Since July of 2003, Netflix’s Queer Eye has brought amazing transformations from the Fab Five to our screens. With its heartfelt moments and valuable life lessons, this show is packed with good qualities that are sure to get you hooked.
Whether it’s from Tan’s wicked sense of style to Antoni’s delectable recipes, there’s a lot to love about this show. Here are the best Queer Eye episodes that Netflix has to offer.
10. Father of the Bride (Season 5, Episode 3)
Starting off our list is this emotional episode that is sure to pull on the heartstrings of every father-daughter duo watching. In this episode, we meet Kevin, who is a divorced dad that cares deeply about his daughter.
At the start of the episode, we learn that Kevin is looking to build his confidence for his daughter’s wedding day. Not only this, but he wants to learn to dance as well as improve his overall look. Lucky for him, the Fab Five are well-equipped to help him achieve his desired results.
With Queer Eye’s help, Kevin was able to transform into the man he was looking to be, all before his daughter’s wedding. With Tan’s help, style went from casual and comfortable to stylish and spiffy. Kevin also learned how to prepare tasty meals for himself from Antoni, had a hair transformation from Jonathan, worked through emotional burdens with Karamon, and received a home makeover from Bobby.
In the end, Queer Eye helped Kevin be exactly who he wanted to be, in turn helping him walk into his daughter’s wedding with his head held high and glowing with his new-found confidence.
9. You Can’t Fix Ugly (Season 1, Episode 1)
This next episode was the very first one to come out of the Queer Eye franchise, and it introduced us to exactly what the show has to offer. The episode revolves around Tom Jackson from Dallas, Georgia, who’s a lonely dump-truck driver who’s looking to transform into the man he wants to be.
This episode did a wonderful job of revealing what the series will truly be all about. In the show, Tom makes a couple of ignorant sexist remarks, to which the Fab Five calmly explain why that’s wrong, leaving him enlightened rather than humiliated. It’s also clear from the episode that Tom hadn’t been around the LGBTQ community much in his life.
Throughout the episode, though, Tom experienced how wonderful being around the Fab Five truly is, and had a change of heart. In the end, Tom received the transformation he was looking for. He not only learned how to properly style himself, but he also worked through years of bad habits in hopes to become a better version of himself.
8. A Decent Proposal (Season 2, Episode 2)
If you’re a big fan of makeovers and rom-coms, this next episode is sure to be one of your favorites. In season 2, episode 2, we meet William Menkin, who was nominated by his girlfriend, Shannon, for a Queer Eye makeover.
The nominations by Shannon works in his favor, though, as we learn that William is planning to propose to her and wants to be his best self for the big moment. Naturally, the Fab Five assemble and help him transform so he can be proposal-ready in no time.
In the end, the Queer Eye crew helps William go from his stuck-in-the-90s look to a more modern, fashionable look, as well as help him change up his lifestyle in ways that benefit him. Once his makeover is complete, Shannon thinks they’re going on a picnic to celebrate. But, William ends up getting down on one knee and proposing to the love of his life. We see a happy ending to the episode as well, as Shannon said yes to the proposal.
7. Elrod & Sons (Season 3, Episode 6)
Be sure to grab your box of tissues for this next episode, because it’s a real tear-jerker. Rob Elrod is a single father whose wife passed due to cancer. In order to honor her memory for his two sons, he wants to change into a man that he’s proud of.
The overall theme of this episode is helping Rob reclaim his life and break out of the darkness into the light, which the Fab Five do with ease. They help spice up his wardrobe into clothes he feels comfortable and confident in, work through the heavy emotions he deals with on a daily basis, and add some new recipes in his life to switch things up a bit.
With the Fab Five’s help, we get to see a big smile on Rob’s face by the end of the episode, as he had transformed into a man that both his wife and his sons would be proud of.
6. God Bless Gay (Season 2, Episode 1)
In the first episode of the second season, the Fab Five makeover a woman for the first time in the series. Not just any woman, though, but a devout and loving religious woman with a gay son. Tammye helps out at the church that her late mother founded.
In order to help her out, the Queer Eye crew is not only giving her a makeover, but they also give the church a makeover for the upcoming “homecoming” event. Throughout the episode, we learn a lot about Tammye, like how she’s a cancer survivor.
While we learn about Tammye, though, we also learn about the guys through very personal stories of acceptance and rejection by their own families and churches. This episode is filled with heavy emotions as well as heartwarming stories, and the outcome of both the church’s and Tammye’s transformation is one to be proud of.
5. Disabled but Not Really (Season 4, Episode 2)
This next episode introduces us to Wesley, a former bad boy who turned his life around after becoming paralyzed in an accident. Not only is life hard for Wesley because of his disability, but there’s elements of his life that only make it harder, like how his home isn’t very wheelchair-accessible.
Throughout the episode, it’s clear that Wesley has a positive outlook on life despite his situation. With the Fab Five’s help, he’s looking to get a new image that matches his upbeat and positive personality.
At the end of the show, Wesley has received a makeover that is sure to be beneficial in more ways than one. He’s revamped his wardrobe, found clarity in his life, and now has a wheelchair-accessible home for him to live comfortably in.
4. On Golden Kenny (Season 4, Episode 5)
While every Queer Eye episode may tug on your heart strings, this next one is guaranteed to. In this episode titled “On Golden Kenny”, the Fab Five meet Kenny, a lonely bachelor looking for a total revamp of his home and overall look.
Kenny bartends on the side at his local St. John’s Catholic Club, and he’s a favorite of all the regulars that go there. On the club’s Facebook page, you can see reviews expressing how kind and how great of a host Kenny is.
Throughout the episode, the Queer Eye crew help Kenny look for his dream dog, in hopes to making his bachelor lifestyle less lonely. If you’re an easy crier, you might want to keep your tissues nearby, as the dog adoption scene is one of the most heartfelt moments throughout the series.
In the end, Kenny is left with a new furry friend, a home fit for visitors, and a new outlook on his life that will ultimately benefit him in the future.
3. To Gay or Not Too Gay (Season 1, Episode 4)
Out of all of the episodes in the show, this next episode shows the most growth out of one person in the short amount of time spent with the Fab Five. This episode’s subject is AJ, a gay man who has yet to come out to his mother.
Not only does his mother not know of his sexuality, but a lot of people in his life don’t know either. AJ tries to do everything in his power to not “come off” as gay, in fear that he won’t be accepted by those that he cares about in his life.
Luckily, the Fab Five is here to help. With words of encouragement and advice, they help AJ work through his anxieties about coming out, and it works. With a flood of emotions, AJ reads a letter that he wrote to his late-father to his mother. At the end of the letter, AJ wrote to his father that he was gay, and read it aloud to his mother.
Although he was nervous for his mother’s reaction, she had nothing but smiles and love to offer him for his brave moment. Overall, the episode helped AJ truly be proud of who he is and embrace his true sexuality shamelessly.
2. Black Girl Magic (Season 3, Episode 5)
This episode centers around Jess, a 23-year-old Black lesbian who is a server at a Greek restaurant. In the beginning of the episode, we learn that Jess has been on her own and independent since the young age of 16. She was outed and her very religious adoptive family kicked her out to be on her own.
Throughout the episode, we learn more and more about Jess and how the abandonment from her family has truly affected her. Determined to give her the treatment she deserves, the Fab Five work together to give her a complete makeover.
Karamo talks with Jess about how she’s already the strong Black woman that she’s always aspired to be, even if she doesn’t see it herself. Later in the episode, Tan gave her a wardrobe that was affordable, comfortable, and not too crazy from her usual outfits. Finishing with a new hairstyle from Jonathan, Jess is left feeling comfortable and confident in her own skin.
1. Jones Bar-B-Q (Season 3, Episode 3)
In this episode, the Fab Five sets out to transform the lives of not only one woman, but two. Mary and Deborah Jones run Jones Bar-B-Q, a popular barbecue joint in Kansas City. The guys truly transform their lives in every way they can. They bottle their famous BBQ sauce for mass production, replace Mary’s missing tooth, and help them look and feel as beautiful as they truly are.
It’s not surprising that this episode is the highest-ranked of the series, considering it deals with two lovable and kind sisters that truly deserve to be treated after all of their hard work and dedication to their family-owned restaurant.