Out With Dad Ep.2 “Out To Lunch” | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Family Drama Web Series

4 Swirlies

“If I was, my mom would die.”

This show does a lot of things smart - one of them is a long opening sequence on episode one, and this episode only has a quick title card.

This episode explores the fall out from the events of episode one, both for Rose and her Dad.

What gets me while watching it is how honest it is, and that made me sad. Not the episode, but the stuff they talk about - how homophobic a place the internet can be, how Rose has to lie about how she feels in order to keep her friendship. It all rings true, but is horribly, horribly sad - without being preachy or overwrought about it.

The writing’s nice, and the performances by the lead cast are strong. The production is a little on the rough side, especially the sound recording in the school cafeteria scene, but it doesn’t get in the way of enjoying the story.

Any good story is about the adversity that the characters overcome, and Out With Dad has chosen a realm within which to tell its story that has nothing but adversity, and the fact these are just normal, average people who are coming from a place of love makes it instantly identifiable and makes you want to reach into the screen and make it better.

I’m told that this series connects deeply with gay and lesbian teens and parents of gay and lesbian teens, but I think that not only can every one relate, but this is the type of story that shows the power of fiction. As a quick aside to explain that, it has been something of a cliche over the last ten years or so to place fiction below non-fiction, as if the fact that a story was “real” (no matter how manipulative or one sided the story telling) it makes it more important, more relevant to people’s lives. I actually believe the opposite. I think fiction is more crucial to our development as a larger community because (at its best) it makes us see and understand the world through other people’s eyes. This isn’t only a story that should be seen by the lesbian teens that it portrays, but by us all so that maybe the sorts of hardships that Rose and her Dad are up against won’t be around in 20 years.

I’m not saying this is an “important” web series that we should all watch in the same way we should take our vitamins or watch CNN so we know what we should talk about at dinner parties, I’m saying it is just as relevant in the lives of straight people as it is in the lives of gay and lesbians.

They are currently in production on season two. Best of luck, Out With Dadders! Hopefully we’ll be up to date by the time you post your new season!

From YouTube Description:

Nathan (Will Conlon) wants to learn how to help Rose. First thing he learns is that friends are more reliable than the Internet. Meanwhile, Kenny (Corey Lof) encorages Rose (Kate Conway) to make amends with Vanessa (Lindsey Middleton).

Info about the webpages found in this episode:
http://www.outwithdad.com/making-out/gay-queries

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