HBO
After a season premiere that saw the Queens and the production itself face threats of violence if they came to Granbury, Texas the second episode of We’re Here‘s third season finds everyone in the Deep South town of Jackson, Mississippi (or Missippi as the locals say) and … it was a surprisingly stress-free visit, at least for production (not that there weren’t the usual Westboro Baptist Church protesters hurling insults from afar). Instead, the stress was felt among this week’s participants in the process, one in particular. One thing I picked up on quickly last season was that each episode had a theme (like the moms episode). So far this season, I think — looking ahead at what’s to come — the overarching theme is just facing off against the ultra-conservative hatred of LGBTQ+ people in general, which has gained a lot of traction thanks to states like Texas and Florida (the final two episodes of the season are set in Florida). Next week’s Utah episode looks like it may be even more contentious than Texas, so it was surprising that Jackson was pretty peaceful, the quiet before the storm.
Arriving in Jackson in their amazing Elvis-inspired drag, Bob, Shangela and Eureka visit a Blues bar and are welcomed with open arms, a singer telling them the Blues don’t discriminate. Bob sings a song about sweet tea and everyone has a grand time, but Shangela notes that while they see a mix of people in Jackson, people aren’t mixing. Bob also notes that there is a long history of racism and oppression in Missippi, and it’s not just history.
The three participants in Jackson are Mark, De’Bronski and Chris, with Chris almost feeling like the odd man out because when Eureka asks him why he wants to do this, he very bluntly says he doesn’t want to do it and he’s never very clear as to why he wanted to be a part of the show (and although he is also clear that he likes women, he’s also an ally who is willing to learn and show up for the LGBTQ+ community and this season they were specifically looking for allies to participate in the show). And while he tells Eureka that he’s terrified of doing drag, he wants to have a good time. The two bond over the recent losses of their mothers, and Chris gets very emotional talking about his closeness with his dad and brother but he struggles to find that female energy in his life. Eureka warns him that she is a very dominant female force and hopes they can pull something from his mom for the performance. Chris also has a name that suits drag very well as his last name is Valentine, so he suggested Christina or Valentina but put them together so, ladies and gentlemen, meet Christina Valentina! Eureka also teaches Chris his first drag word: ‘slay’, as in ‘I’m going to slay this performance.’
Shangela’s ‘drag kid’ is Mark, who moved to Jackson after attending a liberal college and has found himself in a very conservative school, telling Bob he feels like the ‘drop of chocolate in a glass of milk’. He grew up in a very religious, Pentecostal family with his ‘tough guy’ brothers and he came along, the flamboyant one, but he couldn’t live his truth. He doesn’t know how his parents feel about him being gay because they never talk about it but he has his chosen family in Jackson, where he’s trying to create a community and build a bridge between the white LGBTQ+ community and the Black LGBTQ+ community. His take on being gay is that white gay men are more tolerated than Black gay men, who aren’t allowed to be femme, loud and flamboyant (Shangela points out that she is exactly those things). Mark is on a mission to make Mississippi more equitable for everyone so people can be comfortable being themselves so they don’t have to put up a front.
After seeing the episode it’s going to be hard to not see that Bob’s ‘drag kid’ De’Bronski is the centerpiece, which was probably not intentional but he has a journey to make and everything this show is about is right here in De’Bronski’s story. Right off the bat, Bob finds out that De’Bronski is on e the defense when he asks how his ‘drag kid’ identifies. De’Bronski is visibly uncomfortable with terms like ‘gay’ and ‘queer’, telling Bob he knows what he likes and he doesn’t have to identify to anyone. He tells Bob in his head he has identified as a gay man, but out in the open he says he’s an ‘MSM’, a man who sleeps with men, a term Bob has never heard before (has anyone?). Like Mark, De’Bronski was also raised in a very strict Pentecostal family and he had a very dark childhood, always trying to put up a front for the family, but at one point when they suspected that he is gay they had an exorcism performed on him! He finally left home at 16 and has only seen his family once since then and it didn’t go well. De’Bronski has been in a long-term relationship and when he brought his partner James home with him, they were told to get out of the house and his grandfather even threatened them with the suggestion of a gun. De’Bronski says that in the South they are brought up to believe family and blood is everything but he doesn’t buy that, and neither does Bob. As a child he had to be vulnerable around his family, but now as an adult he has the choice to protect his vulnerability and peace at all costs, no longer allowing anyone the chance to hurt or demean him. De’Bronski doesn’t get into more of his childhood trauma but it is clearly there bubbling under the surface, and Bob can see it too telling him that when the people you think are supposed to love you turn around and shun you and threaten you with violence, it has to impact your psyche. Fortunately De’Bronski is close with his cousins, and he is in a stable relationship with James, now his fiancé. De’Bronski never had any queer influences in his life, and she shocks Bob a bit when he reveals that James does drag … a fact that he kept from De’Bronski for almost four years. De’Bronski always had a disdain for drag, scared of drag queens for being so over-the-top while he prefers things simple and classy. Bob was stunned that De’Bronski never saw a wig or even a sequin in all that time, but James hid it well and when he finally did reveal the truth De’Bronski didn’t speak to him for several months. So doing drag at this point may be a challenge if that’s the perception De’Bronski has, but Bob assures him that it’s not about the drag, it’s about amplifying his voice and telling his story.
I don’t want to give short shrift to Mark and Chris but De’Bronski has such a compelling arc that it’s hard to ignore. Mark and Shangela do visit a local bar, Club City Lights, which has been in existence in the same location for 30 years, once the only place in town where the queer population could gather. But as more places began to open, it was clear that was when the racial fractures began in the community and Mark feels it is the one place where queer Black people can gather. But he also has his white friends at Capital City Pride and he wants to bring them all back together because no matter their skin color, they’re all gay. The president of the group says that every time he’s tried to build a bridge he felt a lot of pushback. The segregation of their communities makes Mark sad but he believes change is happening, slowly. Meanwhile, Chris and Eureka meet for lunch and Chris reveals his rapping skills, about to spit out a rhyme on a dime, which Eureka wants to include in their performance. There is a line in the song where Chris says ‘bro’ and Eureka sternly warns him not to call her bro, to respect the pronouns, and Chris as immediately apologetic and thankful that she educated him, saying that he needs to learn more. To Eureka that was the true statement of an ally, and they both see the love in each other.
Bob meets with James to feel out De’Bronski’s emotional state in regards to doing the show. As De’Bronski said, James is his complete opposite, a very calm presence in his life. James says that De’Bronski is very nervous about what people are going to think about him, and Bob feels this will be an opportunity to show him that there are plenty of people who love and support him. James wants to help him unleash all of the pent up issues he’s had with his family, and Bob relates how drag gave him a sense of community and helped him become proud of his queerness, inexplicably proud of his Blackness, and if De’Bronski gives it a chance he could have that same experience. They pinkie swear to help him get through it.
HBO
As the prep begins for the show, it’s fun to see (or rather hear) Eureka instructing Chris on the art of tucking, while one of the glam squad grimaces. Eureka also puts Chris into a huge breastplate — and Chris can’t help himself playing with the nipples — and makes him bounce them up and down for her amusement. Mark favors Shangela with a bit of opera — which is what he’s been attending school for — and Shangela instantly knows they have to incorporate that into the show. Bob is excited to put De’Bronski in a corset for the first time and gets a hilarious reaction when Bob asks if he has any respiratory issues. Bob also finds that his ‘drag daughter’ has no problem working a pair of heels, but the demeanor changes when the subject of makeup is broached, something De’Bronski said he’d never be a part of or be around. Bob tells him that he’s only going to do this once so he might as well do it the best as he can.
Later, De’Bronski brings Bob and James to meet his cousins … a first for both of them. James said he never felt comfortable with the idea of meeting them, but one cousin says that when De’Bronski comes he’d better bring his ass over too. It’s clear that he has a great relationship with this part of his family and he finally works up the nerve to tell them he’ll be doing drag. ‘Racing?’, his cousin asks. Bob assures him there will be some light drag racing but nothing dangerous. De’Bronski describes to them what he will be wearing, including a wig, and talks about how this is a full circle moment for him. His cousin leaves and comes back with a bottle that he had ‘specially wrapped’ to celebrate this moment. Things turn a bit more serious as De’Bronski calls this his core group and begins to talk about his childhood trauma, telling them he was a straight A’s student but he got to the point that he didn’t care what happened (I don’t want to read too much into that comment but it seemed he may have at one time considered taking his own life). But the emotion of talking about the trauma gets the better of him and he walks off, saying he can’t do this, he doesn’t want to do this. I’m sure there was a bit of panic among the producers, but another one of his cousins talked to him out of view of the cameras and told him he had to do this to tell his story, that it’s going to hurt but he has to get out there and do it.
From there we see the dance rehearsals and as scenes switch between Mark and Chris, we have to wonder if De’Bronski really did quit. He and Bob finally do meet at the rehearsal space (in Mark’s church basement), and he tells Bob that with everything that happened the night before he wasn’t going to continue but he realized he needs to confront the things holding him back so he’s here now. Bob tells him they are going to make the song about what they want it to represent, how De’Bronski has remained through it all and flourished, thrives, been successful, found love and a community. Bob sees real potential in De’Bronski and he needs to tell that story inside of him, he needs to break down the negative connotations that come with queerness — a punk, a faggot, a sissy — and realize that there could be a lot of power in the performance that could be cathartic. It feels, even for the viewer, like a lot of pressure.
And it’s showtime! Shangela opens the show with a Cleopatra-inspired performance to Beyoncé’s ‘Break My Soul’, with an amazing three dimensional pyramid that opens to reveal her inside, and there is a major costume reveal. A stunning piece of work considering the time constraints each episode works within. Chris is the first ‘drag kid’ up and he’s still terrified to do drag — even though he’s in full drag and ready to step on the stage — but he says any chance he has to go to bat for the community and bring more love into the world, he’s going to do it. Eureka begins their number with Iggy Azalea’s ‘Work’ and Christina takes the second verse with her own rhyme. The bottoms of their costumes are ripped off to reveal G-strings and they finish the number with Iggy’s ‘Iam The Stripclub’ (after Eureka decided that they would be strippers during dance rehearsal). The huge audience — they are in a large facility with a proper stage for this one — loves the show and Chris tells them how amazing the whole experience has been, that everyone should see the light of what goes on through this, and that this community if amazing and it all comes from a place of love. He tells the audience that if you’re inspired in life to do something, just go for it and then dedicates the performance to both his and Eureka’s moms. Backstage he says it was an awesome experience and when Eureka asks what he’s going to do next, Chris says, ‘Keep going!’
Mark is up next and he starts the stage solo in a massive gown, singing opera. But that ends with some coughing and a quick reveal to a bathrobe underneath and Lizzo’s ‘2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)’ starts. Shangela joins him in a similar robe as they perform as if they’re on the phone with each other. The bathrobe comes off and Mark is in a skintight catsuit, easily doing a chorus line kick with the dancers (one of whom I recently saw in the touring production of Hamilton!). Shangela really took a back seat in the number to let Mark shine and she looked positively giddy with his performance. At the end of the number, Mark said he was not expecting the reception he got from the audience after his first time in drag, but what this is really about is Jackson, showing unity, showing how beautiful they all are, with so much diversity and life. This whole night is for them. Backstage Shangela assures Mark that they all got his message.
HBO
Next up is De’Bronski, who is nervous and excited, ready to see what happens. But Bob is in the audience with James and the cousins, clearly not dressed for a performance (but still in a fabulous Nina Simone-inspired custom-made outfit). Is De’Bronski going to go it alone? Yes he is (a first for the show, by the way). And the song begins — ‘And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going’ by Jennifer Hudson. Words cannot accurately describe this performance but De’Bronski is hitting every word with utter perfection, every facial expression, every nuance of movement with his hands. It’s not a big dance number so this is how he has to sell the song, and it couldn’t have been a better choice for someone who has always felt like he had to remain invisible in a way, hiding his true self from the world, always worried about what others thought of him. It didn’t take long for James and the cousins to grow emotional watching De’Bronski perform, completely LIVING in the moment. As he got to the powerful conclusion, the train of the gown was suddenly lifted into the air, becoming a bright red backdrop, fanned from behind, and the crowd went wild. (Speaking with the show’s co-creator Johnnie Ingram, he said being in the room as it happened live was quite something to behold and I can believe that because it had my heart pumping just watching it on TV.) It’s a fact that diamonds are created under immense pressure, and I believe the pressure De’Bronski felt from his trauma and the stress of actually putting himself out there created this sparkling diamond that we all saw on stage. I don’t want to take anything away from anyone who has put themselves through this process and given a great performance, but this … this was an iconic moment for the show.
After he finished, Bob came up and said, ‘That’s how you shut down a mutherfuckin’ show.’ De’Bronski is clearly overcome by the experience, not just the performance but the reaction from the audience, from James, from his cousins. He gathers himself and tells the crowd they have no idea of his struggles from his childhood to now, the bridges he had to climb, the walls he had to jump over, and he realized during the whole process that he’d allowed others to make him feel invisible but he won’t be invisible any more. He’d allowed society to dictate who he was, but he’s his own person. Backstage Bob is the proudest of drag mothers telling De’Bronski that what he did was next level and he blew the roof off the place (and Bob did say earlier that if he was only dong this once, he should do it as best as possible). It was so special and Bob thanks De’Bronski for trusting him, for going there, for giving everything even when he was terrified. De’Bronski is still trying to process it all and can’t really find the words to describe what he’d just gone through, which was obviously very cathartic. He says it was like reopening old wounds, but now he’s over those wounds, now feeling like a free bird who got his voice back. What else can you add to that?
Next week, though, may not go as smoothly as the queens pack up and head to St. George, Utah.
The people behind We’re Here are proud to spread the love, so if you or someone you know needs support, visit the ‘We’re Here Together’ Resources website to find a list of LGBTQ+ organizations.
What did you think of this episode? Tell us in the comments section below!
New episodes of We’re Here premiere Fridays at 10:00 PM on HBO, streaming on HBO Max.
Share this post
