ANNOUNCEMENT: In an effort to build a space for queer people like myself, every Sunday I’ll be posting interviews, opinion pieces, listicles, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx community since I am Latinx.) Welcome to Queerly Not Straight! Enjoy and leave a comment below if you have a suggestion for what I should cover next.
Vigil‘s Amy and Kirsten are way to important for them not to have their own post. After talking about them in a 5 Reasons to Watch BBC’s Vigil it was super important for us to spend some time expanding on the story between these two characters played by the talented Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie.
Things between Amy and Kirsten weren’t easy when we first started Vigil. They had broken up. And it was clearly still bothering both of them to the point where Amy said she was sorry before going on her way to the submarine and the investigation that they would both take on. But even then, they still trusted each other to have the others back in the most desperate of situations. And it’s that trust that led them to successfully solve who was responsible for the murder on Vigil.
That’s the investigation of it all. When we pull back and examine their relationship, through the series of flashbacks, we see a pair of women who couldn’t be more different. Amy had lost her partner and her child and was trying to process how to live with that. Kirsten, on the other hand, was a young detective who admired Amy and wanted to learn from her. Together, they started to learn how to (as cheesy as this sounds) love and live without bounds or limitations on what they were feeling.
Again, that’s not to say things were easy. Amy was scared of taking this safe and wonderful thing out into the world. This was her first relationship with a woman, who wouldn’t be scared? And Amy was patient, but after a while frustration and doubt set in, and things start to crumble. But even then, you could tell that they had grown a bond between them grounded in love and wanting to be with each other. They just needed to find their way back. And they did because of Vigil.
When the investigation is over, you can immediately tell that Amy is gearing up for something. That’s why she invites Kirsten to meet her daughter Poppy. And right before they’re about to do that, Amy lays it all out. She expresses her fears, doubts, and pain. And Kirsten takes in stride while standing her ground and making sure that Amy knows that she didn’t love her for the easy parts. She loved her for all the parts of her. And if that isn’t beautiful and true love, then I don’t know what is.
What follows is Amy and Kirsten coming together as a united front. They’re not afraid anymore to be together and to be who they are. And that’s why they’re so important and why we’d love to see more shows and relationships like this on the BBC. Because they were never vilified, ostracized, or sexualized in this show. They just were people who fell in love with each other and had a journey to find their way back together. And for viewers watching, this normalizes their experience as LGBTQ+ people. That is key. And the reason we hope the BBC gives us more of these two if a second season were to be announced.
Until then, here are some fanvids about Amy and Kirsten from Vigil:
Queerly Not Straight posts every Sunday with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx community since I am Latinx.)