HBO
We’re Here was one of my favorite new shows of 2020. It provided a needed dose of humanity in the middle of a pandemic, a time when a lot of us were still locked down and unsure of what the future held. But three drag queens who gained fame from RuPaul’s Drag Race showed us one of the most important things then that still applies now — people are people and there’s no room for any kind of hate in this world. We are all brothers and sisters in this race we call human, so … why can’t we all just let everyone live their lives without judgment or condemnation? Like RuPaul says, ‘If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonne love somebody else?’ We’re Here takes that phrase and runs with it as the Queens travel the country to help individuals love themselves or to help their own family members see them and accept them for who they are. Unfortunately, Season 1 got cut short by one episode due to the pandemic as the trio had just descended on Spartanburg, South Carolina in March of 2020 and production was forced to shut down only two or three days into filming. Instead of just ending the season at five episodes, HBO managed to produce a stunning sixth episode that focused on the Queens themselves, their own stories, and took a look back at the other subjects from the season. It was arguably the best and most important hour of television in 2020.
Cut to thirteen months later (in the production schedule), and the Thrilling Three (I just made than up) return to Spartanburg to finish what they started. I love the structure of the episode how we see their arrival in 2020, and then how they all talk about the shutdown and quarantine, and then their joyful reunion in the middle of town — not in drag like they usually are when they enter a town. But after everyone exchanges hugs, they suit up and let the town know they are back! Then we flash back again to the start of production in 2020 as the Queens meet their subjects for the week, and then see how things have changed for them over the last year. And how appropriate that the second season premieres on National Coming Out Day?!
Noah and Eureka
When Eureka first met Noah in 2020, he was struggling with being himself in a town like Spartanburg, wanting to put himself out there as the proud queer person he was but fearful of the perception the townspeople would have of him, not wanting to be stared out but wanting to express himself, and concerned that when he did express himself one time, he was followed home by patrons of a bar, possibly to do him harm or to simply just scare him back into the closet. Eureka’s first job in getting Noah ready for his big drag debut was marching him into a store to try on outfits, catwalking Noah down the aisle of the store … and no one paid them any attention. So maybe Noah was simply putting too much of a burden on himself, projecting onto others what he thought of himself.
Forward to a year later and things have changed in a major way for Noah, who is now out and proud and loudly identifying as non-binary, strutting down the streets of Spartanburg in what people may consider traditionally female clothing and makeup while still sporting facial hair. Noah, with the help and support of a friend, was finally able to be who they wanted to be, perhaps from that initial push from Eureka. And now Eureka is back to help the former introvert show Spartanburg the diversity that exists among them.
Faith and Bob
In 2020, Bob the Drag Queen met Faith, a plus-size model and artist (both painting and tattooing) who is secure in who she is but is uncomfortable with her own perception of her family’s reactions to her coming out as a lesbian. Bob’s job with Faith isn’t so much to help her accept herself, she’s fine with who she is, but to help her open the eyes of her family.
In 2021, Bob returns to find Faith in a loving relationship, and while her mother says she’s okay with who Faith is, there are still a few verbal cues that she’s still holding on to some prejudices. In a town like Spartanburg, there’s not much in the way of queer culture or Black culture, so Faith has a lot to show the people of town, that a plus-size, Black lesbian is just the same as any of them.
Olin and Shangela
When Shangela meets Olin for the first time in 2020, she finds a straight man who wants to be an ally for his gay brother. Olin’s brother is very well-known in the area as Patti O’Furniture, a comedy queen who’s been performing for 20 years, hosting an annual AIDS benefit but whose family has never seen perform, or even acknowledges that he’s gay. They all know but it feels like it’s something of which is never spoken and Olin wants to break down that wall between his brother and their family, even as he questions how his own friends will react to him getting in drag.
Cut to 2021, and Olin is surprisingly still on board but when Shangela returns it’s obvious he’s been wrestling with his decision to go through with this for the past year. It almost seems like he’s about to quit, especially when he again ponders not just how his own friends will react, but how his decision to do the drag performance will affect his own children. Will they face ridicule for their father’s actions? Shangela understands completely, but nudges Olin forward because the whole point of this show is to make people see that no matter who you are, how you dress or who you love, you’re just a person like they are.
HBO
The episode jumps into the rehearsals for each subjects performance, the choosing of wigs (Olin trying wigs is hilarious), learning how to walk in heels (Noah has obviously been practicing, while Olin wants something lower and more square, and Faith is trying them for the first time), and learn choreography with each Queen’s team of experts. It’s really during this time that they all learn more about themselves, and Olin in particular begins to enjoy the experience as he gets to work with his brother. Faith also wants to take her time in the spotlight to publicly profess her love for her girlfriend, so that is incorporated into her number.
As the town gathers at a ‘reclaimed’ plantation home — the Queens having tea with the owner at the top of the show is a hoot — there is nothing but love in the air. Noah is the most confident in their performance as they’ve had a year to really find themselves, and Faith’s performance does bring some tears of joy as she brings her girlfriend on stage to do a little slow dance for everyone, including her family, to see. Olin and Shangela perform together with a little assist from Patti, and as a straight man this has the biggest emotional impact on him and his brother, especially since this is the first time Patti has performed in Spartanburg and the first time in twenty years that their father has seen a Patti O’Furniture performance.
In the end, we all have hope that this one act has changed the perception of people in Spartanburg, and it only takes one to make change happen, but if nothing else it has changed the participants forever and left us as viewers wanting more. Luckily there will be more as there will be eight episodes this season. Can I get an amen?!
What did you think of this episode? Tell us in the comments section below!
Share this post
