13 thoughts on “Bletchley Circle: San Francisco Gets the Queer ’50s Right

  1. Could you be convinced to elaborate on what you mean by “But did you predict that one of our code-breaking heroines was lesbian? That was coded in a historically appropriate fashion but maybe not as obvious to modern eyes.” ? How was lesbianism coded in the 50s? It seems like a fascinating topic.

    1. I feel like Edward being gay was telegraphed in earlier episodes with hints about why did he move to SF, why was he a bachelor, ‘something’ happened at home in the UK, etc. So it seemed a bit more obvious that this would come up as a plot point to me.

      Hailey is portrayed as a tomboy from the start & she was a mechanic in the war, all of which in the ’50s (& later!) was suspiciously masculine & thus could be lesbian. But for the show it could just be a contrast to the rest of the women’s more typical femininity. So I thought her portrayal was more subtle, esp. paired with her background as a farm girl. The writers gave her a nicely nuanced character that really fit the period.

  2. This makes me think about Pan Am, which misses the cutoff date for historical by being set in 1963, but it had some really interesting plot lines, cute costumes, and some great casting. Specifically, I’m thinking about their lesbian twist, which was late in the game and not nearly as interesting as this sounds.

      1. The whole show had so much potential, it sucks that no one was willing to pick it up for another season.

  3. I too thought they telegraphed Edward’s homosexualness with a heavy hand. It screamed ‘GAY’. Hailey was a surprise. I am still watching it. I just finished the suburbian one, took a break. I stared the one where Hailey and Jean picnic on beach at night and need to finish episode. I’m guessing the Mattachine episode is later.

    1. i thought there was a vibe between iris and olivia for sure. and hailey was kinda obvious (single, her comments about marriage & men),

  4. Also, in earlier seasons, it was made clear that Millie had feelings for one of the other female main characters.

  5. TBH I was caught by surprise at Hailey’s confession to Jean. I perceived a lot more chemistry between Iris and Hailey. Also in the last episode that diplomat woman says “And I’ve seen it Iris, there are some things that you love more than your country.”, which to me kind of seemed like an allusion, as just before they were talking about Hailey. Apart from that scene between Jean and Iris at the beach by the bridge there were no hints at all of Hailey’s feelings for Jean. But prob. it’s like we all see what we would like to see. :)

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