More than ever, the Fab Five step up to the plate with love and empathy, in a show that is as much about haircuts as it is heartrending moments
an it really be that Queer Eye (Netflix) is on to its fifth season already? After a brief trip to Japan, the Fab Five have gone back to basics, although any notion that the whole-life-makeover experience they bring to deserving strangers is something basic really does their work a disservice. This is a deep dive into finding out who people are and what they need, and it is always as moving as it is entertaining.
By now, their brand of self-love, self-care, self-improvement and self-acceptance is laser-focused. There is nothing that can surprise the gang – except maybe the mid-episode reveal that one participant is the brother of a famous pop star. The only real change here is that the headquarters have moved from Atlanta to Philadelphia. Jonathan Van Ness remains eternally watchable, even when he’s simply shouting “We love safety!” and “I love an alley!” (That is alley, and not ally, though I’m sure he loves both.) Food expert Antoni Porowski even shows up in a T-shirt emblazoned with “Nothing irrational about my love for the National”, a knowing nod to his seemingly endless supply of band T-shirts. This is a format so good that the five of them know it doesn’t need a makeover…