Boots premiered on Netflix on Oct. 9, 2025. This show consists of eight episodes each about an hour long. This show was inspired by the memoir “The Pink Marine” by Greg Cope on his first-hand experience of being a closeted marine in the 90s. During the 1990s being gay in the military was illegal, Boots shows the conditions of how to be a closeted marine.
The show follows Cameron Cope, an 18-year-old in high school, who suffers from low-self esteem and bullying. Cope is visibly scrawny and different from the other boys. The show soon reveals that Cope is a gay teen in the 90s, making him a target for bullying. His only friend is Ray McCaffrey, who convinces Cope to join the marines through the buddy system, which was advertised to convince more people to join. In return they would stay with their buddy all through their service. As Cope and Ray join bootcamp, we meet the rest of their troop, Cody Bowman, John Bowman, Nash, Santos, Ochoa, Slovachek, Hicks, and Mo Mason. In the first episode we get introduced to each different character and over the show, we get to learn their reasons for joining. Cody and John are twins who grew up in an abusive household. Their dad had always favored Cody as he was fit and their dad used exercise as a way to abuse Cody. Taking Cody to run miles while deliberately leaving out John as he was a heavier kid and didn’t deserve to go with them, driving a wedge between the brothers. Joining the marines is tradition for the Bowmens. Even though he is overweight ,John will refuse to break tradition, so he chooses to enlist. Nash joined the marines to show that by being black he could still succeed in the marines. Santos joined the troop after Mo Mason was kicked out for disobeying orders during the gas test. Santos joined after many failed attempts to have a better life for his family. Ochoa joined to impress his wife Gloria by being a real man. Slovachek is hard headed and joined in order to avoid jail time. Lastly, Hicks reason to have joined is unknown, but he provides comedic relief. He doesn’t get scared to challenge the drill instructors and the other recruits.
Throughout the whole show it felt really accurate towards what marines training is really like, as once they got off the bus there is an immediate change of environment, and this intensity really sets the tone for the rest of the show. Their military uniforms were really accurate even with Sergeant Sullivan medals he received from being stationed in Guam, all made sense for the timeline for summer of 1990.
This show also teaches the importance of acceptance and family. All these characters joined for different reasons and once graduated these characters experienced so much that they all bonded like brothers, from facing the grief of losing a member of their team to learning how to care for one another. This show did a really amazing job with showing the raw emotion from experiencing basic camp. It follows Cope’s journey to accept his future as a marine and develops his character as he changes to show his love for his brothers and his pride in being a marine. This show also captures how the rest of the boys react toward one of their own passing away right in front of them. The show explores how this affects the rest of their training as marines who were giving up chose to keep going in honor of one of their fallen brothers. This show will make you cry at many points as it focuses on Sargent Sullivan’s past and his struggles on being a closeted gay marine who is close to being caught by military police. By watching this you will experience so many emotions that shows, I would 100% recommend Boots on Netflix. It depicts the real-life struggle of a gay marine hiding themselves during the time it was dangerous to be gay in the military.
