We Are Who We Are: Season 1 Episode 4: Recap and Review
In “Right Here, Right Now IV”, the halfway point of “We Are Who We Are” (and its don’t-play-by-the-rules nickname, WRWWR), demonstrates the series’ ability to move in unprecedented directions, yet still remain conscious and respectful of its storytelling and characters. Coming off of a third episode so culturally rich, and heavily featuring perspectives we hadn’t seen until then (Maggie and Jenny), the fourth episode, at first, feels like a departure from the rolling wave nature of the series; a standalone adventure bottled up in a house. It’s a bold move for the middle of an unfolding narrative, but down the road, it may be a necessary one. Though strangely singular, the episode wastes no time fitting itself into the rest of the story and arguably provides some of the most crucial character moments for Fraser, Caitlin, and all the other lost boys and girls.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead
The first thing to note before diving in is that the episode is probably best described as a Charlie Brownish, Little Rascaly, kids-in-charge field trip from the show’s military base. There is a palpable idea of hollow rebellion and dress-up strung throughout the episode’s runtime, We open away from the base with a capture-the-flag paintball fight between two factions, apparently split unevenly between a team of only Fraser and Caitlin and one consisting of the rest of the group. For a story surrounded by soldiers and the military this feels like it will be the closest the series will get to actual war. After a nonchalant surrender, Fraser, still an outsider to this new group, gets shot multiple times by Danny and Sam; the only thing stopping their barrage is their dwindling bullets. Meanwhile, Caitlin as she approaches the other teams flag, she runs into Craig who, despite having a clear shot, allows her to secure victory and run into what has to be the most joyous title drop that the show has done thus far.
On a bus back to the base, the kids pass around a bag of Ruffles like a goblet of church wafers. As the bag of faux cheesy potato chips moves its way around the bus (even Danny accepts Fraser’s offering), the moment plays out like the surreal communion that it is striving to be. It’s strange moments like these that happen every once in a while that call into question how much of the show was written and how much was improvised by its creatives. The game of hot potato chip comes to a halt when it reaches Craig in the back, who refuses; he is having a moment with his girlfriend Valentina before he ships off to war (actual war) the next day. It is again a reminder of the world outside their little group, and an opportunity to up the stakes. Like a scene from a romance film, Craig asks Valentina to marry him. She says yes. Obviously.
Craig’s marriage proposal coupled with Valentina’s acceptance is a move so unexpectedly blase for the show’s established hypebeast-Americana flare that it becomes actually quite intriguing. Of course, we could care less about the relationship of the minor character couple, but the questions that are more intriguing lie in the surrounding ensemble of high schoolers attending this wedding. What does marriage, something that could be considered an old-school ritual, look like to the likes of Fraser and Caitlin? The others in the crew are surely roped into this as well, as Brit, Sam, and Danny (Caitlin’s brother) all have their own roles to play in this wedding, helping the couple with the ceremony so impromptu, one even suggests a “Hawaiian”wedding, because why not. Fraser shows up late to the wedding with a sentiment that points out the off-the-cuffness of the event: “How do you expect me to pull off this level of Hawaiianness on such short notice.”
The episode bottles itself up even tighter when all the wedding guests are invited to participate in a kinda sorta honeymoon into an unoccupied Russian house. That sentence alone feels like a shout-out sketch during improv night. In the hands of a lesser director, the second half of the episode may have been disastrous, but Guadagnino for the most part realizes the insanity of the whole affair, playing into the stranger, more awkward parts of the characters. Fraser and Caitlin, funny enough, don’t spend a lot of time together in the episode. Instead, they spend more one-on-one time with the others in the group. And although Fraser’s inclusion into their little bubble feels a little rushed, and Caitlin’s apparent gender journey has been smoothed over a bit, it’s nice to see how our teen protagonists interact with everyone else in such a specific, adult context.
And by “adult”, both meanings, age and explicitness, are at play here. The episode is the most sexual of the series, and will most likely be considering its general oddness in the mix of the previous chapters in the show. For many in the group, the night is an awakening or re-awakening. For Danny, who has up til this episode been full of rage and sadness, it is a sexual awakening. And for others like Brit and Sam, it is a romantic awakening, as they end up together over the course of the night. Caitlin is confronted with yet another stigma of her gender when she asks Craig why he didn’t shoot her at the paintball arena. She asks, “You didn’t shoot me cause I’m a girl.” Fraser, in a dark hallway, is reminded of his sexuality when he is kissed by a girl that he clearly does not want to kiss back. Toward the end of the night, Fraser tells Caitlin. She responds, “Don’t ever do it again.” We get the sense that it is not due to any romantic jealousy, but to remind her close friend to stay true to the way he is. It’s the interaction between them that has been hanging over the episode, and it solidifies their intentions with their friendship.
As for our happy husband, Craig, the following morning, his eyes open to his new wife, still sleeping next to him in a house they do not own. He tiptoes past his friends, sprawled out on couches and chairs after a night of celebration. He leaves undetected, stepping out the door and into a world where he is shipped off to war. As the wisest, advice-giving guru of the group, his look back at the night he left behind signifies his knowledge of the evening's role-play nature. For a night, they lived as how they expected the real world to be, but not how the world actually is. It’s as if Gaudagnino is also viewing the night that took place, and winking to the audience, telling us to let these kids have their fun.
The last scene of the episode does not involve Fraser, Caitlin, nor any other of the kids that we had spent the last hour with. Sarah, Fraser’s mother and commander of the base, is readying the soldiers to ship out to their next location. One by one, eventually getting to Craig she mumbles something inaudible over music, like a “wah-wah” of an adult in a peanuts cartoon. What she’s saying suddenly becomes clear: “Make America and yourself proud.” Craig’s departure from the group, the intermittent political stirring in the background, and the last lines of an episode filled with fun, games, music, sex, and spaghetti deliver the true message of the episode. There is a world beyond the walls of the lives of the kids, and it is coming.