A Look at The CW’s Amazing New Queer Adventure Series “Tom Swift”

He's Black. He's a Billionaire. He's Gay. He's Tom Swift, the new sexy star gracing TV screens everywhere. From creator and Executive Producer Cameron Johnson, Tom Swift tells the story of a young man of the same name played wonderfully by the ridiculously gorgeous Tian Richards. Tom is part of a family of billionaire inventors. The first episode just dropped, and let me tell you... I'm obsessed with it and am super excited for the rest of the series.

Tom Swift is a spin-off series from Nancy Drew because Richards first appeared as the character on that series a few years back. But essentially that's where the crossover ends, which I'm fine with since I've never seen ND. The character was originally written for its own series of novels over 110 years ago, first appearing in 1910 when he was created by author and book publisher Edward Stratemeyer. Episode #1 starts off with lots of the standard "setting up" that comes with any series' premiere episode, but particularly in a series that has so many SciFi moving parts and technologies to get used to. The show opens with Tom telling us about his brilliant family of inventors, and invites us to come to Saturn with him. He's not speaking figuratively, either. His family—specifically his father—spent the last six months traveling to Saturn in a ship Tom invented and is slated to make his triumphant return home. That is until his ship exploded leaving Tom feeling guilty that his failed technology lead to his father's death.

 

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As the episode unfolds, Tom comes to realize that his tech didn't fail, and that the ship was sabotaged. His father didn't die... he was murdered. Now, Tom is on a mission to figure out who killed his father and to avenge his death. I won't give any spoilers away, so I will just say that by the end of the first episode, both Tom and the audience are thrown a major curveball.

Like any good SciFi adventure series, there is going to be a ton of cool gadgetry and Tom Swift is no exception. We see everything from the badass jump shoes Tom invented to the A.I. program he designed, which he named Barclay. Barclay is particularly wonderful and welcomed technology to the series in no small part because it's played by SciFi legend, and children's literature hero LeVar Burton.

 

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I am a *diehard* lover of all things involving Space exploration, as well as a true life-long fan of adventure films, so Tom Swift is checking off some major essential boxes for me. But I'm not just excited for the series because it's an entertainment-packed SciFi. This show comes out the gate telling us Tom is gay, and pulls no punches in him being as fabulous as he is brilliant. We see steamy scenes between Tom and other sexy men which is always welcomed by me, and they reference Tom's gayness with plenty of funny (as sometimes serious) lines. And if you are looking for major eye candy, look no further than Tian Richards, because holy shit is he sexy. I mean... jaw-droppingly sexy. He's got a ripped body, the face of a model, and a smile that lights up any scene he's in. Richards is also an outstanding actor in the show, which is really just solidifying this show as the whole package for me.

But the show isn't just a SciFi adventure series with some eye candy. It's a show about Black excellence; it's a show about Queer excellence. To have a show on a major TV network celebrate a Black family of billionaire genius inventors, the son of which is an out loud and proud homo and the eponymous star for whom the series is named, is something that deserves to be celebrated. It explores family dynamics, father-son relationships, homophobia, politics, and so much more and at least in the first episode seems to be doing it with dexterity.

I really hope this show gets the traction it deserves, and I can't wait to watch the rest of this season unfold, especially with the first episode ending on a cliffhanger. Tom Swift airs Tuesdays at 9pm ET on the CW.

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