Station 19 (7x3) ⁞⁞ Episode Spotlight

Episode 3 of the final season of Station 19 found the firehouse crew preparing for the FABruary Winter Pride parade in Seattle. This had gay firefighter Travis (Jay Hayden) grumpy as he learned he would be meeting his father's boyfriend at the event, while questioning why the city needed two Pride events. His father Paul had come out a few years before, sending Travis into an emotional spiral given his father's homophobic treatment of him growing up and the fact that he was still married to Travis' mother at the time. The parade got underway, complete with a performance from Ms. FABruary, drag queen Mary Mint (RuPaul's Drag Race winner Symone). Travis brought his boyfriend Eli (Rob Heaps) to the parade to introduce him to his father and act as a buffer in their interaction. They met Paul's boyfriend Kyle (Kevin Daniels) and discovered they were in an open relationship when Travis spotted Kyle embracing another man. This turned Travis off, while Paul (Robert Curtis Brown) tried to keep the peace. Eli did the same, pulling Travis away to try to get him to behave, causing Travis to bring up his past with his father. This also caused Travis to blurt out his own secret, revealing to Eli that he cheated on him with his ex, Emmett twice in recent weeks. Eli accused Travis of being just like his father, plagued by his own internalized homophobia. Paul overheard the blow-up and offered a shoulder to Travis to talk, but he balked at that. Back at the firehouse, recovering alcoholic Beckett held down the fort when parade goer Drew (Ryan Salazar), looking for help as he experienced major stomach pain. Their interactions drew parallels between Drew taking dangerous weight-loss injections due to body image issues and Beckett's struggles with alcoholism. 

Meanwhile, the parade was plagued by protesters and when a car backfired, chaos ensued as people thought it was gunshots and started a stampede. The fire crew jumped into action to help with injuries. Travis helped Paul & Kyle get to safety after Kyle hurt his ankle. He apologized for his behavior before sending them away. Mary Mint gets saved from being dragged by her float. Station 19 first responder Ben attended the parade with his trans sister Roz and his young adopted daughter, keeping them safe during the melee. After the chaos subsided, Travis found Eli waiting at his fire truck. Eli apologized for being so harsh and told Travis that he was breaking up with him, but not due to the cheating. He wanted Travis to realize that he deserves to be seen, the way that he makes other people feel. Taking this to heart, Travis got the fire crew to resume the Pride festivities at the firehouse by calling on his father & Kyle for their help. Mary Mint appeared again to thank her rescuers and join the party, out of drag. Travis & Paul had a heart-to-heart and his father apologized for passing off his internalized homophobia to Travis, as he was terrified of being gay which made him try to force Travis to push his homosexuality away. They made amends and joined the dance party. The episode also featured subplots for the show's main cast lesbians, wives Maya (Danielle Savre) and Carina (Stefania Spampinato), as Carina dealt with their stress over their new baby while Maya was thrown after spotting her brother amongst the homophobic protesters. The episode was directed by Queer as Folk alum Peter Paige who is Station 19's showrunner.