HBO
The first of the two-part We’re Here Season 3 finale has arrived and it is the most wonderful holiday gift we could have been given. I’m not shy to say I’ve already called this one of the most important shows on television today, citing at least one episode a season as being required viewing because of the message it delivers, and the first of the two Florida-set episodes is no exception. In fact, it may be the most urgently needed hour of television this year (and I’d wager two-hours with next week’s finale) because of where these episodes take place — Florida. This episode is also structurally different than the previous episodes while still keeping the same format. Also for the first time there are four civilian participants, and in another first all three of our outstanding Queens are working with one of them, giving her three drag moms for the price of one! The episode’s storyline also deeply affects Eureka who has struggled over the years with her own gender identity and sobriety. It’s a lot to digest this week and everything is handled so very well.
The episode starts off with a nice montage of past episodes with the Queens talking about what they’ve experienced and the message the show is hoping to deliver. Then they focus on the why of being in Florida, specifically the central part which veers wildly from the touristy Orlando area, where they don’t get much reaction or pushback, to the outlying rural areas of what someone refers to as the politically ‘Blood Red’ part of the state (we also learn that while Miami may seem like a progressive and tolerant area, only the beach part is, getting more conservative the further inland you go, which the Queens were shocked to hear). Florida, or course, has become Ground Zero for LGBTQ+ intolerance, from the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill to the governor’s next step of banning medical services to trans people, and that may directly affect some of this week’s ‘drag kids’. They also touch upon how right wing politicians are using the scare tactic of some nebulous ‘gay agenda’ that is coming to destroy life as we know it, but Bob the Drag Queen cheekily points out that the only thin on the gay agenda is brunch. Truthfully, the gay agenda is to simply exist without the constant hatred and bigotry that threatens the existence of LGBTQ+ people. Gay people are not coming for your children, drag queens are not going to make you gay. We all just want to live our lives equally. Why is that such a terrible thing to accept?
The drag kids this week are an interesting group with interesting, and some heart-wrenching, stories to tell. Shangela first drops in on Jaime and her family, which includes her husband, two sons and nine-year-old trans daughter, Dempsey. Jaime is a teacher in the Florida education system so even by doing this show she could face repercussions. While she has always considered herself an ally to the LGBTQ+ community even though she may not have been very vocal about it. Now she finds herself on the front lines against Governor Ron DeSantis’ draconian policies that may affect her daughter’s health care, and could force them to move from the state they love — and the only home her children have even known. Even having Dempsey’s gender changed on her birth certificate was a process because medical professionals were forbidden from acknowledging trans people exist. Jaime is putting a lot on the line, from her job to her family’s safety, by being a vocal advocate for trans rights and appearing on the show. In fact, it’s Jaime’s and Dempsey’s story that gets all three Queens involved with their coming drag performance because it’s such an important topic that people need to be aware of.
Bob’s drag kid is Mark, a 58-year-old, semi-closeted man who lives in the notoriously Trump-leaning area known as The Villages. Mark’s partner died a few years ago, and he moved from Cincinnati to The Villages to be near his mother so she wouldn’t be alone. Mark is probably one of the youngest residents there and he gets a kick out of telling Bob about the ‘Bobs’ in the neighborhood, what he seems to be suggesting are the married men who may also enjoy a little something else on the side. Driving around in his golf cart, Mark points out a ‘Bob’ because they made eye contact and did that looking back at each other thing as the passed by. Bob is curious about the age difference but Mark’s partner was more than 30 years older than him (they met when he was in his 20s) so he likes them a bit older and The Villages is perfect. Mark explains to Bob that he’s never really made a big declaration about being gay, and his partner was always just his ‘good friend’ to his parents, so he does realize that perhaps even now he still has one foot in the closet and suddenly the idea of doing drag is giving him pause. His mother makes it known that she is a strict Catholic, and when Mark did tell her he is gay, she just said he can live his life and she’ll live hers. So basically she accepts it but she’d rather not have to deal with it. But will she come to the show? A lot of the residents actually seem excited to come to a drag show, which is a surprise.
HBO
Eureka’s drag children are Mandy and Lori, who have been married for fifty years. Lori tells that they met on a blind date, however Mandy didn’t know it was a blind date and brought a date along … which was awkward but there was a spark and the rest is history. But Mandy had always had a struggle with their identity which culminated in a near suicide attempt one night. Lori found Mandy sitting under a tree with a noose, unable to find a branch. It was then that Lori said she had to transition and now five years later she is living her happiest life. But that raised some questions in their marriage, with divorce considered, but Lori decided she loves the person Mandy is and gender is not an issue. And now they are very active members of the community, working with PFLAG and trying to share the message that trans people are just people — not an easy task in a state like Florida. Mandy’s story really hits Eureka hard as they details her struggles with her gender identity, transitioning and living as a female during her late teens, but fearing to even go out in public, only shopping late at night when no one was in the store, not really being embraced by her mother. It was a struggle and they detransitioned back to living as a male but all of that came with substance abuse issues as well. But they are sober and living as gender-fluid, but Mandy’s (and Dempsey’s) story is just going to have a major emotional impact on her.
We last meet Vico, a young Puerto Rican man who came to Florida as a teenager and now works as a clinical laboratory scientist at a fertility clinic, which he finds extremely rewarding, seeing it as a way to help bring new life to the world. Vico first tells us about not wanting to go out in public because of anxiety and the work is just so precise and technical that he uses it to keep his focus on that and not anything going on in the outside world, or in his head. Shangela is his drag mother — and insists on having a piece of chicken Vico is cooking because you can’t have chicken and not expect her to want some — and learns that Vico is a survivor of the Pulse nightclub shooting. Vico relates how he had just moved into a new apartment and had some friends over for a housewarming party, but as more people arrived he didn’t want the noise to bother his new neighbors so he suggested they move the party to Pulse. He lost four friends that night and now carries the guilt of being the one had the idea to go there, blaming himself for their deaths. Now he rarely goes out for fear of something like that happening again, and Shangela does her best to assure him that it wasn’t his fault, he couldn’t have known what was going to happen that night. Shangela and the team are really going to have to handle Vico with care, I think. I just want to go give him a hug. Later, Shangela, Eureka and Bob visit the Pulse site to pay their respects at the memorial that surrounds the building, Shangela pointing out that she also lost a friend that night. Seeing the images and posters and messages on the walls just makes it all the more heartbreaking — and it should anger people as well because this hatred has got to stop. Those people were enjoying a night out in a safe space. They weren’t bothering anyone yet 49 people were killed that night by someone filled with hatred and intolerance. That’s not behavior people are born with, it’s taught and Ron DeSantis, other right wing politicians and religious leaders are telling not only the people of Florida but people everywhere that it’s okay. It’s not.
While prepping for the drag show. Jaime mentions that there is a ‘Say Gay’ Rally coming up next week and they Queens should come. They think that’s a great idea. When they arrived in Florida, they were dressed as over-the-top versions of Disney princesses so why not go as Disney villains to the rally which is calling out hatred and intolerance? A huge crowd has gathered to show the governor that people are not going to be silenced. Jaime and Dempsey take the podium and Jaime explains how the state is moving forward with denying medical care for trans people. Mandy & Lori are among the crowd, and we also catch glimpses of Mark and Vico. As the crowd marches through the streets, Pride flags and ‘Say Gay’ signs waving, the images are intercut with a portion of Bob’s performance from the coming drag show to Andra Day’s ‘Rise Up’, as Eureka says in voice over to just wait until the drag show, they are not done in Florida yet, they are there to make a statement.
And now as we wait for the final episode of the season, we can reflect back on the power and emotion of this episode, the statements that have been made so far, the cry to just let people be who they are without government or religious persecution. That message could not be more needed today, especially considering how much worse things have gotten for LGBTQ+ people since this series first premiered. How have we managed to move backwards as a society?
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
