'The Other Two' - The Queerest Show You May Have Missed

Arts

May 10

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Our modern television landscape has led to basic cable conversations being silenced. While streaming platforms prosper, our previous television consumption patterns are slowly becoming extinct. It’s a tree-falling-in-the-forest thought experiment: If your show isn’t on streaming, does it even exist?

This is a shame for broadcast and cable shows that have been airing in the past few years without an online platform. Some of the most creative, thought-provoking, and engaging content we’ve seen in recent memory has called cable its home and, unfortunately, it has led to less eyeballs. Queer representation on screen has also seen a recent boom, but again, without a major hub to stream, the conversation just isn’t there. Luckily, Comedy Central’s The Other Two has moved homes to HBO Max. Now on a more accessible platform, the show deserves the acclaim it seldom received during its debut season in 2019 for its break-neck comedic speed and rich queer storytelling.

The Other Two, created by former SNL head writers Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, follows Cary and Brooke Dubek. These siblings are trying to succeed in life, all while dealing with their younger brother becoming the overnight internet singing sensation ChaseDreams. The show is able to balance being referential and deeply funny, all the while wearing its heart on its sleeve without treading into sappy waters. From episode one, I fell deeply in love with the family dynamics, the satirical look at fame in modern times, and the abundance of Molly Shannon exclaiming “It’s my year of YES!”

While I have added quotes from the show into my daily vernacular (Kate Berlant exclaiming “I am GAGGING for you, faggot” is verbal perfection) and recommend it to everyone I know, Cary Dubek’s entire storyline has stuck with me as so...normal.

When we watch queer storylines on television in recent memory, they usually land in one of two camps. The queer character either comes out (Love, Victor, The Real O’Neals, Grey’s Anatomy, etc.) or they are in some deep sh*t. (How To Get Away with Murder, Scandal, etc.) Nothing is wrong with either plot trajectory, but there’s something to be said about coping with queerness years after the coming out, without the inclusion of covering up a murder or rigging a presidential election. Luckily, we’re slowly working towards “queer normalcy” on screen (Pose is a wonderful example) and The Other Two continues the path.

Cary Dubek (played perfectly by Drew Tarver) is confidently gay, but needs the confidence to find his place within the queer community. The normalcy of watching a gay man navigate relationships and reaching for queer clout was enlightening, heartbreaking, and beautifully banal. Viewers didn’t have to go through the coming out process with Cary, as that was done years ago in his life. We had to watch him deal with the “after.”

Of course it’s a sitcom of a fantastical situation, so everything is heightened. Yet, watching Cary struggle to “ride the wave” of Chase’s fame successfully in the hopes to gain prominence was simultaneously a cringe fest and relatable.

From having to act more straight for a commercial role, to falling in line with “instagays,” to crying into a fireplace a la Call Me By Your Name, all of the sitcom-iest scenarios are all firmly planted in reality. There are buckets of insecurities that I feel on the daily by being out and open about my sexuality, and I know I’m not alone in that. Am I too femme? Do I look as decent as these Instagays? Am I being straight enough right now? Are people judging me for wearing too bright of a color? Am I relatable? Am I down-to-earth? Am I too much, and will that lead me to being alone?

All these internal questions are discussed with a light hand and the perfect amount of hilarity throughout the series. It was completely refreshing to connect so deeply with a character on screen that had already gone through his coming out years. Just simple tidbits, like his refusal to come out to his grandmother for her sake, is simultaneously a laugh line and a frequent truth.

This month, the first season of The Other Two was placed on HBO Max. Its new home will also house the soon-to-be-released second season, after COVID delays pushed back production. Even after a two year delay since its debut, I still keep returning to the show for a healthy dose of truth amidst a wackadoo series of events. With the genius of Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider at the helm, I know for a fact that season 2 will be just as poignant and funny.

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Marshal Knight is an entertainment writer out of Orlando, FL. He'd like to thank Sandra Oh.

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