Search - Queer as Folk - The Complete Fourth Season (Showtime) on DVD

Catch up NOW

Dustin C. Holden | USA | 02/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As an avid view of the show, I urge anyone to at least RENT this series on DVD! This is such a good show. The first couple of seasons are really hard for people to get past because of the "graphic" sex scenes (I only use quotations because, to me, now they aren't so graphic). As the program has continued on and the characters have aged, the sex has died down (thus ending the shock-factor to draw in audiences), and the storylines have matured.

You can honestly look at these characters and relate them to everyday people in your life. They have such emotion and depth to them that the crazy situations that they continuously find themselves in start to become believable.

Don't get me wrong, this is a nighttime soap opera with gay characters, but it's not cheesy or fashion-centered. Even though it is highly unlikely that a group of friends would go through all of the things this group does, you don't feel as if it is too fake while watching. Actually, many of the plotlines are funny--even if only for an episode.

The point of the program is to show that love and friendship is universal--no matter what your orientation. Give it a chance, and I'm sure you won't be disappointed."

5 stars for content...1 star for packaging...

Anthony | Miami, FL - USA | 08/01/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'm sure as most you have read in the previous comments, the packaging to this season is nowhere NEAR as good as the previous seasons. That's extremely true. The packaging is VERY fragile and basically four large DVD covers in a paper-thin box. The other seasons came with more bonus features, more thought behind the look of the boxes, and a lot more thought in general. Some have speculated that Showtime is setting aside the money that was saved from this season's box set so that the fifth (and final) DVD would be much more extravagant and worth the money.

The content (excluding bonus features) is absolutely amazing. The shows are great, the plot is fantastic, and the characters are as real and unpredictable as everyday life. So if you love the show, buy the set, it'll be worth it. Don't get it for the packaging or the non-existent bonus features, get it for what the box set is all about this season, the show."

Best Season Ever

Diaspora Chic | Silver Spring, MD | 07/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was a good season for the characters. Ted, who was considered the wallflower, started becoming a stronger person through each episode. He kicked his drug addiction, dropped those druggies, renewed his friendship with the gang, and gained a job in Brian's new company Kinetic.
I was also glad that Cowlip decided to focus more on Michael and Ben's relationship. The previous season showed less of them and too much of Brian and Justin whose relationship is an "open door policy". In the wake of presidential elections, gay marriages caused a furor between "family value" groups and the GLBT community. Cowlip had to step up to the plate on Michael and Ben showing them tackle parenting Hunter, a street kid who was forced to do tricks to feed his mother's drug habit, and resolving relationship conflicts.
I was sorry to see Victor pass on. He was just life on his own with his new partner and getting out from under Debbie's grasp. He is the mirror of the past and the future of gay men. He survived amidst the politics of sexuality and civil rights. His extravagant lifestyle forced him to lay low just as he was getting himself back on track (working with Emmett and his newfound love), he had to die. I thought that was a blow, but it was also the beginning of the end of the series.
The relationship between Melanie and Lindsay has experienced highs and lows, but it takes another turn. Melanie, carrying a child, tries to juggle a career and maintain the household. They both dote very much on Gus.
Debbie, Michael's mother, is always full of mouth. She and Horvath get back together. Good. She and Emmett share a house since both of them can't live alone. Speaking of which, Emmett can never live by himself. He lived with Michael; then he lived with Ted. But he's always enjoyable to watch. His business is doing well but he tanks in the relationship. He gets himself involved with a football player who is engaged to be married. Oh what a tangled web we weave!
Let's not forget Brian and Justin. Although I get tired of seeing them in their sexual escapades, which is what fans love, I am glad that they didn't try to watershed Brian too much. He wanted to get more involved in his son's life which is touching. Seeing Justin negotiate a deal on the Rage movie proved very much that he is able to make it on his own without Brian. But will both of them ever decide to be monogamous?
Relatively new to the series, I see that the show does exemplify the gay culture socially, politically, and economically."

Nowt as Queer...

Keefey | Cardiff, UK | 05/23/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Well, I'll begin with an admission: I'm a newbie to the US version of Queer as Folk, having only got into it from the third series. They were showing it late night over here, and I'd always refrained because I expected it be like any other show that had made its way over the pond (either way, not just UK->US) to be insipid and a badly made rehash of the original. Oh, how I was wrong. The US version of Queer as Folk is so much better than the UK original its difficult to quantify in words. Where Russell T Davies' original had dialogue that was ham-fisted and over-the-top, Queer as Folk consistently hit the mark with the right amount of emotion and understatement.

So, why not 5 stars? Well, having literally just finished watching the final episode of the series (I had to have it imported, series three has just finished here!), I can say I am a little disappointed overall with this series as opposed to the third. During the third, every episode would either move me with laughter, or with empathy/sympathy. Series 4 just didn't as much. (Note, I'm trying not to spoil it for those that may have not seen the series yet, unlike some of the other reviews here that divulge every single major point in the series, so be warned).

These are some of the things that made the series for me:

1. Emmett Honeycutt (Peter Paige). This guy is wonderful. Each and every one of the funny moments during the series has involved this guy. It is impossible to find him endearing and utterly loveable.
2. Debbie (Sharon Gless). Where we had the hairdresser from Coronation St, you get half of Cagney and Lacey. She's a star, and equally as colourful in this series as she was the last. Every one of her t-shirts made me laugh, and I just wish my mother wore them!
3. Brian does have a scare during the series, and even though some suggest that this in some way emasculates him, I disagree. He goes from strength to strength, and proves himself to be more human, even though he still stays beautifully distant and aloof. It's nice to see some sensitivity there, even just a glimour.
4. The handling of some of the more contentious issues was done very delicately (if a bit rushed throughout). I do agree with one of the other reviews that it sometimes felt like a wheel of fortune had been spun to decide what would be the next confrontation. However, on the whole it came off brilliantly.

Now, onto the bits I liked less:

1. Rage. Sorry, it's farcical. As is Justin's Nick Cave Lookalike buddy in "the bizz". This ruined it for me a bit. Especially after such a wonderful scene as the marriage (not giving away who) it breaks to a set which is acted even worse than the worst of porn. Simply awful and I wish they'd drop it. Looks like they won't though.
2. The ghettoism of gay people throughout. Don't any gay people in America have straight friends (Justin's flatmate being the exception, but she's a throwback from the UK original)? Sorry, but this was exacerbated by the Pink Posse thing (which was hideous, insulting and contrived), with the "them and us" attitude. This show is hard hitting, but was originally aimed at helping to bring gay issues to the mainstream, not make the situation worse.
3. Justin. This character, with each series, becomes more and more annoyingly self-absorbed and narcissistic. Where in series 3 he is promoting sacrifice for that you love most, he's willing to give it all up for his five minutes of fame. Always self-righteous, he gets right on my.... [insert expletive here].

However, even with these flaws aside, this series is a bastion for what TV should try to be - confrontational and direct. In these times of reality TV making every good show step aside, I'm surprised it hasn't been cancelled, after all we're only 10% of the population and it can't realistically appeal to the mainstream on the whole (and it's nigh on impossible to buy over here, where it is, in fact, immensely popular), so I'm grateful that it's there. Superbly acted, superbly realised, and (mostly) superbly written - let's hope the fifth and final series goes out with a bang.

Oh, and one final thing: the music throughout is superb (I'm mot talking Babylon here, who'd have expected a gay-oriented series to have bands such as Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Snow Patrol featured? I was chuffed, to say the least; there's more to gay life than Kylie!)

Enjoy."