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Last week’s episode mainly focused on the tension between the Wilsons and the Frasers, both sexual and negative depending on which member you look at from the respective families. In this week’s episode, we see Richard Poythress (Scott Mescudi) attempting to restore his bond with Caitlin (Jordan Kristine Seamón), as well as the development of Fraser Wilson (Jack Dylan Grazer) and Jonathan Kritchevsky (Tom Mercier)’s relationship.
The episode opens with Caitlin in P.E. class, excelling in the exercises and drills — a true soldier in the making. After that’s over and done with, she sits alone with Fraser at lunch as Britney Orton (Francesca Scorsese) stares at the pair. She eventually joins them at the table and tells Caitlin that they’re still friends and to call her whenever. The group’s as dead and cold as ever, but Britney’s still hanging on. However, Caitlin and Fraser seem to have no real interest in rejoining the posse anytime soon (and we don’t see from the perspectives of the other members of the group in this episode). Although the fracturing of the gang developed over time, it ended as silently as Craig Pratchett (Corey Knight) left for Afghanistan. No goodbyes.
Caitlin ends her day with Fraser but has to shuffle off to her dad patiently waiting for her like a sentinel, staring Fraser down to make the message clear that he doesn’t take kindly to him. Richard still isn’t pleased with Fraser or the Wilsons at all for that matter. That’s definitely not changing anytime soon. Without time to waste, Richard takes Caitlin off to the wilderness where they will spend the weekend together camping and hunting. While Richard’s setting up camp, Caitlin scampers off to find a phone signal, hoping to text Fraser. They’re BFFs after all. When Caitlin and Richard regroup for dinner, they begin to have an honest chat about the current state of their relationship. Richard is adamant that Caitlin has no contact with Fraser, to which Caitlin lies and agrees. He questions the nature of her relationship with Fraser, speculating if they’re romantically involved. He’s not quite sure as he believes that Fraser is gay, or at least, “appears” to be. That’s never something fully addressed in the show thus far, and honestly, it really doesn’t need to be. Not everyone needs labels, man, nor do they need to explain themselves to everybody else.
While Richard may seem like the bad guy here, he expresses that he doesn’t want Caitlin to get hurt by “loving someone who can’t love you.” He goes on to say that she and Fraser are just too different, to which she counters is just like he and Jennifer (Faith Alabi). He argues that they used to be the same and wanted the same things, but things change when you become an adult, which Caitlin won’t understand until she becomes an adult herself. That’s somewhat of an unfair judgment to make, as we have seen that Caitlin is slowly coming into her own in terms of her identity. She’s had a lot of doubt and uncertainty along the way, and she’ll definitely continue to have to face obstacles. Although I think it’s safe to say that she’s not doing too bad of a job, all things considered. It’s easy for adults to generalize the younger generation to be wet behind the ears even though they were once teenagers themselves. It’s unfair for Richard to rag on her just because she’s still technically a kid. She’s done some growing up on her part, and she shouldn’t be solely judged as naive and ignorant.
To play devil’s advocate, Richard cares about Caitlin and wants to protect her any way he can. It’s a little sad to see him acknowledge and verbalize that he’s losing his connection with her: “Everything’s changed, right? You don’t even smile at me anymore. You answer back. You treat me like an idiot who knows nothing.” Just as her relationship with her friends has changed, her relationship with her father is also changing, perhaps for the worst. At the moment, the Wilsons seem to be the few people who truly support her gender identity journey, what with Sarah Wilson (Chloë Sevigny) informing Caitlin about a psychologist on base who helps teens who may be struggling with various issues, such as—gender identity. However, it seems to me that everyone else wants to confine Caitlin within a box and remain the same because they don’t like the inconvenience that change will mean for them, even if change is what will make Caitlin truly happy. Fraser then becomes an easy target to blame and project their own problems onto, but forbidding her from being friends with Fraser is definitely not going to earn Richard a spot on her good side. While Caitlin and Fraser are still kids, it can’t be denied that their connection is genuine. They’re beginning to understand each other and themselves on levels they would have never reached on their own. Their relationship is a process of discovery and committing to their authentic selves. At the end of the day, Richard can’t force Caitlin to be the little girl she once was, or probably never really was except to him.
Moving on to Fraser and Jonathan, it started out as a friendly acquaintanceship a few episodes prior to the base’s library where Fraser likes to haunt every now and then for a good read. Back then, Jonathan and Fraser discovered that they share similar tastes in novel choices and have been friendly ever since. In the last episode, we saw their friendship begin to take off when they spent the evening together watching a movie and talking about Jonathan’s troubled past and dreams of being a rock star. It was one of their first extended interactions with one another and also a moment of vulnerability for Jonathan. In this episode, Fraser and Jonathan apparently go on their “first date” (Fraser accidentally labeled it as such at first but the two never probably address it). This worries Maggie Teixeira (Alice Braga), considering that Jonathan is several years older than Fraser, whereas Sarah is delighted. I couldn’t help but think that Sarah might be a little twisted, as she may have expressed that she’s glad that Fraser has an older brother/father figure to look up to, but she seems to enjoy the fact that something romantic may be forming between the two. The red flags can’t be ignored, but it was interesting to see a side of Fraser that the audience hasn’t seen before. While waiting for Jonathan to pick him, Fraser repeatedly listens to Jonathan’s voice message asking Fraser to spend the day with him, giggling all the while. I could relate to the extent that I’ve had my giddy, lovestruck moments when I was a teenager, but again, Jonathan’s thirty! How else are we supposed to feel about that?
Regardless, Fraser and Jonathan did genuinely enjoy their time together, platonic or otherwise. They spend the entire morning sightseeing historical landmarks and end their night with dinner. Jonathan’s friend Marta (Brixhilda Shqalsi) joins them, which Fraser obviously doesn’t seem too stellar about but he’s quick to get over it; and they all spend a wonderful evening together, regardless. They end the night with a giant karaoke party at a random, homely restaurant, with every patron cheering on these three characters. When Jonathan finally drops Fraser home, Fraser expresses that that was the best night of his life and embraces Jonathan and kisses him on the cheek. This solidifies how Fraser feels about Jonathan, but it’s not quite certain whether Jonathan feels the same way. Fraser takes it to the next level the following day when we witness him take a dick pic and send it to whom we can only assume is Jonathan. It’s settled. This relationship has gone past the point of no return.
While Caitlin has recently been cool regarding practically every person in her life who isn’t Fraser, Fraser is kicking the heat up a notch or twelve with Jonathan. Caitlin and Fraser just might be digging their own graves here, but we’re going to have to keep watching to find out.
If you want to see what happens next, be sure to tune in next Monday night at 10pm, ET on HBO.
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