Today on Now Playing we’re going to be watching Gentleman (J)ack, a show that technically starts with the letter J because I said so. Finding queer shows is hard and since SOME OF US (looking at you, Caroline Framke) want to tear down what LITTLE GAY MEDIA WE HAVE, we will probably not have any new Gay J shows soon! If there were, however, J shows, I’d like to throw a few ideas in the ring that might be JUST gay enough:
Just Gay Enough
Jumbo Boobs to Put My Little Lesbian Mouth On (Gay)
Juiced Up (Maybe could be a gay male show? Sounds horny!)
The J Word (juice)
I don’t know, could be fun! (Someone please hire me to be a writer)
Gentleman Jack is a historical drama series created by Sally Wainwright that tells the history of how butch and femme came to the forefront of American zeitgeist. Set in the 1830’s, it stars Suranne Jones as a landowner and Anne Lister, who I assume is her love interest, as an industrialist, whatever the fuck that means. The series is based on diary entries from Lister detailing her numerous lesbian affairs. With a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, the series, which premiered in 2019, has seen a two season run with a new one set to follow. Even better, it’s based on real life diary entries from Anne Lister!!!!
Which came first: the lesbian or the strap on? (I’m kidding but just found this insanely interesting fact I cannot stop thinking about now: Archeologists found an oriental double ended dildo carved from jade that date back to the 10th – 13th century.)
Without further ado: Gentleman Jack!
It’s 1832 in Halifax and a horse drawn carriage with a blonde woman and her aunt in it is pulling up to cross a bridge. They look out the window and see Shibden Hall, a place the Listers must reside at since the aunt says the “Listers don’t invite people inside, typically. A third carriage very aggressively passes another one and knocks a kid petting a chicken out of a different carriage (many carriages), effectively breaking his leg. There’s a lot of blood and since this is 1832, that’s not good! What the fuck are they going to do to care for this poor kid!!!?!??
Some woman tells someone to go get Dr. Kenny because this child is about to bleed to death. She must be the keeper of the place because she goes to check in on Ann Walker, the blonde from the previous scene, and says their coachman’s going to drive them home. The people in the coach that drove them off the road are some incredibly inconsiderate ASSHOLES since they didn’t even LOOK when plowing through both carriages. This poor kids bone is sticking out and Marian, Miss Lister’s niece, pours them brandy, rolling her eyes when Mrs. Walker compares Marian to her older sister Anne. Where’s Anne? She’s in Hastings setting up home acting as a “sort of companion to Miss Hobert.” She’s coming home on Friday before inevitably traveling again. She’s looking for a new groom, whether it be for her or her sister is unsure, and they say “wherever Anne is, drama follows”
Que one of THE hottest show introductions I’ve EVER SEEN. It’s fiddle music with some woman putting on boots and stringing up a corset and I’m DRIPPING! I literally rewinded three times to watch this.
Anne strolls in to town with a man in her horse carriage who dislocated his arm. They went over a pot hole on the way and someone on board carriage beseeches her for her risky undertaking. She stands up to him before introducing Eugene from her carriage, a younger girl who pukes because of the shaky ride. She’s got a nice little feather hat on and Anne slaps her on the back like “c’mon champ my drivings not that bad.” She then goes to overlook her kingdom atop a grassy knoll.
This girl is REALLY upset to be back in Shibden, breaking fourth wall often to say how annoyed of her shabby little family she is. She rolls her eyes and strolls down the hill towards her family, who are now discussing some Earl Grey figure who is trying to have an audience with the king about the Reform Bill. Politician named after a tea? Or a tea named after a politician? They all run out to greet Anne as she immediately starts giving orders, introducing them to Eugene, her new maid. She stops through the corridor looking for her uncle who promptly asks about what went wrong in Hastings.
Eugene lugs her bags up the way and gives them to a Joseph Booth before going about her marry way, ignoring the boys talking because she doesn’t speak English. They follow her down the way with all her luggage as Anne and her family enjoy lunch. They discuss George, the groom shot out of the tree, and try to get to the bottom of how he got shot out of the tree. He was frightening birds out of the tree for people to shoot and got shot himself. Anne said she was super stoked to see his head get sawed off, the clearest lesbian thing I’ve ever seen.
George, the little boy who fell out the carriage, got his leg amputated. We also learn the Walkers did, in fact, take the Lister’s carriage so I am wondering when this budding romance between Anne and Ann (no way) is going to start. A man named Briggs is ill and won’t be able to collect rent for the next six months as Anne realizes well shit, that might be my job from now on which really sucks because I don’t want to be here at all. She storms out, walking aggressively down the street, and knocks on a door only to receive no answer. She goes to the back entry way and tries opening that door to no avail as well. She stacks buckets on top of each other, swings her feet over the wall, and jumps in to their court yard, knocking on the back door because literally nothing will stop my hot Dyke.
She asks Miss Briggs if her father is in and his wife brings her to him, a nasty disease taking over her leg. She tells him she’s going to collect the rent herself and she needs an up to date record because her uncle doesn’t really have a record. He sends his wife to get the Shibden estate records and groans, clearly in pain at what looks like a Henry VII ass leg disease. He gives Anne a little update on the town: Red beck’s flooded and, most importantly, her coal is worth more to her now than stone quarries, given the fact railroads have been popping up. Rawson Brothers would pay premium for it and she should sell if she wants to make a profit.
A gay AND a sugar mommy? What can’t she do!!!!!
Eugenie is throwing up again to which, one of the other house maids asks if she’s been drinking a lot. Slowly, the maid pieces together Eugenie is pregnant, saying it was George Playforth’s baby, the man who got shot out of the tree. They feed her Gin saying “hopefully that will work” and the maids freak out over Eugenie’s head in English and Eugenie tells this maid that maybe she should tell Miss Lister. The head maid is like why? And she essentially says “Because Miss Lister is a lesbian she’ll understand the salaciousness of my situation.” I’m not sure this maid knew Anne is a lesbian because she looks genuinely shocked, sending her to bed saying if Eugenie tells Anne about this, she’ll be fired.
Meanwhile, Anne’s outside petting a little pony sussing out his situation. The pony is a little sick and Anne takes his pulse, all signs pointing to the fact she’s a little doctor herself. She tells him to put a Mustard Poultice on him and keep him indoors. Her sister Maurine stops her when she comes inside and chews her out for not being at lunch to which, Anne dismisses. Maurine says “is it wise for you to be collecting the rent? People are going to talk” hinting at something spicy beneath the surface. She says it’s fine being different in York or Paris but in Halifax people talk. They’ve already been saying she “drove the high favor back from Wibsey” which she had to because they had cholera. Not only is she driving her little cars, she’s collecting rent now which is ALSO a man’s job. Anne opens a letter from Mrs. Lawton and reads it intently while Maurine asks if she had a falling out with Miss Hobert in Hastings. No time for Anne to talk though she’s running down the stairs to the kitchen to talk to the head maid about Mrs. Lawton sending word she will want to be staying with them next week on their way to York. Her maid is tense around her and Anne inquires about Eugenie to which, the maid smiles and says she’s doing well.
Ok clearly this maid did not know Anne is a lesbian.
Anne looks wistfully out the window and lets the sun shine on her while unpacking her stuff. In it, she finds her diary and flips through the pages nostalgically, stopping on an entry from April 15th about the “truth being out.” Her love was going to Italy without Anne and we get a flashback episode of Anne storming in to find her lover flirting with a Captain Donald. Ms. Hobert has invited Donald to dine with them that evening and leaves the two alone to talk for a minute where Ms. Hobert says Donald has asked her to marry him. Anne sinks to the floor crying because that pussy DEFUNCT now. That pussy’s got it’s OO email on. No More Ms. Hobert Munching on Some Hairy Time for Anne anymore.
She shakes herself out of this memory as her aunt says hey your uncle and your sister are hanging out in the drawing room if you want to join. I know I’m not interesting or cool but you can talk to me, too. Anne sits down and her aunt takes the time to talk about the Walkers and how young Ann is so shy which is weird because she’s at least worth $3k shillings a year. She’s got Aunts and Uncles to guard her fortune but what she thinks Ann Walker needs is a friend. Whether her Aunt knows THIS Anne is gay or not only time will tell but it does seem like she’s trying to set up Anne with Ann.
Hmmmm??
Meanwhile, back at the Walkers, some guy is timing how long he can hold Ann Walker’s hand. She looks really unnerved as he runs his thumb along her hand and it turns out he was just timing her pulse. He inquiries if they have any upcoming holidays planned and her aunt says they have a week set aside to hang out at the Lake District with her cousin Catherine. The doctor thinks she’s got some trauma built up from the little carriage jolt and the doctor says “maybe she’s just lonely, has she ever been introduced in the assembly rooms at Halifax?” Her aunt says since both her parents died and her brother died on his honeymoon in Naples they’ve been very wary of fortune hunters looking to marry her just to get money. Her sister Elizabeth also moved hella far away so it’s just been Ann which is a huge bummer for her!! The doctor was like keeping people home who are prone to melancholy isn’t that good an idea. Sometimes, we need to let them out for an adventure!!!!
Exactly. Let Anne finger blast Ann on the beautiful countryside.
A random man named Thomas Sowden greets the Hardcastles, who’s son is now on bedrest following his leg being torn up. Thomas gives the son a little figurine of a soldier he’s made and gives his whole back story on this doll, saying he was shot twice but persists despite his nasty back story. It’s a very sweet moment but the boy isn’t really up to speaking to people which shit, I wouldn’t be either. Thomas offers his help with the farm if the Hardcastles need and that’s all we get of that very sweet episode!
Anne is talking to her uncle about coal and he’s like oh you don’t want to get in to selling coal, it’s a nasty business. Anne greets everyone in town and they head on in to the local bar to find Mr. Hardcastle. Anne says she can come take a look at his son as soon as possible and both realize there’s still no information on who was driving the carriage that drove them off the road. Sowden, Thomas’ father, discusses rent with Anne. They go back and forth on how his rent was stalled so he could fix the roof but he didn’t fix the roof so now she’s hiking the rent up to fifty pounds. She’s like if you want to be treated fairly you will treat me fairly and respect your lease either respect me or I’ll find someone else. She’s like if you get the roof fixed in the allocated time you won’t have to pay for January but if it’s not fixed, you will have to pay. He forks up his money and says a time will come when tenants overthrow landlords which, God hoping.
1832 then, 2022 now and we’re still waiting.
Thomas and his dad go to the bar where he throws back a drink and Anne calls up the next person. She says she’s not going to renew this old guys lease because he’s sitting on good land a younger man and his family could improve. FUCKING BRUTAL.
Back at home we’re introduced to a Mr. Booth who opens the door to a Mr. Washington at the Lister Manor. He asks if Anne is in and goes to meet her, saying he lives in the Walker estate which he looks over while Elizabeth is away. He has a home in the grounds with his wife and six daughters and has been recommended to Anne via many other tenants. They banter before getting to the point about how she needs someone who will write to her regularly about his decisions as a landlord in her absence. He’s like okay so Shibden is your estate? And she’s like yes, my father left it to me. You’re going to answer to me also what do you know about coal? He says I know you’ve got a lot of it and he would either reopen Listwick or mine the coal himself. He wouldn’t lease to the Rawson’s because coal is cut throat and people don’t always play by the rules, they’re not pleasant to do business with. He says they might be stealing it off her already since it’s hard to prove coal trespass in court. If she mined it herself, she’d certainly make more money which, she smiles at.
Lesbians get it done, after all.
We have another flashback episode of Anne and her ex lover Ms. Hobert. The scene is tense and she stares longingly at Ms. Hobert’s neck, trying to kiss it before Ms. Hobert says “don’t.” She snaps back to the present as Eugenie does her hair. Anne asks Eugenie “is it over” indicating she knows she’s pregnant and Eugenie says ‘not really.” Mr. Booth stumbles in saying Mrs. Lawson’s carriage has been spotted and Anne goes downstairs to ready the estate for this woman staying. She kisses her twice on the cheek and it’s preeetty suggestive. Hmm!
Anne is telling her family about how she wants to sink her own coal pits and Marian is like hmm. Interesting. Would you know how? Marian has zero trust in Anne trying to run this town as a profit and announces to the table that Anne evicted one of the oldest men in this town. She’s like listen, let me run things how I see fit and they bicker for a bit before uncle shuts it down in front of Mrs. Lawson who doesn’t often see her husband, making EYES at Anne.
That’s right: it’s fucking time.
Anne is fucking Mrs. Lawson in her bed from bEHIND fingering this girl and checks her watch to make a marking in her diary of?? Her conquest??? HOT!!!! Mrs. Lawson asks about Hastings and Anne says “no.” A simple “No.” Mrs. Lawson says you should marry a man because she’d have a title, money, everything you want and you might not have to sleep with him. She says I could never marry a man under any circumstance, it’d be perverse. She wants to live with someone she loves and spend her time with someone who loves her too not someone who drops in when her husband allows it. Mrs. Lawson’s like ok but if you don’t do that you’re going to keep getting entangled with women who marry men and get upset when they do that.
She also drops an “I love you” in there casually.
Anne asks if Mrs. Lawson will leave Charles and go on the run to Paris. Mrs. Lawson asks why she’s always on the run, is it because she feels odd in the world? Unfit in a society which sees her as weird and not brilliant? Mrs. Lawson says hey hats off to you if you can find that person who will give it all up for you but I’m worried that person doesn’t exist. BTW Can we have sex again? Anne is like no dude, not now. You’re just going to leave tomorrow.
Over at other Ann’s estate, the guy who might take over as landlord for Miss Lister is letting the Walkers know he’s going to be assuming duties with the Lister’s for a bit but it won’t affect his time watching over their estate. Ann is like hmm maybe it’d be good if I also came with you and made some friends as these other two people in the room gas up Anne being really fucking cool despite not being super feminine. Ann dismisses Mr. Washington as she tells the other two in the room she met Anne once at tea when she was 19 years old for around two hours before she left. Ann, these random two people, and her consider paying Anne a visit because she’d be a very good friend to have and Ann seems pretty eager about it.
What came first: the gay or the good head?
Dr. Kenny is checking on Anne’s aunts leg that has nasty old holes in it and he updates everyone on Miss Walker. He says she was shaken from the carriage accident despite not being hurt physically. “Ann suffers from her nerves because she lives alone,” he tells everyone and Anne is like I hope you don’t discuss my family with other patients Dr. Kenny :) He gets back to work as and the aunt says Marian went to the Walkers to discuss the carriage accident and is like “why don’t you go?” Anne, however, thinks the Walkers are kind of boring and dismisses going. Mr. and Mrs. Priestly are downstairs, the cousin of Mrs. Walker, and Anne runs downstairs to greet them. Omg, Ann is down there to!! Anne and Ann meet and shake hands, neither of them the HOTTEST lesbians but like, I’ll take it!!!!
Ann looks at Anne very longingly as she talks about the Reform Bill and though she hasn’t voted before, she wishes she would. She discusses the gender differences and how unfair it is she doesn’t get to vote despite being a landowner. She’s against the Reform Bill while Marian is for it and I’m not sure why but that’s their point on the matter. Anne’s Aunt comes downstairs with the doctor and Ann said she wanted to visit again with her cousin to say thank you for the kind hospitality she displayed. Anne asks if Dr. Kenny would look at her cart hourse as Anne sits down next to Ann and PUTS HER ARM AROUND THE TOP OF HER CHAIR!!!! Holy shit they’re flirting so hard. Ann’s aunt and uncle say you better be careful Anne keeps a journal and they’re just MAKING EYES AT EACH OTHER!!!!
A monologue endures where Anne is musing hooking up with Ann. She’s like “she’s obviously in love with me and though she doesn’t have rank, she has fortune.” Ann and her aunt/uncle ride off and Anne is wondering if maybe she stays at Shibden and try to make Anne her wife??? She smiles at the thought a little but it seems forced more than anything.
Meanwhile, one of the handy men has to shoot the carriage horse but can’t so Ann does it as we end on the pilot of Gentleman Jack: a logical, cold, active protagonist and her gentle heart that will tie her down long term. She saddles up to the Walker estate eager to get a head start at taming Ann’s fortune and asks if Ann is at home.
OOOOOooOOoooo boy, I may just have to buckle in for the long term on this one.
Overall I’m going to give Gentleman Jack a 7.5/10. I love this shit but at times I did get confused, with almost too many plot lines being introduced and not in a solid enough way for us to know what’s going on. I think the Reform Bill took away a bit too much from the gender politics of the show and should have been introduced in maybe the next episode but understand to get the ball rolling sometimes you’ve got to cram a lot into a Pilot. I will say, however, they managed to make some REALLY hot chemistry with a lead who isn’t exceptionally pleasing on the eyes (I’m so sorry Suranne Jones: it’s the hair). Like, this lead is HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can watch it SOLELY because she’s not strong in a “strong woman” way, she transcends gender. Her masculinity doesn’t feel pushed on us, nor is it inorganic, and because of that, I truly do want to see this through to the end. I’m a sucker for “angry, strong, defensive hero type” and her “loving, grounding, sensitive love interest.” Make it gay???? I’m SOLD!!!!!!!
I think for the lesbian period dramas I’ve seen (and they’ve been a lot) this doesn’t feel like sexuality is it’s focal point and I adoooore that. Yeah, we get it, they can’t be together because it’d be outside norms but as I wrote about in this piece here, gay wasn’t really a problem in the 18th century outside that it posed a threat to the idea of marriage and less to do with the “girl on girl??? that’s weird” semantics. I think Gentleman Jack plopped queer people in a setting and let them live and because of THAT, I will be watching all two seasons :)
Next week: a K show??? Is there a K gay drama? PLZ HELP!!!!