I've started watching
Hap and Leonard - some damn fine T.V., in Texan parlance - thanks to the recommendation from Lovecraftian
expert, academic, editor and horror scribe Sean Moreland.
Now I'm not sure whether it's such a good show good because of the solid acting by James Purefoy, Michael K. Williams and Christina Hendricks or because of the soundtrack motif (cue the C.C.R.!) or simply because
the show is based on Joe R. Lansdale's book series. While I've not sampled the Hap and Leonard books, the show feels like a Lansdale tale, with tough Texan characters,
outlandish villains, bizarre situations, a coating of film noir, a touch of
horror and a dash of the absurd. In short, it's just ridiculously entertaining, as only a
Lansdale book can be. (Keep in mind that Lansdale once started a story with “On
a day hotter than two rats fucking in a wool sock…")
I also dig that one protagonist is a queer person of colour (Leonard Pine) and the other is Caucasian (Hap Collins). The black-and-white best friend combination reminds me a little of my youthful shenanigans with one of my best friends, who is also black. The two heroes joke easily about race and sexuality, although Hap is fiercely protective of Leonard, and vice versa, and it's obvious they care deeply for each other as only best friends do.
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