The First Lady Ep 6 review: It shows love story of Eleanor and Hick and struggles to legalise gay marriages in US

3/5

Story:

The new episode, titled 'Shout Out' focuses on Betty Ford's fight for the Equal Rights Amendment, Eleanor's gay relationship with the reporter, Hick and Obama realising the cause of same-sex marriage and voting for it.

Review:

The story of the new episode starts, continuing Betty Ford's story as she becomes one of the top 100 most powerful people, featured by Times Magazine. She is the first woman to have been featured on the cover, which wins praise and admiration for her. It is inspiring. She is seen fighting for the cause of equal rights for women, which few people in the administration feel threatened by and call it a 'nuisance'. Betty's daughter has also affected their lives as politicians and she rightly points out all the changes that brought the family goodwill are carried out by Betty and not her father. It is quite thought-provoking. Despite many contributions of the First Ladies, they are often sidelined by their male counterparts.

The major surprising element of the show was the relationship between Eleanor with Hick. Though there have been several pieces of evidence of the gay relationship of Eleanor Roosevelt with Lorena Hickok, the two never publicly acknowledged it. It was known that the marriage with Franklin was for the sake of politics and not love, yet their relationship never came 'out of the closet'. However, the makers of The First Lady did not shy away from showing their love story on screen. It takes quite a courage to show the former First Lady or someone from an influential family as bisexual or lesbian even today when many parts of the world have come to accept the same-sex relationships. Lorena Hickok was the White House correspondent for The New York Times and became the first woman to get a front-page byline in the daily. It was also quite surprising to see how Franklin, who had cheated on her try to come to terms with her relationship and support her. The way he tells her even though it pains him, he is happy to have found love again, is touching and very mature of him. Eleanor finds a job for Hick in the administration and moves her into a secret adjacent bedroom in the White House so that she can stay close to her when she is not travelling for work.

The stories of the First Ladies have been planned for the episode well. As they tell the love story of Eleanor and Hick, as she was called by her nickname, they weave into the narrative of Obama and Michelle's story where the two are seen fighting for gay rights. The episode seems to have been meticulously planned. And it ends on a high and emotional note with Obama's brief interview where he says he would of course vote for same-sex marriage, followed by archival footage of the US as they cheered when the same-sex relationship was legalised.

The episode is also aptly titled, Shout Out as Betty gives a shout-out for equal rights for women and the gay community for their equal rights before the law and to marry a person of their choice.

Verdict:

The episode ends on a perfect note with glimpses of some happy tears after the United States legalises same-sex marriage. Though it doesn't explore each subject in detail, it still makes for an interesting watch.