Episode 3.7 was the worst in the series due to its chronological disaster, plot incongruity, annoying misdirections, and assertion that the guys were just good buddies. Maybe that was intentional, to disorient the viewers so they would not be expecting Episode 3.8 : It is intricately plotted, and gives us a huge number of queer codes, including one that most fans consider definitive.
Title: "I Will Take You by the Hand and Keep You." Isaiah 42.6, ESV: "I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you." We'll see who gets to hold hands.
Reunited with the Loved Ones: After their rescue, the siblings are taken to Rogers Regional Medical Center to be examined. Gideon must have finally phoned the family, because the partners and kids burst in, coincidentally in the order they need to be in to reach their loved ones without bumping into each other.We cut to the siblings being interviewed by the police. BJ and Gideon stand in front of them. Amber is not present. Keefe waits by the door, still not included in the family; but he does get a bit where he knocks over a trash can and yells "I hate what you had to endure." They all hate Eli, who left them to suffer and possibly be killed.
Next, having established that May-May wasn't in on the kidnapping plot, she and Eli bond.
They stop at Dodge's Fried Chicken, a real fast-food place on Savannah Highway in Charleston (next to a KFC, har har). Marshall continues to grumble. Peter asserts that complaining is "like a woman," and Marshall retorts that he drives "like a woman." They continue to call each other women until Chuck gets tired of it and tells them to focus on the new plan. Whatever it is.
Peter re-asserts his authority: if they rebel against him, they are rebelling against God, because he is the Keeper of the Word. Uh-oh, another Messiah.
We see again parallels between the Militia and Kelvin's God Squad in Season 2: both societies devoted to the masculine, suspicious of women, informed by homoerotic or homosocial desire. run by a messianic figure. The militia is the dark side of Kelvin's God Squad We can go even farther and juxtapose Kelvin's bodybuilder fetish with the militia's fetishization of the soldier.
First, BJ and Judy take a bath together. BJ: "The whole time you were in captivity, I would light candles and just cry." It sounds like they were held for longer than a day. Also, his eye, puffed out from his fight with Stephen, is almost healed. Maybe a week?
Next it's Kelvin and Keefe's turn. Keefe has changed into a sleeveless leather top with gold studs from the Jim Morrison Mr. Mojo collection. The Doors' song "Mr. Mojo Risin'" may be relevant here:
First he eliminates the platonic pal option by asking if Kelvin is dating Taryn. Immediately after asking, he has Kelvin spread his legs, feels up his inner thighs, and starts"taking liberties," as Adam Devine reveals. The actor needed to be semi-aroused so his penis would look bigger for a cut scene with frontal nudity. In-universe, Keefe is answering his own question.
Kelvin: "Nah. She ain't my type." I've heard gay men say "You're not my type" to reject a flirtatious woman without coming out, but why would Kelvin feel the need to be closeted with his ex-boyfriend? This must be a structural ploy to avoid having him say "gay."
He continues: "I hated all the forced claps and laughter and fun times. I like doing claps and laughters with you." I've analyzed this scene in detail, and I still can't think of an in-universe reason for bringing up Taryn's work performance. That wasn't the question, and besides, Kelvin is no longer the church youth minister, so he's in no position to hire Keefe back.
But Keefe assumes that he's talking about the job, and responds in kind: "I love getting the children zazzed up and excited to learn about Jesus with you."
Now Kelvin clarifies that he was answering the "Are you and Taryn dating" question, not "Can I have my old job back?" "I mean, Taryn was nice and all, but she's not you." She was nice, but you can't build a romance from niceness. You need passion.
Keefe understands: "She tried to replace me, but it was a failed try." They're going to be romantic partners, combining eros and phileo, trying to "build something" for the future., regardless of its impact on Kelvin's career. Which shouldn't be a problem. He's not working for the church anymore. They can move to Atlanta and march in Pride Parades.
Back at the mansion, Chuck sneaks a phone call to his brother Karl, to complain that escaping put him and his dad in a bad spot with the militia. Oh, was not wanting to be murdered inconsiderate? Terribly sorry, Bro. He insists that he wouldn't really have killed his cousins. Everybody's got excuses.
I can be true to myself: The siblings meet for lunch at Jason's Steak House, and discuss how the kidnapping ordeal has changed them.
Judy: "Things are better than before the kidnapping." You and BJ having a second honeymoon?
Kelvin: "Makes everything snap into focus, that's for sure." You and Keefe having a second honeymoon?
Jesse: "I can be more honest, true to myself." He's stopped dying his sideburns, letting the natural gray appear.
Jesse asks them to return to their jobs at the church, and they agree. They don't mention Keefe returning as assistant youth minister, but it's implied: everyone has apparently forgotten about the Smut Busters scandal. Then they hold hands. In this season, holding hands has been awkward and uncomfortable for the siblings, so this is an important milestone in their relationship.
Not much left in the episode, but what's left includes most important scene in the series.
More after the break
More Militia Squabbles: Under the highway overpass, the militia men get more chicken, this time from Fancy Nancy's, but the portions are still too small. Plus they've accomplished none of their goals due to Peter's mismanagement. Instead of Brotherhood of Tomorrow's Fires, referring to an Apocalypse that isn't happening, they're going to call themselves the Keepers of Yesterday's Monuments, to key into their interest in (Confederate) monuments.
They kick Uncle Peter and Chuck out of the group, taking all of their money, but letting them keep the truck full of explosives.
Top photo: The tender bits of Steve Zahn, who plays Uncle Peter.
Hating on Eli: In the Executive Board Room, the siblings speak to Eli only through Baby Billy, expressing anger that he refused to pay the ransom.
Judy: "You left us to die! Uncle Peter would have killed any one of us, or all three, or he'd just mutilate us and send you our body parts."
Kelvin specifies: "Nipples, penis, butthole shavings -- all our tender bits." Interesting --the three body parts he finds erotic. We can also divide it up by sibling: Judy's nipples, Jesse's penis, Kelvin's butthole. We all know that Kelvin is a bottom, so he's concerned about that.
Left: The tender bits of Adam Devine
Jesse states that he's always known that Eli doesn't love him, but he figured that it was all about the church. But he was wrong -- it's all about the money.
Eli protests: it's not about the money. It's always been about his children.
Hah! They're not buying it.
Suddenly Eli is happy because the siblings are working together, cooperating, not competing. If it takes hating on him for them to work as a team, fine.
Showtime: The Sunday of the siblings' return to the church. Crowds waiting to greet them. A woman holds a sign: "The Gemstone 3 -- we missed you." The ticket booth announces: "The return of the Gemstone children -- praise be!" At the ministers' meeting earlier in the season, the siblings tried the "We Three and Thee" catchphrase, with disastrous results. Now the congregation is embracing The Three.In the hallway outside their dressing rooms, the siblings say goodbye to their partners. Jesse/Amber and BJ/Judy kiss. Keefe moves in for a kiss, but Kelvin blocks him with a forehead press. Keefe looks very amorous, as if still caught up in the afterglow from whatever they did last night. Kelvin looks apologetic: "Sorry, dude, not in front of my family and the gossipy church staff."
This scene received a lot of misdirection in the trailers. First you didn't see who Kelvin was saying goodbye to, so you would think it might be Taryn. Then the lighting makes a square white patch appear on Keefe's face, as if he was injured during the rescue attempt.
Jesse signals "Showtime!", and the siblings join him to walk down the hall to the stage. Amber at the other end of the hallway, waiting for the partners to join her in the sanctuary. Keefe and BJ stand there, watching.
Suddenly Kelvin backs up, then turns around and walks quickly back to Keefe. What's going on? He's holding his dressing room key -- maybe he forgot something? He wraps his arm around Kelvin's shoulders, slams him forcefully against the wall, and kisses him. We cut to BJ grinning, and Judy grabbing at Jesse's arm in surprise.
In the second take, or maybe a second kiss, the dressing room key is gone, and Kelvin has moved his hand to Keefe's face.
They break, and Kelvin walks back to the siblings, grinning, pleased with himself. Keefe looks proud of him, too. Jesse and Judy give him congratulatory grins. He adjusts his glasses, as if to say "Well, that's that."
That kiss has been analyzed backward and forward, frame by frame, through body language, staging, costuming, theme, symbolism, its place in the episode, its place in the series. No one seems able to agree on what it meant. Has Kelvin recognized that he is gay? Is he acknowledging that Keefe is his lover? Have they moved from "good buddies" to lovers? Are they coming out to the family?
The siblings go on stage amid zapping lasers and the song "So Alive."
And my mind wanders out there. just to be there in the morning.
With the sun streaming through the trees / There ain't no place I'd rather be.
We see the siblings hold hands, interspliced with shots of the militia men being arrested and placed in handcuffs. I wonder if someone tipped off the Feds.
This feels a lot like a season finale, but remember, Peter is still a threat. And what about the old Dusty Daniels plotline? And Bible Bonkers? There's a lot more to say.
Left: more tender bits
See also: Season 3, Episode 7-9 Memes
The Kiss Heard 'Round the World: A Kelvin/Keefe Adventure
Cory Chapman: Lots of man friends, some gay roles, a queer buddy, nude costars. So where's the beef?
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