We Are Who We Are: Season 1, Episode 8 "Right Here Right Now VIII and Last" Recap and Review
For a show that has been experimenting with structure and narrative for the entirety of its run, it's no surprise that the finale of “We Are Who We Are” is the most jarring, pensive, and emotional chapter to date. The last hurrah of the series follows Caitlin and Fraser into, not a direct continuation of the incredibly dramatic events of the preceding episode, but more or less an wintery epilogue of sorts--- not dissimilar to the final minutes of 2017’s “Call Me By Your Name”. The last hour of the show is probably best described as a farewell or tribute to our main protagonists. It’s an hour that deconstructs the narrative that came before and encourages audiences to allow themselves to be wrapped in its allure. As challenging as the episode is at times, as its events move along, it becomes abundantly clear that the final offering of Guadagnino’s series wants to stand out from the pack--- for better or for worse.
Quickly into the episode we are treated to a series of still images of Caitlin ordering a pizza from the base’s Domino’s. Throughout the series, the use of freeze frames is scattered throughout in scenes of importance, and as each still from Caitlin’s pizza pick-up slideshows by, it's clear that this finale is no exception; we realize that her family is moving out of the base, their house scattered with boxes and packing peanuts. It’s a poetic yet roundabout way of answering the lingering question of what would happen to their family after her father’s outburst, a remaining conflict from the intensity of last week’s episode. With the Poythress vacating the premises of the base, the last episode is a mirror of the first, where Fraser, Sarah, and Maggie began to move in. For the Poythress’ though, there is no equivalent of a welcome wagon. They are leaving, and that’s that.
Soon after (in a so far Fraser-less episode), Caitlin is paid a visit by Brit, who out of nowhere, kisses her goodbye as they lie on the bed, and proclaims her love: “It was always you.” It’s a moment that isn’t entirely convincing, but its intentions are good. For a “best friend” archetype Brit has always felt on the sidelines when it came to Caitlin’s journey, and perhaps this was the only way to button her up nicely. Its effectiveness, like with many strange directions the show takes, doesn’t seem to matter so much as the intent behind them. After Brit leaves, we finally get a glimpse of Fraser, pacing around at the “checkpoint” where Caitlin meets him eventually. They head in the direction of a train to go to a Blood Orange concert.
As they walk near the tracks, Caitlin moving ahead and Fraser wondering if they’ll be late, the realization starts to set in that this isn’t an ordinary episode, especially for what a “finale” is thought to be. If they board the train, what happens to the other characters at the base? What about Fraser’s relationship with his mother? What about Jonathan? Do their stories not need conclusions? The realization hits quickly: for most of the characters, the journey has already ended. Apart from a couple loose ends, ties up quickly at the beginning of the episode, we know where every character apart from Fraser and Caitlin stands emotionally in the story. Perhaps the previous chapter was made for our supporting cast to receive their final farewells; Caitlin and Fraser have still yet to reach the end of their journey with each other.
On the train, after listening to Blood Orange’s “It Is What It Is” (the song from the dream dance sequence earlier in the series), the two escape into a bathroom as a conductor hunts them down for tickets which they didn’t purchase-- obviously. Glad to know that there is still room for a shenanigan or two during this finale. In the bathroom, Caitlin transforms into Harper, marker stubble and all. She asks Fraser if he likes her as a guy-- something that they had never really addressed. He responds: “I don’t know, are you still you?” Her answer goes without saying. Quickly afterwards, they hop off the train before the conductor can catch them. This moment in the bathroom, brought into view a narrative threaded throughout the show that many have put into the background due to the other extenuating circumstances at the base as well as the nature of Fraser and Harper’s friendship: their potential as romantic interests. This was something that was always shrugged off in an incredibly effective way, with Jonathan and Harper’s gender identity always taking precedence, but something about their casual conversation secluded in the train bathroom, makes room for that idea to be watered and start to grow.
As they walk to try to find another way to the concert, the two characters have a conversation. Yes they have had conversations in the past, but the way that Harper looks at Fraser now is different and Fraser’s answers to her questions about his mother and his mysterious friend, Mark, are tender and truthful. This talk feels different. Harper learns that Mark was never real, that he was just a fantasy. Obviously, they both come to the conclusion that nothing is real and they don’t exist. They skip around in the open air happily screaming their non-existence out to everyone who can’t hear them. Finally, they stumble upon a car that is conveniently traveling to the same concert. Inside this deus ex machina car, Fraser begins to talk to the boy sitting beside him in the backseat. They talk about fashion and music and everything that Fraser is into. Harper tries to get in on the conversation, but is unable to keep up with their connection with each other. Finally they get to the concert.
When they enter the doors to the venue, the finale goes into autopilot. Minus the last 10 or so minutes of the series, the rest of the time in the episode is spent at the venue. It is a layered sequence in that Blood Orange is responsible for many of the songs and music incorporated within the show. It feels ethereal if not surreal for them to be attending a concert by the musicians who are scoring the show that they are in. But, considering they are leaving the reality of the military base and are so far away from where many of the events of the story had taken place, does it not make sense that the story fold in on itself the farther these characters get from their original setting? Events that happened outside of the base have always been significantly more experimental, so in a way, the show is following the rules that it had previously set up.
There is one key event that happens during the extended concert sequence that is of note. Caitlin has finally allowed herself to live as Harper. She introduces herself to a bartender who takes an interest in her. Reluctant at first, they eventually strike up a conversation, and go off to meet Blood Orange in their dressing room before their final set. Ironically, Fraser, the bigger fan of Blood Orange between the two of them, is too busy hanging out with the boy from the car to be afforded this opportunity. Harper takes a selfie with Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes, before they go out to play their last set. The bartender begins to make out with Harper, who seems unimpressed with the whole affair. This is also the first person to ask Harper if he is transgender. His response is an affirmative, “I think so”, before immediately leaving to head back to the train.
Harper heads to the train before Fraser, who leaves the venue with the boy that he had been dancing. Fraser and the mystery guy walk around the city in lackadaisical fashion, as if Harper is an afterthought. They look out a window into the night. “The city’s got seven secrets like the seven deadly sins”, the boy says right before he and Fraser share a kiss. This is the first time that we have seen Fraser kiss a boy in the show, and his feelings toward the moment are not as charged as one would assume they would be. He leaves the scene feeling to Harper as the mystery boy simply vanishes out of existence, as if his purpose was completed.
The next moments are a whirlwind of events. Fraser runs back to Harper to yank him out of the train and take him back to the spot where he and the mystery boy were. They run up the stairs to “the most beautiful place on earth”. They look at each other and kiss. This time, however, there is passion and connection like we have never seen between the two. The show ends.
For a show that at times disguised itself as directionless, “We Are Who We Are” ends on a note that is both surprising and obvious, puzzling and understandable, shocking and mundane. Looking back on the series as a whole, pieces of this ending between Harper and Fraser were always there, but there was always something distracting from an obvious sign of the romantic gesture to come. With questions of identity at the show’s forefront, set in a world of violence and divisiveness, sometimes some answers are simple. When the two kiss on top of an Italian balcony far away from the influences of their parents, friends, and living circumstances, I was taken aback. Slowly however, as the scene continued, it dawned on me…
Of course it’s Harper. Of course it’s Fraser. This makes sense.