It's no secret that I have a soft spot for gay teen prostitutes - as opposed to a hard spot, which no, I do not have. But everything from the first moment his HIV-positive hustler ass solicits men for sex to when his mother tries to regain custody to his relationship with a girl(!) to his bleeding in the pool and ending with his adoption by Michael and Ben - all of this tugs my high strung heart strings till I get that little thing in my chest. You know, that thing? Near your heart, that simultaneously starts to feel empty and achingly full like you're about to cry. And then sometimes do...

Beyond the story points, to which, perhaps I am just more vulnerable, the idea of Hunter in the land of formula TV is beautifully queer, too. Is you're show slipping in the ratings? Throw in a precocious, cute young kid to charm us all with it's silly antics and exuberant inexperience (Leonardo DiCaprio as homeless Luke Bower on Growing Pains, anyone?). Instead, the QaF writers serve up a kind of funny looking, foul-mouthed, bareback-fucking, teen whore who could out alienate both ALF and Bertolt Brecht with his teen angst, malaise, and mood swings.

So everyone think back a couple of years and enlighten me: why did everyone hate Hunter so much? Because, let me tell you, I heart that hooker...and his little family, too.