Bastard Son and the Devil Himself: A Girlfriend in Episode 1, A Boyfriend in Episode 7

 

The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself, on Netflix, posits that there are two kinds of witches in the world, Fairborn/good and Blood/evil.  The Blood Witches hate the Fairborn, and try to exterminate them; in fact, they fly into a murderous rage whenever they see one of the good ones.  Nathan (Jay Lycurgo) was raised by the Fairborn, but the authorities keep testing him to see if he is Blood, asking questions like "Do you find yourself getting quick to anger?" and "Do you feel the urge to hurt other witches?"

He may even be the Witch Antichrist, the "bastard son" of the most evil of all Blood Witches, who killed the Fairborn and ate their hearts. Could we stop shaming people for being born out of wedlock? It's not their fault. And for the sins of their fathers?  Evil is not hereditary.

Growing into adolescence an outcast, facing guilt, the hatred of his older sister, and the suspicions of the Fairborn witches, Nathan is naturally relieved when Annalise is nice to him.  Unfortunately, her father is the Head of the Fairborn Protection Unit, monitorined Nathan, waiting for the "inevitable" moment when he turns evil and has to be killed.  If she were the daughter of the greengrocer, would be lousy story.  The star-crossed lovers are kissing by Episode 1, Minute 33.  

I stopped watching at that point, but a fan of the series tells me that Nathan gets a gay subtext with a character introduced in Episode 2, as suggeted in this scene (don't get excited, they don't do anything but cuddle, and there's a girl next to them).  They are reputedly outed as a couple in Episode 7  (the penultimate episode, naturally).  So let's see what this outing entails.

Scene 1: Evil guy named Soul (Paul Ready) is doing a weird ritual in someone's living room when the phone rings (the old joke: the phone always rings when you're in the bathtub or summoning Satan!).  It's Aoife, with intel: The Boy is lost, and the Bloods are on the move again: you're in danger! Soul scoffs.  "Bloods don't scare me.  We'll draw the Boy out, and kill him."

Scene 2: Houseboat.  The woman who kept testing Nathan for Blood tendencies in Scene 1 is packing supplies.  She leaves Nathan asleep in his bed.  Girlfriend Annalise offers to come, too, even though it will be dangerous.  The blond guy from the three-way scene looks on from the window. He may have been in the houseboat, too.

Scene 3: Carnival, with rides and cotton candy and such. Woman asks a guy with a gun if he's ok.  He asks: "Where's the Boy?"  "Lost.  But I can shapeshift, so maybe I can turn into him and complete the ceremony."  The ceremony to make him the Witch Antichrist and take over the world?   

She brings him a new assignment: "Soul ordered you to find Annalise and bring her back here."  

They kiss.  Weird kiss -- he misses her mouth and goes for the area under her nose.  Maybe that's the actor's decision, because he doesn't like kissing girls?  He pushes her away in disgust.

Before I conducted research, I thought that this was the coming-out scene.  But it's yet to come.

Scene 4: Nathan and the Blond Guy awaken.  They were holding hands in bed.   "Wait -- where's Annalise?'  Blond Guy -- Gabriel (Emilien Vekemans) -- looks disgusted.  Wouldn't you be, if your boyfriend started calling for his ex?  They kiss.  Ok, they're out as a couple.

Plot synopses and mainstream reviews don't say anything about a gay subtext/text:  Gabriel is a sort of vampiric bad boy who betrays you, then befriends you.  But gay reviewers point out that he has a gay-subtext boyfriend in a flashback episode, and by the end of the series/season, it is hinted that he, Nathan, and Annalise are involved in a three-way relationship.  So they're both bi, or post-gay pansexual.  Interviewed in The Gay Times, the actors praised the "quiet queer romance" of the series.