Hit Me – As the third episode of Fellow Travelers begins, Hawkins Fuller (Matt Bomer) and Tim Laughlin (Jonathan Bailey) hang out together on the beach. In the present, Hawk remembers taking the picture of Tim at the beach during their road trip. Maggie (Edie Inksetter) reminds Tim he needs to change his bandage. He insists he’ll do it after he showers. Once they’re alone, Hawk informs Tim he is booked to leave in the morning. He goes on to say they’re moving to Milan. Tim admits he has been wondering why Hawk was there. Hawk says his sister thinks he wants to ease his conscience.  Tim explains if you have lesions and PCP, you only have a matter of months.

He confirms he has had PCP. A distraught Hawk asks to use his bathroom.

Past – Joe McCarthy (Chris Bauer) speaks out about communists and homosexuals. Senator Smith (Linus Roache) wants to make sure Hawk’s source is reliable. They don’t want to destroy someone because he’s made a mistake or two. Lucy Smith (Allison Williams) interrupts because she is going out with Hawk. Hawk tells her that he has to go away because his old friend isn’t doing well. Storme (Chelsea Russell) sings in the pub. Marcus Gaines (Jelani Alladin) approaches Hawk to say his tip checks out. A couple of years ago, an army corporal sent a letter to Senator Benton. It described an alleged incident with McCarthy. Benton lost the election and never followed up.

Hawk says the corporal is selling himself in Rehoboth Beach and he intends to go there alone. That doesn’t mean he’ll be alone since there are fewer eyes on him down there. Marcus asks if he has seen Tim lately. Hawk tells him how Tim slammed the door and left. Marcus thinks Tim noticed that he missed his birthday. Francesco Palmiero (Mike Vitorovich) is questioned during a hearing. He admits to signing paperwork although he just works in a warehouse. Roy Cohn asks if he thinks a person who belongs to a communist organization should be handling the nation’s military supplies. Tim listens to the hearing. Senator Smith suggests Palmiero is distressed because he lost his mother yesterday. In the hallway, Hawk speaks to Tim before telling him he has decided to forgive him.

Hawk invites him to go away with him. Tim argues that the letter he made him write Mary was the ugliest thing he has ever done. Hawk tells him to meet him outside in 15 minutes. He tells him happy birthday. Tim goes back to his office where he tells his coworker he doesn’t feel well and should go home. He runs out of the building to catch up with Hawk. Marcus is in bed with Frankie Hines who tries to prevent him from leaving. Frankie suspects he misses the Senate beat. Marcus says he doesn’t miss it as much as his father does. Frankie invites him to their show tonight at a white club. He questions whether he scares Marcus since he isn’t like the guys he used to leave the bar with. Frankie wonders if Marcus can handle him. Hawk takes Tim to the Nomad Bar.

He calls it an education before telling Tim about the rough trade that happens there. Hawk explains why they call it the rough trade and insists the risk is what makes it exciting. As they play darts, a man tells Hawk he is going to take a stroll out back. Hawk asks him to hang tight. Then, he tells Tim that he and Bill are helping an army guy so he’ll be away for 20 minutes. Hawk and Bill try to get in touch with Daniel Cherney (Robert Bazzocchi). Once they find him, Hawk introduces himself. They find out that Daniel has been taking pills so they try to wake him up. Hawk wants to know more about Daniel’s story regarding McCarthy. McCarthy speaks to the media before heading to lunch. Jean Kerr (Christine Horne) talks to McCarthy in his office.

She asks if he has considered that the three men leading the crusade against communism are all bachelors. McCarthy says she won’t have to worry about David much longer because someone got his draft status changed from 4F to 1A. Major General Reber (Scott Wickware) tells Cohn that David Schine (Matt Visser) is not qualified for a direction commission. Roy Cohn warns him that he gets what he wants and often at the expense of those who try to prevent him. Reber insists there is nothing to be done here. Once Schine is drafted, he will be inducted and treated as any other soldier. Once they’re alone, Roy promises to do whatever he must to keep David out of the military. David says he is going to New York since he has a date.

A man follows Tim into the bathroom and begins kissing him. The man tells him that whoever left him behind doesn’t deserve him. Tim eventually steps away and apologizes. While Daniel sleeps it off, Bill and Hawk question where he might’ve hidden the evidence. Tim finds Hawk in one of the motel rooms and storms off. Hawk chases him down and yells that he doesn’t like being spied on. Tim argues he doesn’t like being abandoned. Hawk says he has some business and was hoping they could have sex when he was done. An upset Tim says he wants to be with him. He wants to sleep with Hawk and not get kicked out of the bed at midnight. He wants to eat a meal together in a restaurant. They go to their motel room and have sex moments later.

Present – Hawk calls home before hearing Tim yelling. When Hawk checks on him, he finds Tim naked and bleeding on the floor of the bathroom. Tim says his legs buckled in the shower. Hawk helps him up and covers him up. Tim asks if he came there looking for forgiveness before admitting he is too angry to forgive anyone. He thinks Hawk should get an AIDS test.

Past – Marcus goes to Duke’s Hideaway to watch Frankie’s show. The doorman doesn’t seem eager to let him in. Tim and Hawk go to dinner while pretending they’re celebrating Tim’s birthday and Hawk is his uncle. Hawk doesn’t want to be an ambassador because he wants complete personal freedom. Tim believes that means not giving himself to something or somebody. After he asks how Lucy sees it, Hawk says he is cutting him off. A woman nearby asks her partner to sing to her. Tim does instead. He gets up and storms away from Hawk. Marcus is told there has been an overbooking of reservations. Frankie comes out and learns that they’re not going to let him in. The bouncer says Marcus goes or they both go. Marcus gets upset when he calls Frankie his boyfriend.

In private, Marcus claims Frankie came out there and made it worse, but Frankie argues he was standing up for him. Marcus tells him to cover himself up and get out of the street before he gets arrested. Frankie wants Marcus to walk him back to the club so he can get his stuff. Marcus doesn’t go with him. In their room, Tim alleges Hawk would rather be with one of the guys from the Nomad. He tells Hawk about the man at the bar and how he could’ve gone home with him. Tim gets up and pushes Hawk before asking if he wants him to be rough trade. He asks Hawk to hit him and he does. Hawk hits him again. Then, he tells him to take his pants off and keep looking at him. They have rough sex.

Cohn tries to get in touch with Colonel Ladue. He complains about his mom having to fix his nose. Marcus gets upset in his office. Then, he begins writing what it was like coming back from the war as a colored man in America. He goes on to write about the lies of desegregation. Hawk tells Tim about his time in the army. Hawk got injured and needed a couple of surgeries. It was mostly his head that was screwed. Senator Smith took care of him. Now, Hawk does necessary things for Senator Smith. Marcus takes his writing to Frankie so he can get his opinion. Frankie admits it is good before asking where he is. Marcus argues he can’t fight the gay battle right now. Frankie says no one noticed him when he was a kid. When they did, it was with a curse, smack, or shove.

People noticed the first time he went full drag into a club and looked at him. Marcus tells Frankie he is looking at him. Roy invites David into his office for a cigar. He dug through transcripts and found testimony of at least a dozen military personnel with communist ties working out of Fort Monmouth. That’s when military engineers built radio equipment for the Voice of America. Roy questions how many security risks were allowed to work so closely to the inner workings of their military. Roy suggests the Army’s administrative officials are inept or corrupt. He thinks the Army should be investigated. When they smoke them out, they won’t dare touch David. Daniel tells Hawk he met McCarthy at an Elk’s Club dinner They hung out and ended up getting a room at a motor hotel. Daniel claims the senator performed sodomy on him.

McCarthy offered to get him transferred to a base closer to home. When Daniel didn’t hear from him, he wrote McCarthy a letter that led to the FBI breaking down his door. He was going to prison for making threats even though he didn’t threaten anyone. They also told his mother what he was and she never looked at him again. When Hawk asks about evidence, Daniel asks about money. After Hawk gets the evidence, he meets Tim on the beach. Hawk admits he has to go back. Tim believes that means he’ll go back to lying. Hawk reminds him that everyone lies about something. He explains that lying gets easier and doesn’t hurt as much because you don’t have a choice. Tim says it is who they love and not who they sleep with.

Present – Hawk takes Tim to the hospital where he learns Tim used to work there. Hawk knows his sister needs a break and he nursed his kids through measles and mumps. Tim doesn’t think it is a good idea. Hawk offers to take care of him for a week. He asks for a chance to mess it up again.

Past – McCarthy tells the press they’ve uncovered dangerous espionage activity at Fort Monmouth’s radar laboratories where the Rosenberg Spy Ring was hatched. The subcommittee will reconvene to get to the bottom of it. Hawk takes pictures of the evidence he got from Daniel. McCarthy reveals that he will be marrying Jean Kerr.

Present – Hawk is asked about his sex life at the hospital. He is asked if he has had sex with another man in the past six months. Hawk says yes with condoms about three or four times a year. His blood is taken.

 

Fellow Travelers Review

The third episode of Fellow Travelers had some bright spots with the relationship between Hawk and Tim. That is the highlight of the series and really the only thing that seems to matter. However, the story is a bit bloated with so much going on with McCarthy’s hearings, Marcus’s story, and others. It is a bit difficult to care about those storylines, but Tim and Hawk’s relationship is genuinely interesting.

It feels like I am having to wade through a lot of wasteful, uninteresting scenes just to experience the few good bits scattered throughout the episodes. Truthfully, I wish this had focused more on Tim and Hawk. While the McCarthy hearings are an important part of history, they don’t really make this a more compelling series.

If it had been condensed down to just the Hawk, Tim, and Marcus storylines, Fellow Travelers could’ve been so much better. The way the show is now is a bit monotonous for three-quarters of the series. The remaining quarter is actually very good, but it seems like too little too late. Graphic sex scenes and dull politics aren’t going to cut it. There has to be substance there. This episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Fellow Travelers can be found on Reel Mockery here.

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