The first batch of episodes of Poker Face have been really great.

There are like three episodes each, from the past year, of Industry, Reservation Dogs, and Andor that I’d rank as better than this episode. And that’s not an insult! But if people wanna exaggerate then I’ll bring receipts…

This right here. When people get behind a work of art like this — something that highlights LGBTQ characters, and is in that specific lane of inspiring and sad — they can also get uber-defensive of it.

I personally thought the episode was well-executed but sorta boring, artistically. Casting Offerman in that role is a bit on the nose, using “On The Nature of Daylight” during a sad monologue has been done to death, and I found the time-jumping a bit tedious.

And lemme tell ya, I could talk in depth about the parts that I really liked. The almost Better Call Saul-esque sequence of Bill setting up his little fortress, the strong acting, and the clever moments of writing. Particularly liked Bill’s line where he claims he probably doesn’t look like a guy who knows how to pair the right wine with a meal.

But end of the day, I thought it underwhelmed a bit and I feel like I’m about to get killed for saying that even as I couched the criticism.

Could also add like nine other Andor moments. Dedra Meero undressing her ISB colleague and taking over his sector in the episode “Announcement.” Luthen’s haunting speech. Mon Mothma’s capping off her approach to a fellow rebel-sympathizer colleague with the “perhaps my politics are too strong for your taste” line. I can keep going!

Here’s a bunch:

• At the end of Reservation Dogs, when Daniel shows up, for a fleeting moment, in the group hug on the beach.
• The moment in Andor when Bix, who’s still locked up post-interrogation, is listening to Maarva’s speech and trying to lean out the window to feel the slightest bit closer to her.
• Jimmy and Kim sharing one last cigarette in the most noir lighting you’ve ever seen in Better Call Saul.
• The riveting Harper/Jesse/Rishi negotiation in which Rishi ends up getting screwed over, in Industry.
• Jackson Lamb’s anti-inspiring speech in the park in the first season of Slow Horses.

No need to apologize! Didn’t find you argumentative at all, really.

As I said, I think it’s a legit gripe sometimes, and you’re right about there being few heterosexual examples (Mulder and Scully is the biggest one I can think of). But the way it’s getting thrown around (like so many other buzzwords that people fundamentally misunderstand) is getting a bit ridiculous. And, like, it’s fine that you wanted them to kiss — a lot of people did while still enjoying the show, which was excellent. But when people start suggesting that those characters should have kissed, as if the writers behind the show were cruelly and incorrectly depriving the audience of that, that’s where I draw the line. That can lead to toxic fandom in which people are claiming ownership over something they didn’t create and isn’t theirs.

I don’t think the show was ever about explicit interpersonal romance in the traditional sense. In fact, it was about an extremely unique, extremely taboo, very obviously untraditional sort of intimacy between them that I think a ‘climactic’ kiss or some reveal that they’re both bisexual would have dumbed down quite a bit, honestly. But that’s just me. I’d argue that the two of them teaming up to take down Dolarhyde and then jumping (or, Will pushing Hannibal — it’s left a bit ambiguous) off that cliff is the kiss, for all intents and purposes.

Queer-baiting (when it does actually happen) is essentially indebted to the “will they or won’t they” trope of two main characters on a sitcom taking years before they get together. It’s a tried and true device that gets viewers coming back for more and waiting for the eventual hook-up. When it’s being clearly dangled and never given in a context like that, I’m more inclined to call it what it is. Then it becomes part of the bigger issue of media being super chaste with regards to showing gay sex and gay intimacy. That’s finally changing, at least a little bit.

While queer baiting is an annoying trend in some circles, the idea that any piece of art that gestures at romance but doesn’t explicitly show it is somehow problematic is just so dumb. It’s called “subtlety,” people. Hannibal — and that central relationship — is an extremely romantic show. The imagery, the direction, the music, the writing of those characters… it’s all right there for the viewer to parse.

Pretty annoying (and ironic) that there are seemingly tons of people who balk at sex and nudity on TV and also people who throw a fit when there isn’t explicit romance between some characters. You can’t win with these losers.