Manuel here bringing us up to date on Andrew Haigh’s first season of his HBO show Looking in preparation for the weekly recaps that will take up this space starting next week.
“You know how I know you’re gay? You’re boring,” With those nine words, Mick Stingley (writing for Esquire) summed up his reaction to Looking, one which continued to be echoed even as Andrew Haigh’s low-key San Francisco-set show about a group of gay men blossomed into a fascinating (if, yes, clipped and narrow) show, ably experimenting with the long-form storytelling of TV to offer mundane snapshots of the contemporary gay male experience. “Boring” became a code word for viewers (both gay and straight) who for the first time found themselves exposed to gay characters on screen who didn’t mince or flounce (no Wills or Jacks here), nor who aimed to become a banner ad for a movement (no Michaels or Emmets here). It was also an HBO show hard to pin down. It doesn’t have Sorkinean monologues, or Dunhamesque sex scenes. It doesn’t have the acidic comedy of Veep nor the pathos of Enlightened. There’s a level of mundanity in Haigh’s show that's decidedly un-HBOish; this is no Westeros nor Bon Temps. In many ways, it feels like an indie film with its closest kin being Haigh’s 2011 film, Weekend. [Full disclosure, I hated that film, but that’s neither here nor there].
I bring this all up front to showcase what it is that interests me about Looking; its rather transgressive indifference towards politics of representation. There’s transgression in the very banality that so characterized the show's first season which, while climaxing with a wedding, a hook-up, a breakup and a pitch-perfect Golden Girls shout out, nevertheless seemed quite content in what Haigh & co. bill their show as: merely looking, observing really how these young able-bodied (and damn good-looking) gay men navigate their lives. It’s not surprising then that the best episode of the first season was solely focused on Patrick & Richie in a long, romantic date around San Francisco.
So, before next’s week’s premiere episode, let’s briefly recap/meet our boys:
Patrick (Jonathan Groff)
Age: 29
Profession: Video game designer
Known for: Being the inadvertent Carrie of the group; developing an inappropriate relationships with his flirty boss.
Looks good in… a leather vest.
Looking for… love.
Best line so far:
I don't know if either of us are very good at being who we think we are"
Where we left him: Caught between two gorgeous men who want him, each of whom represent different versions of his life; Kevin clearly the type of guy he’d have gone for in hopes of impressing his mom, Richie a wild card whose commitment and tenderness are as endearing as they are frightening. Will his magnetic chemistry with his (ahem taken) boss win out over the sweet relationship he’d been nurturing with Richie?
Agustín (Frankie J. Alvarez)
Age: 31
Profession: Aspiring artist
Known for: Being inadvertently bitchy, developing an inappropriate relationship with a male hooker for “artistic purposes.”
Looks good in… CJ’s arms?
Looking for… something, anything to inspire and motivate him.
Best line so far: (Looking at Patrick’s new escapulario)
What are you, accessorizing now?”
Where we left him: Dumped by his boyfriend over that “oh yea, remember how I didn’t tell you I was basically engineering a threesome with my escort friend who I’ve been paying?” issue, he passed out after drowning his sorrows with drugs. Will his flailing art “career” blossom now that he’s presumably back living with Patrick?
Dom (Murray Bartlett)
Age: 39
Profession: Aspiring restaurateur, waiter.
Known for: Delicious piri piri chicken, developing an inappropriate relationship with his main investor.
Looks good… in a sauna towel.
Looking for… a way out of his dead-end job.
Best line so far:
You know at 40, Grindr emails you a death certificate?”
Where we left him: Following his heart (if not his business savvy instincts), Dom kissed Lynn seemingly misreading the latter’s feelings. Will their business relationship be able to overcome the budding attraction Dom is feeling?
Richie (Raúl Castillo)
Age: 20-something
Profession: Barber
Known for: Devilishly flirty transit conversation.
Looks good in… baseball caps (also, just a guitar)
Looking for… someone to fall in love with.
Best line so far:
We got a special tonight. Pretty blue eyes drink two for one”
Where we left him: Confessing he’d be willing to give it another shot with Patrick seeing as he’s “this close” to falling in love with him, yet acknowledging the fact that Patrick is apparently not really ready for that kind of thing; Patrick’s tears give his hesitation away.
Kevin (Russell Tovey)
Age: 30-something
Profession: Video game wunderkind (ie. Patrick’s boss)
Known for: Devilishly flirty workplace conversation.
Looks good in… in wedding attire.
Looking for… trouble?
Best line so far:
Do you know how much effort it takes to be around you every day? It takes all of my willpower not to lunge and kiss the fucking shit out of you, and I can’t seem to stop thinking about you, and it’s becoming a real fucking problem.”
Where we left him: Having had sex with Patrick (in what has to have been one of the sexiest scenes of the series thus far), we’re led to believe he’s gone back to his boyfriend Jon, though surely that will affect their dynamic both personal and professional next season.
“Now what?” Patrick asks Kevin after their tryst.
That’s precisely what I’m asking myself as I wait for season 2 to kick off. Presumably, #TeamKevin & #TeamRichie have a bountiful rivalry to nurture in the coming weeks (are you all about Tovey’s ears or Castillo’s killer smile?) but I’m more interested to see what lessons Haigh & co. have learnt from season 1: will they work on Agustin’s grating personality or embrace its narrative possibilities? Will we see more of the great chemistry between Scott Bakula and Bartlett? Will Patrick’s narrative inertia (things and people happen to him) continue to be the guiding principle of the show? More importantly: will you be watching this season? Join us here every Monday!