The second season of the engaging award-winning French LGBTQ series WOKE has landed here, and once again it makes for compelling viewing .
This is the story of the melodramatic comings and goings of an LGBTQ Drop In Center in Lyons, which was suddenly turned upside down with the arrival of Hitcham (MEHDI MESKAR) a closeted 22 year old Muslim who has runaway from home.
In the first season Hicham fell hook-line-and-sink in love with Thibault( Eric Pucheu) but now that their relationship has fallen apart big time, Hitcham has to start rethinking his life.
He is still very politically active, and getting more radicalised, and kudos to series creator SULLIVAN LE POSTEC for so successfully combining the stories of all the ups and downs of the character’s relationships with the bigger issues that the LGBTQ community are dealing with in urban France. Not just that fact that Hitcham is gay Muslim, but homophobia, and even transphobia that is present in part of the gay community too.
Hitcham meets the handsome Elijah, who not only helps rekindle his passion for love, but also makes him question his own stance of acceptance and gender equality. It also helps lead him to a reconciliation he hadn’t thought possible.
The whole series is an impressive undertaking that is refreshingly extremely entertaining with story lines that are so easy to relate too. Also dealing with issues in such a matter-of-fact way that feels right without being either preachy or patronising.
To fully appreciate season two and pick up on all the plot strands again you will need to refresh yourself with the first series , but that is hardly a hardship.
Let’s hope that there may be a Season 3 in the future
