I'm genuinely wondering why anyone who has this take would even like the story at that point? I just don't get it, because if you only read Hawk as a villainous abuser then it's the story of someone who was abused and ultimately leaves things off on in a good place with his abuser. The fact that it does a massive disservice to the depth and nuance of Hawk as a character aside, it assumes zero agency or growth for Tim within the story either, which is such a disservice to him. Don't get me wrong, Hawk is a complicated character who certainly does make some really painful mistakes, but no, at no point does he make them because he's just some villainous manipulator who doesn't care about anyone in his life. Both the writing and Matt in his performance go out of their way to make it absolutely clear that he DOES love and care about the people in his life very deeply, almost none (the exception being his children) more so than Tim. The problem was never that he was a horrible person, it was only ever that the world they lived in had constantly told him he had no choice but to but to lie; that no matter how much he might desperately long for a life with Tim, it simply wasn't an option on the table, and if they tried, it would be putting Tim at risk even more so than himself. So, sure, I guess you can choose to read Hawk on the most absolute surface level possible and write him off as nothing but a villain for having hurt Tim, but like... truly, what's the point of the story then? It becomes infinitely, infinitely more meaningful when you recognize that both Tim AND Hawk deserved so much better.

With respect, the show runs eight hours, every minute of which is essential viewing. No one could possibly understand Hawk and Tim's complex, volatile love for one another -- not to mention the other characters and subplots -- unless they watch the entire show. Thank you.

Hawk certainly did have a lot of internalized (and understandable, given the world he lived in) fear and shame, but I wouldn't particularly say that his mistakes came from a place of only caring about himself. I think he wanted just as badly as Tim for them to be able to have a life together, but every experience he had of the world reinforced his believe that it simply wasn't an option. And moreover, he had more fear about what could happen to Tim if they tried than he did about what could happen to him - so much of his trauma was his knowing that he had a tendency to be bulletproof, but the people who loved him weren't. So I don't feel like it does his character justice to just chalk it up to simple cowardice, you know? It is true that it's the characters like Tim and Frankie, who fought to live their authentic lives even despite the world they lived in, who were incredibly brave and pushed toward progress, but there were a lot more people like Hawk, and they weren't bad or selfish people for having been shaped by a world that told them their only option for survival was to lie.

You’re so right. Hawk might have shown more affection to Tim than anyone else, even Lucy - he just married her for his own protection - but he never deserved him and yet, Tim always forgave and loved him and could never stop or love anyone like he loved him.

​​@@knowledgegathererdraftsave1979 you’re both fucking stupid actually. he loved tim just as much, but he was too damaged to be able to give him the love he deserved. he didn’t do anything to deliberately hurt tim, he didn’t have malicious intent, he wasn’t cruel. he did what he thought he needed to do to survive, as they all did, that’s it. maybe watch the show again since you CLEARLY missed the entire point.

Not to mention, he also ruined Lucy's chance at finding someone who could love her the way she deserved. She spent 30 years feeling alone and undesired. Fuck heteronormative society for making Hawk feel like he needed to use her as a beard.

TT

I'm trying to figure it out myself... Were we robbed?