History Series / FellowTravelers

* {{Foil}}: Hawk and Marcus are this for one another. They are both conventionally handsome and [[StraightGay normatively masculine]] closeted gay men in TheFifties; both are also UsefulNotes/WorldWarII combat veterans. They were also FriendsWithBenefits at some point in the past; it is confirmed that one of the reasons this arrangement didn't last is that they are too similar to be compatible in bed. There are, however, a few key differences between them as well. As a Black man in the mid-to-late twentieth century, Marcus experiences professional barriers and discrimination that Hawk, as a straight-passing white man, has never had to contend with. Additionally, Hawk chooses to marry a woman and stay in the closet, relegating his relationship with Tim to an extramarital affair. By contrast, Marcus eventually starts living his life as an openly gay man, and in 1986 is cohabitating with his gender-nonconforming lover Frankie and their surrogate son Jerome.
--->'''Hawk''': You're prettier when you smile.\\

** More than once Hawk explicitly suggests a "mistress" type of arrangement to Tim. In episode 6, he asks Tim to stay at his hunting cabin over the winter, with Hawk visiting "when I can." In episode 7, he offers to sign his house on Fire Island over to Tim, and proposes they could meet there a few times a year and "make up for lost time." Episode 8 reveals that for a few weeks (or possibly a few months) in 1957, Hawk and Tim ''did'' have this sort of arrangement, complete with a furnished house in D.C. where they would meet for sex whenever it's convenient.

* PropertyOfLove: Tim spends much of his early relationship with Hawk as an eager supplicant to the latter. He willingly sucks Hawk's toes, requests that Hawk slap him as foreplay, and responds very enthusiastically to Hawk's desire to hurt and humiliate him in bed, declaring "I am [your boy]!" and "I belong to Hawkin's Fuller!" Also, over a year into their relationship, Hawk performs oral sex on Tim for what is implied to be the first time, even though Tim has performed oral sex on Hawk many times by that point. Tim is also delighted by a gift of cufflinks with Hawk's initials on them. More than once Tim explicitly compares his feelings about Hawk to his feelings about God. In 1986, after a great deal of maturation and character development, Tim still makes this comparison.

* PropertyOfLove: Tim spends much of his early relationship with Hawk as an eager supplicant to the latter. He willingly sucks Hawk's toes, requests that Hawk slap him as foreplay, and responds very enthusiastically to Hawk's desire to hurt and humiliate him in bed, declaring "I am [your boy]!" and "I belong to Hawkin's Fuller!" Also, over a year into their relationship, Hawk performs oral sex on Tim for what is implied to be the first time, even though Tim has performed oral sex on ''him'' many times by that point. Tim is also delighted by a gift of cufflinks with Hawk's initials on them. More than once Tim explicitly compares his feelings about Hawk to his feelings about God. In 1986, after a great deal of maturation and character development, Tim still makes this comparison.

'''Hawk''': You're prettier when you smile.\\

** On Fire Island, Tim is the responsible Betty and Craig is the hard-partying Veronica who are both rivals for Hawk's affection.

* BrokenPedestal: In the early 1950s, millions of American Catholics regard Senator UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy as a saint, including Tim, who is initially very enthusiastic about working for his hero. However, over time, Tim notices the underhanded strategies that his employer and his team use to combat anti-communism, which violate Tim's principles. He quits the job a couple of years later after he becomes disillusioned with the dark side of [=McCarthyism=]. Despite recognizing [=McCarthy=]'s faults, Tim still feels some sadness after his former boss passes away.

** In the fourth episode, Hawk learns that Tim will attend a very important meeting with Senator [=McCarthy=], Roy Cohn and John Adams (the Army's lawyer), and he tells his lover "[[AffectionateNickname My boy]]'s coming up in the world" while fondling Tim's erect penis through his pants. Hawk then playfully adds "Speaking of coming up" before removing Tim's pants and underwear.

'''Hawk''': ''(exhales)'' I'll keep plugging away for another five years or so. Just until I get posted overseas [to Europe]. Fewer eyes on you over there. When they call me back, I'll quit. Buy a villa. Someplace on the water with a nice view. Where I can eat what I want and fuck who I want without anyone giving a damn.

** Hawk has never been monogamous with anyone, including Tim. However, he is deeply jealous when he finds out that Tim kissed another man at the Nomad bar. This is followed by [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence violent foreplay and rough sex]] during which Hawk repeatedly asks "Who do you belong to?" (and makes Tim affirm that "I belong to Hawkins Fuller!")

* MistakenForGay: {{Inverted}} in episode 2, when Tim mistakenly thinks Mary is straight and worries that she might be developing romantic feelings for him. She's actually a closeted lesbian with a girlfriend.

* MistakenForGay: Inverted in episode 2, when Tim mistakenly thinks Mary is straight and worries that she might be developing romantic feelings for him.

* DefrostingIceQueen: Inverted with Lucy, who develops from a warm, open-hearted, slightly naïve young woman who seems to be genuinely and deeply in love with Hawk, to a chilly StepfordSmiler after decades of neglect and romantic disappointment from her husband.

** Another triangle occurs between Hawk, Craig and Tim on Fire Island. Hawk is involved in a casual relationship with Craig while simultaneously trying to reignite things with Tim. Craig (and to some extent Hawk) initially view Tim in 1979 as a judgmental wet blanket. Things get more nebulous when Tim does drugs, goes dancing, and participates in an attempted threesome with Hawk and Craig. [[spoiler:Ultimately, ''both'' love triangles end with all involved parties breaking it off with Hawk.]]

* StepfordSmiler: Lucy as well as her mother Helen. After Lucy's marriage to Hawk, they both figure out that he cheats on her with men in pretty short order. It is strongly implied that Lucy's father was a cheater as well. Ultimately subverted with Lucy in the series finale when she [[spoiler:decides she'd had enough and tells Hawk that she is leaving him]].

* DefrostingIceQueen: Inverted with Lucy who develops from a warm, open-hearted, slightly naive young woman who seems to be genuinely and deeply in love with Hawk, to a chilly StepfordSmiler after decades of neglect and romantic disappointment from her husband.
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: The series highlights not only homophobia in the 1950s, which was pervasive and forced LGBT+ people to stay hidden, but also institutionalized racism and how [=McCarthyism=] destroyed many lives in the anti-communist persecution.

* StepfordSmiler: Lucy as well as her mother. After Lucy's marriage to Hawk, they both figure out that he cheats on her with men in pretty short order. It is strongly implied that Lucy's father was a cheater as well. Ultimately subverted with Lucy in the series finale when she [[spoiler:decides she'd had enough and tells Hawk that she is leaving him.]]

* StepfordSmiler: Lucy as well as her mother. After Lucy's marriage to Hawk, they both figure out that he cheats on her with men in pretty short order. It is strongly implied that Lucy's father was a cheater as well.

** Hawk calls his lover Tim "Skippy" and "my boy."

* TheMistress: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in Hawk and Tim's relationship. Immediately after Hawk tells Tim that he plans to ask Lucy Smith to marry him, Tim enlists in the army because he is determined to ''not'' become [[GenderInvertedTrope the male equivalent]] of a mistress for Hawk. However, in spite of his attempts to cut ties with Hawk and move on with his life, Tim remains in love with Hawk, and falls into bed with him every time they see each other in the ensuing decades. On more than one occasion, [[LampshadeHanging Tim laments his own inability to say no to Hawk]].

Viewers in Canada can watch [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kSD54jYYy0 the full series premiere]] on the official Creator/ParamountPlus Canada [=YouTube=] channel [[note]]but the video is geoblocked for everyone else[[/note]].

** In 1957, as Hawk's [[GenderInvertedTrope male]] [[TheMistress mistress]], the brunet Tim is the Veronica to blonde housewife Lucy's Betty.

** Tim is judgmental of Hawk for being a bad husband. One of Hawk's worst shortcomings as a husband is his decades-long, on-and-off affair ''with Tim.''

* {{Hypocrite}}: Hawk has never been monogamous with anyone, including Tim. However, he is deeply jealous when he finds out that Tim kissed another man at the Nomad bar. This is followed by [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence violent foreplay and rough sex]] during which Hawk repeatedly asks "Who do you belong to?" (and makes Tim affirm that "I belong to Hawkins Fuller!")

** Arguably also [[PlayingWithATrope played with]] in episode 6. While it does go against Tim's wishes, Hawk's desperation to keep Tim out of prison is understandable and not entirely selfish.

* BettyAndVeronica: On Fire Island Tim is the responsible Betty and Craig is the hard-partying Veronica. It could also be argued that in 1957, as Hawk's gender-inverted mistress, Tim is the Veronica to housewife Lucy's Betty.

-->'''Lucy''': You mean something to my husband. I suppose I had to see you so I would know.\\

** Another one between Hawk, Craig and Tim on Fire Island. Hawk is involved in a casual relationship with Craig while simultaneously trying to reignite things with Tim. Craig (and to some extent Hawk) initially view Tim in 1979 as a judgmental wet blanket. Things get more nebulous when Tim does drugs, goes dancing, and participates in an attempted threesome with Hawk and Craig. [[spoiler:Ultimately, ''both'' love triangles end with all involved parties breaking it off with Hawk.]]

** Another one between Hawk, Craig and Tim on Fire Island. Hawk is involved in a casual relationship with Craig while simultaneously trying to reignite things with Tim. Craig (and to some extent Hawk) initially view Tim in 1979 as a judgmental wet blanket. Things get more nebulous when Tim does drugs, goes dancing, and participates in an attempted threesome with Hawk and Craig. [[spoiler:Ultimately, ''both'' love triangles end with all involved parties breaking it off with Hawk.]]

* LoveTriangle: Hawk is married to Lucy, but his true love is Tim. Because Tim and Lucy are in love with Hawk, they're naturally jealous of each other. Tim views Lucy as being more fortunate than him because he and Hawk were together only a handful of times since the latter's marriage. However, Lucy doesn't regard herself as the "winner" in this "competition" over Hawk because she's aware that her husband doesn't desire her like he desires Tim.

* AllTakeAndNoGive: Hawk is the Taker and Tim is the Giver in their romance; the [[UnequalPairing power imbalance]] stems from their LoverAndBeloved dynamic. Tim desires to be in a committed relationship with Hawk despite the grave legal and social difficulties LGBT+ people face during the homophobic 1950s, but Hawk continually insists that their romance must remain casual. Hawk plans to marry a woman to be his [[TheBeard beard]], and the mere idea of this is extremely upsetting to Tim. Hawk doesn't offer emotional support to Tim when the latter needs it, even though Hawk expects Tim to comfort him when he's in distress. Tim often expresses his love for Hawk, but the latter never says "I love you" in return.

** Hawk's father is well aware that he's gay and is ashamed of it, wanting an apology from him over this when he's dying. He remarks that Hawk wasn't good at concealing his homosexuality.