Fellow Travelers follows the romance of two gay state department officials during the Lavender Scare. President Eisenhower and Senator Joseph McCarthy are purging homosexual employees from the U.S. government. The ruthless Hawkins Fuller survives by marrying a woman and betraying his colleagues. The naïve Timothy Laughlin keeps his head down and wrestles with his Catholic Guilt. Thomas Mallon’s 2007 novel was a cynical work. The central relationship was abusive and destroyed Tim’s life. Ron Nyswaner’s 2023 mini-series takes the characters in a new direction.

Matt Bomer does stellar work as the predatory Hawkins. He finds the tortured heart beneath the bulletproof façade. Jonathan Bailey is less convincing as the self-deceiving Tim. He reads too savvy for such a gullible role. His performance improves after a time jump, when the character grows wiser. The actors have chemistry, and not just in the scorching hot sex scenes. They successfully navigate the couples constantly shifting power dynamics.

McCarthy was brought down in 1954 by the antics of his chief counsel Roy Cohn. Cohn had pressured the army to grant special favors for his former aide David Schine. The army retaliated and brought the men to trial. The actors Will Brill and Chris Bauer are saddled with awkward facial prosthetics. They look like Dick Tracy villains. Brill still manages to terrify as the self-loathing Cohn. His tense scenes are a series highlight. The history is fascinating.

Other subplots feel rushed. Jelani Alladin’s black gay journalist, Noah Ricketts’ drag performer, Erin Neufer’s lesbian secretary, Linus Roache’s conflicted senator, Mike Taylor’s tragic alcoholic, Jude Wilson’s activist and Etienne Kellici’s troubled teen are compelling characters. But they struggle for breathing room in the overcrowded episodes. Allison Williams fails to energize the dishrag role of Hawk’s long-suffering wife. Alladin faces greater challenges than the privileged Hawk. But he’s often reduced to the man who makes a moral choice whenever Hawk falters. The Gallant to Hawk’s Goofus.

There are problems. The pace grows erratic in the second half. Late episodes indulge in melodramatic cliches. The story piles on trauma and loses all humor. The age makeup looks distractingly bad. Single episodes set in the 1960’s and 1970’s stuff enough plot in for season long arcs. Fortunately, Bomer and Bailey stick the landing in a touching finale. I recommend Fellow Travelers for their performances and a reminder of forgotten history.

You can find more of my reviews on The Avocado, Letterboxd and Serializd. My podcast, Rainbow Colored Glasses, can be found here.