Queer Eye: Season Eight
January 28, 2024 2:34 PM - Season 8 (Full Season) - Subscribe
The Fab 5 are back in New Orleans.
On the one hand, yaaaay, more seasons! On the other, nooooooooo... Bobby...
Bobby is excellent for the religion-, child-abuse-, family-estrangement-, and poverty-related problems that show up pretty frequently on that show. It will be a really different show without him. I can't imagine it at all without Karamo.
Antoni is there to stand in the sunshine turning a rotisserie of delicious-looking meat over a fire, stare into the camera and say "spit roasted" while just barely perceptibly winking, causing me to rewind forty times to make sure I really saw that and then rewatch all the seasons just to monitor Antoni.
Johnathon is there to model freedom, no fucks given, bravery, and gender fluidity. Mostly he's there to bring the joy.
Tan is there to tuck in the middle front of a shirt and encourage people to wear loafers with no socks. I'm mad at Tan forever because of a racist thing that racistly happened on that racistass bullshit snobby fashion design show he was on where they eliminate the designers one by one starting with the black people every time. Where Queer Eye is a lovefest that makes me cry with happiness, that show is a hatewatch that makes me sick to my stomach.
What is Karamo doing on the show? What isn't Karamo doing on the show, dang. It might be good to rewatch the whole thing and try to figure out what would happen to a ton of the guests if it weren't for Karamo.
posted by Don Pepino at 8:40 AM on January 29 [3 favorites]
Bobby is excellent for the religion-, child-abuse-, family-estrangement-, and poverty-related problems that show up pretty frequently on that show. It will be a really different show without him. I can't imagine it at all without Karamo.
Antoni is there to stand in the sunshine turning a rotisserie of delicious-looking meat over a fire, stare into the camera and say "spit roasted" while just barely perceptibly winking, causing me to rewind forty times to make sure I really saw that and then rewatch all the seasons just to monitor Antoni.
Johnathon is there to model freedom, no fucks given, bravery, and gender fluidity. Mostly he's there to bring the joy.
Tan is there to tuck in the middle front of a shirt and encourage people to wear loafers with no socks. I'm mad at Tan forever because of a racist thing that racistly happened on that racistass bullshit snobby fashion design show he was on where they eliminate the designers one by one starting with the black people every time. Where Queer Eye is a lovefest that makes me cry with happiness, that show is a hatewatch that makes me sick to my stomach.
What is Karamo doing on the show? What isn't Karamo doing on the show, dang. It might be good to rewatch the whole thing and try to figure out what would happen to a ton of the guests if it weren't for Karamo.
posted by Don Pepino at 8:40 AM on January 29 [3 favorites]
I will definitely miss Bobby. In fact I think over time he's become my favorite. Like, he's my husband material. When they started I thought that was Antoni, because he was cute and into cooking, and I love cooking. But while I still like Antoni, his body is just IMPOSSIBLE and I get exhausted just looking at all that muscularity. There's just no way I could keep up. I would love Tan to take me shopping on an unlimited credit line. Karamo, well I have my own therapist already, don't need another. Johnathon I can only handle in tiny doses, they're just too much. But Bobby? Bobby, I could see dating. Bobby, we could go to art galleries and museums and constantly redecorate our house together. (Though he needs to stop wearing the shirt + shorts combos that look like rompers. The shirts are great, I just hate when the shorts are the same pattern.)
The only one of this batch of episodes that gave me pause was the jazz musician. Like - I'm just not sure I buy that she really wants to give up music to run a sweet shop. I get that the shop has good memories, but that was her parents' dream, at the end of the day. From the looks of it, she's made a comfortable living playing music, heck she got honored by the city government ... where is this feeling that she has to let it go coming from? Maybe playing out on the street is unsustainable, but she's clearly good enough she could have nicer gigs in clubs and such for years to come. Running a shop is a whole other business. Sure the show runners filled it up for the opening party on camera - but what happens on day two? Who's gonna bake all that stuff the next day, and the next? Is she actually ready for that? For cash registers and bank deposits and accounting and taxes... I could be totally off base here, she did say she worked there with her parents years ago, so maybe she knows a lot more about it all than we saw. But it just feels like a weirdly huge life change and I wonder if it's gonna work out as well as she hopes.
posted by dnash at 9:07 AM on January 29 [2 favorites]
The only one of this batch of episodes that gave me pause was the jazz musician. Like - I'm just not sure I buy that she really wants to give up music to run a sweet shop. I get that the shop has good memories, but that was her parents' dream, at the end of the day. From the looks of it, she's made a comfortable living playing music, heck she got honored by the city government ... where is this feeling that she has to let it go coming from? Maybe playing out on the street is unsustainable, but she's clearly good enough she could have nicer gigs in clubs and such for years to come. Running a shop is a whole other business. Sure the show runners filled it up for the opening party on camera - but what happens on day two? Who's gonna bake all that stuff the next day, and the next? Is she actually ready for that? For cash registers and bank deposits and accounting and taxes... I could be totally off base here, she did say she worked there with her parents years ago, so maybe she knows a lot more about it all than we saw. But it just feels like a weirdly huge life change and I wonder if it's gonna work out as well as she hopes.
posted by dnash at 9:07 AM on January 29 [2 favorites]
Maybe playing out on the street is unsustainable, but she's clearly good enough she could have nicer gigs in clubs and such for years to come.
Y'all, I practically shouted "BOBBY, BUILD HER A LITTLE STAGE IN THE SWEET SHOP FOR GOD'S SAKE" at the screen.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:34 PM on January 29 [1 favorite]
Y'all, I practically shouted "BOBBY, BUILD HER A LITTLE STAGE IN THE SWEET SHOP FOR GOD'S SAKE" at the screen.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:34 PM on January 29 [1 favorite]
or a little stage on the sidewalk outside the sweet shop, if there's room. The thing I wanted to yell at the screen was "get that man some help taking care of his brother!!" and also "please tell me you guys found a nice home for that pigeon that cage is way too small"
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 3:04 AM on January 31 [1 favorite]
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 3:04 AM on January 31 [1 favorite]
The pigeon situation was stressing me the hell out. That cage was ridiculous! But I did like seeing all the different things the subject took care of (I forgot his name! I never remember their subjects’ names because I’m just terrible with names, although I do know how to spell Jonathan, and I don’t understand why so many people here are misspelling it), and his devotion to his brother was really touching. I really do boggle at the things the guys are afraid of—it seems like so many episodes, they’re freaking out in a bad way about something or other.
I was bummed that they never had Antoni tell us what he thought about eating raccoon. That seemed strange. But it reminded me of what I love about this show: that at least one of them will try to meet the subject where they are and connect with them at their level of being. It’s what makes this such a comfort watch.
I personally will miss Bobby greatly.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 2:36 PM on February 5 [1 favorite]
I was bummed that they never had Antoni tell us what he thought about eating raccoon. That seemed strange. But it reminded me of what I love about this show: that at least one of them will try to meet the subject where they are and connect with them at their level of being. It’s what makes this such a comfort watch.
I personally will miss Bobby greatly.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 2:36 PM on February 5 [1 favorite]
Antoni "teaching" a Vietnamese professional chef about her own cooking culture was totally ridiculous. That whole conversation with her father was so cringey I could barely watch. Why make her do that in a public place? Why force her to do it at all?
I don't know, something about this season felt off to me. It's lost its humanity somewhere along the line (all the product placements!) and it's become about feelgood buzzwords and shallow gestures. I'm not impressed by that vibe and the drama that's been going on behind the scenes (Tan and Bobby had a falling out, the producers were reportedly treating the Fab Five badly, there were a bunch of security issues on set that resulted in one hero's personal belongings getting stolen, Tan's PA was carjacked twice while they were filming, and so on). I was reading the comments from a crew member on the Queer Eye subreddit and they claimed the Fab Five have been burned out and exhausted for the last few seasons and it's really starting to tell.
Personally, I hope the others (especially Karamo, ugh) find something else to do and the whole show is refreshed, maybe with some AFAB members in the Five, and producers who aren't going to treat their cast like crap.
posted by fight or flight at 1:32 PM on February 6
I don't know, something about this season felt off to me. It's lost its humanity somewhere along the line (all the product placements!) and it's become about feelgood buzzwords and shallow gestures. I'm not impressed by that vibe and the drama that's been going on behind the scenes (Tan and Bobby had a falling out, the producers were reportedly treating the Fab Five badly, there were a bunch of security issues on set that resulted in one hero's personal belongings getting stolen, Tan's PA was carjacked twice while they were filming, and so on). I was reading the comments from a crew member on the Queer Eye subreddit and they claimed the Fab Five have been burned out and exhausted for the last few seasons and it's really starting to tell.
Personally, I hope the others (especially Karamo, ugh) find something else to do and the whole show is refreshed, maybe with some AFAB members in the Five, and producers who aren't going to treat their cast like crap.
posted by fight or flight at 1:32 PM on February 6
yea, I agree that this season was missing something - it felt like the editing choices were really poor. Like, they spent most of the time showing "wow let's look at your beautiful new home, now lets dance!". but they left out all the work it would take a person to do to be in a place where getting rid of all their stuff would be a joy and not a massive traumatic event. I think they used to do a lot more of that - which was where Karamo was so integral to the show, he did some pretty amazing counseling in earlier seasons. I think he must have still done all of that work with people, but they didn't choose to show it to us. So we don't get to see the person's growth, and the episodes feel hollow. I really enjoyed The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, I'd recommend it to anyone that was disappointed by this season.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 6:17 PM on February 6
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 6:17 PM on February 6
Finished most of the season yesterday while charging my car (yay Level 2 charging!).
It did seem like they shortened scenes in order to make room for filler.
The biromantic demisexual former nun was a great way to introduce that concept to the masses. :)
I think 8 seasons is enough for these guys. Let's bring in new people, or better yet, do ones in other countries again!
posted by luckynerd at 11:14 AM on February 14
It did seem like they shortened scenes in order to make room for filler.
The biromantic demisexual former nun was a great way to introduce that concept to the masses. :)
I think 8 seasons is enough for these guys. Let's bring in new people, or better yet, do ones in other countries again!
posted by luckynerd at 11:14 AM on February 14
Forgot to mention--the one with the Deaf Athletic Director was awesome. Very impressed that they managed to keep the interpreters out of camera range!
posted by luckynerd at 10:58 AM on February 21
posted by luckynerd at 10:58 AM on February 21
the one with the Deaf Athletic Director was awesome.
I really appreciated that when he was with Tan and pointed out a given shirt was a little too restrictive for him to sign, Tan didn't even blink and went roomier with everything after that.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:43 AM on February 22 [1 favorite]
I really appreciated that when he was with Tan and pointed out a given shirt was a little too restrictive for him to sign, Tan didn't even blink and went roomier with everything after that.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:43 AM on February 22 [1 favorite]
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(We also don't really understand what Karamo is doing. I know he's done some social services work but he also just seems like a reality star overall. He's a calm, charming presence but I'm not sure if he's bringing anything that important.)
I love Antoni's outsized reactions to everything. He has such an elastic face. I'm sad he didn't get to encounter any dogs this season, though, but I loved his reaction to the reptiles.
The first two men were utterly adorable and I will love them forever. I also liked the ex-nun -- she was a sweetie and I want only the best things for her.
It's a fun season and this show is such a comfort watch overall. Good people are being made better by other good people. I absolutely understand reality show manipulations but I love how much this show isn't so much about changing people but just teaching them to be better versions of who they already are.
posted by edencosmic at 5:49 PM on January 28 [1 favorite]