#that bl

In previous discussions of themes in Only Friends, we've discussed Voyeurism as something present in the show on both a textual and metatextual level a few times. @rabbiitte posted an amazing run down about Perception in OF, specifically with Mew and Top that got me thinking about other voyeuristic moments in this episode.

Here are the voyeuristic moments in episode 5:

Nick walks in on Sand and Ray in the kitchen

Mew and Top and walked in on Boston and Nick at the hostel pool

Nick and Boston walked in on Sand and Ray on the balcony

Boston revealed to Nick that a previous hookup tried to blackmail him with a sex tape (most of us are assuming it was Drake's character due to the camera pointed at the bed as pointed out by @plantsarepeopletoo)

Nick was clearly thinking about how he has the sex audio of Boston and Top even if it wasn't actually discussed aloud.

Boston admitted to photographing Ray and Mew making out

@rabbiitte's post about perception really made me want to examine the other voyeurism moments in the episode, because it all has to do with one of the couples being walked in on while attempting to have sex. The first thing I found interesting was that even though couples being walked in on seemed to be a theme of the episode, Mew and Top are the only couple who do not get walked in on and therefore, are the only couple who has sex in the episode (that we see onscreen. I kind of feel like Nick implies he and Boston might have finished what they started after Mew and Top left because he says that Boston usually bolts the minute they're done. There's that controlled voyeurism again).

It was also interesting to me where the characters were when they got walked in on. For a show that has put emphasis on the public nature of queer culture in the past, all of the couples were somewhere relatively private when they got walked in on. Sand and Ray were in the kitchen and then later the balcony. Boston and Nick were in a slightly more public place as they were outside, but they were in a location where no one else was supposed to be there but them. In fact, the one public sexy moment that Ray and Sand do have in the dressing room is their only sexy moment in the episode that is not interrupted in some way. Sand indulges Ray in some "assistance" changing his clothes but is mindful of where they are and stops. Ray is completely down to get dirty regardless, which is just another way in which they're different.

With regard to Boston's sex tape and sex audio, it seems very clear where we're going with this (especially with the return of Boston's Hookup aka Drake next episode). Nick is going to end up releasing the sex audio which will have far reaching implications, given that Boston's father is running for public office.

I found it really interesting that Boston admitted to photographing Ray and Mew kissing. I think this might be an indication that whatever else Boston "has" on his friends, he might start revealing it soon too (or it gets revealed in the fallout of Nick's reveal).

FISH UPON THE SKY