Many bases were covered, and while it’s messy, I found the whole thing oddly refreshing. There’s even a lovely shoutout to specific individuals who attempt to profit off the tragedies in the name of good. But as the series went on, I felt the story was used well to progress stories and a reminder of how mass shootings seep deep into the souls of those affected.Įvery episode reminds you that you don’t quickly shake these things off, and you also need to handle your trauma head-on. There will be a backlash as many will feel this is exploiting the tragedy, and I can’t deny that I felt that way at times. Still, there’s no denying it will be painfully unsettling for many viewers: the look of the shooter, someone we never fully see, harkens back to the killer of the Pulse shooting, the direct aftermath is insanely tragic and feels so chaotic, and we see our main characters changed forever cause of this. I don’t fault the filmmakers for going this route. It’s insanely hard-hitting and handled in such a blunt way. During the first episode, when the show’s shooting took place, I had to pause and take a moment to regroup myself.
After watching the series, it took quite some time to find my feelings for this. This Queer As Folk uses a shooting at the gay club Babylon as its crux…for better and worse. It surprised me to see the creators go this route the original Showtime series handled a similar story with a bombing but never built the whole story around it.
