By the end of Invisible Boys Season 1 Episode 9, “Bees,” no emotional stone is left unturned.
The episode flips the show’s tone to fill in a huge gap about a character who has been frustrating because of his inconsistent behavior.
“Bees” is an ode to love, loneliness, depression, loss and every extreme emotion that changes a person’s brain chemistry.
For the first time, Invisible Boys abandons the perspective of the three main characters, following Matt (Joe Klocek) into his existence on the farm that has trapped him for as long as he can remember.
“Caught in the crossfire of familial duty, Matt wants to support his father, who may be experiencing early onset dementia as Matt himself struggles with depression.
“As the weight of helplessness and isolation consumes him, Matt makes a heart wrenching choice that reverberates through the lives of everyone involved,” reads the episode’s official synopsis, previewing Matt’s struggles that eventually claim his life.
‘Invisible Boys’ Explores Depression in a Manner Rarely Seen
At the center of everything is Matt’s depression.
Learning that he is depressed is the biggest piece of the puzzle, and finally, his behavior makes sense.
He rarely smiles, lives inside himself, and struggles to open up to people. This is one way depression can manifest in people, and the worst thing is that it can go unnoticed.
The episode explores all the little and big things that Matt struggles with. The biggest is that the ranch he’s dedicated his entire life and youth to is going under and there’s nothing he can do.
Matt sacrificed everything for the ranch, even his personality, to be left with nothing. It takes a toll on someone to see everything they’ve believed crumble.
At that point, Matt had no recourse. He didn’t know anything else in his life and that shifts the ground on someone’s feet to the point where the darkness of an uncertain future blinds them.
By the time Charlie (Joseph Zada) comes along, Matt has sunk to the deepest depths of depression and loneliness.
When he says he was already gone, it is a tough thing to admit.
Love Can’t Cure Mental Illness
It’s even tougher for Charlie to know that there was nothing he could have done.
Anyone who has battled depression knows it robs you of everything good in life. It replaces your existence with a deep gaping chasm of desperation and existential panic.
Matt and Charlie could have had a great life together. Charlie was ready to become a housewife from the 1950s if it meant being with Matt. He saw a vision of them being married and living on the farm.
But Matt could not visualize any of it. It took a few seconds before his death for the fog to clear up and he imagined a future with Charlie, but the milk had been spilled by then.
Seeing Australia achieve Marriage Equality made his death even all the more sad. If he’d waited just a little bit longer…
“Bees” succeeds in capturing how isolating and unstable depression can make someone feel. It’s a rare feat given that most media shows it as sad people sleeping all day.
Someone who’s depressed can function more than the average person, yet they carry a huge weight with them all the time. They feel trapped in their skin, and nothing anyone can do about it can fix that.
“Bees” Fixes an Aspect of the Show
While everyone brings their entire self, Matt often feels like a downer.
It becomes frustrating the many times Charlie tries to connect, only to be rudely rebuffed. Seeing this happen was maddening as someone who boarded that ship the moment it was constructed.
Taking the time to explore Matt reveals he was consistent because that’s what he felt.
Gay characters dying in media? Not a fan. But by the end, Invisible Boys succeeded in communicating why Matt died and why he had to die.
For the first time in a long time, I was willing to let a gorgeous ship go if that was the only way to tell an important story.
All episodes of Invisible Boys are streaming on Stan.