Cucumber

I loved this series. The only thing that was not convincing is that in the series Henry is 46 years old. Come on!!! No 46 year old man that takes good care of himself looks that old. Henry looks more like 56 than 46.

I 'box-set-blitzed' this drama when it first came out and absolutely loved it, then did the same with it's companion piece, Banana. This time around, seven years later, I watched it as intended: one episode of Cucumber, one episode of Banana and found that I enjoyed it even more. Apart from the odd old IPhone model it hasn't dated and still hits hard even if you know what's coming. Davies at this point understood humans completely, (a gift that seems to have faded into 'woke cliché' territory in more recent dramas like Years and Years and It's a Sin). The acting is superb, especially Cyril Nri who gives an outstanding performance. (The one exception is Julie Hesomndhalgh who basically plays her own self righteous, patronising self with her own accent; which is completely different from her on-screen brother's). Vincent Franklin is also excellent, swapping emotional drama for comedy and back again at exactly the right moment. If you haven't seen Cucumber then I'd definitely recommend it.

This show is widely criticized for its stereotypical portrayal of gay characters as over-sexed, immature, sleazy and shallow. I could not agree more - the main character (as well as almost everyone on the show) is unlikeable for exactly those reasons. Nevertheless, I feel that the show (just like any other morality tale, which Cucumber basically is) uses its anti-hero to convey a message that is, in its core, a warning. What we see throughout the show, are characters who are unable to truly bond and in a desperate calling for closeness (or is it regaining lost youth, at least for some?) chase after random sex. This chase usually leads them to pathetic begging or self-commodification which, in this fictional universe, is seen as something inescapable and "normal"( like in the subplot with the video- mogul nephew). In effect, their hunger to be loved (via sexual intercourse) leads one of the characters to his death, the other to a existence of vacuous survival and endless desire. The plight of the elder generation is mirrored in the story lines of the young (in Cucumber as well as in its spin- off, Banana), who don't even consider forming any kind of durable bond, let alone expressing any kind of basic human concern (as personified in the truly repulsive character of walking "emptiness behind a pretty face" Freddie.) What I see as emblematic scene of the show is when the protagonist suggests creating a 60'-style commune, only to be met with incomprehension and laughter. The sense of togetherness that once prevailed within the gay culture has been dismantled (is it because of the embracement by the majority culture?),the social interactions take place within a strictly competitive market. Or is it a battleground?

All of this might be lost on some due to the strong comic nature of the show, but to me, the light over-tone of the whole thing only makes the tragedy more approachable to general audience.

Anyone who vilifies this show because they feel it paints a "stereotypical" or "negative" portrait of what gay men are like are either painfully naive or living in denial. This show is not only frighteningly accurate but smartly written, beautifully shot, superbly acted and stylishly edited.

As a 47 year old gay man, I found this (unlike many other gay-themed TV series) to, at long last, finally depict characters with which I am familiar and with whom I identify on many levels.

It's both raw and honest and yet tempers the darker aspects of gay life with humor and respect.

As much as we would like to be perceived as no different than our straight counterparts, the reality is we are different. And for good or ill, most of us gay folk do indeed behave in the manner that is depicted in this show. It was refreshing to not see our lifestyle sugar coated.

In our fight for equality, too often we try to pretend that things are not what they appear. But they are. They always have been, and they always will be. Gay men are, after all, men. And men have a single-mindedness when it comes to behavior and desire. If this show was about straight guys, we'd all say, "Well yeah. Men behave like that." But because it's specifically about gay men, so many would like to say "gay men don't really behave like that." But we do. That is the harsh reality we need to accept.

I've been out since I was 20 years old. In the 27 years of being an out (and proud) gay man, I have seen and encountered all of these characters in my life and still, to this day, see and encounter them. Stop cry-babying that this show perpetuates negative stereotypes. If you don't like what you see in this show, then don't watch the show. But you will see no different in the real world. This is gay life. We love, we lose, we win, we make mistakes and we have sex... a lot of it if we're lucky. And when we're not having sex, we're looking for it. Not because we're gay. But because we're guys. Cucumber depicts what men do and how men behave when those men happen to be gay -- the joy, the misery, the heartache, the loss, the triumphs, the failures, the sex and the never-ending quest for it.

That is the reality of the world we live in. Sorry if you find that harsh. That's what happens when a mirror is held up and you don't like what you see. I personally had no problem with what I saw when I watched this show. I make no apologies for who I am and what I do. I'm far from a minority of one in that respect.

The problem is not with what this show portrays. The problem is that the portrayal is accurate. And that problem is, quite frankly, our problem and no one else's.

Learn to live with it.

This is no "Queer as Folk", which had an actual story based around a set of main characters, who continuously evolved with the seasons. Of course, that ended abruptly in the UK and the US version became a bigger hit. Cucumber tried to do that but seemingly got hijacked along the way. There are many subplots, some of which come to fruition, others just fizzle out or are never mentioned again. The editing leaves much to be desired with scenes just stuck together in some random order. The dialog and sexual scenes are quite raw, and the depicted behavior of the Manchester scene does explain why this was/is a hard hit area for STIs etc. After a while, one does get bored with the story as it does not seem to follow a smooth trajectory. The final episode is a rush to bring the story arc to the end. It was OK, but not great....and could have been so much better!