TV Review: We Are Who We Are Goes Deeper Into Its Military Roots For Part 2

Entering the 2nd half of its first season, HBO’s We Are Who We Are gets guttural in its emotionality; bringing out performances in its cast that are 100% Emmy worthy. Moreover, if its first half felt like the bliss and wonder of youth, its second half sees the tragedy and trauma of being in the military. While these kids’ parents may be the ones fighting wars, in journeying with them throughout the world, its hard to feel like they haven’t fought some form of battle, as well.

We Are Who We Are: Meet the Characters | Britney, Sam, Craig, Enrico, and Jonathan | HBO

If you read my first review of We Are Who We Are, you know I love the show. Luca Guadagnino’s work observes the fluidity of sexuality and gender, and how the current youth are a beacon of fearless leaders in such exploration. Yet, they are still kids. For however more accepting and embracing they are to a world without archaic, sexual norms and imprisoning gender constructs, sex is still a dangerous game, which is something we will definitely see in part 2. When you give your body to someone, whether you love them or not, it is an act of trust, of which our leads, an exceptional Jack Dylan Grazer as Fraser Wilson and a magnetic Jordan Kristine Seamón as Caitlin Poythress, are still figuring out what “trust” means even to themselves.

We Are Who We Are: Meet the Characters | Fraser, Sarah, and Maggie | HBO

In some ways, I forgot how little I trusted myself as a teenager, and I can’t say my twenties have been a hi-five and an “I got your back, girl!” either. Yet, the beauty of youth is that you feel so opened, but the struggle comes in the inability to assess selectivity. Fraser and Caitlin are fiercely smart but also incredibly fragile; they absorb the world like two sponges tossed into the ocean, and I love how both actors embrace the flaws and strengths of being so sensitive. Each character pushes emotional and mental boundaries that they might not be ready to cross, but, after all, when are you ever ready to cross a limit? This question even pervades the parents of the show, especially when tragedy strikes Faith Alabi as Jenny, Kid Cudi as Richard Poythress,Chloë Sevigny as Sarah, and Alice Braga as Maggie.

We Are Who We Are: Meet the Characters | Caitlin, Richard, Danny, and Jenny | HBO

The adult actors are phenomenal, especially as the second half of We Are Who We Are toils with the confusion of being an “adult” raising teenagers to become one. When your heart is broken, your mind wrapped in old ideas, and your body desiring its own pain or danger, how can you truly say you are the “mature one,” despite age? This seems especially true in the riveting performances of Cudi’s Richard and Sevigny’s Sarah; both playing the heads of their households and the ones disrupting their very home. Still, I watch these fantastic performances as a reminder that part of acting is teaching. Whether you like these characters or not, you still learn from them. Thus, watching the humanity revealed in We Are Who We Are is enrapturing because it reminds viewers that your own sense of self is an endless point for discovery. We Are Who We Are Is On HBO Sundays at 10PM.

We Are Who We Are: In The Weeks Ahead | HBO