A terrific episode, and worth the wait. The comic relief of the next episode is welcome after the heaviness of this one. The two main actors are great, and the story is moving.
9 Reviews
Favourite!
trappy0227 June 2019
This was a special flashback episode that became my favourite of the series. It brought to light the history of the transgendered community in San Francisco and the events surrounding Gene Compton's Cafeteria Riots. Moving performances by both Richards and Kirby. I kept hoping to see more of these two in the series!
The only episode worth seeing!
hennystruijk21 July 2019
This episode is so far superior to the other 9 in the latest (and hopefully last) "Tales" series - - it's hard to believe!! Why couldn't the other episodes be like this?? Brilliant acting is amazing - - down to the smallest part.
If you only see this episode - - you have seen the only one worth seeing!
This could have been a movie
stephbearca19 July 2019
One of the most beautiful TV episodes
hydersagg21 January 2021
This episode gave me chills. It was beautifully shot and dealt with some very serious emotional content. The depiction of the struggles of trans community was sad and I think I would never have felt it otherwise.
Respect for all Trans communities around the world. I hope one day we can all stand together. PROUD.
Beautiful episode. Definitely the best episode of the entire series.
<3
Respect for all Trans communities around the world. I hope one day we can all stand together. PROUD.
Beautiful episode. Definitely the best episode of the entire series.
<3
epic episode. i still have goosebumps
toxu8 April 2020
Sensational
marszaal17 April 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The chemistry between Anna and her cop boyfriend was incredible.
So impressed by this episode, it has brought the whole story together and gave a new perspective to the whole show. It also does a great job acknowledging the difficult and heroic journey of trans people.
So impressed by this episode, it has brought the whole story together and gave a new perspective to the whole show. It also does a great job acknowledging the difficult and heroic journey of trans people.
Superb Episode, Based on Facts
drednm22 August 2020
This wonderful episode traces Mrs. Madrigal's arrival in San Francisco in the mid-1960s. Her story is set against a now forgotten riot at Compton's Coffee Shop.
While Anna is able to "pass" as a woman (although she's still pre-surgery at this point in time, she meets and befriends many other drag queens and transexuals who work the streets as hookers. Anna gets a job in the famous City Lights bookshop and meets a man.
While she angers several of the girls, she's also accepted into their world as a fellow traveler. Eventually they learn that Anna's man is a cop, and this distances them from her. To the girls, the city cops are the enemy. They harass the girls, arrest them for female impersonation (still on the books in the 1960s as being against the law). The cops also take bribes from the gay-oriented businesses in the Tenderloin as shakedown money. There are no laws that protect the drag queens from the predatory cops.
All this comes to a head in August 1966 when the drag queens stand up to the the manager at Compton's and refuse to leave. The cops are called and a riot breaks out. The riot attracts gay men as well as the other queens and, although it's hushed up by the city and the police department, it serves as a political flashpoint in uniting the various gay groups against the crooked cops.
A 2005 documentary called SCREAMING QUEENS details the story of this riot, three years before Stonewall, as a major event in the march toward gay liberation. The makers of this episode are clearly familiar with the documentary as many of the characters and events are derived from it.
Excellent acting here by Jen Richards as Anna, Eve Lindley as Lily, Daniela Vega as Ysela, and Luke Kirby as Tommy.
The infamous event of the drag queen throwing hot coffee into a cop's face (an act that starts the riot) as neatly depicted. We also learn exactly how Anna comes to own the house at Barbary Lane.
For lovers of this extended series, this is a seminal episode and is not to be missed.
While Anna is able to "pass" as a woman (although she's still pre-surgery at this point in time, she meets and befriends many other drag queens and transexuals who work the streets as hookers. Anna gets a job in the famous City Lights bookshop and meets a man.
While she angers several of the girls, she's also accepted into their world as a fellow traveler. Eventually they learn that Anna's man is a cop, and this distances them from her. To the girls, the city cops are the enemy. They harass the girls, arrest them for female impersonation (still on the books in the 1960s as being against the law). The cops also take bribes from the gay-oriented businesses in the Tenderloin as shakedown money. There are no laws that protect the drag queens from the predatory cops.
All this comes to a head in August 1966 when the drag queens stand up to the the manager at Compton's and refuse to leave. The cops are called and a riot breaks out. The riot attracts gay men as well as the other queens and, although it's hushed up by the city and the police department, it serves as a political flashpoint in uniting the various gay groups against the crooked cops.
A 2005 documentary called SCREAMING QUEENS details the story of this riot, three years before Stonewall, as a major event in the march toward gay liberation. The makers of this episode are clearly familiar with the documentary as many of the characters and events are derived from it.
Excellent acting here by Jen Richards as Anna, Eve Lindley as Lily, Daniela Vega as Ysela, and Luke Kirby as Tommy.
The infamous event of the drag queen throwing hot coffee into a cop's face (an act that starts the riot) as neatly depicted. We also learn exactly how Anna comes to own the house at Barbary Lane.
For lovers of this extended series, this is a seminal episode and is not to be missed.
See also
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