"The Sister": Probably-gay guy marries the sister of the girl he helped vanish. With his ex-buddy, ghostly voices, and many backsides

 

Link to the n*de photos

This morning I was checking my streaming services for new tv shows with gay content, and found The Sister on Hulu: "Almost a decade into married life, Nathan is rocked to the core when Bob, an unwelcome face from the past, turns up on his doorstep."  Sounds like Bob is an old boyfriend.  I'll give it a try.

Scene 1: New Year's Eve.  In his terrible apartment, a guy is watching the news, and planning to off himself with pills and booze.  Watching the news often has that effect on people.  There's a story about a girl named Elise, who vanished three years ago.  A heartfelt plea from her family for anyone who knows anything to contact them.  This shocks the guy, and he gives up the plan.  He must know where Elise is.  

Scene 2: Seven years later.  The guy -- he must be Nathan -- has settled down to an extremely wealthy lifestyle, when there's a knock on the door: the leering, stringly-haired, sopping-wet Bob (Bertie Carvel, according to Mr. Man). 

 "No, you can't be here! We agreed!"  But Bob has news: they're digging up the woods for a new housing development.

He looks much older than Nathan, but the actors are only four years apart.

At that moment, Nathan's wife comes home.  He tells her that Bob is an old mate who dropped by because he was distraught over girl problems, and was just leaving.  Then he goes into the bathroom and hyperventilates and throws up.  There's a flashback of Nathan running through the woods.

Scene 3: In the morning, the wife thinks he's sick, and offers to pop by the chemist, but Nathan says he's fine, he just needs to stay home and rest.  When she leaves, he researches the new housiing development: Newbeck Green, controversial because it will destroy some virgin woods.  He calls Ex Buddy Bob, who tells him that they have to move fast, and asks if "it" has come yet."  Nathan doesn't know what he means.  

Nice close-up.  Even in a heteronormative project, you can always find something to look at.

He goes down to check the mail, and there it is: a CD-ROM that says "destroy after playing."

Turns out that Nathan is played by Russell Tovey (backside on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends), who is gay in real life and has played gay characters about 100 times.  I wonder if Nathan is gay, too, in a lavender marriage.  That's why he and his wife haven't kissed.  Or else Russell's contract states that he won't have to kiss any icky girls.  I'd insist on it.

Scene 4:  That night Nathan drives out to the woods, and flashes back to hanging out with the missing girl there.  

Then he plays the CD-Rom; It's an indistinct voice, something like a woman saying "Nathan, I'm not dead."  This must be one of those EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) recordings you can make of ghosts in haunted houses.  My favorites are "You don't belong here" and "It's just me."

Scene 5: Flashback to seven years ago. Nathan waits in his car outside Charles Collier Sales & Letting (rentals), watching Holly, who will be his wife  

Then he goes to his office nd looks at her photo on his computer and a post-it with her work number on it.  He calls, hangs up, calls back, and asks for her.

Left: The gaydar-tinging Sam Henderson plays the receptionist.  I tried looking for n*de photos, but no matter how many key words of "men only," 'no ladies," "absolutely no women," Google always gave me ladies.

 When Holly answers, Nathan claims that he is interested in renting a house, but he can't tell her the basics, like the location and number of bedrooms.  What's with the deception? Did you see her someplace and decide to stalk her instead of starting a conversation?  She invites him to come in for a consultation tomorrow.

Back in the present: Holly wakes him up: he fell asleep in front of the tv.  They discuss whether Nathan is feeling better, and then her job, which now apparently involves building houses, not just renting them.  Nathan tries to get some intel about the new housing development "near your mum's house."  Wait -- is Holly the sister of the missing girl?  Did Nathan see her on the newscast seven years ago, figure that she was the Girl of His Dreams, and start stalking?

He has a date with Bob, sick or not, so he leaves.

More after the break

Scene 6:  Seven years ago,   Holly shows Nathan a house, but she is distracted by his jaw-dropping Girl of My Dreams slathering.   "So...um...you've been staring at me for five minutes.  Do you like this house or not?"  "Marry me...I mean, it's ok."  

They discuss how they gave up on their childhood dreams to take horrible jobs as an estate agent and greeting card salesman, respectively.  "Life just...um...happens."  Ask her out, Doofus!

Back in the present, Nathan shows up at Ex-Buddy Bob's horrible apartment.  Whew, he answers the door in a frilly pink bathrobe. 

Scene 7: Flashback to ten years ago.  Nathan works for a radio program.  Today's guest is Dr. Bob Morrow, an expert on paranormal phenomena.  A caller describes his experience of seeing his dead mother, and Dr. Bob explains it as a psychic imprint, not a sentient being.

Dr. Bob's backside is on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends.

Back in the present, Nathan claims that the static-filled CD-Rom had nothing on it.  Dr. Bob explains about EVPs, and tells him to listen more carefully.  Usually you get several voices, mostly banal and disoriented, like they're half asleep, but this time it was clear, direct, and addressing Nathan by name. 

He wants to know why Nathan would marry Holly.  "Is it a s*x thing?"  Usually when you get married, s*x is involved, but if Nathan is gay, Dr. Bob might be curious.

And now it's time to dig up the body before the construction crew finds it.  

Big Reveal: They killed Elise, or at least buried her body after she died, and Holly is her sister (which I already figured out).  Why would you marry the sister of the girl you killed?  To keep her close, so she won't find out?  And what if Elise is not actually dead?

Back home, Holly is asleep in front of the tv.  All these people ever watch is the news.  What about reruns of I Love Lucy?  He holds her hand.  "My contract clearly states that...."

Scene 8: Seven years ago.  Nathan finally has a date with Holly.  She's been drinking heavily.  She explains that she likes him, but she's had trouble with relationships since her sister disappeared: "She went out to a party and never came back." 

Ten years ago: A massive rich people's New Year's Eve party with Holly and her parents.  They want to leave early (before the ball drops?), but Sister Elise asks if she can stick around.  

 Suddenly Nathan comes in -- gasp!  And he runs into Dr. Bob, double gasp!

Seven years ago. During their date, Holly tells Nathan that the police thought they knew who killed her, but they didn't have enough evidence to make an arrest.  And they never found the body. Girl, this is something you bring up on the tenth date, after you've sealed the deal.

"So, I told my mum about our date, and we both cried."  Come on, he's not that ugly.  He's got a nice backside.  What else do you want?  Oh, right, s*x stuff.

Scene 9:  In the morning, Nathan notices that Dr. Bob has called him 18 times.  In other news, his wife is out of sorts, and wants to "sit down tonight and have a chat about something." Uh-oh, she's dumping you.

Nope, she is just upset because she got her period.  So they're trying to get pregnant?  

She kisses him on the cheek and leaves. "My contract clearly states..."

Cut to work. Nathan heading a board meeting when...you guessed it...Dr. Bob shows up.  Doesn't he have, like, classes to teach?

"We've got to move her."

"Why?  It's been years.  Even if they find her, there's no way to connect it to us."

"But she's been haunting me!  She stands at the foot of my bed and talks to me."  Why did she wait so long?  Did she just hear that they might be moving her remains?

"And you've seen her too, haven't you?" Dr. Bob wants to know.

"No...um...of course not..."

Dr. Bob threatens to tell Holly everything, but Nathan still refuses to help. 

Scene 10: That night, Nathan comes home with curry to find Holly missing.  And she doesn't answer her phone!  But a creaking floor and flashing lights leads him to believe that the sister is there!

Flashback to Nathan and Dr. Bob unloading the unconscious Elise from their car, and Dr. Bob yelling "What did you do?"  The end.

Beefcake: None in this episode.

Gay Characters:  Nathan comes out as straight in Episode 4. The absence of wife-kissing is just a misdirection.

 Dr. Bob remains heavily queer-coded throughout, but nothing definite.

Paranormal: In this episode we aren't sure whether Elise is dead and haunting them, or still alive and haunting them.  Or maybe Dr. Bob is behind it all.

Plot Holes: Dr. Bob lives in a horribly run-down apartment and an ritzy townhouse with leather furniture.  This incongruity is not explained.

Nathan worked as a sound engineer ten years ago, a greeting card salesman seven years ago, and now he's the incredibly rich, powerful CEO of a major company.  That's quite a resume.

My Grade: C.

Left: More Tovey for the road.

See also: Tom Berklund: Bodybuilder and "Modern Family" cop stars in gay tragedies, poses n*de, but what's with all the lady friends? With Tovey

The Top Gay Hunks of "American Horror Story: New York City"

"Wonder Man": Not-quite-gay struggling actor, superhero, or both? Plus Yahya and Ben Kingsley show their stuff.  Dr. Bob looks, sounds, and acts exactly like Ben Kingsley's character.