The T is a young adult drama directed by Bea Cordelia and Daniel Kyri that premiered on Open Television in 2018 . The show focuses on the relationship between two best friends, Jo and Carter and their queer identities. Both a part of the queer community, Jo is a transgender woman who works at an LGBTQ youth health center. She is shy and romantic, and hopelessly in love with Carter. Carter is a gay man who is the son of a popular youth pastor. He is more open to casual relationships than Jo, and unfortunately sees her only as his best friend. This unrequited love is the catalyst for the show’s plot. Jo and Carter spend time away from each other, and both get involved with other people. Jo meets a cisgendered man named Robin, and she falls for him. Carter wants to finally commit to a man he’s been seeing casually for a couple of months. But, he needs support from his best friend Jo. He reaches out to her by means of getting tested at her clinic. It is here that Jo discovers that Carter is positive for HIV.
The episodes are each around five minutes and smoothly bounce back and forth between Carter’s narrative and Jo’s. The serious self discoveries that happened in the series are cut up by small moments of comedy. The T Series does really well with handling sensitive topics in respectful ways and integrates genuine relatability into its plot and dialogues. Themes of rebirth, friendship, and self-love develop as Carter and Jo deal with their respective conflicts. Jo is met with the harsh truth that Robin will always want to hide who she is, but after letting so many years fall into patterns of self-hatred, Jo chooses herself and leaves Robin. Carter opens up to his family about his sexuality and his positive result. His family welcomes who he is with open arms. By the end of the series, Jo and Carter come back together, realizing that they do need each other and always will.
The show utilizes text messages to help push the narrative along, with each episode appealing to younger generations. The plot is clear and concise and is not overwhelming for the shorter media format. The T developed their characters’ relationships and characteristics slowly, giving hints and clues to Jo and Carter’s past and personalities in each episode. It leaves the viewer wanting to keep watching, as well as keep empathizing with the main characters’ conflicts and emotions.
While watching, I was so invested in the lives of Jo and Carter despite only seeing them for a total of a half hour. The plot moved along nicely, with each episode being a different date of the year. It had rhythm and a sensible pacing for the plot of the show and the development of its character’s romantic relationships. The relatability in the dialogue is a great model for a drama series. Respecting the subject matter in a show, such as mental illness and drug abuse, is very crucial to the integrity of real life people who share similar experiences. The T is a great model for showing serious and formerly stereotyped subject matters like HIV and AIDs, in the light they deserve to be in, and the respect it gives to its subject matters is award worthy.
-Delaney Hyldburg