In this week’s episode of 'Aquarius,' “Cease to Resist,” Detectives Sam Hodiak (David Duchovny) and Brian Shafe (Grey Damon) are investigating the murder of a closeted gay actor. Hodiak convinces Shafe to go undercover at a gay bar to try to get some leads.
What’s interesting here is that the older Hodiak is the more traditional character, a World War II vet who is ashamed that his son is a Vietnam War deserter, while the younger Shafe is more socially progressive with a black wife and child. But they have the opposite reactions to homosexuality than what you might expect:
-Hodiak: You're somewhat exercised for a guy who thought he'd catch a limp wrist just by drinking their beer.
-Shafe: I like catching killers. Don't need to think too much on the details.
-Mighty big of you.
-Why the hell are you so Up With People on a bunch of homos anyway? No, really, I-I get it. Some otherwise nice-seeming guys, sad to see them wreck their lives like that, but it's still deviant, huh? Still... Wrong.
-Well, I thought you were of the "Free your mind, roll your own" generation.
-Don't act dumb, all right? There is a line, and they stick their necks out crossing it. And they know it. You know what it is? They're...they're addicted. Yeah, like all the junkies I see. And they know something can go wrong, and they do it anyway. They're just sick. It's sad. And for what, huh? How the hell is it worth the risk to do that?
-You know what I realized trying to understand people?
-What?
-Don't try to understand 'em.
It is strange to see a TV show have a “progressive” likeable main character react in a way that Hollywood would deem backward and negative towards gays, even though it fits with the time period and is still a common, if hidden from polite society, view.
I have to wonder if there is some twist coming, like Shafe turning out to be closeted, ala American Beauty. It wouldn’t really fit with his loving husband and dad character, although he could be bi or have some dark secret from his past, but this is very suspicious, it feels like this is a set up for something more. Stay tuned.