When I realized season 2 of Queer Eye was coming back to Netflix only four months after it first stole hearts and induced buckets of tears across America, I couldn’t help but think about the words of Jonathan Van Ness: Oh my God, is this my life, henny?
After 15 years off the air, Queer Eye made its new, progressive, and fresh return to television screens back in February of this year — and people haven’t been the same since. From articles deconstructing Antoni Porowski’s charming adoration of avocados and Reddit threads devoted to all of Karamo Brown’s bomber jackets, to the rise of Jonathan’s catch phrases across Twitter and even fun workout routines centered around the show, Queer Eye has brought a burst of positive energy to 2018 when everything else in the world feels so dark.
Almost immediately into the first episode of the season, we know an emotional ride is ahead of us. The Fab Five head to a tiny town with a population of only 89 people that’s legitimately called Gay, Georgia in order to bring joy to a single mother, cancer survivor, and church-going black woman with a gay son. Bobby, who previously revealed his own ostracization from Christianity after coming out, can’t physically walk into the local church where he hopes to redesign their event center. By the end of the episode, you hope to see Bobby feeling more comfortable with entering inside, but we never get that moment. Instead, we see the gay son walk arm-in-arm with his mother into the house of worship, unafraid of what lay ahead.
Over the remaining seven episodes, emotions rarely level off and the Fab Five never relent in their desire inspire personal growth and tap into raw humanity of their clients across the state of Georgia. Fashion expert Tan France brings much-needed wisdom to a Walmart manager who calls Frasier Crane his style icon, a young politician who only owns two pairs of shoes, and a bartender and father-of-two who only wears graphic tees and basketball shorts.
Culture and lifestyle expert Karamo Brown helps a homeschooled teen come out of his shell to make friends, cures a down-on-his-luck gamer of his unfortunate need to lie to the people in his life, and convinces a middle-aged hippie obsessed with Burning Man that moving away from his problems doesn’t make them go away at all. Jonathan gets razor-happy and shaves off a record six beards this season and reminds everyone the importance of wearing sunscreen, sunscreen, and sunscreen. Antoni doesn’t dice any avocados this time around, but continues to instruct clueless dudes in the kitchen while wearing tight-fitting band tees.
While season 1 brought all the tears, feels, and avocados, Season 2 elevated itself with something deeper and more meaningful: wider diversity and inclusivity. While the makeovers last season were given to straight dudes and one semi-closeted gay man, we see in this new season that the Fab Five transform the lives of straight bachelors, dads, messy boyfriends, a teenager, a single mom, and a transperson. For what feels like the first time ever on television, we see real members of the “G” in LGBT interact with the oft-maligned “T” of the queer community. And it is so incredibly moving and show-stopping.
The fifth episode changes form by opening with raw footage of a surgery and heart monitor beeping as the Fab Five watch in awe. A transman, their client, is having his breasts removed after raising $8,000 from his community and hoping to take the next steps forward as the man he always felt he was inside. The episode is nothing short of revolutionary as our experts experience a reversal of roles in this makeover: this time, their client is teaching them what his queer experience has been and what queerness means to him.
Tan, usually the one to be the most dapper and proper, breaks down in tears after admitting that he’s never met a transperson and knows little about the trans community despite being gay. He becomes the vessel by which even the most ignorant members of the audience can begin to identify with; if Tan can admit his own ignorance and still grow, so can viewers at home. This proves why people will be talking about Queer Eye long after the binge-watching subsides.
Aside from the incredibly heartwarming stories and touching makeovers of the season, Queer Eye brings so much value to its fan base because it prioritizes well-being over the contrived form. The Fab Five never do their jobs just for the sake of doing their jobs. Antoni doesn’t force the single mother to learn how to make a new dish in the kitchen because that’s not where she needs help in her life. Tan doesn’t force the avid-gamer to throw out his wardrobe for a new one because he already has great fashion taste. Jonathan leaves behind the transman’s beard because of the masculinity it represents instead of nixing it altogether for a cleaner look. The Fab Five truly value what’s most important for the individual at hand and cater to their needs accordingly.
While naysayers might consider Queer Eye overly emotional and a little frivolous in the grand scheme of the Golden Age of TV, those detractors are ignoring the unbearable necessity of witnessing personal growth, humanity, and queerness on television. Together, Bobby, Antoni, Tan, Karamo, and Jonathan transform people’s lives, and show us that – despite being fabulous and inspiring – they’re just like the rest of us: trying to be better. And in this complex and sometimes dark world, that’s all we should aspire to be, henny.
Best Episodes: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8
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