"THE COUNTERFEITERS" Don Johnson - Yum! January 24, 1997

by
Gordon Hom

As much as he appeals to women, Don Johnson also appeals to men. In his rise to stardom in MIAMI VICE, a gay subtext has always been there with VICE's emphasis on male fashion and male beauty. With this episode, NASH BRIDGES once again tackles homosexuality, and again considering the series is set in San Francisco with a large and politically active gay community, it is a potentially hot issue. But like all issues and causes, NASH BRIDGES treats this topic with lighthearted humor. It's just not going to get all that serious on NASH BRIDGES, but it might in a future episode with Nash's sister Stacy coming out of the closet.

The gay backstory builds to a side-splittingly funny announcement at the gay wedding that Joe and Nash are a couple who have been together for 20 years. Nash grits his teeth as he and Joe are forced to keep up the pretense. You can tell that Don and Cheech Marin were having a blast through this scene. The two gay men (Jack and Pepe) in "The Counterfeiters" both hilariously describe the Don Johnson appeal as "YUM!" There isn't disrespect to the gay community here, but notice that the notion of monogamy is celebrated, not promiscuity as male homosexuality is assumed to be in NASH BRIDGES. Jack Conrad - Joe's football client, informs Nash and Joe that Tim has been his partner and lover for 4 and a half years, and both Jack and Pepe admire Nash and Joe for being together for 20 years.

"The Counterfeiters" doesn't look too progressive when the backstory is tied to the main story of the counterfeiters. As there are bogus SIU cops, like the phony money, by extension, so are male homosexual relationships. The title "The Counterfeiters" refers to many things - phony cops, phony money, phony weddings. To reassure us that Don Johnson is really attracted to women, beautiful Whitney is brought into the picture for their first date (this is one relationship going at a snail's pace). Even lovely Whitney is unsure of Don's sexual orientation momentarily in their chance meeting at the mall with gay Pepe. Ah, but Whitney comes around at the end, with her faith in Nash's sexuality unswervingly back on track. She cancels their date, then regrets it, and finally meets Nash and kicks Joe out of that make-out mobile, the 'Cuda. Whitney can't even voice doubts about her man's virility - Joe lip reads her words in the 'Cuda mirror. That Whitney must be the perfect woman for Nash - she forgives him for anything, even when she doesn't know exactly why.

For more, see synopsis for Episode 23

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