The Book of Rannells: The New Normal: Season 1, Episode 20 – “About a Boy Scout” (2013)

Now that season 1 of Black Monday has finished and I’ve reviewed Too Much is Not Enough, we’re (finally) back to the last few episodes of The New Normal.  Before I jump into it, though, let me just say:  Ryan Murphy is reuniting the Broadway cast of The Boys in the Band to film an adaptation for Netflix.  That’s happening.  Yesssss!!!  And now, back to your regularly-scheduled programming.

This episode is rooted in a similar idea as “The XY Factor” – a friend of David’s invites him to come along and help with a typical “boy” activity, which David is super-excited about, Bryan less so – but the two stories really are quite different in terms of theme and execution.  I’ll admit to liking “The XY Factor” better, both for the strong dramatic scenes and for what I think is a more creative resolution, but I do appreciate that this episode doesn’t feature David displaying any of the gender essentialist BS he did there.

David is ecstatic be to invited to help out on a Boy Scout camping trip.  An Eagle Scout himself, he looks back on his scouting boyhood fondly and looks forward to their son someday joining the Scouts too.  Bryan is more skeptical – aside from his feelings about going to the bathroom outdoors, he’s wary of the organization’s discriminatory policies and doesn’t see why David would want to be a part of that.  Meanwhile, Rocky learns some troubling news about Bryce and isn’t sure what to do about it.

This is the first we’ve heard about David being really into scouting, but it does fit in well with his established character – a good combination of physically demanding and nerdy, both of which are right in his wheelhouse.  The montage of him “suiting up” is delightfully, proudly dorky, but I like that, once the show actually puts him within the context of a Boy Scout troop, the framing changes and he becomes a Scout Master rock star instead of a grown man in a neckerchief.

The issue of discrimination in the Boy Scouts is treated a bit heavyhandedly, but it’s not too bad.  The episode gets into shades of homophobia beyond the classic “I hate the gays” knuckle-dragging, showing that less “overt” hatred is no less hurtful, and I also like the exploration of David wavering over whether or not to come out to the troop, as Bryan challenges him to do.  The execution is a little wobbly, maybe, but I like how it touches on the notion that you’re never really done coming out.  A person can be out professionally, socially, personally, walking around in public, but then put them in a certain place, and they’re closeted all over again.  Societal conditioning that sets heteronormativitiy as a “default” makes it easier for someone like David to hide if he wants to (as opposed to Bryan, who’s likely pegged as gay wherever he goes,) and despite his cavalier insistence that the Scouts don’t really enforce those outdated rules of theirs, he balks at the idea of being open in that setting.

                                               

It’s really David’s story, so Bryan is in more of a supporting role, but Andrew Rannells still has plenty to do.  The episode has him teasing David over the nerdiness of scoutdom, which is very in character for him – he has wry little remarks about David’s uniform and strong feelings about “[pooping] in the woods like animals” – but despite Bryan’s obvious dislike for it, his teasing is light and loving.  He’s more forceful in his arguments about the organization’s homophobia.  He’s opposed to the idea of their son joining a group that would discriminate against his family, and he all but dares David to tell the boys and the Scout Masters that he’s gay.  However, even though Bryan has no love for what the Boy Scouts do or the “values” they promote, and even though he takes issue with David’s support of it, he doesn’t exactly begrudge David his love for it.  Ultimately, Bryan sees that it makes David happy and wouldn’t want that taken away from him; he wants David to come out so he can be comfortable with himself in a place that he loves, rather than so Bryan can prove a point about homophobia.  These are several different directions for Bryan’s character all at the same time, but Rannells makes them work and feel consistent with one another.

Also, it’s a brief scene, but I like when Rocky comes to Bryan for advice on her Bryce dilemma.  Rocky poses her problem hypothetically (“should you be honest about…, even though it might…?”, that kind of thing,) and Bryan’s first reaction is a dismayed, “You think I’m fat.”  When he finds out that’s not it, his second guess is, “You think David is fat – you have to tell him!”  Then, finding out it’s nothing to do with him or David, he admits, “I’m less interested.”  Hee!  Never change, Bryan.