INDIANAPOLIS — One of the best-reviewed television series of 2023 is quickly approaching its series finale — but there's still plenty of time to binge the eight-episode limited series.
With a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, "Fellow Travelers" is a decades-long love story between two political staffers (Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey).
The show also follows a scene-stealing storyline involving a journalist (Jelani Alladin) and drag queen (Noah J. Ricketts).
"Jelani and I have known each other for seven or eight years now," Ricketts said of his on-screen chemistry with Alladin. "It's been a wonderful experience. We had so much chemistry off-screen and on-screen because it's absolutely real."
Although "Fellow Travelers" follows fictitious characters, it is setting during a real time in American history, including the Lavender Scare, Vietnam War protests, drug-fueled disco culture and AIDS crisis.
"It was a real great challenge to embody this history," Ricketts said. "I think a lot of people think that gay history begins at Stonewall and then goes from there, but to go pre-Stonewall and really dig deep and figure out how we got to this point today as gay people, it was a great challenge."
"Going back to that time was painful. It was painful because those people are just trying to survive. They're just trying to fall in love," Alladin said. "That was actually quite difficult for me to really hold on to for six months, to place myself in this world where I wasn't allowed to celebrate all that I had."
And it's all leading up to the series finale, which streams Friday, Dec. 15 on Paramount+ and airs Sunday, Dec. 17 on SHOWTIME.
"Bring your tissues, and know that we're laying the groundwork for a better tomorrow," Ricketts said of the final episodes.
"Be prepared to go on journeys that might be triggering, that might be really difficult to swallow," Alladin said of the ending of "Fellow Travelers." "We owe all the things that we have today — gay marriage, wherever we want to work and get hired when we want to get hired — because of the sacrifices that these men have made and the battles that they have fought."