Tim’s inevitable loss of life has been hanging over us since Fellow Travelers Season 1 Episode 1.
Fellow Travelers Season 1 Episode 8 — the collection finale — introduced the present to a shut in an emotional and impactful approach.
If I needed to describe the ultimate chapter in a single phrase, surprising could be the phrase.
Back to the Nineteen Fifties
The choice to take us again to the Nineteen Fifties to inform one final story about Hawk and Tim was an impressed alternative as a result of their love for each other ran extra profound than ever throughout that interval.
For all of its flaws, Washington, D.C. was the place they met, and their relationship flourished regardless of having to maintain issues on the down low.
Their relationship is a huge what if as a result of had they gotten collectively some other place that was extra accepting of same-sex relationships, maybe they might have lived the remainder of their days collectively.
The unhappy half concerning the return to the Nineteen Fifties was Hawk’s willingness to do the unthinkable by telling the federal government about Tim’s sexuality.
Lucy: May I? How are you?
Tim: I’ve KS, recurring seizures, and my hair is falling out. What else? Um… Uh, my social employee prompt I signal a do-not-resuscitate order. How are you?
Lucy: The authorities should do extra about this. It’s horrible.
Tim: They may do extra. But folks like you would need to pay larger taxes. Lucy: My father used to argue for a nationwide healthcare system. He believed authorities ought to care for its residents. So do I. It’s not at all times smart to evaluate somebody on appearances.
Tim: You’re proper.
Lucy: This hospital will not be what I anticipated it to be. It’s the one one prefer it within the nation, the place folks with AIDS are handled like human beings. I’m sorry, Mrs. Fuller, however why are you right here?
Lucy: I do not know. You imply one thing to my husband. I suppose I needed to see you so I might know.
Tim: Know?
Lucy: How a lot you imply to him.
Tim: Shouldn’t you ask him? Right. That would not get you anyplace.
Lucy: No.
Tim: My time with Hawk was rushed, with years in between. You had him most of his life.
Lucy: But you have been at all times there. I may by no means get away from you.
Tim: It’s not a contest.
Lucy: Of course it’s. It at all times has been.
Tim: Then why did not you permit him?
Lucy: Because we had a good life. And kids. And then when Jackson… You do not need to hear this. Please. When Jackson died, it was so insufferable. The solely consolation I had was realizing that Hawk understood that struggling, felt the identical approach. If I had needed to bear that alone, I would not have lived by it. I must be going.
Tim: Mrs. Fuller, thanks for coming to see me.
Tim went from being brimming with hope that he and Hawk may make this work to feeling a lot betrayal and ache that he arrived on the hospital decided to blow Hawk’s marriage up.
While Tim is not the form of individual to do this, he bought shut sufficient, and who’s to say what he would have completed if he hadn’t seen Jackson by the display.
While Tim was completely satisfied concerning the scenario with Hawk that allowed them to fulfill in secret, it was onerous for Tim to fathom why Hawk went to those excessive measures to eradicate him from his life.
The solely factor that is smart is that Hawk selected Lucy, Jackson, and his household and did not need to begin this household with secrets and techniques, which Tim got here to respect.
Hawk has lengthy been this man with many secrets and techniques, however he’d turned a nook and was able to be extra open and trustworthy with himself.
Why Did Hawk Betray Tim?
It’s a disgrace that Hawk wasn’t extra upfront about that and could not deliver himself to put out his emotions to Tim as a result of what he did was the last word betrayal.
Now it is simpler to know why Hawk has been determined in his makes an attempt to take care of Tim within the current as a result of he is holding on to those actions and feels considerably answerable for Tim by no means discovering another person to like or be cherished by another person.
There are many issues that Hawk needs he’d have completed in another way, and perhaps, simply perhaps, there’d have been some semblance of happiness for Tim in the long run.
Tim was a shell of his former self after his most up-to-date seizure and has been desperately looking for a technique to stay, even when he is aware of that his time is working out.
Lobbying the thought of signing the DNR will need to have felt like the one approach for Tim to have any energy in that scenario, or so he thought.
Seeing Tim go from realizing the tip is close to and letting it occur to this passionate man on the protest who understood he needed to do one thing showcased components of Tim that appeared dormant resulting from his loss of life sentence.
The Protest and Saying Goodbye
Knowing he and Marcus performed Hawk to stage the protest was one other satisfying improvement as a result of, for the primary time, Hawk wasn’t in management.
I by no means thought I’d hear Hawk pleading with Tim to stick with him in San Francisco to assist in his struggle as a result of Hawk had been so laser-focused on shifting to Italy and beginning afresh.
It’s additionally onerous to inform whether or not he solely got here to this epiphany as a result of Lucy mentioned she would in all probability not be at dwelling as a result of she realized her life associate would by no means need her as she must be.
Lucy understood the bond Hawk had with Tim and was effectively conscious that had the world not been so terrible to the LGBTQ+ neighborhood that, they could have by no means been collectively.
Marcus: Tim.
Hawk: What are you doing right here?
Marcus: I’ll take your badge.
Tim: Marcus goes inside with me. He wants your badge to get in.
Hawk: I do not perceive.
Tim: I knew Lonigan would refuse to see us. And we might by no means get near the Governor. And then… I invited you to the gala. I imply, it was very handy. Hawk: I feel I’ve been used.
Tim: A bit.
Hawk: All proper. Hey. Give us a minute? Look, no matter you are as much as, and I do not need to know all the small print, I’ll await you.
Tim: No. You must go dwelling. Where you belong. No. It’s not…
Hawk: I need to keep.
Tim: I’ve to struggle this struggle. That means letting go of the whole lot else. And if you happen to’re round, I won’t be able to let go.
Hawk: But I wanna present up for you.
Tim: Go dwelling, Hawk. Please. Make it straightforward for me.
Hawk: Hey, Skippy. Promise you will not write.
Tim: I will not.
Lucy has bought to really feel duped into getting with Hawk within the first place as a result of, very similar to Tim, she wasted a few years of her life with him.
Visiting Tim within the hospital got here out of the left area, however there needed to be some technique to tie these two threads collectively as a result of, though Lucy and Tim have been far aside, they each shared love for Hawk.
Heartstopper Season 3: Everything We Know
Now that Lucy has left Hawk, seemingly to return to Washington D.C., it is a disgrace we did not see any footage of her dwelling her finest life, however then once more, how do we all know that she did not reunite with Hawk after Tim’s loss of life?
There’s a lot unsaid about the place issues went after Tim’s loss of life, however realizing that Hawk may inform his daughter that Tim was the person he cherished signaled that Hawk was at peace together with his choices.
It’s onerous to inform whether or not Tim and Hawk met again up after the evening of protest, however one thing tells me that these two at all times discover a technique to get again in one another’s orbit.
Tim’s Death Happened Off-Screen
The choice to not present Tim slipping away on-screen was attention-grabbing as a result of a a part of me at all times thought we might see him in Hawk’s arms as he handed away.
Seeing how Tim resigned himself to spending his remaining months not with the person he cherished however by preventing for folks like him was a testomony to the person he was.
He may have spent his remaining days with Hawk, however he despatched the person he cherished away as a result of he knew he’d make him lose sight of what he needed to accomplish in these remaining days.
Kimberley: Dad? You discovered him? It’s lovely. From what you’ve got informed me, it actually fits your pal.
Hawk: Yeah. It does. Sweetheart. He wasn’t my pal. He was the person I cherished.
At one level, Tim was staring loss of life within the face, however seeing his resilience as he realized what he needed to do was brave and completely in keeping with the character we watched throughout eight episodes.
Marcus placing the items collectively to understand that Jerome had examined constructive was one other heartbreaking improvement, extra so as a result of listening to Jerome, the child he was elevating as his personal, inform him hit him like a ton of bricks.
SEAL Team is Ending a Season Too Late
The collection did not inform us what turned of Jermone, however the one solace we are able to take from this storyline is that he had each Marcus and Frankie by his aspect all through.
They gave Jerome this household unit he by no means had and helped him stay his genuine self, so that they felt answerable for his wellbeing.
Saying goodbye to this collection is hard. It’s a rarity that a present will get the whole lot so proper, from the casting to the manufacturing to the wonderful writing.
My solely hope is that the present shall be acknowledged on the awards entrance as a result of it genuinely has been the yr’s finest present. It’s not even a contest at this stage.
What are your ideas on how the collection concluded?
Do you assume the tip was becoming for all of the characters?
Hit the feedback.
Stream all episodes on Showtime.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.
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