{"id":53223,"date":"2017-05-19T12:20:26","date_gmt":"2017-05-19T16:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/fire-island-got-me-feeling-emotion-recap\/"},"modified":"2017-05-19T12:20:26","modified_gmt":"2017-05-19T16:20:26","slug":"fire-island-got-me-feeling-emotion-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/fire-island-got-me-feeling-emotion-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Fire Island\u2019 Got Me Feeling Emotion [RECAP]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Fire Island\u2019 Got Me Feeling Emotion [RECAP]<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Fire<\/p>\n

Sort of like how Brandon told himself he wouldn\u2019t fall in love on Fire Island, I told myself I wouldn\u2019t get truly emotionally invested in these walking meatsacks of Ariana Grande CD singles. However, last night\u2019s episode of Fire Island<\/em>\u00a0actually made me feel for all these guys<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yes, even Cheyenne.<\/p>\n

I came into the episode bloodthirsty for a big blowout between the boys<\/a>. Once their conflict fizzled out before anyone tossed a drink or a table or a prosthetic leg, I was practically booing the screen from my couch. Then they announced a bunch of parents were coming, and I started writing Logo, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos a strongly worded letter about properly representing a summer of gay<\/a> men<\/a> in jockstraps chugging vodka-sodas and humping uncontrollably.<\/p>\n

But, by the end of the episode, I was wiping away a single tear.<\/p>\n

How did this happen? Let\u2019s discuss.<\/p>\n

\"Fire<\/p>\n

Brandon got an early start to the weekend at the house. Like any tiny babygay fresh from the dorms, he obviously trashed the place.<\/p>\n

Khasan, Jorge and Cheyenne were skipping the ferry for a ride on Jorge\u2019s friends\u2019 yacht, and, again, I need ask: What even is Jorge\u2019s life? He\u2019s part Ricky Martin, part Animal the Muppet, part Cosmo Kramer, and I don\u2019t understand how he lives every single day. He met the yacht owners, Captain and Tennille, after they found his lost dog, Luca. And now I guess he has access to yacht rides? Sure. (I wonder what he had to lose to get those five Escalades the night he partied with Khasan.)<\/p>\n

They get to the house and are all in a tizzy over the mess. Brandon tosses off a little \u201cWhatever, mom!\u201d attitude before they all head to dinner in Cherry Grove.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere on the island, Patrick and Jallen are discussing the Brandon situation. Jallen discloses that he gets feelings really fast (we know, girl<\/a>), and he was initially raised Mormon. All the good ones are gay<\/a> or Mormon or both, it seems.<\/p>\n

\"Fire<\/p>\n

Patrick then brings Jallen to the group dinner, which is horribly uncomfortable for everyone. Brandon is done with Jallen, but as we all saw last week, he \u201cbroke it off\u201d with him in the most vague and confusing way possible. I don\u2019t blame Jallen for hanging around.<\/p>\n

Justin arrives complaining, of course. He missed his stop and his ferry and also did you know he\u2019s wearing a Speedo now? It\u2019s a very big deal for him! His parents are coming this weekend, but, more importantly, his mom is going to see him in a Speedo! Speedo?! Speedo!<\/p>\n

Since Justin\u2019s parents are coming and Khasan\u2019s mom is coming, the guys<\/a> agree they need to be on their best behavior this weekend. Keep the house clean, keep out the riff-raff (PATRICK), etc.<\/p>\n

\"Fire<\/p>\n

This presents the perfect opportunity for Cheyenne to make it about himself for a minute and toss out a passive-aggressive barb about how they should live<\/a> every week like it\u2019s shark<\/del> parents week, and keep the place in order, regardless.<\/p>\n

Patrick \u2014 the Lisa Rinna of this bunch, both in personality and kind of aesthetically \u2014 calls<\/a> Cheyenne out immediately. Own it, Cheyenne! What are you referring to, specifically?\u00a0Own it!<\/p>\n

Then Cheyenne runs through a litany of grievances ranging from Justin\u2019s Speedo (Speedo!) on the counter to Brandon\u2019s discarded banana peels. Brandon gives a half-assed apology, and Cheyenne insists that they can apologize until they\u2019re blue in the face, but they need to take action. Cheyenne clearly fails to see how this is almost the exact same thing Patrick was telling\u00a0him last week, because he lacks almost any self-awareness whatsoever.<\/p>\n

Patrick interjects to make it about him for a minute, reminding Cheyenne that he cleaned his room after Cheyenne left the house last weekend.<\/p>\n

Just as things finally seemed to be coming to a head, Jorge starts gently weeping. If he could make it all about him for a minute \u2026 Everyone needs to carpe diem, climb every mountain, 525,600 minutes, I hope you dance, etc. because it\u2019s almost two days until his Dad\u2019s birthday or the anniversary of his death, or maybe today is his birthday and the anniversary of his death was two days ago? Whatever it was, it is truly very troubling to Jorge, and it\u2019s sincerely sad, and I am not going to make fun of him about it.<\/p>\n

\"Fire<\/p>\n

Jorge and Khasan take a short walk to calm down. The reality check shakes the other guys<\/a> out of their trivial spat, and they all rally around Jorge. We learn that Jorge had a challenging relationship with his father, especially around his coming out, but he was also Jorge\u2019s best friend. Again, it\u2019s genuinely sad, and I feel like I want to reach through the screen give Jorge a hug myself.<\/p>\n

The next morning, Justin\u2019s parents arrive on the island, and they are the cutest little old, Italian couple<\/a>. I want to talk about how Justin\u2019s dad replies to Jorge\u2019s offer for a drink by saying he\u2019ll take \u201cwhatever stiff thing you have\u201d and NO ONE takes the opportunity to make the very obvious joke, or how he wore an all-pink ensemble to the beach in silent support of all the gays<\/a>, or how the way he said \u201cmuchos gracias\u201d to Jorge and insisted he reminded him exactly of Javier Bardem was just casually racist enough to be a charming dad thing, BUT I can\u2019t bring myself to make jokes about him. Some post-episode text reveals that he passed away after filming the episode.<\/p>\n

\"Fire<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not crying, you\u2019re crying!<\/p>\n

While at the beach, Justin explains to his mom that a specific group of gay<\/a> guys<\/a> is called a \u201cgaggle of gays<\/a>\u201d like that\u2019s actually a thing or clever or anything worth repeating at all while she chows down on a comically large hoagie. Patrick\u2019s hot friend Alex is also with the group, even though Patrick is nowhere in sight. Cheyenne is shocked, SHOCKED, that this cute boy<\/a> is from Los Angeles, but somehow, some way, he doesn\u2019t know Cheyenne already. Does Cheyenne actually think every gay<\/a> boy<\/a> in Los Angeles is as obsessed with him as he is with himself?<\/p>\n

Speaking of Patrick, he arrives again with Jallen in toe. Sure, maybe Patrick is reality TV-savvy enough to know bringing Jallen around will attract the camera<\/a>\u2019s attention, but also they do seem like actual friends, so it might not be as malicious as it seems to the other guys<\/a><\/p>\n

More importantly, Jallen\u2019s in a Speedo (Speedos: They\u2019re not just for Justin!), and he is one fine, tall drink of Mormon juice. (Milk? Is Mormon juice just milk? I think it\u2019s milk.) He\u2019s got a sort of Michael Phelps build. They both have bodies like Na\u2019vi from Avatar<\/em>, just like all lanky limbs and elongated torsos.<\/p>\n

Anyway, Jallen hilariously tries to sexily saunter over, like some Mr. Fantastic\/Mae West hybrid. He\u2019s swinging a badminton racket, which he inevitably drops, and it\u2019s like who among us hasn\u2019t been there, trying to look all flirty and fun only to end up looking\u00a0like a complete doofus on national television? It only makes him more endearing, really.<\/p>\n

Brandon can\u2019t bear the idea of any tension, so suggests he and Jorge go do an impromptu photoshoot, and it\u2019s very cool and casual and not at all obvious that they\u2019re just walking away to talk smack.<\/p>\n

Patrick, of course, is having none of it. He puts Brandon on blast, leading Jorge to excuse himself and Jallen away so Brandon and Patrick can hash out their differences.<\/p>\n

Brandon invokes Winged Brandon (literally we need to always have at least two Brandons in play on this show), saying what Patrick is doing is the same thing he was mad the roommates did to him with Winged Brandon. Patrick (correctly) points out that, no, it\u2019s certainly not. He clearly told the roommates he wasn\u2019t serious with Winged Brandon, and they just refused to believe it. Then they bombarded W. Brandon with blush and bashful linen samples for the wedding they were sure Patty and W. B. were bound to have.<\/p>\n

Brandon, on the other hand, BARELY told Jallen they weren\u2019t seeing each other anymore. No wonder Patrick missed the memo. Brandon sits Jallen\u00a0down again and adds some degree of clarity to their relationship. But then he messes the whole thing up by ending the talk by saying \u201cFurther down the line, we can see what happens.\u201d Set him free, Brandon! Please spare this poor Mormon boy<\/a>!<\/p>\n

That night, Justin\u2019s parents prepare a full Italian meal for the guys<\/a> while the show plays some cheesy, royalty-free version of \u201cTarantella Napoletana\u201d that sounds like they ripped it off a Nokia cell phone in 2001.<\/p>\n

\"Fire<\/p>\n

Khasan\u2019s mother arrives, and she\u2019s every bit as beautiful and charming and radiant as he is. (Plus she arrives with a drink in hand. My kind of gal.) She has a passing interaction with Justin\u2019s folks before they head back to the ferry.<\/p>\n

Khasan\u2019s mom sits with the housemates by the pool and recounts the difficult circumstances around her and Khasan\u2019s life growing up in Compton. She was caught in a crossfire as a teen<\/a> and shot in the neck. She had Khasan at 16. Khasan\u2019s dad wasn\u2019t around growing up and was later murdered in a robbery. No wonder Khasan is so grounded, he\u2019s been through more trauma than most characters on a Shonda Rhimes drama.<\/p>\n

The next morning, Khasan\u2019s mom meets his boyfriend, Jason, for the first time. It\u2019s adorable to see her embrace him, but also obviously trying to get a read on him. Oh, moms.<\/p>\n

\"Fire<\/p>\n

Their interactions stir up feelings for Cheyenne. He video<\/a> chats<\/a> his boyfriend Kyle and explains that all this talk about parents is bringing up a lot of his own past. Cheyenne\u2019s dad wasn\u2019t around much, and his late mother was an alcoholic. He lacked a lot of stability in his youth, having moved 17 times. Cheyenne demonstrates some fleeting glimpses of self-awareness when it comes to\u00a0how his childhood experience manifests in how he handles himself as an adult. I\u2019m not saying this all justifies Cheyenne\u2019s mostly gross behavior, but it does explain some of it.<\/p>\n

At some point Jason and Khasan\u2019s mom exit, leaving the guys<\/a> to snuggle in a pile on the beach and reflect on their relationships. Cheyenne even apologizes (sort of) to Patrick. Yes, it\u2019s sort of ham-fisted and cheesy and the complete opposite of what I want my reality shows to be, (this isn\u2019t ABC Family, henny!), but after such an emotional episode I kind of needed it.<\/p>\n

What did you think of the episode?<\/p>\n

The post \u2018Fire Island\u2019 Got Me Feeling Emotion [RECAP]<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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‘Fire Island’ Got Me Feeling Emotions [RECAP]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n