So I don’t tend to talk about other media all that much on SWB but I figured I love music and TV (film too but I don’t watch all that much) and I guess you guys do to so why not talk about it?!
So what inspired this change of heart? Queer Eye season three dropped on Netflix this past weekend and I binge watched all eight episodes on Saturday afternoon and I need someone to talk about it with!
For those of you who might not be familiar with Queer Eye a little background. Queer Eye first appeared on our TVs back in 2003, originally known as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy the show featured 5 men, each an expert in one particular area who completed a makeover on a straight guy, although the concept widened in later seasons. The original show ran until 2007. The premise was revived with a new Fab Five by Netflix in 2018 and 3 seasons of eight episodes have been released so far.
While I was aware of the original show I don’t really remember that much about it other than the general premise, I was in my mid to late teens when it aired and I remember watching a few episodes but it wasn’t must watch viewing for me. When I found out Netflix were reviving it I was really curious as to how the concept would work a decade later so when the first season dropped I watched it and was instantly hooked! Season two was just as enjoyable to watch so you can imagine my excitement on Saturday when I discovered season 3 had dropped the day before! Now here’s your fair warning I am planning about talking about some of the episodes so if you’ve not watched yet and you don’t want to know anything about it this is the moment to click the back button at the top – but maybe bookmark the post first and come back and talk to me later!
The Fab Five
The Fab Five for the Netflix revival consists of Antoni Porowski, Tan France, Karamo Brown, Jonathan Van Ness and Bobby Berk.
Karamo Brown – Culture Expert; Jonathan Van Ness – Grooming Expert; Bobby Berk – Design Expert; Antoni Porowski – Food and Wine Expert; and Tan France – Fashion Expert
I absolutely adore these five people! The relationships they have with one another are a joy to watch on TV, they’re hilarious together. At the same time they are so full of love and acceptance and I have genuinely seen some of the most moving moments on TV throughout the three seasons so far. There are a few episodes in particular that really got me in the feels far more than I was expecting!
Season Three
Season three consists of eight episodes: From Hunter to Huntee; Lost Boy; Jones Bar-B-Q; When Robert Met Jamie; Black Girl Magic; Elrod & Sons; Sloth to Slay; and Baby On Board. I really enjoyed the whole season but I don’t want to bore you all by talking about everything in detail so I’m just going to pick out a few of my favourites to talk about!
Jones Bar-B-Q – This is the third episode in the season. The Fab Five head down to Jones Bar-B-Q in Kansas City to help bring some confidence to Deborah and Mary, the two sisters that own and run the BBQ pit. Tan works his magic as he transforms their wardrobe and provides a new uniform for their restaurant. Antoni and Karamo work together to encourage the sisters to collaborate with local industry to enable them to bottle their sauce so they can meet the local demand. Bobby does an incredible job transforming their Bar-B-Q shack, both transform the inside of the kitchen, and creating a fantastic seating area outside so that the huge queues that form daily have somewhere to sit down and eat. As always Jonathan worked his magic with their hair! I loved the way the Fab Five helped them to develop their business, the work Bobby did transforming the restaurant was fantastic but my very favourite thing was seeing Deborah gain so much confidence after visiting the dentist, seeing her smile was wonderful, I just have a lot of love for these sisters and the Fab Five did a great job of making them realise how important self care is and that it’s okay to accept help.
Black Girl Magic – Episode 5 of season 3 sees the Fab Five visit Jess in Lawrence, Kansas. Jess is a 23 year old lesbian who identifies as a lumberjack lesbian and feels she has two styles: lumberjack lesbian and crop top. Jess’s backstory really got to me, she was outed to her adopted parents when she was sixteen and they kicked her out of the house. I’m straight but I can’t imagine my parents cutting me off for any reason! Once again Bobby worked his magic transforming Jess’s home. Tan worked with Jess to find styles that she likes and to move away from labels. Convincing her masculine, feminine, lumberjack or crop top it doesn’t matter, she just needs to do and be what makes her comfortable. Karamo took her to the 18th and Vine district which is the heart of black culture in Kansas City, this part of the episode really struck a nerve with me, being mixed race but growing up in a very white part of the UK I often feel like maybe I’m not as connected with black culture as I would like to me although my dad always encouraged me to research it and be a part of it, it’s just a little harder to immerse yourself in it from rural Devon. My favourite part of the episode though came just after when finally reunited with Jenise her sister, which she’d been putting off, and got to meet her niece for the first time!
Elrod & Sons – This is the final episode I’m going to talk about in this post. It’s the sixth episode of the series and this one was the one that really hit me in all the emotions! The Fab Five appear to assist Rob, who has been nominated by his wife’s best friend. Rob’s wife was diagnosed with cancer while still in hospital following the birth of their child. In the end Alison lost her life to the disease and Rob lives alone with his two sons. As always the team do a great job covering all parts of the transformation whether it’s the wardrobe transformation or furnishing the new house that Rob bought knowing Alison wanted them to move. Watching him pack up parts of the house he had shared with his life really started pulling at my heartstrings, and then when they started talking about the box that was filled with birthday cards she’d written for the boys once she knew she wouldn’t be around for them that really broke my heart! It was when Bobby revealed that the memory trunk he had created for the boys at the new house had a message from their mum, in her handwriting, carved inside the lid that finished me off!
They were my favourite 3 episodes of the season, that’s certainly not to say I didn’t enjoy the rest of the season, all of the episodes were fantastic and filled with important empowering messages!
I hope you enjoyed this post! It’s a bit of a move away from the book world I usually talk about so I’d love to know your thoughts on it! If you’ve watched this season of Queer Eye let me know your thoughts and favourite episodes!
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