Last week I introduced y’all to Netflix’s Queer Eye reboot, so now let’s dive into some of the episodes! Season 2 dropped June 15, and it’s a continuation of season 1; the 16 episodes were filmed congruently and just split up into separate releases. It’s a thing Netflix has been doing lately, like with the last season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. I mean, it works for me because it keeps me from binging all 16 episodes at once!
Grab some tissues and strap in, because things are about to get TEAR-JERKING.
Let’s get GAY!
Gay, Georgia that is, the tiny town that’s home to season 2’s first Hero, Miss Tammye. Like we talked about last week, this isn’t Queer Eye for the Straight Guy anymore, and Miss Tammye’s story proves that the reboot will be tackling more than just…well, straight guys.
Miss Tammye is better than you. And me. And pretty much everyone you’ve ever met. She volunteers to tutor kids after school, wants the boys to do up the community center at her church rather than redoing her house, and is a breast cancer survivor who lost her mother to cancer a year ago. Her son, Myles, is a focus of the episode too: he’s gay, and he’s worried about being accepted by his church community.
Before touring Miss Tammye’s house, the boys are shown around the community center and the church. Bobby won’t go inside the latter, which is a little…I don’t know. Over the top, maybe? He discussed his religious upbringing in season 1, and it didn’t seem then like he’d been so traumatized that he couldn’t even set foot in a church. I’m not trying to dismiss Bobby’s pain, but idk. It would’ve been 2 seconds of his life just to grin and bear it.
Anyway, whatever, it was a thing.
At Miss Tammye’s the boys discover that she’s a bathroom hoarder. The room is packed full of clothes, bags, and church hats, the latter of which belonged to her late mother. Miss Tammye doesn’t wear hats to church because that was her mother’s thing, and she keeps her mom’s hats as a memorial.
Myles’ room is a disaster area. Clothes everywhere, bed unmade, closet a wreck. The boys immediately see where their energies need to be pointed, and as a result, Miss Tammye doesn’t get much of a makeover. Honestly she doesn’t need one? She just needs a nice spa day.
Antoni spends the time learning how to make banana pudding (the right way) and macaroni salad. He recognizes, rightly, that these women know what they’re doing and don’t need any help from him. It’s nice when a white boy knows when to shut up and watch.
Tan helps Miss Tammy find a dress for her church homecoming, while Jonathan dyes her hair and treats her to the aforementioned spa day. Karamo coaches Myles through his coming out at church, explaining how his own church community always loved and accepted him, and the fact that Miss Tammye accepts him is a huge deal. As Antoni points out in one of the more heartbreaking moments of the episode, not every parent does that.
Bobby was the hero, as per usual, as he took the community center from a bare room with drywall putty and 2x4s everywhere to an awesome space that works for everyone. There’s space to eat, to have Bible study, to watch TV, to play games…it was awesome.
Okay so this was all well and good and it was amazing seeing Myles come out to his church and everyone accept him, but the part of the episode that I think had us all in tears was Miss Tammye’s goodbyes to each of the boys. She gives each of them a beautiful, heartfelt pep talk about how wonderful they are and how they’re each doing God’s work in his own way. Antoni “feeds the souls of the people,” she tells Jonathan his soul is “so, so pure,” Tan (aka “Mr. Glam”) “adds beauty to the world,” and damn if I can’t remember Karamo and Bobby’s but they were just as good and heartwarming.
Miss Tammye was so wonderful and kind and purely good that I dare you to watch this episode and emerge with your cynicism intact. I’m not a huge fan of organized religion (especially southern-style Christianity) myself, but to see how loving and accepting her church family was, and how she realized the importance of loving her son, it just might change my mind. On a case-by-case basis.
A Decent Proposal
Okay I’m not gonna spend as long on this episode because, while it was good, it wasn’t Miss Tammye good.
Basically there’s a schlubby dude who needs to clean himself up and propose to his girlfriend, and it’s 5 Gays to the rescue! He and his girlfriend paint together and love movies, so Karamo has the idea to make a movie and show it during a romantic picnic at an outdoor theatre. Awwwwwwww.
Okay well, Antoni almost gives the ENTIRE game away, the big nerd, but I guess the green goddess dressing he teaches the Hero to make makes up for it. I guess. Also he sticks his hand in a bag of the lady’s daughter’s baby teeth, which I’m pretty sure takes about 5 years off his life.
Later Jonathan finds lice shampoo in the bathroom, and he already combed his hair with the comb found in the same bathroom. Unfortunately we were left in suspense about the lice situation, but since Jonathan didn’t cut his hair or anything, so I think it was okay.
To complete the trifecta of Gay Panic, Tan nearly went fully back into the closet when the Hero told him that his fashion inspiration was Fraser Crane. I mean LOOK it could be worse, right?! Come on, Tan!!
Anyway, the Hero gets a nice makeover and makes a lovely picnic for his sweetie. She’s thrilled with their made over home (good job once again, Bobby!) and the fact that her boyfriend isn’t dressed like Fraser Crane. They go to the theatre and his movie plays and he proposes to her in front of everyone. It was incredibly sweet and romantic, and of course she’s thrilled to say yes.
Back in the “Fab 5 Loft” we learn that Tan never had a big proposal and doesn’t want one because he has no feelings. Also Jonathan doesn’t wanna bang Tan because they didn’t intertwine their fingers while holding hands.
So, look, bottom line: if you have a romantic or compassionate bone in your entire body, Queer Eye will hit it. I don’t want y’all to get me wrong, the straight makeover eps, like in “Decent Proposal,” are still good. They’re not Miss Tammye levels of good, but they still changed this man’s life and helped make an incredibly meaningful moment between him and his future wife.
