The series premiere of Showtime’s Fellow Travelers featured the beginning of the budding but secretive romantic affair between Hawkins ‘Hawk’ Fuller (Matt Bomer) and Tim Laughlin (Jonathan Bailey). Based on the historical fiction novel of the same name by Thomas Mallon, Fellow Travelers episode 1 jumps back and forth in time from when Hawk and Tim first met in 1950s Washington D.C. and where their lives ended up by 1986. The series is set to chronicle the evolving and versatile relationship between Hawk and Time throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
Hawk and Fuller form an instant spark, igniting an intense romance that is forced to be completely behind closed doors due to the pressures of McCarthyism at the time. Early in the Fellows Travelers premiere, Hawk expresses a direct but subtle interest in Tim, setting him up to work under the powerful Senator Joseph McCarthy. While essentially working right under McCarthy’s nose, Tim starts to develop more than purely sexual feelings for the older Hawk after several secret encounters. Hawk is very experienced in keeping a low profile and begins to lose interest in seeing Tim once their connection becomes too emotional for his taste.
8 Hawk Was Considered A War Hero During World War II
It’s discovered early on in Fellow Travelers episode 1 that Hawk was a decorated war hero in World War II. Having led a squad in the 141st Regiment, 36th Infantry Division of the United States Army in the Battle of Anzio, Hawk tells war stories about how grateful the Nazi-occupied Italians were at the sight of American soldiers. It’s likely that Hawk’s reputation from his heroics in World War II got him into working in a powerful position the Washington D.C.’s State Department, which is how he crosses paths with the freshly graduated and opportunistic Tim Laughlin.
7 Hawk Helps Tim Get A Job Under Senator Joseph McCarthy
After pursuing Tim independently and making subtle but very clear insinuations, Hawk calls Tim up and sets him up with a lucrative entry level job as a junior assistant working in Senator Joseph McCarthy’s office. Despite the growing threat that McCarthy presents with his political determination to identify and ostracize people who participated in communist or LGBTQ+ activities, labeling them “subversives and deviants”, Hawk still thought it was a good idea to help Tim with his career the best way he could have. Tim soon realizes that Hawk had ulterior motives for getting him the job when he shows up to his apartment unannounced.
6 Hawk Is Unofficially Engaged To Senator Smith’s Daughter Lucy
During the early 1950s which is when most of Fellow Travelers episode 1 takes place, Hawk was commonly considered to be unofficially engaged to Senator Smith’s daughter Lucy. Senator Smith had essentially been arranging their marriage through very traditional means, which Hawk seemed completely grateful for and in support of. It’s revealed early on in the episode that Hawk ends up marrying Lucy Smith and has children with her, already indicating that the affair between Tim and Hawk won’t end in a happily ever after. In one scene, an older Lucy seemingly knows about the history between Hawk and Tim but supports her husband nonetheless.
5 Hawk’s Associate George Bauers Gets Caught Leaving A Gay Bar
Hawk is faced with the difficult circumstances of helping out one of his professional friends on the Hill named George Bauers. Apparently Bauers was followed and seen walking out of a known gay bar by investigators who were supporters McCarthyism. Fearing for the future of his political career, he turned to his trusted friend in Hawk who comes up with a plan to offer up a name of a known gay person working in Washington D.C. in order to get a reduced punishment. In a separate attempt to save his own skin, Bauers takes Hawk’s advice and tries to figure out who he can implicate.
4 Marcus Warns Tim That Hawk Doesn’t Form Emotional Attachments
Marcus, a newspaper reporter, reveals to Tim privately that he knows all about Hawk’s sexual flings and heavily implies that the two of them have history. Marcus shares a word of advice to the naive and passionate Tim, who at that point had gotten very comfortable with Hawk and was considering how to take their romance to the next level in a relationship sense. Marcus stops Tim in his tracks, telling him that Hawk wants nothing to do with emotional attachments as they could jeopardize his career. Marcus also informs Tim that he doesn’t seek out emotional attachments either, something that Tim is challenged with in Fellow Travelers episode 1.
3 Hawk Gives Bauers A Name To Avoid Facing Career Consequences
Hawk figures out the perfect person to give to Bauers so that he can report him and get a reduced punishment. Early in the episode, Hawk had met with a young man for hire who he ended up crossing paths unexpectedly at work. The young man named Eddie instantly recognizes Hawk and makes a point to talk to him, bringing up their brief sexual encounter which Hawk had obviously wanted to keep secret. Eddie nearly confronts Hawk and causes a scene at work, which is why Hawk is able to easily offer his name to Bauers as a government employee. Hawk’s plan works and Bauers is allowed to have a quiet resignation, although Hawk finds out that Eddie tried to commit suicide.
2 Hawk Tells Tim About The Meaning Of The Washington D.C. Paperweight
When Tim went over to Hawk’s place one night, he noticed a Washington D.C. paperweight that was thoughtfully placed on a mantel in Hawk’s living room. When Tim picked it up, Hawk immediately got defensive and told him not to touch it. Toward the end of Fellow Travelers episode 1, Hawk explains to Tim that he got the souvenir when he was with Kenny, who was his first teenage love. They got the paperweight together when they were on a school trip, which hold great sentimental value to Hawk. Hawk expresses his guilt to Tim for deserting Kenny for social reasons and reveals that Kenny also joined the Army and died in combat.
1 Hawk Travels To San Francisco To See A Terminally Ill Tim in 1986
At the end of Fellow Travelers episode 1, an older Hawk in 1986 makes the trip out to San Francisco to try and reconnect with Tim, who seems to have become estranged from Hawk after some time apart. It appears that Tim is suffering some type of terminal illness, which Hawk presumes might be AIDS. Hawk goes out to see him since he wasn’t sure if it would be one of his last opportunities to see him in person. Tim accepts his phone call and Hawk tells him that he will wait at the diner all day until Tim is ready to see him again. Right as Hawk is about to give up, the pay phone rings, setting up a long-awaited reunion between Tim and Hawk in Fellow Travelers.
