the Manual.

"So scroll on to the next one."

Next up, Dad David (JR Ramirez, n*de on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends) drops in to discuss their shared client.  Apparently they manage Country-Western singers.  Lori breaks the news that the kids don't want to spend the weekend at his new place.

"Tough, they gotta."

"But we want them to have autonomy."

He gets angry.  "I'm trying everything, and nothing is getting through to them!"

Lori thinks that Shy Daughter Casey's wrestling has something to do with it.  All her gear is at home, and there are matches on the weekend, so...  Queer Code #3: Wrestling is a masculine-coded activity.

They compromise.  David will stay at the house with the kids, and Lori will stay...um, somewhere else.  You going to shack up with the hunky preacher?

Cut to everyone setting up for the Interfaith Rummage Sale.  Daughter Flora confronts Pastor Malcolm: "Are you trying to erase Mom's memory because you moved on to Lori?"

"It's not like that."  The title of the series, har har.  "All we did was kiss, but we decided that we weren't ready for a relationship, so we're staying Just Friends."

On RG Beefcake and Boyfriends: When I searched for Scott Foley n*de, I got Peter Kendall n*de in The Girls on the Bus

More after the break

"Big Mistakes," Episode 1.6: Nicky comes out, his mom punches a guy, and his sister hates her boyfriend. Confused? Will Armenian guys help?

  

  Link to the not fully clothed dudes

I reviewed Big Mistakes Episode 1.1, with Dan Levy as closeted gay minister  Nicky, and gave it a B. Coming from an evangelical background, the idea of joining a homophobic church -- as a minister -- just didn't ring true, and Nicky was rather disagreeable.  To say nothing of his crazy sister.  

 But in Episode 1.6, Nicky  "comes clean about his relationship" with boyfriend Tareq.  Plus the cast list includes a guy wearing women's clothes and some Eastern European bodybuilders.  

The Premise: After a debacle involving a stolen necklace, closeted minister Nicky and his crazy sister are forced to work for drug trafficking kingpin Ivan (Mark Ivanir).

Scene 1:  As they are making breakfast, Sister Morgan breaks the news that Yusuf, Kingpin Ivan's right-hand man, has vanished.  He left the keys to the truck and the barn where they stash stuff, so it sounds like he's quitting.   She notes that he was upset over his girlfriend back in Istanbul, so maybe he left to visit her.

"But we're in the middle of a major drug deal!" Kingpin Ivan screams.  "Andrei, go find him!"  Andrei appears in his undershirt, as if he's just awakened.  He must be Ivan's boyfriend.

As Andrei leaves, Kingpin Ivan tells the siblings that they'll have to go to Miami in Yusuf's place, to meet with the Brazilian drug cartel.  Nicky tries to refuse, but you don't refuse Kingpins.

Well, maybe you do.  They walk out.  Kingpin Ivan pulls a gun, but can't bring himself to shoot them -- he thinks of them as his good friends.

In the car, Nicky yells at Sister Morgan for ruining everything, and tells her to stay away from him from now on.

Scene 2: Nicky awakens next to Boyfriend Tareq (Jacob Gutierrez).  Why is there a painting of a Catholic angel in a Protestant minister's bedroom?

 Nicky has made a decision: since Out and Loud  is recognizing Tareq for his contribution to the LGBTQ community, it's not fair to force him to be in a closeted relationship.  So Nicky will  come out to the congregation, and they can go to the gala together.

When Tareq heads out to the kitchen, Parishioner Rose is there for some reason.  She screams about an "intruder!" I guess you've been outed, buddy."  

Meanwhile, Sister Morgan listens to a podcast about positive affirmations.  Suddenly she hears gunfire, and drops to the floor.  It's just her boyfriend playing a video game!  She reflects on how much she hates him.

Scene 3:  The siblings' Mom and her assistant are working on her mayoral campaign, Nicky drops by to come out. "I met someone.  Rose caught us this morning, so I'm leaving the church.  Also, I'm going be his date for a gala today, so I'll be late to your fundraising barbecue."

Hey, he was already out to Mom. That's cheating!

She wants to know who the boyfriend is, and upon hearing his name, bursts into laughter. "Tareq?  My Tareq? You have got to be kidding me."  I don't know what that means.

She tells Nicky that Tareq wil get the family discount at the store, then dismisses him to work on her campaign.

Scene 4: Some drug dudes are playing poker and talking about how we should tip flight attendants. Kingpin Ivan and Andrei deliver their money.   They try to dismiss him, but he asks for permission to close the store for a few days, to drive Andrei to Florida to visit his mother. Actually, they need to finish the drug deal that Assistant Yusuf started.

"Are you boyfriends?"  I was thinking the same thing.

"No, we're cousins."  Darn.

"Our boss won't like it if you take off for a vacation in the middle of drug season."  I thought the Kingpin was in charge of the drug-trafficking organization, but he appears to be third in the hierarchy (the head of the operation will come as a big reveal in the last episode).  

Scene 5:  Sister Morgan and her Boyfriend (Jack Innanen, not fully clothed photo on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends) appear at a baby shower, and complain about everything being pink.  Rather gender-polarized.  They play a game called Dirty Diapers, which is as disgusting as it sounds.  Next they discuss potty training, with pictures.    

All the discussion of babies and diapers upsets Morgan, so she insists that they leave.  Um...you didn't expect to hear about babies at a baby shower?

More after the break

"Big Mistakes," Episode 1.1: Dan Levy as a gay Christian pastor with a secret boyfriend and a crazy sister. With Patrick and Pacheco n*de

Link to the n*de photos

We all remember Dan Levy as the befuddled fashion plate David Rose on Schitt's Creek (2015-20), whose sweet, cozy romance with newly out Patrick (Noah Reed) culminated with their wedding.  (I put Noah up after the break to refresh your memory.)

Next up: Big Mistakes (2026), with Dan the creator, writer, and star.  Of course I'm going to watch.

Scene 1: Nicky (Dan) and his sister Morgan (Taylor Ortega) at the nursing home, sitting there looking foolish while Mom (Laurie Metcalf) rushes around,  arranging a birthday party for dying Grandma and managing her mayoral campaign.  Their Competent Sister is helping. 

Grandma wants a diamond necklace for her dying birthday present, but Mom knows that they're losers, so just bring something cheap and nostalgic to brighten her last moments.

Scene 2:  Nicky is preaching in a large church that's mostly empty.  The end of his sermon: don't be overcome by the smoke from the bridges you burned.  That makes no sense.  There are crucifixes in the nursing home but not here, so I'm guessing that Nicky is Protestant while the rest of the family is Catholic.

Update: It's the Glenview Community Church, nondenominational Protestant, probably in the congregational tradition.

The service ends, and he returns to the parsonage and kisses his boyfriend.  

In a later episode, Nicky has a boyfriend named Tareq (Jacob Gutierrez, left), but I'm not sure if this is Tareq, or he appears later.  

Uh-oh, a parshioner walks in -- hide!  Are you closeted, Mr. Minister?  

As he gets dressed and prepares to leave, Boyfriend rubs it in: "I'm being honored by Out and Loud next week for the work that I do."  Being Out -- every heard of it?

Nicky explains that the church is ok with gay clergy, but frowns on them doing gay stuff.  Why would you even accept a job at a church that doesn't accept LGBTQ people?  What about the LGBTQ youth in your congregation?  You're promoting the belief that God hates them.

He promises that as soon as Mom's mayoral campaign is done, he'll find a new congregation where gay relationships are ok.

Scene 3:  Sister Morgan has relationship problems, too.  As he drops her off at the elementary school, Boyfriend Max (Jack Innanen, b*lge on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends) wants a long, mouth-swallowing kiss, but she breaks away -- kids are watching.  "Why do you always back away from my touch?"  Because kids are watching?

They argue, and he throws an engagement ring at her.  She is ok with it, but she wants a proper proposal.

More after the break

Searching for Nate Stone, through pastors, pole vaulters, photographers, and powerful physiques

Link to the full profile, with plenty  of powerful physiques

When I was researching the Disney Channel teencom Bunk'd, I checked for photos of the adult cast members, and came across Nate Stone, who played Timmy: he moved out of the camp to live in the woods during Seasons 1-2.  

Living in the woods, he must be a grown-up counselor. So I searched for "Nate Stone,"  and found a lot of physique photos.

A lot of photos, apparently all from Nate's OnlyFans page.

Turns out that Timmy is not an adult, he's one of the campers.  At the end of Season 2, he is adopted by the family of his friend Doug (Owen Atlas, left). 

As of this writing, Owen Atlas is 16 years old. The Bunk'd Nate Stone couldn't be more than a year or two older, say 17 or 18.

The guy in the OnlyFans photos must be another Nate Stone.

But which one?  There are dozens with social media profiles, even if you exclude "Nathans."

1. A graduate of the University of Washington who devotes his life to starting new churches.

2. A "part-time mature male model" 

3. A lacrosse player from Brevard College in North Carolina

4. A photographer from Oahu.

5. A heterosexual adult film performer known for Bed Sharers

6. A guy from Indiana who works for Rolls Royce.

7. A hockey player at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota

8. A swim coach at Benildes-St. Margaret Catholic High School in Minnesota.

More Nates after the break