Currently in its fourth season, Netflix’s web series I Like to Watch stars drag icons Trixie Mattel and Katya watching Netflix’s library of programming. In each episode, the hosts sit together in a vibrant living room set commentating on a selected film or television series. Since the hosts primarily react to Netflix’s original programming, and because they are both uniquely hysterical, it would be easy to dismiss the series as merely a comedic marketing tool for the streaming service. However, the series’ real value lies in its celebration of queer spectatorship. By giving space to queer reception practices and inviting queer audiences to take part in them, I Like to Watch celebrates the customs of queer spectators.

One of the most common queer viewing practices Trixie and Katya engage in is clocking queer elements of their selected film or series. Clocking refers to recognizing or identifying characters that are either members of the LGBTQ+ community or might be interpreted as such by queer viewers. While watching Enid (Meredith Scott Lynn) discuss masculinist language in Legally Blonde Trixie clocks the character simply by saying “Lesbian.” While watching Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square, Katya comments, “Gay. Gay. This is fucking gay.” as two characters vogue during a musical number. Though these examples may seem trite, the practice of clocking queer characters is both common amongst queer communities and significant as a component of queer viewership.

Trixie Mattel and Katya-Netflix

Throughout screen history, queer audiences have been forced to scour through films and television shows in order to find someone with whom they can identify. Even in the contemporary landscape, queer characters are still vastly outnumbered by their non-queer counterparts, and the practice of clocking community members remains integral to queer reception.

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Throughout their screenings, Trixie and Katya also spot appearances from LGBTQ+ performers. When watching the first season of Spinning Out, the hosts enthusiastically react to appearances from queer celebrities Johnny Weir and Jonathan Van Ness. Katya excitedly declares, “This got real gay, real quick.” The hosts use this as an opportunity to identify with the performers’ characterizations, with Trixie saying, “But that’s how gay all our friends are.” Interactions like these accomplish two things. First, whereas non-queer commentators might give more attention to different actors, Trixie and Katya make sure to give attention to performers under the queer umbrella. This is an act of celebration, offering special recognition to actors less likely to be recognized in the mainstream. Second, Trixie’s comment demonstrates how authentic queer representation leads to identification, with Trixie immediately finding commonality between the queer characters on screen and her friends.

In addition to queer actors, the hosts celebrate known allies and icons of queer communities. Most often, this occurs when the hosts praise the appearance of a celebrated figure in what they are watching. At the end of each episode, the hosts list everything that should encourage people to watch what they have just finished. Each time, the list features special shout-outs to performers celebrated by queer communities. For example, after watching Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square, Trixie rattles off “Jenifer Lewis, Christine Baranski […] and on top of everything, this movie has Dolly Parton.” These end-of-episode lists thus use queer icons as selling points for streaming. Other times, the celebration of respected figures finds its form through the queens’ humorous commentary. While watching a slow-motion shot of Carole Baskin in Tiger King, Trixie asserts, “Meryl Streep is already vagina-deep in the character study.” By paying particular attention to friends of the queer community, Trixie and Katya engage in conversation that reflects those had by queer audiences while watching television.

Trixie and Katya’s comments also often spin into side conversations about queer issues and or trends. In response to Trixie’s “But that’s how gay all our friends are,” Katya responds, “Yeah, they’re very gay. Also, everyone’s into fisting.” At this comment, Trixie stares forward, processing Katya’s remark without shock. When Katya follows up, “Do you know that?” Trixie sassily responds, “I didn’t get that from this.” This exchange also marks a conversational turn familiar to queer audience members where the expression of sexuality is not seen as taboo in queer spaces, allowing what some would consider to be sexually explicit humor a commonplace part of spectators’ discourse.

I Like to Watch’s brand of commentary is not exclusively one of acclaim, as the queens also celebrate queer spectatorship by mocking heterosexuality on screen and the tropes that come with is depiction. Concluding their watch of the reality series Too Hot to Handle, Katya declares, “Well, the straights are at it again.” While watching the leads of The Princess Switch: Switched Again gently kiss in their bedroom, Trixie asks, “Is this heterosexuality?” While watching He’s All That, Trixie and Katya mock the oft-repeated trope of cinematic makeovers where attractive people are made over by removing their glasses or restyling their hair. Trixie says, “Now remember what I said, if he’s gorgeous, I’m flipping the table. I want a bulging eye, I want a humpback, I want something, I want missing front teeth.” Moments later, the hosts mock the two characters obviously being set up to fall in love. Trixie says, “Do you know what else? They’re going to fall in love, and I’m going to flip this table again.” Katya responds, “Yeah, and the second time you flip it, I’m going to be under it on the floor.” Their comedic banter mimics the adverse reactions queer viewers have to such conventions.

Trixie Mattel and Katya-Dolly

Additionally, Trixie and Katya ridicule misguided queer representation. While watching an inexplicable dance routine in Single All the Way, the hosts are visibly frustrated with the film’s depiction of gayness. Trixie then kicks the coffee table in front of them, knocking over all the bowls of snacks, screaming, “What are we watching?! What are we watching?! What is this representative of?!” While watching the final season of Grace and Frankie, the hosts satirize performances of queerness by straight actors. In one scene, Sol (Sam Waterston) delivers each of his lines with exaggerated intonations and hysterics. Trixie comments, “These actors aren’t gay, but I love that they’re playing them cartoon-level gay.” Later, she adds, “If you’re playing gay on TV, I want you to be Dorothy Gale, bitch.” Queer spectatorship allows for like-minded viewers to engage with one another on an empathetic level. The hosts, like queer viewers of I Like to Watch, share in the joy of mocking flawed queerness on screen.

Notably, Trixie and Katya’s sardonic comments are not just reserved for the programs they watch, as they also routinely read each other. Reading is the queer practice of wittily satirizing the appearance or personality of another. Just like groups of queer viewers would do at home, Trixie and Katya use what they watch as comedic fuel for their reading. When characters in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina are frantically running away from Satan, Trixie turns to Katya and says, “That’s trade leaving your house.” When watching Stranger Things, Trixie says she can relate to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) because she is a “little, bald bitch,” to which Katya responds, “Oh you said little, bald bitch?” The reads are not just reserved for each other, though, as the hosts routinely perform self-reads. While watching Marla (Rosamund Pike) emphatically arguing how much she cares for her clients in I Care a Lot, Trixie says, “This is me after picking up my boyfriend’s mail once. All I do is care!” At the start of a Halloween-themed episode, while dressed up like a Power Ranger, Katya asks, “Do you like something scary, or do you like something sexy for a Halloween costume? Which one is this?” Trixie and Katya’s reads of each other and of themselves add an additional, and specifically queer, brand of humor to the series.

I Like to Watch’s spotlight on queer reception and communication practices invite queer viewers to take part in Trixie and Katya’s antics. The series further supports this invitation through its production design. Each episode takes place in a living room-style set furnished with a couch, coffee table, chic rug, and various knick-knacks. The set design invites viewers to take part in their screening, as if they could take a seat on the couch with their favorite queens and read alongside them. Even the episodes that debuted during the beginning of the pandemic are invitational. These episodes feature the queens communicating with each other over videophone, but their looks to the camera are also looks to the audience members. This creates a dynamic in which the hosts are not only interacting with each other, but also with the audience members themselves. By inviting queer audiences to engage in the series’ depiction of queer viewing, I Like to Watch solidifies itself as the ultimate celebration of queer spectatorship.