Series / Queer Eye (2018)

From left to right: Bobby, Karamo, Jonathan, Antoni, Tan

"I just met five really cool people who have good intentions, and they know what they're doing, and they actually help people who might need helping."

— Arian, "Big Little Lies"

The 2018 revival of the Bravo show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy by Netflix. Like the original, it is a makeover reality show in which five LGBT+ men offer advice on fashion, grooming, interior design, food and wine, and culture to people that need it. Said "heroes" (as the participants are called in the advertising) will usually undergo a week-long transformation, often building up to a big event where they unveil their improvements to their loved ones and/or community.

This iteration features a new, more multi-ethnic Fab Five: Tan France (fashion), Bobby Berk (interior decorating), Antoni Porowski (food and wine), Jonathan Van Ness (hair and grooming), and Karamo Brown (culture). The reboot moved the setting from New York City to Atlanta for the first two seasons, with the third season moving the Fab Five to Kansas City, giving the show a different flavor as the boys make over some Southern and Midwestern people. Unlike the original, the people being made over are not exclusively straight men. The new version is also more pointedly political than the original, referring to topics like gay marriage, Black Lives Matter and the Trump administration.

The series' first season debuted on February 7, 2018, the second on June 15, 2018, the third on March 15, 2019, and the fourth on July 19, 2019. A four-episode Japan-set "mini-season" titled We're in Japan! was released on November 1, 2019 and featured model-actress Kiko Mizuhara as the Fab Five's guide. This was followed by the fifth season, released on June 5, 2020, a sixth, released on December 31, 2021, a seventh, released May 12, 2023, and an eighth, released on January 24, 2024. In November 2023, Bobby Berk revealed that he would leave the show after the eighth season, at the same time that Netflix renewed it for a ninth season. Three months later, it was announced that his role as the Fab Five's interior decorator would be replaced by Jeremiah Brent.

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This series contains examples of:

• Affectionate Nickname: The guys sometimes address each other this way (eg. "Tanny", "Jonny").
• Armor-Piercing Question: In "Preaching Out Loud", the hero, Pastor Noah, expresses regret for not coming out as until his mid-thirties because he feels as if he could have used his influence as a pastor to help the LGBTQ+ community find acceptance in the Christian church sooner than he already was doing. Karamo takes him to meet Bishop Guy Erwin and Pastor Megan, the first openly-gay Lutheran bishop and the first openly trans pastor in the Lutheran church, respectively, so he can meet other LGBTQ+ clergies. They get into a conversation about a boy at Pastor Noah's church who always knew he was gay but wasn't comfortable with coming out until recently despite the acceptance of his church and family of his sexuality, which leads to a positive version of this that helps Pastor Noah let go of his guilt.
  Pastor Megan: Would you ever tell that kid in your congregation that they didn't come out soon enough?
  Pastor Noah: No.
  Pastor Megan: So why do you tell yourself that, child of God?
  (Pastor Noah starts crying)
  Karamo: What's going on?
  Pastor Noah: I needed to hear that.
• The Atoner:
  • Tammye was raised to believe homosexuality was against God, and wasn't happy when her son came out. However, when she was recovering from breast cancer, she reevaluated that belief and realized it was wrong, so she asked her son for forgiveness, and they reconciled. It's clear she genuinely regrets how she initially reacted, and her son doesn't seem to hold it against her.
  • Josh, Rahanna's boyfriend in "Groomer Has It", cheated on her with another woman in the past. Despite her willingness to give him a second chance and them moving in together, she still doesn't trust him that much and he still harbors a lot of guilt from the whole incident. Karamo does a couple's therapy session with Josh and Rahanna at a coffeehouse to get them to really open up with each other about the incident so they can move forward and rebuild trust in their relationship.
• Bilingual Dialogue: The We're in Japan! episodes edit out the voice of the Fab Five's Japanese interpreter, Lena, thus giving off the impression that the English-speaking hosts and the Japanese-speaking heroes are just somehow able to understand each other. Lampshaded at the end of the season's first episode, where Jonathan asks Kiko (in Japanese) "hey Kiko, how are we able to understand Japanese?", and Kiko responds by introducing Lena to the audience.
• Book Dumb: Bobby never graduated high school because of living homeless during his teenage years after his family kicked him out for being gay, but he has excellent design and business-management skills that he picked up while working several retail jobs to support himself.
• Brief Accent Imitation: In "Silver Lining Sweeney", Jennifer (who has a very thick Philadelphian accent) and Tan (who was born and raised in England) try out each other's accents. They both fail badly at it.
• Brutal Honesty:
  • If Tan doesn't like a piece of clothing one of the heroes has, he won't hesitate to voice his negative opinion on it.
  • The people who nominate the heroes for the show also don't hesitate to do this to the nominees.
• But Not Too Bi: Antoni describes himself as being "a bit more fluid on the spectrum" and has stated that he prefers to avoid labeling his sexuality.
• Camp Gay: Four of the Fab Five have moments (Antoni, the single Straight Gay of the bunch, is playfully told this and being white is the only reason why he doesn't feel nervous in the Deep South) but the most obvious is Jonathan, who is generally extremely peppy, comments about stereotypical gay interests, and shares beauty, grooming, and skincare tips with the participants. Jonathan even admits as much in "To Gay or Not Too Gay" when he says he never really came out because him being gay was as obvious as the sky being blue.
  Karamo: Did you think we were gonna do some crazy stuff, like dress you up in drag or something?
  Matt: No, I mean I don't think like— Not quite that one. I guess I wouldn't have dismissed it out of the realm of possibilities—
  Karamo: Of possibilities, us putting you in drag?
  Matt: Yeah.
  Karamo: The only one out of the five of us that wears heels is Jonathan.
• Catchphrase: Jonathan's "Can you believe?"
• Coming-Out Story: "To Gay or Not Too Gay" is about a man whose goal is to come out as gay to his stepmother.
• Commonality Connection:
  • In "Black Girl Magic", heroine Jess and Bobby bond over how similar their childhoods are; both of them were Teen Pregnancy babies who were adopted by their birth parents' elder siblings, and they grew up in deeply-religious Christian Communities that condemned homosexuality. They were also disowned by their families in their later teen years once they were outed.
  • Bobby and Pastor Noah from "Preaching Out Loud" bond from both of them being gay men who grew up in homophobic Christian rural communities that they had to leave for their own safety.
  • Antoni is excited to learn that Jennifer, the heroine of "Silver Lining Sweeney", is also descended from a Polish family who immigrated to North America. He teaches her how to make several Polish dishes as a result.
  • In "The North Philadelphia Story", Tyreek was a homeless teenager, and while he was lucky enough to have some friends that helped him get through that situation and he has his own apartment and job now, he's afraid that he'll lose it all again. Bobby can relate to this all too well since he was a homeless teenager himself.
  • A variation in "Paging Dr. Yi": Lilly feels guilty because of how little time she's had for her husband and daughter while in residency. Bobby is able to speak from her husband's point of view, because his husband is a doctor and they were together through med school and residency.
  • Speedy, the hero of “Speedy for Life” became paraplegic after a horrible car accident that also killed his mom and one of his aunts. Karamo invites Wesley, the hero of “Disabled but not Really”, to come meet Speedy since he also became paraplegic in a traumatic way.
• Compassionate Critic: All the Fab Five's criticisms are meant to help the hero improve their lives — not just the way they look, but their overall well-being and happiness, too. They'll get blunt when the situation calls for it, but never mean, and they usually try and meet the hero where they are.
• Crossover:
  • The boys appeared in a Season 2 episode of Nailed It!.
  • They make another appearance in a season 3 episode of Big Mouth.
• Culture Clash: Downplayed, but the Southern men being made over tend to skew more conservative, which leads to some eye-opening conversations with the Fab Five.
• Cuteness Proximity: In Season 4 "Stoner Skates By," corgi-lover Antoni loses it upon stepping into their designated man's house and seeing his pet corgi.
• Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: In "The North Philadelphia Story," Tyreek's Honorary Aunt Ruth raised him, until he was abruptly sent back to his biological mother. It turns out this was because the state was forcing her to choose between raising Tyreek, or raising her young grandson who had severe health problems. Despite it breaking her heart to send Tyreek away, she knew she had to help her grandson.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Bobby was born and grew up in an extremely homophobic Christian community, and when he was outed when he was fifteen his family disowned him and he was forced to flee the town he grew up in. He subsequently lived homeless for a few years.
• Deadpan Snarker: Tan usually has the most sarcastic jabs to make at the nominee's expense, but Antoni and Bobby often get in on it, too, depending on just how bad it is.
• Distracted by the Sexy: When the Fab Five first meet Ryan, the hero of "DJ's on Repeat", he's shirtless in a tanning bed, and they spend a few moments obviously focusing on how fit he is.
  Antoni: I'm distracted by his abs.
• Doting Parent: Most of the parents on the show obviously love their kids, but John from "Stoner Skates By" is the shining example. He utterly adores his daughter Lucy, and describes her as his best friend. John's a good example of this trope combined with Parents as People — as much as he loves her, he's not always as involved as a father should be with his ten-year-old child, which the Fab Five set out to fix.
• Double Standard: Pointed out and defied. The Fab Five often ask the men if their wives make an effort for them, and if they also make an effort for their wives, and it usually turns out that they don’t make that same effort in their appearance or in helping out around the house. The Fab Five try to show them that it can’t just be the women doing all the work and looking pretty for their husbands.
• Driving While Black: Discussed. In an episode involving the makeover of a cop, the nominator (who is also a cop) plays a joke on the Fab Five by pulling them over as they drive into town, then revealing who he is. Mostly they laugh it off, but Karamo (who was driving) is not amused, and later has a heart-to-heart talk with the cops about how frightening that kind of thing is for a black man. Karamo and Tan also threatened to quit immediately afterwards, and almost did.
• Dude, Not Funny!: In one episode, a nominator decided to play a prank on the Fab Five by pretending to pull them over. However, Karamo was driving the car and did not find it funny, neither did Tan. While Cory and Karamo were alone, Karamo talked about how uncomfortable he was about the joke and the two got into a serious conversation about race relations between black people and cops.
• Dynamic Entry: The guys often ambush the hero of every episode and roll up on whatever it is they're doing in an over-the-top and flamboyant fashion. One of the best ones was in "Make Ted Great Again," when they found Ted (the mayor of his town) by yelling through a megaphone and driving through town until they found him... having a lunch meeting with some people.
  "Please tell me where Mayor Ted Terry is! There are five queens looking for the mayor!"
• Early Instalment Weirdness: The first season was well-received, but the show evolved much more when it grew beyond the formula. In the first season, the crew still only worked on men, and the season was still mostly focused on individuals (aside from the fire station) whereas in future seasons they included women and did far more group projects like the church and the school or did businesses like the dog grooming business and the barbecue joint. Karamo also said in the first and second season he felt his role wasn't refined enough and was largely limited to heart-to-hearts with the heroes; in future seasons he'd be more interactive with things like taking his heroes to dance classes, rock climbing, exploring archives, working out and more.
• Eating the Eye Candy: Once an Episode, but especially in "To Gay or Not Too Gay," where all of the Fab Five go wild over AJ's leather chest harness, and Antoni in particular needs to get a soda because he's suddenly very thirsty.
• Education Mama:
  • The client in "Big Little Lies" is hesitant to admit to his parents that he didn't graduate from college due to failing a class because of his parents' high standards.
  • In "Jones Bar-B-Q", heroines (and sisters) Deborah and Mary reopened their family barbecue stand to help Deborah's daughter, Izora, pay for college.
• Firemen Are Hot: In "Hose Before Bros", which is set at a fire department, Karamo frequently points out an attractive fireman he dubs "Superman".
  Karamo: Can we just do fireman episodes all the time, please?

• Former Teen Rebel: Wesley Henderson, the hero of "Disabled But Not Really" used to be a gangster and drug dealer. However, when he was 24, a gunfight resulted in him getting shot in the spine and paralyzed from the waist down, forcing him to reevaluate his life and subsequently decided to turn it around. He then became a community activist and started a nonprofit that helps people in wheelchairs get physical exercise to remain as healthy as possible.
• Fun T-Shirt: Karamo wears these a lot; for example, he wears an "Art Therapy" shirt in "Lost Boy", and one of his shirts in "Silver Lining Sweeney" says "Cry Today, Smile Tomorrow".
• Fun with Subtitles: In Season 2, whenever someone swears, it's bleeped and replaced in captions with a cleaner version.
• The Gloves Come Off: The Fab Five are theatrically camp and are open about their sexuality, however, when they are uncomfortable about something or they confront a controversial subject. They will cut the theatrics and calmly address the problem in the best way possible. For example; when the five start to help a police officer named Cory, his work partner and sponsor play a prank on them but it is very uncomfortable for Karamo (who is driving) due to the strained and tense relationship between law enforcement and African Americans. When Karamo and Cory are alone, the pair speak about the problem in a peaceful manner.
• God Before Dogma: Unlike its predecessor, the remake deals explicitly with religion and what it means to gay people. Bobby (who fled the church of his upbringing when he was outed due to it being extremely homophobic) and Jonathan take this stance, saying God is good but organized religion messes things up.
  Jonathan: The Church is what I feel alienated by, not God. I feel completely loved and accepted by God and Jesus. It's a lot of the politics of the Church, that's what made me feel not welcome, because that was the choir of people saying, "I love you. I just don't accept your lifestyle choices".
  Bobby: I can relate to that.
• Good Ol' Boy: The police officer they makeover is portrayed as this.
• Good Parents: Rahanna's parents completely support her deciding to begin a mobile grooming business, when the RV she was using for it broke down, they allowed her to have it in front of their house so she could still have customers, and they're the ones who nominated her for the show so she could get some well-needed help. Rahanna's mother even helps Tan with the fashion portion of the episode.
• Guys are Slobs: Some episodes are heavier on this than others, but present most of the time. Most of the male "heroes" tend to be messy in some way, and the Fab Five have to teach them to be neater and more hygienic. A notable aversion is Wesley, because, having to use a wheelchair, he can't afford mess or it will impede his movements.
• Happily Adopted:
  • Firefighter Jeremy Holmes and his wife Bonnie are the proud adoptive parents of five biologically-related-to-each-other siblings.
  • Sean Vanmeter, the 18-year-old hero of "Bedazzled", was raised by his godmother Lulu because his birth parents were unable to take care of him.
• Have I Mentioned I Am Gay?: The Fab Five's personal lives don't come up much, but they do like reminding the audience and the participants that they're gay.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: The nominees often make negative comments about themselves, usually disguised by jokes at first, only for them to admit they actually believe what they're saying. Deconstructed, as the Fab Five recognizes that this points to a real lack of self-esteem, and try to help the nominees break out of the habit of insulting themselves. In particular, Robert, the hero of "When Robert Met Jamie," can't seem to go more than a few minutes without belittling himself, until Karamo plays recordings of all the self-deprecating things he said within the first hour of meeting the Fab Five. Even Robert is stunned by just how many there are and admits he really does not feel good about himself. Karamo's exercise with him is to have him stand in front of a mirror and list his positive attributes.
• Hillbilly Horrors: Discussed by Karamo in "Farm to Able" when the Fab Five arrive at a farm in rural Missouri.
  Karamo: This look like where the killer live.[...]I keep telling y'all, when y'all see these scary movies, it don't happen in the inner city.
• Hint Dropping: Discussed by Karamo and William when he talks about Shannon wanting the latter to propose:
  William: I think I've been receiving some hints lately. She's kind of let slip her ring size and we went shopping, and we happened to walk by a jewelry store...
  Karamo: That's not a hint, that's called a kick in the ass.
• Homeschooled Kids: Sean Vanmeter, the hero of "Bedazzled," did virtual schooling throughout high school because it gave him the flexibility to practice and perform his concerts without harming his grades. While still a sweet and nice guy, Sean is pretty introverted and his closest friends are the adult friends of his godmother, Lulu. One of the things the Fab 5 has to do to help him is to get him to interact with kids his own age, especially since he's going to be attending college soon.
• House Husband: Jon, the husband of Lilly in "Paging Dr. Yi" and the one who nominated her for the show, has been a stay-at-home dad for the past three years taking care of their daughter, Anabelle, so Lilly can finish her residency to get her doctorate so she can become a pediatrician. On his part, Jon doesn't like making a big deal out of it despite it not being a traditionally male role.
  Jon: It's what family should do. Like, it ain't about men or women. It's whoever can do for the family, just do it.
• I Have No Son!: Bobby's homophobic Christian family disowned him for being gay when he was 15. Jess and Skyler were also rejected by their parents for being lesbian and trans, respectively.
• In Touch with His Feminine Side: The Fab Five, of course, to various extents. They notably encourage the men being made over to do so as well, noting that things like emotions and self-care are necessary and beneficial.
• Insecure Love Interest: There have been multiple heroes who don't feel good about themselves, and wonder what the heck their partner is doing there with them. Part of the Fab Five's mission is then to help the hero understand that they do deserve their partner's affection.
• Insistent Terminology: In "From Hunter to Huntee", during Antoni's session with Jody, while they're at a high-end restaurant, Antoni says that he wants to call it a "special" restaurant instead of "fancy".
  Antoni: "Fancy" makes it sound like it's elitist or wrong.
• Inspirationally Disadvantaged: The hero of "Disabled But Not Really" is a paraplegic man who turned his life around after the shooting that paralyzed him in the first place. He started an organization that provides fitness lessons to similarly disabled people.
• Jumping Out of a Cake: The guys ambush the subject of "When Robert Met Jamie" at his bachelor party, with Jonathan having the honor of jumping out of a giant fake cake to greet him.
• Kid-Appeal Character: Jonathan; he's the youngest of the five by a fair margin (the next youngest, Antoni, is three years his senior) and by far the most hyperactive and lighthearted of the bunch. He's also the most prone to peppering his quips with contemporary slang, most famously "Yas". He's still very much capable of dialing it back when he wants or needs to, though.
• Late Coming Out: Pastor Noah in "Preaching Out Loud" didn't come out as gay until his thirties because he grew up in an extremely homophobic church and family. He feels ashamed for staying in the closet for as long as he did, as he believes he could have used his influence as a pastor to help LBGT+ Christians sooner if he had come out earlier. Karamo, Bishop Guy Erwin, and Pastor Megan help Noah realize that if he wouldn't judge a member of his congregation for not being ready to come out of the closet until later in life, he shouldn't judge himself for not coming out of the closet until he was ready.
• Legacy Team: Tan, Karamo, Bobby, Jonathan, and Antoni are the second generation Fab Five taking over from the originals.
• Letting the Air out of the Band: The background music in "Father Of The Bride" goes out when Kevin reveals that he still has most of his ex-wife's clothing in his closet even though they've been divorced for the past four years.
• Little Miss Snarker:
  • Bobby Camp's two oldest daughters, much to Tan's amusement.
  • Kai, the stepdaughter of Tony in "Baby on Board," is a cheerfully sarcastic young girl, helped by the fact that she's unusually bright for a six-year-old. This time, it's Antoni who gets to hear the most of it.
  • Lucy, the ten-year-old daughter of John in "Stoner Skates By." Not only does she agree with all of the Fab Five's notes, she's the one that nominated John for the show in the first place. She loves her dad dearly, but doesn't hesitate to snark at him.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Jonathan (who is non-binary but uses he/him) has long locks to complement his position as the resident grooming expert.
• Looks Like Jesus: Jonathan, who has long brown hair and a beard. Lampshaded for laughs.
  Bobby: Jesus take the wheel.
  Jonathan: Got it!
• Magical Queer: The whole premise is five gay men coming in to advise and uplift someone who needs help with themselves.
• Massive Numbered Siblings:
  • "Camp Rules" features a family with six young kids; their parents are obviously harried trying to care for all of them properly.
  • In "Hose Before Bros", Jeremy and his wife Bonnie had adopted five children who are all biological siblings.
• Meaningful Rename: The series notably drops the "for the Straight Guy" from its title to emphasize its focus on inclusivity and self-acceptance.
• Men Can't Keep House: Present in some episodes, where the men being made over have sloppy, messy houses that are invariably made more functional and efficient by the end of the episode.
  • Played very straight in "Unleash the Sexy Beast", where Leo's wife complains about his messiness and lack of regard for house order in the introduction.
  • Again in "Baby on Board", where the fiancee worries about how they're going to get the house ready for a baby because the guy being made over doesn't pick up after himself.
  • A notable and justified aversion shows up with Wesley Henderson in "Disabled But Not Really"; because he's paraplegic, he can't afford to leave stuff lying around on the floors or else he can't navigate the house in his wheelchair.
  • “Queer Eye for the Lambda Chi” has a seven-man crew of fraternity brother whose frat house is extremely messy with most of the stuff being broken and it smelling really badly. Bobby even makes the fraternity brothers clean up the downstairs so they can learn how to maintain their living spaces and do minor home repairs.
• Men Don't Cry: Defied, the Fab Five encourages men to be open about their emotions and frequently explains how it's healthy to cry or show vulnerability.
• Mood Whiplash: The conversation between Karamo and Jody about her not feeling "feminine enough" due to her lifelong tomboyishness is interrupted by Tan approaching them wearing the camo lingerie top he found in her dresser and the three of them laughing their asses off about it.
• Newspaper-Thin Disguise: How the Fab 5 greet Tony, the hero of "Baby on Board". They show up at the doctor's office where Bri, his live-in girlfriend, is having a prenatal appointment. Antoni disguises himself as a doctor so he can lure Tony out to the lobby for the Fab 5 to meet him, and the others sit down and cover their faces with magazines until Tony shows up, giving them the edge to jump up and surprise them. Bonus points for the fact that the magazines they're holding actually feature photos of them on the magazine covers.
• No Social Skills: Sean Vanmeter, the hero of "Bedazzled," is a very sweet and polite kid, but he's shy and has no idea how to interact with other teenagers. He's fine on stage and with adults, but it's been a while since he's any friends his own age. This is because he was homeschooled through high school because it gave him the flexibility to prepare for and perform his concerts without harming his academic performance, which couldn't have helped. Karamo's role in helping him involves going to a paintball park, and telling him to go make small talk with some other teenagers that are there, while Antoni hosts a mini-cooking class with Sean and other kids who are on their way to college to get Sean used to a classroom setting.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Bobby's work redesigning and remodeling the heroes' homes, which is often very elaborate, is almost always given nearly zero screen time until the big reveal at the end, leading to many jokes from viewers about him doing the most work yet getting the least credit.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Jonathan always calls heroes "queen", regardless of if they're male or female. However, he doesn't do this to the hero of "Sky's The Limit", because Skylar is an AFAB transgender man and Jonathan wants to respect his gender.
• Oop North: If any people watching from the North of England hear Tan’s transatlantic accent and think “hold on, that sounds strangely familiar…” - you’d be correct. Tan grew up in Doncaster (South Yorkshire, England), made his way to Manchester, then across the pond to New York, and finally has made a life and family in Salt Lake City. The accent reflects a mishmash between northern English accents (including Manc and Yorkshire) with an ever-increasing American twang.
• Parents as People: The show frequently displays the struggles of parenthood.
  • Joey struggled with alcoholism in the past, which resulted in his divorce from his ex-wife when his son, Issac, was five years old. While he has gotten sober and managed to land a full-time job as an Outdoor Education Center Program Director since then, the job required him having to move from Michigan to Missouri, meaning that he would only get to see Issac a couple of times a year now instead of weekly. While it was hard for Joey to make the decision, he ultimately took the job because he wanted Issac to see him succeed at a career rather than taking on whatever odd jobs he could to survive. Also, the job gave Joey his own apartment right on the education center campus, which allows Issac to have a place to stay whenever he visits instead of just sleeping in the old, cramped RV that Joey has lived in during the past few years.
  • Rob lost his wife, Alison, to breast cancer and had to portray himself as a strong father figure to his young sons by hiding his feelings, grief, and vulnerabilities.
  • Tammye was a deeply religious fundamentalist who initially rejected her son for being gay until she had cancer and reevaluated her choices and beliefs during her recovery. This led to her realizing that she was wrong about how she had treated Miles and apologized to him, allowing them to reconcile and her becoming much more open-minded towards LBGTQ+ people.
  • John is a sweet guy who fawns over his daughter, but his depression and other factors (such as co-parenting her with his ex-wife) lead to him being a little absent, and leading to her parenting him. In fact, Lucy is the one who nominated him for the show in the first place so he could get help.
  • In "How Wanda Got Her Groove Back", Wanda's adult daughters, Arika and Keke, admit that while they love their mother and loved being part of the drill team she founded, they feel that her Workaholic dedication to running her drill team and how they sometimes feel intimidated by her with her difficulty with being open about her emotions has negatively affected their relationship with her.
    Antoni: What's it like having a mom who's so dedicated to her job?
    Keke: It's hard. Because there's days where we're like "Okay, can we not do drill team?"
  • In "Silver Lining Sweeney", Jennifer is devoted to her family because she's always wanted to be a wife and mother. However, between being the caretaker of her ALS-inflicted husband, John, and having to be the sole breadwinner for her family for the past ten years, she has gotten into a mindset that she's the only one who can get everything done, to the point where she refuses to let her now-adult daughters help out around the house. Karamo deduces that this is her way of dealing with the fact that she will inevitably lose her husband to a terminal disease and there's nothing she can do to save him.
  • In "Father Knows Fish", Marcos is dedicated to the fish shop he and his wife, Alma, started when they immigrated to Philidelphia from Mexico so they could provide a better life for their children. However, Marcos ends up so dedicated to the shop and the restaurant that he's also trying to establish when the Fab 5 show up that he spends most of his time working instead of spending time with his family. This ended up alienating his oldest daughter, Jennifer, to the point where she moved out of the house shortly after graduating high school, and Karamo's part of the episode is helping Marcos and Jennifer reconcile.
    Karamo: He is working so hard because he's trying to give his family a better life. But it's coming at a price because he's not spending enough time with his family.
  • In "Father of the Bride", Kevin and his daughter Haley are very close (to the point when she chose to live with him after her parents divorced), but she's moving out of his house in order to live with her husband-to-be. Kevin is having trouble adjusting to this change and needed help to find a new direction in his life.
  • In "The North Philadelphia Story", Tyreek and his foster mother Ruth became estranged after a heated argument and Tyreek acted on the assumption that Ruth abandoned him out of spite. In reality, Ruth was faced with a monumentally difficult choice; either raise Tyreek or raise her young grandson who had severe health problems from being born extremely prematurely. She couldn't raise both because the state of Pennsylvania wouldn't allow her to take in her grandson if she was already fostering one child. It broke her heart to send Tyreek away, although she knew she had to help her grandson more.
  • Lilly in "Paging Dr. Yi" fears that she doesn't know her three-year-old daughter, Annabelle, well compared to her House Husband Jon because she spent the previous three years doing a medical residency in order to achieve her dream job of becoming a pediatrician. She also feels inadequate compared to her parents because they were Korean immigrants who worked long hours to get enough money for life's necessities yet still managed to have a clean home and meals on the table, and Lilly is unsure if she can achieve the work-life balance that they have. A major part of the episode is the Fab 5 teaching her how to have confidence in both her job life and her family life and that even if she can't be with her husband and daughter all the time, they still love her and enjoy the time they can be with her.
• Pet Dress-Up: In "Groomer Has It", the heroine, Rahanna, states that she wants to expand her mobile dog grooming business to also making doggy dress-up clothing once she deals with the set-backs her business has been facing (such as finding a new van because the RV she's been using for it has broken down). It inspires Bobby and Tan's idea to host a doggy fashion show to help boost her business's popularity.
• Poor Communication Kills: The Fab Five often emphasize the importance of communication and being up-front about your needs.
  • Rahanna from "Groomer Has It" has to have a sit-down with her boyfriend, Josh, so they can truly move past their relationship problems.
  • In "The North Philadelphia Story," we find out Tyreek believes his godmother had him move back in with his biological mother as a child because of a fight they had, worrying she no longer loved him. As such, even when he grew up and got back on his feet, he was always too terrified to call her. She explains to Karamo that she was in a truly impossible position; the state wouldn't let her take in her grandson if she was already fostering another child, and her grandson truly needed her. However, she didn't tell Tyreek this because he was only a kid and she didn't think he needed to know, and he never reached out to her. So much pain could have been avoided on both ends if they'd just talked to each other.
  • In "Father Knows Fish", Marco's Workaholism and the Culture Clash between how he grew up in Mexico and how his oldest daughter, Jennifer, grew up in Philadelphia has caused a communication breakdown between them, and things got so bad between them that she moved out of the house without any kind of warning. Karamo has to help both of them sit down and talk to each other so they can understand what happened between them and reconcile.
  • In the Queer Eye: We're in Japan! episode "Bringing Sexy Back," the Fab Five had been lightly poking fun at the fact that Makoto's relationship with his wife, Yasuko, had been sexless for five years; it's only when Makoto makes a comment to Tan about not wanting to think of his wife in a sexual way any more that makes them realise that something was seriously wrong, however. Karamo (with Jonathan's help) stages an intervention early, and the two are able to air their worries that had been dragging their relationship down the entire time: Makoto wasn't sure Yasuko really loved him, but didn't want to ask in case she rejected him, while Yasuko felt self-conscious about not being "a good housewife" and wondered if Makoto regretted marrying her. Being able to communicate those feelings to each-other, and being able to reassure each-other that they were in love, meant that their relationship problems were largely resolved.
• Precocious Crush: Six-year-old Kai declares Antoni her boyfriend.
  Antoni: We're gonna have to have a talk later...
• Ramen as Dehydrated Noodles: Jessie, the heroine of "Black Girl Magic", often eats instant noodles, mainly because it's usually the only thing that she is able to afford. Antoni shows her how to make "cheap and cheerful" homemade chicken broth ramen for when she and her "Found Family" is sharing a meal together.
• Real Men Hate Affection: Defied. The Fab Five continuously maintain that it is important to show your emotions and be vulnerable every once in a while and discourage people from keeping others at arm's length.
  Karamo: When people build up walls, they end up keeping other people out but they're also keeping themselves in.
• Recovered Addict:
  • Joey in "Lost Boy" struggled with severe alcoholism when his son Issac was young, resulting in the divorce between him and his ex-wife and living in an RV. Fortunately, he has gotten sober since then and has landed a job as a Program Director at an Outdoor Education Center (with an apartment on the campus grounds included).
  • The same episode reveals that Antoni also has struggled with drug addictions.
• Reformed Criminal: Wesley Henderson used to be a drug dealer and gangster, but after getting shot in the spine and paralyzed from the waist down when he was 24, he evaluated his life and decided to turn it around. He subsequently founded a nonprofit that helps wheelchair users get regular exercise to maintain their health and became a community activist.
• Restrained Revenge: In "Hose Before Bros", Jeremy pranks Tan with a shocking pen when he needed to write something down. After Jeremy's session with Tan, Tan "punishes" Jeremy for the earlier prank by making him change back into his old clothes for the rest of the day.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Tan. While all of the Fab Five swear to some extent in the show, you could make a drinking game out of how frequently Tan says "fucking" alone.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: Very much at the idealist end. Even more than making people over, the show aims to demonstrate that people of different races, religions, sexual orientations and politics can learn to get along if only they try to understand each other.
• Straight Gay:
  • Antoni. In one episode, his colleagues point out that this is why he's the only one who isn't nervous when they head into the Georgia backwoods (along with the fact that he's white).
  • AJ, the hero of "Too Gay Or Not Too Gay", is the self-proclaimed "Straightest Gay Guy of Atlanta" and feels uncomfortable about trying to "look gay" through his clothing. Tan reassures him that he can dress what's most comfortable for him and it’s okay if that means dressing conservatively. Antoni also shares with AJ how while he experimented with "gay fashion" when he came out, he ultimately decided that t-shirts and jeans was what worked for him.
• Stunned Silence: In "Lost Boy":
  Bobby: Joey works outside and thinks showering and wearing deodorant is pointless.
  [Beat as the Fab 5 process this information]
  Jonathan: That is a risk-taker.
• Strictly Formula:
  • The episodes begin with the Fab Five in their car learning about their client. This is then followed by scenes of introducing themselves to the client and evaluating their lifestyles.
  • By the end of the episode, the following will have occurred:
    • Tan will dress the client in skinnier pants and a well-fitted shirt (jacket optional). He'll probably suggest a French tuck (just tucking in the front of a shirt, and leaving the rest out).
    • Jonathan will give the client a haircut and will probably introduce them to a grooming product.
    • Bobby will transform the house into something modern-looking, largely offscreen.
    • Karamo will have a deep heart-to-heart about emotions.
    • Antoni will teach the client something easy to make but elevated, like guacamole or hotdogs.
  • Also, every season seems to feature a roughly similar collection of heroes:
    • Besides Season 4, there's always at least one LGBTQ+ person who wants to live their truth and become more comfortable in their own skin (AJ, Skyler, Jess, Kan, Noah, Angel, Steph).
    • There's often at least one if not two more old-fashioned, Republican-leaning guys who learn to get in touch with less traditionally masculine things, like facials, fashion and even expressing affection toward other men (Tom, Cory, Matt, Josh).
    • There's often at least one makeover that's more of a "group project" for a community (the firehouse, the church and community centre in Georgia, Jonathan's high school teacher's lounge, the high school prom committee, the houseless outreach centre, Lambda Chi Fraternity house).
    • There's also increasingly business makeovers (the barbecue joint, Deanna's community hub, Marcos' restaurant, the gym, the bakery).
    • "Reformed party guy"/"Bachelor looking to settle down" is a trope that happens almost once a season (Remy, Leo, Jason, John, Ryan, Josh).
    • There's usually one if not more hero whose storyline is "humanitarian who helps others but doesn't help themselves" (Bobby Camp, Mayor Ted, Wesley, Brandon, Tyreek, Abby, Dr. Jereka, Chris).
    • Finally, "sweet but slightly eccentric old man" is a seasonal favourite (Tom, Kenny, Kevin, Todd, and occasional gender-flip with Tammye and Terri).
• Team Pet: In seasons 3 and 4, a French bulldog named Bruley hangs around the Fab Five's loft and features in scenes that are shot there. Following Bruley's death after the fourth season, season 5 has a dog named Walter fill this role.
• Tears of Joy: A common thing on the show:
  • AJ because he's so relieved that his stepmother accepts his sexuality.
  • Shannan starts crying when William's marriage proposal starts.
  • Deborah starts crying when Tan and Jonathan bring her to a dentist to get a tooth implant so she doesn't have to hide her smile anymore.
  • In "Groomer Has It", Rahanna cries when she sees that the Fab 5 had gotten her a van decked out with everything she needed for her mobile grooming business, thus helping her get it back off the ground.
• Vanity Is Feminine: Acknowledged and defied. The Fab Five encourage good grooming and style in the men they're making over, emphasizing that it's not just for women and that men should also put in the effort.
• Wacky Marriage Proposal: Invoked in "A Decent Proposal", since the bride-to-be is a fan of romantic comedies. The proposal is her boyfriend (the person being made over) producing a film about how much he loves her and showing it at a public theater before coming out and popping the question.
• The Whitest Black Guy: Jess, the heroine of "Black Girl Magic", felt ostracized by the white community growing up for being black, and by the black community for not being black "enough". Karamo disapproves of the notion that there is a set way to be black.
• Your Days Are Numbered: "Silver Lining Sweeney" is about a family who's dad/husband has had ALS for the past ten years. While he's still able to walk around with canes and braces and can still talk, the fact that he's slowly deteriorating away from it has been taking a heavy emotional toll on not only him but the rest of the family.

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