REVOLUTIONARY–in terms of featuring a gay romance without the romance being the plot of the show.

As far as a title with a gay romance between main characters goes, Manner of Death contains incredible nuances. We have a dark, real world, nitty gritty entanglement that seriously feels inescapable a lot of the time. And the romance happens inside of that plot, as the relationship is part of both main characters' arcs, but not central to the main plot itself.

The show does a romantic subplot better than a lot of stories with straight romantic subplots. The characters have realistic reactions. There was never a moment I wasn't rooting for them. And actors Max and Tul have incredible chemistry. Their series "Together With Me" Is why I even discovered this title.

This subject matter is not for the faint of heart, as far as the psychological traumas depicted as well as some violence and medical scenes. But it's certainly not as graphic as some of the worst Hollywood has to offer.

Manner of Death is complex and layered. The surprise reveals made sense and had clues leading up to them that I noticed some of the time. Sometimes it managed to surprise me. I would take a guess at something, decide it was false, and after a few episodes that guess would sometimes turn out true. The story revealed itself in a way, fooling me enough that I didn't expect myself to be right. It left me second guessing in a good way that flowed well in terms of the writing.

If you're looking for lighthearted, this certainly doesn't qualify. But watching the series to completion was truly satisfying for the well written story as well as the development between the main characters.