How are we feeling, cannibal fungus fans? Still floating in the cozy feels of the third episode of The Last of Us? Episodes like that where we spend time watching people exist in the world largely outside bigger plot dynamics don’t happen often—less so in the age of “diverse” shows getting canceled after a single season. When you narrow the field down to just speculative shows and just queer characters, that slice gets thinner and thinner. So let’s take this opportunity to celebrate queer life, queer joy, and queer people just being themselves.
Spoiler warning! We’re talking about finales and big plot points. If you haven’t seen a show and want to remain pure as the freshly driven snow, proceed with caution.
Before we get to the recs, we need to talk about the Bill and Frank episode. “Long, Long Time” is my favorite episode thus far. It was so refreshing to see not only a queer romance take center stage, but one that featured middle-aged people who aren’t polished in that shiny, smooth Hollywood way. That said, it has some seriously unpleasant undertones. Drill down beneath the surface and it’s not exactly the representation many of us have been clamoring for.
As much as I loved having 80 minutes of two older gay men sharing a life together, that life was frustratingly narrow. Bill and Frank had an entire neighborhood to play house in and never once seem to have invited others to stay. No families, no children, no other queer people, no one. A battalion’s worth of weaponry and the survival skills necessary to thrive in the end of times and what did they do with it? Kept it all to themselves, to hell with everyone else. We get a small friendship between Joel and Tess, but it’s mostly long distance and seeming to mostly involve trade. So much for the “community” part of “queer community.”
On the other hand, that we even got a queer slice-of-life episode in a big budget streaming horror show feels like a feat worth celebrating, especially given the vitriolic and bigoted reaction of some so-called fans. Being a marginalized fan often requires existing in two states: thrilled at even bare minimum rep and wishing that rep wasn’t so problematic.
This roundup is going to focus on the queer slice-of-life part of “Long, Long Time,” with episodes and shows that, even with all the chaos of the larger plot circling overhead, are soft and charming, episodes that are more interested in the little day-to-day things than saving the world.
The Magicians “A Life in the Day” (S3 E5)
The pinnacle of queer slice-of-life episodes, this was where, for me, The Magicians peaked. (We shall not speak of the awfulness that is the season 4 finale.) Quentin and Eliot had long been flirting with each other, but even after having a threesome their relationship seemed stalled at platonic. The show kept pairing them off with other characters, not that fanfic writers cared. But finally with “A Life in the Day” we were rewarded with our two unrequited lovebirds spending a life together in a Fillorian side quest. They fall in love, raise a child, and grow old together. Their lives are simple yet happy. Without the pressures of Brakebills, all that’s left is each other. It’s a direct counter to Bill and Frank. Where they seemed satisfied hoarding resources, Queliot learned to share, not just with each other but with others.
Our Flag Means Death “This Is Happening” (season 1 episode 7)
It should be no surprise that OFMD is on this list. It’s been almost a year since the premiere and my brain is still 80% “The Chain.” On a trip to St. Augustine to replenish their orange supplies, Ed and Stede (and Lucius) head off on a treasure hunt. It’s a fun, frivolous subplot that contains a metric ton of character development (and I’m convinced it has a lot to do with why Ed pushed Lucius overboard in the finale). Stede gets to see Ed as a regular dude who wouldn’t mind running a bar and grill with a gift shop attached, while Ed must confront his feelings for Stede. While I wouldn’t argue this is the moment where he first falls in love, it’s definitely the place where he realizes he could and that he wants to. Stripped of their roles as pirate captains, we get two dudes with a whole lotta emotional constipation and lack of self-awareness stumbling toward a romance. And a petrified orange.
Black Mirror “San Junipero” (S3 E4)
While you can debate whether or not the ending of “San Junipero” is a happy one, it’s hard not to like the episode as a whole. Yorkie and Kelly meet at a club in the 1980s and gradually a romance blossoms between them. We eventually learn they’re living in San Junipero, a virtual world where old people get to be young again. Much of the episode is just the two young women getting to know each other and falling in love, a nice respite from Black Mirror’s usual anti-technology stance. I never much cared for the show, but this was a highlight for me.
Roswell, New Mexico “How’s It Gonna Be” (S4 E13)
Much of what ended up being the final season of Roswell, New Mexico, aka the best primetime alien soap opera in the history of television, was split between the real world on Earth and a pocket dimension created to trap the evil emperor trying to kill the rebel faction and his child clone—yes, you read that right. Alex was the first one sucked in, with Michael blundering in after him as he was wont to do. As the clock ran down on the pocket dimension and everyone’s lives hung in the balance, the show stopped everything to give Malex the wedding they always deserved. These two men had the kind of romance that would make Joey and Pacey fans jealous. With everything going on, it was so nice to stop and breathe for a few minutes. It’s not a whole slice-of-life episode, but this little reprieve was so lovely that I can’t not include it.
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
I can’t pick a single episode of this amazing, incredible, fantastic show because almost all of them fit this format. There’s a ton of frantic, weird plot, but that’s only about half of each episode. The rest is the Legends just being goofy and hanging out in random timelines. The Western episodes are some of my favorites, but they’re all simultaneously massive yet intimate. In one episode, they get high at Woodstock. In another, the characters form a book club where they get drunk and gossip. In the final season, they squeeze a wedding for Sara and Ava just before their imminent destruction. What began as an overly serious Arrow spinoff grew into its own gloriously oddball thing that centers characters who are queer and/or BIPOC. The DCEU movies wish they were even half as good as this TV show.
Alex Brown is a Hugo-nominated and Ignyte award-winning critic who writes about speculative fiction, librarianship, and Black history. Find them on twitter (@QueenOfRats), instagram (@bookjockeyalex), and their blog (bookjockeyalex.com).
