It has felt like eons since we last got to commune with the boys of Looking but HBO finally put us out of our misery and let us partake in a new season today. Was it worth the wait?
Looking is never going to be a show that wallopS you over the head, which is a credit to Andrew Haigh, who would rather deal in subtly than explosions. I say that to say that while the season two premiere was good and there were some wow moments, this isn’t an episode I’m going to be raving about…well with the exception of one thing.
The majority of this episode took place on a sojourn to the woods, where the three guys (and later Doris) took to staying in Lynn’s cabin (oh the perks of having a rich boyfriend). So how did our trio fare in the wilderness? Let’s dig in.
Augustin (Frankie J. Alvarez)
To be entirely honest, Augustin was the character I was most interested to see in the premiere. We here at the blog were no fans of this dude last season (cause he was trash) and this show cannot succeed if one character sucks the soul out of the narrative. He’s too crucial a character to do that to. Luckily for us, the creators seem to be on the way to putting him back together. While I don’t think I’m here for his whole “I deal with my pain by being bad” shtick, it does feel like it comes from a genuine character place and his striking up of an unlikely friendship with Eddie, affectionately known as “St. Eddie the hairy ass mother of the mission”, who happens to have a house in Virginia (HIV+) seemed at once impulsive and sweet. I don’t know where that relationship will go but it was nice to see Augustin not weighed down by a boyfriend or a prostitute.
Dom (Murray Bartlett)
Oh Dom. If there’s any character I want to find some get right it’s Dom lol. I knew him staying at Lynn’s place wouldn’t last as nice as it seemed. Dom, for his part started off the episode trying to be good, wanting to go see an old tree with Patrick and telling them not to raid a liquor cabinet. However, once he found some old photo albums with Lynn that something was up. In season 1 we saw that Dom is very much the playboy even though he’s getting older so his confession that Lynn doesn’t share much felt like he was referring to himself. So wouldn’t you know it that when the trio and Doris went to that party that he’d hook up with the muscular Black dude (cause once the shirts were off I knew this would happen). I cackled when black dude was getting a BJ from Dom and saw the open photo album, commenting about Lynn being his dad. Dom however quickly claimed him as his man but also said they were in an open relationship.
I already know this isn’t going to end well.
Patrick (Jonathan Groff)
Patrick…le sigh…he needs a sassy gay friend to come fix his life cause this dude is putting on a good face but his life is complicated. You could tell that throughout the episode he wanted to let them know about what happened with Kevin but every time he got there he would deflect or go somewhere. I figured this was setting us up for something major and the show didn’t disappoint. After taking some molly at a party, we see him in his own world dancing, only to be approached by some bearded dude in a hat. “Richie?!” us stans exclaimed only to see that it was a dude who looked like him but was not him. This then led Patrick to call someone and ask what they were doing. “Richie?!” we exclaimed again only to see a car pull up and its KEVIN. ugh. Kevin and Patrick then proceed to fuck in the woods and all the while I was like
Kevin literally drove to the woods to fuck Kevin. His [redacted] must have the answers to the universe because what the hell. Also what happened to Patrick not being able to bottom or not liking it? The accent and the ears got his hole to open? The phrase “one man’s top is another man’s bottom” has never been more apt. Then Patrick asks if they would ever do it in a bed and Kevin said he hopes so. YOU MEAN TO TELL ME YOU’VE BEEN FUCKING WITH THIS DUDE WITH A BOO THIS WHOLE TIME IN PUBLIC AND UNCOMFORTABLE SPACES? PATRICK DO BETTER. Patrick then tells his two friends what’s happening and this could be the start of better decision mak-ah who am I kidding.
Also, Team Richie folks…we’re in for a long season.
Odds and Ends
-That painting of Lynn was hilariously terrible/great. The production design team on this show doesn’t get enough credit.
-Doris is such a fun part of this show and I’m so excited for her getting an expanded role this season OF LOOKING.
-I HOWLED when Eddie called Patrick a sea pup.
-I will also always be here for someone dragging Patrick like Agustin did early in the episode.