While things in the US are divided politically more than ever, at least there are five queer dudes who are trying to bridge the gap between the scruffy rural everyman and the urban elites who sometimes look down on them. It’s as if the Fab Five on Netflix’s hit revival of Queer Eye are trying to Make America Gay Again. So far the technique is working. Not only are they showing dudes how to put pomade in their hair (start from the back and work forward), the finer points of a french tuck, or how to slice up an avocado, they’re also getting them to challenge their political beliefs and change the courses of their lives for the better. We’ve ranked all of the makeovers so far over the two seasons in descending order.

1. AJ (season one, episode four)

If this episode doesn’t make you cry then you should get one of those dry-eye medications. AJ is a (hunky) guy who hasn’t come out to his family despite the fact that he has a boyfriend. Not only did the crew give him a new haircut and wardrobe, they also changed his apartment from a schlubby, unusable mess into a cute crashpad. But it’s these five guys showing him he can be masculine and openly gay that really makes this episode memorable. That and the amazing scene where …

2. Tom (season one, episode one)

There is nothing sadder than a lonely guy smoking out of the door of his basement room while drinking whiskey and Mountain Dew. The Fab Five made his space nice, gave him some new clothes and shaped his beard, but the real impact here was shaping his life. Not only did they expose him to gay people for the first time, they imbued him with the confidence in his appearance and himself that he had lost. The coda to the episode is that he ends up reuniting with the ex-wife who still had his heart.

3. Skyler (season two, episode five)

There was no worse apartment than Skyler’s, the trans man whose house was festooned with more rainbow flags and LGBT paraphernalia than all the gift shops in Provincetown. The Fab Five did a number on it and spiffed up his look, though it seems like the improvements didn’t take. But Skyler learning what it’s like to blend masculine and feminine energies to create a whole and unique person is a journey that is worth watching again and again.

On a mission … the Queer Eye team. Photograph: Netfilx

4. Tammye (season two, episode one)

The doyenne of Gay, Georgia, Tammye is a woman who gives until her heart can’t give any more. The guys didn’t do much apart from give her a new haircut and a cute dress to wear to church, however they helped repair the relationship between her and her gay son. Tammye talking about her struggles with reconciling her religion and her son is the sort of message so many parents need to hear.

5. Cory (season one, episode three)

One thing you should never do to a cop down south is shave off his moustache. How else are we going to know that he’s 5-0? This was a guy who lives for Nascar races and didn’t think much of his clothing or his home decor. The Fab Five changed that, but the most memorable scene was this policeman’s talk with Karamo Brown, who is African American, about Black Lives Matter. It was the sort of honest, heartfelt discussion between an African American and a member of the law enforcement community that needs to happen a lot more often if we want serious change.

6. Jeremy (season one, episode eight)

Ah, yes, the hunky firefighters episode. Jeremy, the main subject, is a great and giving guy who wanted his station house remodelled for all his colleagues who risk their lives to keep the community safe. While the new duds weren’t that remarkable, what Bobby Berk did to their sad office was. This episode showed that a group of guys – gay, straight or otherwise – can come together and learn from each other, no matter what misconceptions they may have.

7. Neal (season one, episode two)

In the most shocking transformation of the series so far, this tech nerd went from looking like Mike Myers in The Love Guru to a handsome young professional. For that, he can thank Jonathan Van Ness’s supreme skills as a barber. His story of growing up and accepting responsibility is a common one, but most of them don’t come with a guy who ends up looking this fly.

8. Jason (season two, episode four)

This handyman started the episode as a “Burner” who wants to move to Reno, Nevada, for a fresh start in life and ended a “Burner” who decided to stay in Atlanta for a woman he fell in love with. With a decent taste in furniture and clothes to start with, all the guys had to teach him was how to show off his assets. Once he had that confidence, he was able to decide against an ill-advised move and find a relationship that was lurking right under his nose. No number of trips to Burning Man could do that.

Tom’s beard meets Jonathan Van Ness in the first episode of season one. Photograph: Netflix

9. Ari (season two, episode six)

This is the one with the guy who was a big fat liar. Was he employed or not? Did he graduate college or didn’t he? Is he ever going to stop eating sunflower seeds and spitting the shells out into a Frisbee? Man, we sure hope he does. Cleaned up a little bit and finally held accountable for his actions, he got back the confidence to stop lying to his family and himself – at least for now.

10. Remy (season one, episode six)

I loved Remy’s grandmother’s retro 70s house and was sad they tore down all of her photo murals. The only thing I loved more was Remy’s updated house after all of those period furnishings were gone. His own style transformation wasn’t that dramatic, but updating that house was like breaking apart the fatberg – a near-insurmountable job that required all hands on deck.

11. Ted (season two, episode eight)

The young mayor of a small but progressive town in Georgia is the face of #resist. No, really. He started growing his beard the day Hillary Clinton lost the election and hadn’t shaved it off. Having him get rid of that and wear something other than tattered sneakers when on city business was a major accomplishment.

12. Bobby (season one, episode five)

This was the guy who has a bunch of kids crammed into a tiny house and works almost 20 hours a day to keep all of those mouths fed. He’s also very religious, which was a particular challenge for Bobby Berk, who was shunned by his Evangelical family after he came out. Their discussion about religion and its accepting people of all sexualities was the highlight of an otherwise forgettable episode.

13. Leo (season two, episode three)

Sometimes all these guys need is a haircut, a shave and to be told they can’t keep dressing like a high-school stoner. They usually have an obstacle to overcome too, but Leo’s was one of the lamest of all: he doesn’t have any friends who are dads. Oh, boo hoo.

14. William (season two, episode two)

This guy who works at Walmart loves his girlfriend like Mary Berry loves a well-baked victoria sponge. The pair got some new furniture and walls for their trailer and he got some spiffy new outfits, but there wasn’t much to this one. Yes, he proposed at the end, but these two are so over-the-top affectionate that we knew how she would respond.

15. Joe (season one, episode seven)

Remember how unfunny Joe was during his standup act? Really not funny. At least he finally moved out of his childhood bedroom and into his own place. Oh no, wait. He moved down into his parents’ basement. Wow, this just gets bleaker and bleaker.

16. Sean (season two, episode seven)

They tried so hard to help this 18-year-old home-schooled kid one his way to college, but there wasn’t much to be done. While everyone was happy he got rid of the blazers with his name emblazoned on the back, there just wasn’t much change happening this time around.