Looking - Recap: Lordy, Lordy, Dom is Forty

Episode 6 of Season 1 of Looking, “Looking in the Mirror,” forced Patrick (Jonathan Groff) to recognize his insecurities thanks to some obnoxious shoving from Agustín (Frankie J. Alvarez) and an eye-opening confrontation with his new boyfriend, Richie (Raúl Castillo). Meanwhile, Agustín’s relationship with Frank (O.T. Fagbenle) took a surprising turn when CJ (T.J. Linnard), Agustín’s hooker buddy, was added to the mix. As all of this transpired, Dom’s (Murray Bartlett) last hours as a thirty-something came to an end. Forty loomed on the horizon, but what did this mean for him? Here is the Recap and Review of Looking Season 1 Episode 6, “Looking in the Mirror”!

First, heads up: It’s late, and I’ve been busy reviewing this week’s GIRLS, but I’ll be back tomorrow to flesh some more stuff out if I feel that it’s necessary.

HBO "Looking"

Episode 6 set the stage for Dom’s birthday “party.” I use that term loosely because Dom treated the event more like a premature funeral and an excuse to drink in the park than an actual celebration. On the surface, Lynn (Scott Bakula) might be in Dom’s life because Patrick’s friend is looking to open up a new kind of restaurant in San Francisco, but he’s really here to act as Dom’s spirit guide as he heads into his forties. Dom has stomached his thirties, but it’s as though the label of “forty” has taken away his right to a social life and any glimmer of hope for true happiness. Lynn spent his own fortieth birthday doing shrooms in a canoe on the Russian River. Dom came to spend his birthday beating a piñata in the likeness of his twenty-something face and complaining about what this meant for his Grindr value.

Patrick and Richie stumbled into an official relationship this week. As Richie prepared some traditional late-night food for Paddy, Patrick let it slip that he intended to introduce his boyfriend to his friends at Dom’s birthday party. The two hadn’t previously labeled their relationship, though Richie was quick to playfully quip that he’d landed himself a WASP. Perhaps the most important scene of Episode 6 subsequently followed. Richie snuck out the next morning to purchase a scapular for a mere $4. The necklace Richie wears around his neck bears a Catholic token of luck, something precious that must be gifted to another as per tradition. Patrick accepted it, perhaps not knowing exactly what it meant beyond "that brown thing" acting as a "cute" symbol of their budding relationship, but to Richie it meant much more. To us, it meant much more. Richie has a strong faith, and it’s a self-defined faith. Much of the drama surrounding gay issues in the media today is regarding religion, as though gay people aren’t invited to believe in anything at all unless they denounce a huge part of who they are. Richie isn’t having any of that. The gift of the scapular symbolizes Patrick receiving a sense of faith in Richie and in himself.

HBO "Looking"

Agustín and Frank continued this strange relationship with CJ this week. Agustín has been paying CJ, the prostitute, to spend time with him as he works on his latest art project, and Frank has been nothing but supportive. We were led to believe that CJ and Frank would clash at Dom’s birthday party in the park, like Frank’s trust in his relationship would disintegrate once he saw the handsome CJ and the look in Agustín’s eyes when the two are together. In the end, however, that isn’t how things went down at all. Frank was warm and welcoming to CJ, and the two hit it off over some spicy Cheetos. Perhaps even more interesting was that this seemed to anger Agustín, like he suffered through some mix of jealousy and rage watching his two love interests behaving as appropriately as they should. Frank was warm and inviting and so was CJ. Agustín, bent out of shape, subsequently took out his frustration on Patrick and Richie. More on that soon!

Looking is fantastic at seamlessly working social commentary on gay subject matter into the narrative as it naturally progresses. During Episode 6, the emphasis was placed on the concept of something working on a scale of “gay,” or, furthermore, a person existing on that scale. There is no such thing as acting “gay,” we just have implanted archetypal ideas in our brains of what it means to be a gay person versus a straight person and what it means to be a masculine man versus a more feminine man. For example, the entire crew, including Paddy’s work friend Owen (Andrew Law), called out Patrick for having a “gay” voice mail message, a point that Patrick took offense to, as though sounding “gay” was somehow worse than sounding straight or equivalent to being less manly. It's all in the relentless societal pressure. Self-conscious over the idea that he might have a “gay” voice, Patrick put on a show for kicks, pretending to be as stereotypically gay as possible before Kevin (Russell Tovey) showed up with his partner unexpectedly. The only one who seemed refreshingly detached from the conversation prior was Richie.

There was much emphasis put on Richie’s compatibility with Patrick this week due to their seemingly mismatched ideals. Richie lives in the moment. He’s the kind of man who’s perfectly happy cutting hair without ever having to aspire to own a salon. Patrick, on the other hand, subconsciously labels that as a lack ambition and a sign of inferiority. Paddy didn’t even actually introduce Richie to his boss, Kevin, and his boyfriend as his partner. He was simply this guy, “Richie.” Meanwhile, Kevin’s boyfriend is super masculine and works in sports medicine, the perfect man to step onto the scene in order to highlight all of Patrick’s insecurities, which aren’t actually in his relationship with Richie but in his own view of himself. Eventually, it was Agustín who called Patrick out for seeming to lead Richie along and “slumming it.” Richie overheard Agustín’s horrible assessment of his relationship and his general status as a human being and appropriately lashed out. Patrick, on the other hand, couldn't even speak up to correct Agustín when he suggested that he was merely allowing Richie to believe he was his boyfriend rather than to recognize that they were in a serious committed relationship. After watching the scene in which Richie gave Paddy the scapular, this should have infuriated all of us, and it did.

Lynn couldn’t attend Dom’s pity part in the park because he had a prior engagement, much to Dom’s surprise. He did, however, send over a nice arrangement of flowers. Doris (Lauren Weedman) acts as Dom’s moral conscience, as Frank does for Agustín and Richie does for Patrick. One of the best Dom scenes this week had to be the moment on the bus when he attempted (key word) to turn the tables on Doris for daring to suggest that he and Lynn were more than friends by making it about the stigma surrounding whether or not gay men can be friends without benefits. Doris wasn’t having any of that, though, and shut down the nonsense by simply stating that she wants to see her best friend settled down with someone appropriate and healthy for him. Dom was so concerned with charming twenty-somethings that he’d been squashing his feelings for Lynn. By the close of Episode 6, the birthday boy was surprising Lynn with an impromptu visit to his house. The two watched cartoons over some weed and discussed going into business together. The men they’d previously discussed matters with weren’t interested enough to invest just yet, but perhaps a popup shop will entice them. Lynn, true to character, refused to give in to Dom’s sexual advances now that they’d officially entered into business together. Again, Lynn is pushing Dom to grow up, though maybe a healthy relationship is exactly what he needs.

Agustín ended his arc this week by orchestrating a thee-way sextape with CJ and Frank. The moments between Agustín and Frank were sexual enough to be caught on tape, but the subsequent scene in which Agustín filmed Frank and CJ together was on another level completely. The chemistry was high and the sexual tension totally trumped the couple’s prior moment on camera. Perhaps Agustín’s selfishness has come back to bite him in the ass. This “art” was always an excuse to spend time with the alluring CJ, with whom he’s endlessly fascinated. Now, it seems, there are consequences.

HBO "Looking"

Richie outright confronted Patrick on the street later that night regarding the unfair criticism he’d been subjected to earlier. Is Patrick embarrassed of Richie? Of course he was, irrationally so. Feeling like you’re embarrassing to your significant other is one thing, but I don’t think anything feels worse than having the person who’s supposed to be special to you earnestly asking if they're insignificant or insufficient because of your own selfish actions. Richie’s hurt isn’t grounded in his disapproval of himself, but in his disappointment in Patrick. Patrick surely knew how he’d behaved. Episode 6 ended on an awesome moment, however. After Patrick invited Richie to attend his sister’s wedding, much to Richie’s concern, his boyfriend fell asleep in his bed while he studied himself in the mirror. Patrick, standing naked save for the scapular necklace, finally seemed to understand.

What did you think of Looking Season 1 Episode 6, “Looking in the Mirror”? Do you think the show did a good job of having Paddy project his self-doubt onto his relationship with Richie? How will Agustín fix his situation? Will Dom come to embrace forty?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Looking Season 1 Episode 6, “Looking in the Mirror”!