‘Will Trent’ Drag-Themed Episode Gets Praise for Representation

Amanda Bell April 10, 2024, 3:05 pm

Will Trent, 'We Are Family' Season 2 Episode 6 — Disney/Daniel Delgado Jr.

[Warning: This post contains MAJOR spoilers for the latest episode of Will Trent, “We Are Family.”]

The latest episode of Will Trent not only reunited the titular character (Ramón Rodríguez) with a long-lost member of his family — Uncle Antonio (John Ortiz) — but the case of the day also hit home for a lot of folks in the LGBTQ+ community.

In the episode, titled “We Are Family,” Will Trent and his team investigate a homicide that has taken place just outside of a dance club for drag performers. The victim turns out to be a conservative judge who just so happens to be the mother of one of the performers, Gabe Ringgold aka “Defcon Vibe” (Garrett Richmond). While video surveillance shows she had a scuffle with an extremist protestor who’d been lurking outside the building for some time, and her son confesses to the crime, it turns out that her killer is someone unexpected. The judge’s daughter had deep resentment against her mother for alienating her brother from her life for being gay, and upon seeing her outside of the bar, she snapped.

As heavy as that subject matter is, the episode tended to be light and celebratory of its guest characters. In one scene, one of the performers even gives Will his own creative drag name: “Anita Subpoena.” What made the episode resonate so well with audiences is how fully developed the drag performer characters are, particularly Gabe and his lawyer Josiah Patnett aka “Glinda Velvet” (Kenneth Mosley).

One commenter on Reddit, who claims to be a drag performer themself, wrote of the episode, “It’s rare we get such a good view of drag shows and drag performers on TV. Representation not only matters but not stereotypical representation matters. They really did a good job of giving each queen agency of [their] own and actual character depth.”

The commenter added that they were impressed by the variety of primary careers on display for these characters, including one who is an attorney by day, writing, “most times we see drag on TV that is [their] only job, just the clubs.” The writer went on to praise the episode for also including the “confused young one who is trying to do the right thing” and “the young queen just breaking in who is tougher than she looks,” among other elements.

Another commenter on the same thread echoed that sentiment and suggested perhaps some of the characters could return again, writing, “I like that the main group of drag performers all had distinct personalities. I would love the lawyer guy showing up from time to time. I also liked the, ‘Stop him BonBon’ moment.”

Others on Twitter also cheered on the representation element of the episode and agreed that there should be a future for the drag performers featured on the show.