Fellow Travelers
WARNING : SPOILERS ahead for Fellow Travelers .
Summary
The penultimate episode ofFellow Travelerstakes spot in 1979 and switches back and onward between two key locations , San Francisco and Fire Island . Tim ( Jonathan Bailey ) is a determined social worker who works at the Castro Mission Health Center in San Francisco with Frankie ( Noah J. Ricketts).Tim receive an invitation from his honest-to-god flame Hawk ( Matt Bomer ) , who has suffered the loss of his only son , Jackson , to come visit him on Fire Island . There , Hawk has drowned himself in sex , drugs , and hedonistic escape , which Tim apace spots as a terror to Hawk ’s health , family , and lifetime in general .
Fellow Travelersepisode 7portrays Fire Island Pines in 1979 , a specific village on Fire Island that became a veridical - life refuge for the LGBTQ+ community . Fire Island Pines and the adjacent Cherry Grove became popular destinations for members of the LGBTQ+ community who were look for an area where they would be outdoors of public derision and discriminatory laws and policies . It ’s the gross place for Hawk and Tim to reconnect even under the tragical circumstances of Jackson ’s death by overdose . Tim ca n’t help but get caught up in the fun on Fire Island while at the same time trying to give Hawk a much - needed realness verification .
The real - life history murder of Harvey Milk and George Moscone are include in Fellow Travelers sequence 7 , light the infamous White Night riots .
Fire Island Is Considered The First Openly LGBTQ+ Community In The United States
People started vacationing in Fire Island Pines & Cherry Grove as early as the 1930s
Fire Island became one of the earliest openly gay and lesbian communities in the United States . It was a extremely seek - after destination for extremity of the LGBTQ+ community of interests as early as the 1930s , particularly because of the deficiency of police force front as well as the picturesque seaside location . Fire Island Pines is the section of Fire Island where Hawk and Tim drop most of their time inFellow Travelersepisode 7 , which is adjacent to the Cherry Grove residential area that is often referred to as America ’s first openly jolly and sapphic town ( via National Park Service ) .
Fire Island holds Brobdingnagian importance for the LGBTQ+ community , serving as a critical chancel during a challenging time in American history when openly identifying as gay , lesbian , bisexual , transgender , or pouf was against the law of nature .
The developing LGBTQ community on Fire Island became"a trailblazing force across America long before the Stonewall Riots set the apparent motion for Gay Liberation into motion"(via National Park Service ) . The significance of Fire Island for the LGBTQ+ community can not be understated , as it provided one of the only safe havens during a dark period of American chronicle in which it was illegal to be openly gay , lesbian , bisexual , transgender , or queer . As Hawk , Tim , Craig , and the relaxation of Hawk ’s play - loving friends demonstrate , Fire Island was the only location within their reach where they could sincerely express themselves .
The Significance Of Tim & Hawk Meeting On Fire Island In Fellow Travelers Explained
Tim & Hawk had never been in a place where they could love each other openly
Tim and Hawk drop every secondment of their hidden family relationship in Washington D.C. behind closed doors , meaning that they never had the chance to openly act as a duet in public spaces without it becoming a serious danger . During the Lavender Scare and McCarthyism of the 1950s , when homophobic paranoia in the Union political science was at an all - time high , dozens of people were reported tothe investigatory M Unitjust for something as trivial as living with a fellow member of the same biological sex . After decades of look over their shoulders and masking their sexual identities , Fire Island ply a long - overdue refuge .
Hawk was subjected to a prevarication sensor test inFellow Travelersepisode 4because one of his secretaries encounter a book with a handwritten inscription from Tim in his berth . Tim and Hawk might have had a very different family relationship and potentially a life sentence together if they had met during a time when it was socially satisfactory to have an openly festive relationship . In this manner , Fire Island represents a brief glimpse at the lifespan that Hawk and Tim could have shared together had Hawk not been so afraid to comprehend who he really is .
Why Hawk Offers Tim His Fire Island Vacation House
This is Hawk’s way of saying that he needs Tim around more often
Hawk does his proficient to show Tim he still cares about him despite not encounter him in eleven age since the event ofFellow Travelersepisode 6.Hawk makes Tim dinner and kick his political party friends out of the house so the two can at least have a probability at bear an informal evening . Tim reveals to pitch that he had move to San Francisco when he had gotten out of prison house for stealing and destroy Vietnam War draft plug-in with a radical religious mathematical group . He also tells Hawk that he amount out as sunny to his traditional Catholic family and is seeing a poet mention Arthur .
Hawk had cite a business prospect for Tim earlier in the day , which confound Tim since he was only there to make certain that HAwk was alright without expecting anything in comeback . Hawk offer to place the human activity of the Fire Island vacation home in Tim ’s name as a room to ensure that he and Tim will always have a place to get awaytogether . Tim , who has done a lot of maturing and soul - searching since last seeing Hawk , see the offer as a red flag that Hawk is potentially suicidal , which sets off a rage in the emotionally vulnerable and drug - fueled Hawk .
Why Tim Rejects Hawk’s Fire Island Offer & Makes Him Go Back To His Family
Tim is the only one there looking out for Hawk’s health & best interests
ThroughoutFellow Travelers , Tim has always looked out for Hawk out of selfless love and literal care for his well - being , while Hawk has often sought selfish forms of gratification from Tim . desert his family and draw off to Fire Island without tell his wife where he is very much in grapheme for the charmingly blemished Hawk . Tim , however , is the only mortal in the world who has the power to change Hawk ’s selfish ways , which he does in effect by the death ofFellow Travelersepisode 7 .
Hawk surround himself with various forms of playfulness and pleasure on Fire Island in an attempt to trouble from his responsibility as a married man and avoid mourn the horrific loss of Jackson . Tim redeem Hawk ’s life by not allow as early as he intend to , sticking around to play Hawk ’s game of endless partyingin order to well get at him on an emotional level . Craig , on the other manus , bank on Hawk ’s hedonic desires , recognise that Hawk is no good to him back to his wife and family . Tim refuse the Fire Island house inFellow Travelersto get Hawk to refocus on his kinfolk responsibilities , and the life he chose without him , despite it being a much - postulate position of asylum .
seed : National Park Service
