‘We Are Who We Are’ S01E01: “Right Here, Right Now #1” Review

If asked the question: “Who am I?,” a good portion of people probably wouldn’t be able to give an answer. But for teens, that question follows them everywhere they go. Home. School. Their closet. Their vocabulary. What they see in the mirror. Identity means everything. We Are Who We Are, written by Paolo Giordano, Francesca Manieri, and Luca Guadagnino, explores identity and the global struggle of being a teen.

There are spoilers ahead, so if you haven’t watched the first episode, stop right here! Kick back, relax, and watch the hour-long episode. Hop right on back once you’re done!

In this episode, we’re introduced to Fraser Wilson (Jack Dylan Grazer), a taciturn, generally annoyed teen new to a U.S. Army base in Chioggia, Italy. Hailing from New York, his fashion sense screams “I’m different and let everyone know that.” He only speaks to say what he wants to say and know what he wants to know. One of his first interactions with Jenny Poythress (Faith Alabi), a military wife responsible for helping newcomers settle in the Chioggia base, involves him asking her what her children’s zodiac signs are. Spoiler: he’s not a fan of Libras.

When Fraser and his military moms, Sarah Wilson (Chloë Sevigny) and Maggie Teixeira (Alice Braga), arrive and settle into the base, viewers see how pristine and bright everything is under the sunny Italian sky. This sunny backdrop permeates each of Fraser’s first few days on the base, while he ambles around the base grounds covered in sweat. Where he finds himself is just where he happens to end up, which does him a service when he stumbles upon Caitlin Poythress (Jordan Kristine Seamón), reciting a poem in a class at the base’s high school. Immediately intrigued, he sneaks a couple of photos of her but scurries off after being spotted by her. He eventually follows after Caitlin, her older brother Danny Poythress (Spence Moore II), and her friends, Britney Orton (Francesca Scorsese), Sam Pratchett (Ben Taylor), and Craig Pratchett (Corey Knight). Britney has been onto him all along but also finds him intriguing. She invites him to hang out with her and friends at the beach, goading him into following her without really giving him a choice. He joins her with his beer in hand. But he retains his distance, watching everything around him unfold but never really being involved in the action himself. He seems perfectly content staying within his own bubble. Headphones in. Music blasting. World tuned out. He eventually slinks away after being ridiculed by Caitlin’s friends. 

Once again, he ambles around with no direction but this time, he’s outside of the base grounds in a world he’s even more unfamiliar with. He eventually stumbles upon a seamstress at work. At this point, we get a feel for what Fraser just might be about. His eccentric fashion sense spoke for itself, but his interest in fashion is solidified when he praises the seamstress for possessing a clothing piece by renowned fashion designer, Raf Simons. He takes a liking to her music, as he turns the radio up and dances without abandon in front of her and her husband. He doesn’t seem to care too much about social graces and dances to the beat of his own drum for the most part. When her husband offers Fraser water and wine, he immediately grabs the wine. He wanders off yet again and finds himself alone at a bridge in the night, visibly drunk and sunburnt, until he is rescued by Maggie. It is at this point that it hits me that Fraser may be more troubled than I initially thought, rather than merely being a typical angsty teenager. A thousand red flags are raised in the next few scenes. 

At home, Fraser slaps Sarah across the face after he insists that she cut a slab of roast beef into thin slices to which she refuses because it’ll dampen the flavor. Instead of being infuriated with him, she softly cries and pulls him in for a hug. He demands yet another bottle of alcohol multiple times, but she refuses. In the first scenes of the episode, Sarah gave a bottle of vodka to Fraser without much of a fight. He then pulls away and says that she doesn’t love him and never loved him. Expressing his pent-up anger, he says that his life was perfect in New York with Mark, his presumed romantic partner, but she took that all away from him. He declares he hates her. The relationship between Fraser and Sarah is undoubtedly complex, to say the least. Sarah’s enabling behavior only seems to fuel Fraser’s assumed alcoholism, aloof behavior, and spoiled childishness. But when Sarah cut her finger in an earlier scene, Fraser’s first instinct was to put her finger in his mouth. Is it love? Is it hate? Whatever the answer may be, it’s obvious that Sarah and Fraser have a lot to work out.

While we’re still trying to get a grasp on Fraser and Sarah’s relationship dynamics, we get even more questions. Fraser follows Caitlin to a bar, dressed in men’s clothing from head to toe. This begets questions about her gender expression and gender identity as a whole. The episode ends with Fraser asking Caitlin, “So what should I call you?” 

This first episode, as with any set-up episode, certainly gives us more questions than answers. We’re filled with a sense of nostalgia as we tag along on Fraser’s directionless adventure around the town, ending up wherever the day decides to take him. Just as he explores his surroundings, we explore his mannerisms, what interests him, what makes him anxious, who he wants to spend his time with. We get to know a little more about Fraser’s secrets and what might be eating away at him. 

Fraser represents many questions that we may have had in our own teenage years.

This episode is ultimately about getting a feel for the characters and the setting, but it does so effectively. We’re left wanting more, and we damn hope the show gives us more. If you want to find out what happens next, new episodes air every Monday night at 10pm on HBO.

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