Outward

“How Did I Get Inside You?”: Gay Subtext in Franklin & Bash

Back in the days when gays were rarely presented overtly on television, queer viewers learned to divine their presence through subtext. Now there are tons of openly LGBTQ characters on television, but that doesn’t mean we can abandon our decoder rings. Today’s TV writers seem to expend an awful lot of effort putting gay double entendres into the mouths of straight characters. TNT has two subtext-heavy shows: Rizzoli & Isles, about two straight women who are best friends and just happen to have mad sexual chemistry, and Franklin & Bash, a brocedural about two lawyers who live together, surf together, and argue cases together.

This video brings together the gay subtext from the show’s recently completed fourth season. Peter Franklin (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) and Jared Bash (Breckin Meyer) are just two guys who love each other—but it sure is fun to watch the rest of the world struggle to accept that.