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.
More reconciliations after the break
Protesting People who Protest Statues: The militia stops under a highway overpass to grumble about the small portions of fried chicken that they received and ask again, what's the plan? Peter wants to do something with the explosives in the U-Haul, but the guys want to protest people who are protesting statues. They don't specify to keep viewers guessing, but they are certainly planning to protest attempts to remove some of the Confederate monuments in the South. To date, 44 monuments have been removed, but 771 remain. Protests have sometimes turned bloody. In 2017, a neo-Nazi plowed his car into a crowd of people protesting a statue of Robert E. Lee, killing one person and injuring 35.
Background note: Quincu Dunn-Baker, who plays militia man Dakota, is gay in real life.
Cut to Gideon driving Eli somewhere while they discuss how the siblings still aren't talking to him.
Eli explains that he would have paid if he thought they were really in danger; "I knew they weren't." Dude, Peter killed a man, tortured another, and sent his guys out to assault his own sons. The militia was planning to kill one of them "after church." Their lives were definitely in danger. Besides, the church paid $500,000 to avoid a scandal. $1,000,000 to get its pastors back seems like a bargain.
Next they discuss what Gideon is going to do with his life. He doesn't know. Eli notes that when he was a young man, he never would have imagined becoming a preacher, hint hint. You want the succession to skip over your children and go straight to Gideon, Pontius, and Abraham? Gemstone Brothers Ministries.
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.
Bonus military bondage fetish photos
See also: Tropic Thunder: Danny McBride, a gay rapper, Jack Black's bulge, and wartime buddy-bonding
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