Author: Brandon Kirby

HBO

While Nick Hall, vp comedy development at HBO, calls the overall reception to Looking “overwhelmingly positive,” at a panel discussion, he did reference a few thinkpieces about the show that have emerged since its premiere, some of which have been “very scathing,” including a Slate piece by J. Bryan Lowder. Perhaps surprisingly, many of the negative reactions come from gay viewers. “Our gay community is looking at us in a certain way,” said JC Lee, a staff writer on the show. “That there is one view of gayness, and we’re not meeting it.”

One of the show’s EPs, Michael Lannan, joined Hall, Lee and fellow staff writers John Hoffman and Tanya Saracho for Tuesday’s panel, moderated by the WGA West’s gay and lesbian writer committee chair Gary Goldstein. “It’s a minority trap,” continued Lee. “When you have a piece that showcases a community, there’s this identity factor where if you’re showing a certain kind of queerness, you’re not honoring what queerness is. There’s a sense their queerness feels threatened by a show that is normalizing it.”

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Members of the panel all placed emphasis on the style of their show (which has also faced criticism for being too slow-paced), a conscious decision on their part. They’ve heard the criticisms. “The B-word is what they keep calling us; you know, ‘boring,’ ” said Saracho. “I would rather they hate it than call us boring.”

From the decision to bring on writer-director Andrew Haigh of the quiet British drama Weekend, Lannan and his teamed acknowledged the style they wanted to create. “Not to be in defense of boring, but that is very intentional,” Hoffman said. “I think that has become part of the show. [The episodes] do feel like little half-hour indie movies.”

Lee emphasized truthfulness in the show’s storytelling, an atmosphere that he said is created in the writers’ room, where discussions about sexuality, race and their own personal stories (sometimes an “awful, trashy sex story,” as Lee noted) make it into episode scripts. “You’ll reveal your deepest, darkest secrets, and they end up in the show,” Saracho said, laughing.

STORY: ‘Looking’ Recap: 5 Things Learned From Patrick and Richie’s Date

Saracho also noted the show’s title was the very last one they came up with. Among the options were Homos and Golden Boys, before they landed on Looking, which they all agreed encapsulated the first season’s main theme of each character looking to go outside of his comfort zone.

For Lannan, the biggest compliment he received was a story from castmember Jonathan Groff, when he watched Sunday’s upcoming episode with his brother and sister-in-law and a moment made them both gasp. “It was a big moment because he said he’d never had his straight brother and sister-in-law invest in gay characters this way,” Lannan said. “There are moments like that, which are really exciting to hear about.”

Looking‘s seventh episode, “Looking in the Mirror,” premieres Sunday, Feb. 23 at 10:30pm on HBO.

Email: brandon.kirby@thr.com
Twitter: @bkkirby

HBO

[Warning: spoilers ahead for this week’s episode of Looking, “Looking for the Future.”]

Written and directed by Andrew Haigh, “Looking for the Future” is a bottle episode in a sense, contained within a single date, and one continuous conversation, between Patrick (Jonathan Groff) and Richie (Raul Castillo). There’s no Dom (Murray Bartlett), no Agustin (Frankie J. Alvarez) and no Kevin (Russell Tovey) because Patrick blows off going into work to spend the day with Richie. It’s a testament to the episode’s writing how the momentum of this date is sustained through the full 25 minutes. It’s all them all the time and gives us a chance to eavesdrop in as they learn more about each other. Here are the notable takeaways from this fifth episode:

1. Friends can (apparently) be used as a useful metaphor for sex.
For those complaining Looking so far has been a bit too chaste, there’s an early scene here that should wet those appetites. Flash forwarding a bit from when we last left them on the dance floor, at this point Patrick and Richie have spent a few nights together. While at Morrison Planetarium with only their faces dimly illuminated blue, Richie says their date is like Ross and Rachel from Friends. Patrick says he’s the geek like Ross, but Richie notes Rachel is kind of like the boss, kind of like the top. “Yeah, I want to be her,” Patrick responds. Why? Richie identifies it as bottom shame, mainly from Patrick being self-conscious about himself (see No. 4).

STORY: ‘Looking’ Recap: Working (and Wearing Leather) on the Weekend

2. Richie is closely tied to his Mexican heritage.
There’s a lot about Richie that ties him to his roots, not only when he sits in his underwear slapping a bass and singing Spanish to Patrick. He reveals that his mother sent him back to Mexico as a child (“She thought it would be good for me, but it wasn’t”) and that he has a spirit guide of sorts, or perhaps a life coach, who he calls his señora. She rubs eggs over his body, cracks them into a bowl and from the yolk predicts his future path. “Does she supply her own eggs?” Patrick asks, not quite taking Richie seriously. The answer is “yes,” and next thing we know, Patrick is rolling two eggs in his hands waiting for Richie’s señora; that is, until he finds out she only speaks Spanish, and Richie would have to hear everything first and translate it to Patrick. They bail.

3. Patrick is kind of a control freak.
After hearing that Richie’s ex-boyfriend was HIV-positive, Patrick reveals he’s totally paranoid about STDs and anything of the sort and gets frequently tested. “I sneeze, and I think I have HIV,” he says. OK, that’s more about being overly cautious than a control freak, but get this: later Patrick says he’s not good with silences and then he tries to guess every single possible place Richie is taking them on their date and that it better be worth it because he took off work. Easy there! Of course it’s him being cute and joking, but Patrick sure likes to take to try taking the reigns on situations. Richie later tells Patrick he worries about so much. This also comes into play when Richie brings up his señora, saying going to her takes responsibility out of his hands.

4. Patrick’s mommy issues are confirmed.
Previous episodes only alluded to Patrick’s mom, how she appears to be a constant presence in the back of his mind when it comes to guys, and here he unveils his feelings about her with Richie. He made the conscious decision of coming out to his mom in the car. “Because I thought if we were in the car, she wouldn’t have to look me in he eye,” he explains. He then notes how she managed to make his coming out all about her: how Patrick’s dad would react, how their neighbor would react. Patrick and his mom have never talked about it since. There’s more to this mother-son relationship that hasn’t been plumbed yet, and it’ll be interesting to see when that happens. A lot of it, so far at least, seems to be Patrick’s own issues in his head. For example, Richie has to remind him, “Your parents meeting one of your boyfriends isn’t about your sex life.” But Patrick can’t help but wonder if coming out to your parents means they immediately think: “Oh, so you’re buttf–king now.”

5. This show is going to bask in the smaller moments, so get used to it.
When Looking pulls off an episode such as this — listening in on first times, coming-out stories and more — it affirms what the show is all about: portraying real lives and opting for organic, natural situations.

Email: brandon.kirby@thr.com
Twitter: @bkkirby

HBO

[Warning: spoilers ahead for this week’s episode of Looking, “Looking for $220/Hour.”]

In arguably the most dynamic Looking episode yet, “Looking for $220/Hour,” the gang takes on San Francisco’s Folsom Street Fair, which was filmed on location with director Ryan Fleck (of Half Nelson) during the actual leather-bound event.

Patrick (Jonathan Groff) is holed up at the office with Kevin (Russell Tovey) on a Sunday, cramming in work to prepare for a presentation the next day. Kevin apologizes repeatedly, but Patrick assures him he wanted to come in and help. Taking a peek outside into the festivities — assless chaps abound, with Patrick joking he owns a pair — Kevin labels what he sees as “a gay national holiday.” Patrick corrects him: “It’s more leather than gay.” 

We learn more about Kevin’s boyfriend, a relationship that, the more he talks about it, appears to be not the most ideal situation. First off, it’s long distance (the boyfriend lives in Seattle), and secondly, sounds like the boyfriend doesn’t appreciate how much Kevin spends working. “You have to find someone who understands what you do,” Kevin says to Patrick, giving him a knowingly long glance that’s not on accident.

Just as we’re relishing in this chemistry-filled moment, Kevin is whisked off to pick up the boyfriend from the airport. Patrick gets a call from a leather, spiked choker-wearing Agustin (Frankie J. Alvarez) who’s at the fair with Doris (Lauren Weedman) and Hugo (Ptolemy Slocum) — only introduced just now.

STORY: ‘Looking’ Recap: Fresh Faces, New Jobs, and Playing Games

Coerced into joining them at the fair, Patrick and the group stop into a leather shop. The never-not shy and awkward Patrick selects a leather vest without buttons, nearly wears it on top of his polo before getting reprimanded by Doris and then spends the rest of the afternoon uncomfortably tugging it closed against his chest. Par for the course.

Agustin takes no time in poking fun at Patrick’s relationship with his boss, suggesting he wants to have sex with him, hence his reason for being there on the weekend. “You’re jealous I’m finally fulfilled at work,” Patrick returns, making a perfectly valid point. Great timing, too, as they’re walking over to the fair’s Manhunt booth where, among the male escorts congregating is the same brawny bearded man from last week’s episode, CJ (T.J. Linnard).

The aimless Agustin wants to work with CJ; not for sex, but some sort of art project with him. It’s unclear exactly what it would entail (filming/photographing him during the act?), but CJ immediately reminds Agustin of his $220 per hour rate no matter what it is they do together. “You are aware you just hired a prostitute, right?” a skeptical Patrick asks Agustin as they walk away.

The conversation on intimacy vs. sex from the second episode rears its head again when Agustin has to make an emergency stop in Patrick’s bathroom thanks to an ill-advised bite of meat. After the vegetarian is done taking care of business, he tries to reason with Patrick, telling him what CJ does as work is the most intimate of all. He gets to do the sexual things with guys they’re otherwise too shy to do with their real partners. Patrick wholly disagrees: “Intimacy is me in that bathroom smelling your shit.”

Patrick defends his lack of boyfriends (“I haven’t met the right person yet, and I don’t want to compromise”) while Agustin knocks him down for the fantasy relationship he’s creating with his boss. Here we get a full portrait of Agustin and Patrick’s relationship; they’re hard on each other but at the same time seem to have good insight as to what may be best for the other. That’s what a friendship bloomed out of college will become, and it’s filled out in the interactions we’ve seen so far between Agustin and Patrick.

STORY: Looking: TV Review

While Patrick and his friends are all sprawled out playing video games in his office, Kevin unexpectedly returns. The friends depart, leaving the two co-workers to bond some more. The fact that Kevin willingly comes back to the office when his boyfriend is in town certainly shows something (it’s not just the impending presentation tomorrow), and Patrick seems to be aware of what’s going on.

When Kevin offers to get them food, specifically begging for fried chicken, something his boyfriend would never allow, Patrick sees it as the definitive red flag — and maybe that Agustin is actually right. Patrick excuses himself to meet up with everyone else at The Stud, and the disappointment that falls across Kevin’s face is palpable.

And where is Dom (Murray Bartlett) this episode? Missing out on the Folsom Street Fair, he’s instead busy having a lunch date with Lynn (Scott Bakula) from the steam room. He feels out for any advice Lynn might have on how to open his Portuguese chicken restaurant, and once Lynn catches wind of his motive, he pokes a hole in it suggesting he thought it was a date. Dom gets visibly uncomfortable before Lynn jokingly defuses. Dom quite honestly deserved the jab, especially when he then invites Lynn to dinner. “What are you doing?” he asks. “You’re not interested in me, remember?” He suggests Dom show him a business plan and departs.

At The Stud, Frank (O-T Fagbenle) asks Agustin about CJ being into his art concept — talk about being open with each other — but when asked how Agustin got him to agree, he leaves out the payment part. Patrick spots Richie (Raul Castillo) on the dance floor and hesitantly approaches him. “Still cut,” Richie says after Patrick asks him how he’s been. Ouch. Patrick clumsily tries to explain himself, Richie seems to accept the apology and we close on them moving in for a kiss while dancing together. Points for Patrick in bailing on becoming “the other guy” in what’s supposed to be a work-only relationship with Kevin.

Email: brandon.kirby@thr.com
Twitter: @bkkirby