Reviews

I sought this film out because of Sachin Bhatt, and became a fan of Ben Baur's as well. This film is able to tell a whole story, including both character's backstory, really damned well in just 20 minutes. When you have something special and you know it's right, but you can't admit to yourself that it's what you want, you lose out on life. Evan (played by Baur) is a writer set to be alone while his boyfriend David (Mahaffy) is away on a trip. And from the minute David walks out the door, Evan's ex Connor (Bhatt) walks back into his life. And though they each try and go back to whatever they'd had before, it's clear that it can never happen - because both Evan and Connor have made their choices, and they are clearly on completely different paths.

I have watched this from the beginning, and have interacted with both the official Twitter accounts of the show and the actors. It's definitely a cute show, and in a way, it lends itself to the comedies that we saw back in the 70s and 80s when there was more slap-stick in nature. The castaways get themselves into a new, dangerous situation, and comically get themselves out of it each week.

I will say that it was rather dark, going into season two that they killed off Emma. They handled it the best way that they could, given the subject matter, but it was still a bit too much. Overall, they've done great with what they have, even when killing off Turnbull at the end of season one, but turning it around in season two to reveal that Turnbull was a Nazi.

Quite apropos for the current American political environment, eh?

But here's my biggest pet peeve with the show, and I haven't been all that quiet about it online. During season one, they played up the characters of Danny and Owen - specifically their relationship. Owen and Danny were shown to be "touchy-feely" in the first episode. The second episode had Danny calling Owen, "Hon". Dream sequences had them as a couple. And at the end of season 1, when Danny was in trouble, Steve told Owen to put down the flare gun. His specific words were, "Do it. Do it for your lover!"

If you go through Wrecked's Twitter feed, you'll find images of Danny and Owen with hearts around them. So it wasn't just subtext on the show - it was overtly and covertly pushed by all involved, including publicity shots and outreach.

They didn't make Danny/Owen canonically gay, nor did they put them explicitly in a relationship. But they sure as hell played it up. But then in season 2, TPTB must have gone, "Oh crap, we can't have that" and they went full "No Homo" on the audience. The process started lighter at first, where Danny would make a comment, and unlike season 1, Owen wouldn't tease him about it - but instead was just mean; and it got meaner as the season progressed. Danny continued his "pining" during season 2 until the very last episode where he overtly went full No Homo with, "I mean I don't want to touch your butt or anything."

I'm really tired of TV shows queerbaiting the audience to gain viewers, then quickly run it back when the audience actually reacts. Either commit and go with it, consequences be damned, or stop treating the audience like that. It's disrespectful.

I watched this when I was flying home on a plane, and was so caught up in it, I couldn't leave my seat. It is indeed one of the greatest gay movies because of the juxtaposition of Everett's dull but stable life in which he's living for his kid, and Chase, who seems to be everything Everett could ever want.

The only reason I'm giving it an 8 of 10 has to do with the almost cliché ending, where Chase has died. I know it's integral to the story because to do otherwise would jeopardize Everett's home and family, but it still bugs me.

I've followed both Matthew Montgomery and Brendan Bradley separately, and have really enjoyed them. They had such chemistry in this movie, that I was really happy they worked together. This movie wouldn't have been the same without either one of them.