Michael and Brian

First off let me just say that I loved the UK QAF on its own.I know the US version is just an interpretation of it, but I can't help feel that it all went downhill after the writers wrote off the original true pairing.

I know these are different characters, but when you think about it, they aren't really. The first few episodes had some dialogue that were exact copies. It also started with the S/V or B/M storyline but then decided to depart so far from it that the characters became unrecognizable by season 4. Those changes to me are not realistic and I hated the bad guy turned good guy storyline for Brian. It felt forced, and I don't just mean the romance with Justin.

I had never watched the original series before the US QAF, but I estimated that at least near the end of the series that there would be some resolution for the tension between Michael and Brian. I know the writers did not intend for that to happen by season 4 or 5, what with the introduction and/or coming back of the unbelievably perfect Ben and an equally unbelievably perfect Justin.

When I finally decided to give the UK QAF a shot, I was pleasantly surprised. What do you know, Vince and Stuart get a perfect ending. I was saying to myself I was right all along or some smartass comment like that.

Now, you can interpret the relationship between Vince and Stuart as being ambiguous, but the US equivalent of Nathan's storyline is way too ridiculous for me to even see it as a romantic fantasy. I for one believe that the ambiguity of the relationship between Vince and Stuart was what made it not ambiguous. Same goes for Michael and Brian.

It was clear to me, that the writers for the US version went for some saccharine sweet watered down melodramatic romance with BJ as opposed to sticking to the essence of the original which made it work. Is it just me, or did it seem like they were responding to external forces that made them take a different turn?

Well, call me a hopeless romantic. In my world Brian and Michael should be together by the end. I lost pretty much all hope when Brian looked for Justin first after Babylon's bombing. It just didn't seem right, and the whole thing pissed me off. Never mind that I began to like the Justin character. Their romance just never took off to me the way it did to millions of other viewers, apparently. Their was a cute sort of relationship that went on beyond what it should have been.

I'm happy with this being the original Queer as Folk. The theme tune is catchy as he'll.