Pride Month means shows about Gays and what better Gay Show to watch than one called It’s a Sin, a show I found googling “queer shows that start with the letter I.” Though I am horribly anxious because I have a hearing for unemployment coming up next week (EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS ON THE LINE, BESTIE!) I am taking this week to cover a queer show and next week will be a week off. To those who read this, pray for your little lesbian icon, Meg!!!!!!!!!!! I will need all the help I can get so the government doesn’t take lots of money from me for no fucking reason!
But enough about me, let’s get into TWINKS!
It’s a Sin, for those who haven’t heard of it, is a British television series that premiered January 22, 2021. Following the journey of a tight-knit group of friends living in London during the height of the AIDS Crisis, the series sheds light on the turmoil the queer community faced during the 1980s HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United Kingdom. Apparently, getting this series off the ground was hard for creators, seeing as BBC One and ITV before finding a home with the streaming service All4 in the UK. Viewed more than 6.5 million times, the series grew in popularity before landing on HBO Max: Thank God.
With 8.7/10 on IMDB and 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, this certainly seems like one to invest in longterm. Won’t be hard considering it’s only five episodes, either sooo allys? This is your time to rise up and GET THIS SHOW ANOTHER SEASON! I’m sure if you loved Rent, you’re going to love this (I confidently say, having never seen it).
Let’s GOOOOOOOOOOOO.
We open on Ritchie discussing women’s standing in the 1800’s. Clearly seated with his family, he mulls over how wild it was men were punished for the crimes of their wives, with some being tried for murder because women were not deemed responsible for anything they did. It is September 1981 and their parents are excited about Ritchie’s choice to go to Law school. His mom says she’s going to clean and sort Ritchie’s room before he goes off to school and he nervously freaks out about the multiple gay magazines he has, with a montage inter spliced of him hiding the magazines in his suitcase.
Off he goes with queer media in hand!
Ritchie hops in the car with his dad and they’re off to the main land, riding on a big boat as his father has the sex talk with him. He hands him a lot of condoms and says he’s going to have a greeaaaat time on the mainland if he just manages to not get a girl pregnant. As his father walks away Ritchie laughs at this, tossing the condoms into the ocean.
We’re introduced to Roscoe.
Roscoe, shoveling dirt? Mud? Clay? I don’t know, I’m femme. Roscoe is getting picked up from work by his dad who likes to get a pint around the corner when he’s off. He gets in the car and shit is TENSE! “Who is he?” says his dad as he very stiffly responds “that’s not fair, I can’t help working with men.” At home, his family prays over him holding a GAY NEWS tabloid which I assume they found in his room. “Father forgive my son Roscoe. He has fallen in to the pit of Sodomy.”
Interesting, so his family knows whereas Ritchies does not.
Uncle Basil shows up and his sister is telling him he’s “shown up to take you away.” She hands him 120 quid and tells him to go. Run. Where? No one knows. But Basil is about to take him out of the country because if Roscoe is found out, his whole family is deported to Nigeria. “If they send you back home they will beat you, bleed you, and kill you” his sister very anxiously tells him. I’m not sure if he’s supposed to run from Uncle Basil or what but I guess only time (the next two minutes) will tell. His father indicates the Society will help them pay for everything and it seems the plot is pointing to Uncle Basil taking Roscoe back to Nigeria to do some sort of conversion therapy esque thing, whether that’s through just being immersed in society or a legitimate program designed to wash that gay away, baby. We hear thumps upstairs before his Roscoe walks in wearing a skirt telling everyone off saying “piss off, thank you, goodbye.” He slaps his dad on the way out and struts down the street with an umbrella over head.
Next up: Colin!
Colin is a blonde haired, brown eyed white boy who looks like a clerk from a law office. My facial recognition is shit so it’s going to be reallll hard telling him apart from Ritchie but alas. He shows up to a house he seemingly is house sitting for a few people who seem to be friends with his mom. She introduces him to the family and brings him upstairs and says it’s a “check every Friday.”
Okay, so it seems he’s just renting a room in a house full of people.
A sweeping shot of London ends with Colin in a suit, with a stern Neil Patrick Harris looking forward at the wall. Whether Colin is his apprentice, we have no idea, because the scene shifts quickly to Colin calling his parents about his new life in London. He has to memorize ties, since Cambridge and Oxford have different ones, but he did it. He made it out here he says, smiling into the phone the whole time. They ask if he’s making friends outside work and he watches with a lingering eye as some guy takes his shirt off in their shared kitchen. He lies to his mom that he is, in fact, going out for drinks but ends up reading his comic book instead. We cut back to work where before Colin leaves, his boss asks him to take off his jacket in the backroom and tells him to wash his hands aggressively to get the fibers from the suit out.
I got a bad feeling about where this is going!!!
Colin starts washing his hand and his boss is looking at him very intensely, holding his hands to really wash them boys tough. He makes Colin take his shirt off and cleans his arm as Colin looks very stressed. Neil Patrick comes back unexpectantly to get a bit of work and looks on as the boss scuttles out upset, clearly caught in the act of trying to coerce Colin into something weird. Neil Patrick takes him to get drinks and lets him know if the boss does that again, just give him a nod because he will remind their boss about his wife. Neil indicates he knows Colin is gay and asks where he is from to which Colin responds “South Wales.” Luckily, I am a big smart beautiful genius who knows South Wales is a place because I read Sally Rooney and I’m sure she’s written about it at some point in time.
Can’t believe London was a place created by Sally Rooney and Sally Rooney alone.
Neil says is there a girlfriend back home? A boyfriend? He’s like you don’t have to tell me, I’m not interested, and just to make you feel better I’m going to take the time to tell you about me. I live in Hackney with my long term boyfriend of decades and I am comfortable and fine with my sexuality. “You’re perfectly safe with me,” he says and Colin smiles. Neil pushes a bit to sus out if Colin is gay and he says “yes” to wishing he had a boyfriend. Neil smiles and orders them another pint and I swear to fucking God if he outs him, I’ll be so mad.
Did you know Neil once was in the audience of a Quarantine show I did? Now you do. Needed to talk about myself for a bit. A N Y W A Y S!
Ritchies smiles at a boy in a bar before reading his little Law & Politics books the next day at the airport. A beautiful man at a dance studio is discussing a rare cancer 41 gay men in New York died from as he pulls his hair above his head, showing how strong he is as Richie looks on lovingly. Some girl nods to this guy and is like “you interested? I can introduce you” and then chases him out the class to introduce herself. Her name is Jill and she does English and Drama at this school. Jill’s like “do you want to meet Ash? I can introduce you?” and she does just that, going to the gay bar, introducing Ritchie to Ash as bisexual and they immediately pick it up.
Then the most EMBARRASSING THING HAPPENS!
Back home, this guy is like YOU NEED A WASH!!!!! YOUR ASS NEEDS A WASH!!!! And when he comes back from washing his HOLE they don’t even indicate they had SEX. He’s like was that your first time? To Ritchie about having sex? Having sex with an Indian man? I genuinely don’t know, but he follows up his question with “did you think I was exotic? Does your island have any Indians?” so maybe he’s just indicating this was Ritchie’s first time with someone not white?
I GENUINELY DONT KNOW IF THEY HAD SEX OR NOT!!!!
They start talking about how Ritchie’s family would throw him out if they knew he was gay and how he used to fancy some guy named Steve Austin who must be famous or something. Ash laughs at Ritchie’s quips and tells Ritchie he had sex with someone 37 years old and then Ritchie goes on a long tangent asking if he’s Hindu? Buddhist? It must be hard if he’s Hindu? Buddhist? And Ash OBVIOUSLY gets very upset about this and becomes cold, telling him he’ll see him around.
Ritchies goes and cries to Jill, this girl he JUST MET.
Neil Patrick tells Colin his history about how he got his job at 18 at Gatwick and met his partner was cabin crew from Iberia. They went back to Neil’s, hooked up, and they’ve been together for thirty years. Neil brings Colin over to his where his partner openly kisses him and I’m so excited he’s being open about this because Colin is BEAMING! Neil and his partner share a joint and say they’re neighbors know of course but he’s cut ties with his family meanwhile Neil’s partners mom seems pretty tight with it.
Adorable, love it.
Meanwhile, Ritchie and Jill are progressing fast as he brings her home to be there when he comes out to his family. It’s a time jump as Christmas time is in full swing and his father asks where Jill’s from… but like, really from? She says the Dominican and he’s like oh ok nice well we accept you but don’t be fucking my son during this time ok? Separate bedrooms and all. They smile tight smiles as the scene moves to them all in the living room and Jill clears the space to say “Ritchie needs a word with you all anyways” AH!!!! Ritchie starts off a dramatic speech about how he’s made a decision and wants to explain to them that he’s not doing Law and is changing to English/Drama. His dad is really upset because Ritchie has a grant and the parents do not understand what he’s doing with his life. It’s an all out shit on Ritchie fest as his dad storms in to the kitchen and slams some cabinets, blaming Jill for Ritchie’s decision to change to drama, indicating the reason he did that was because she put out. She stands shocked in the kitchen as his dad leaves the house.
For some reason, Jill stays???? With Ritchie?? And they go to a club where Ritchie has sex with one guy, another guy, a montage of guys and Jill’s just??? Where? During his Christmas break? At some point Ritchie LITERALLY has sex with two other guys and then Ash shows up once again. They have lots of sex as Ritchie advances to being the town Twink, nodding heads with everyone at the club with his little chain necklace on. He gives a beer to !!!!! Roscoe!!!! Who he then??? Also fucks!? He must because later on Ritchie introduces Roscoe to his best friend Jill and we realize ok this whole thing has been a montage.
Ritchie is obviously going to !!!! Give!!!!! Everyone HIV in this show!!!!!!!! AH!
Neil Patrick is talking to Colin about how Juan Pablo’s cold is back at work and he’s very concerned about it. The doctor’s don’t know what it is, maybe Juan got it from birds? Neil is confused why the doctor says he has Psittacosis, some kind of animal disease, and seems very worried about his partner. The next day, Colin has to work through his lunch because “Mr. Coltrane is out sick.” He calls their phone but the line is dead and the next day, a new man is standing in for Neil Patrick. Colin goes to Henry and Juan Pablo’s house, knocks on the door, and sees a shadow move through the window. No one comes to the door and Colin leaves, dejected. The new hire has replaced Henry and Colin goes back to knock on Henry and Juan Pablo’s door again the next day.
The neighbor tells him he’s gone to the hospital and that’s the only update we get, unfortunately!
Colin goes to the hospital the following day to see Henry and lies, saying he’s Henry’s nephew so he can get in to see him. They make him suit up as he glances through the door at a very sick figure. He’s got a mask, gloves, and a green medical dress on as Colin goes to see him. Henry smiles at him weakly, sporting man spots on his body. He says he has cancer and that they’d expect this kind of disease if he was 90 years old, not at his age. “It’s bad luck, two of us getting sick at the same time,” says Henry about Juan Pablo, indicating he’s gone home to Portugal and Henry’s upset because he can’t call him. He mulls over where their condition may have came from, maybe it was mold in the kitchen? Colin has to get up to go grab Henry’s lunch because they refuse to bring it in to his room, meaning he probably has to get up every day to get it.
Damn, I’m legitimately crying.
Colin tells his house mom? Landlord? He’s going out all night and sits at a bar alone watching other gays kiss each other. Roscoe brings him a beer and tells him to cheer up and now, Colin’s apart of the gays. He’s in. They all get in a car heading to the Pink Palace where everyone is friends and we realize Jill, Ritchie, and Ash are living together with Roscoe, who’s sleeping with the Landlord. They’re trying to urge Roscoe’s sister to move in with them as they dance around to 80’s music. Colin sits very uncomfortably on the couch watching everyone have a good time. Jill starts opening doors, finding Ritchie and Ash making out, and another door where people are having an orgy. Ritchie sits down with an old witch looking lady who says there’s a gay flu called GRID going around in America killing only gay people. Richie chides her saying it’d be all over the news if this was a thing.
Oh, Ritchie. Lmfao.
Roscoe introduces a Miss Rachel Tozer, some guy dressed in Drag singing one note to the sheer delight of the audience. Everyone hoots and hollers at this ONE NOTE as Colin asks Roscoe about the spare bedroom available. Roscoe’s like it’s 80 quid and you’d be sharing the room with me but it’s hella cheap and Colin is really excited about this! He’s like absolutely! He looks around at his new room and walks down the hall to the kitchen, getting a thumbs up from Jill and a flirty eye from Ritchie.
This man is so sweet and so pure I truly hope nothing happens to him.
He’s bouncing his head as he realizes maybe he can live his life, moving and grooving in the crowd of people having a good time. He jumps up and down very awkwardly but it’s endearing because he truly is just such a pure person. An alarm rings at 8:00 AM and Colin wakes up very hungover, shutting it off and sighing as he gets out of bed.
Roscoe pulls the sheet over his head to ignore Colin’s alarm.
Ritchie also gets out of a different bed and is shaving as Ash goes to get the newspaper, spanking his butt as he goes. Colin gets out of his room to go shower and it’s cute! They all live together now! Jill writes in the kitchen and shares a song note with Ritchie as he heads to an audition. Colin runs out heading to work as Roscoe puts on makeup. They all share ONE NOTE “La!” with Jill as they run out the door. It is so pure and sweet and I want to die.
I miss college and this sort of atmosphere so much.
Ash, meanwhile, shares a newspaper clipping with Jill that says “Concern about a Mysterious Illness.” And we know what’s to come. Ritchie meets with some official looking hot blonde, Colin goes to work at the tie shop and sits down in front of his boss, stern, Roscoe meets up with someone in the bar. Ritchie is having lunch with an agent and says he’ll leave college, Colin is having an assessment with his boss after his year spent working there, and Roscoe is interviewing for a job producing shows at the bar. The parallel is everyone asking them what they’re going to do when they’re older and they share their big dreams about how they’re going to be rich, have work they like, and do incredible things with their life.
The scene cuts to nurses taking away a now dead Neil Patrick Harris.
I have to give this at least a 9/10. I saw Vulture give it a pretty solid 3/5 for each episode, but this is the first pilot I’ve ever seen that ended with me crying pretty uncontrollably. You know where it’s going, you know what’s going to happen, and the hope it builds for these characters just to be crushed in the future is truly so devastating, you can’t help but be immediately invested in their lives. I want to know what happens next! I know what happens next! I want history to change! There’s no control over it and it’s a train wreck waiting to happen, one that lets you know from the beginning there’s no happy endings, only realistic conclusions. I’ve seen a lot of media about the AIDS epidemic and this one has no remorse showing dreams dashed by government mishandling and miseducation about the Crisis. Even Neil Patrick laying ALONE in a HOSPITAL ROOM because NO ONE UNDERSTOOD AIDS made me sob uncontrollably.
I really hope this season gets another run and I cannot WAIT to see where it goes.
See you in two weeks as next week I gotta go to COURT BABY!