Looking - Premiere Recap: Cruising for Something Real

Episode 1 of Season 1 of Looking, “Looking for Now,” introduced us to Patrick (Jonathan Groff), Augustín (Frankie J. Alvarez), and Dom (Murray Bartlett), three gay friends navigating the waters of daring to date in San Francisco. It’s funny how comparisons between Looking and its lead-in, GIRLS, were drawn weeks prior to the series premiere. In fact, it seems downright silly now. After tonight’s debut episode, I can safely say that the resemblance between the two is purely superficial. They have a similar raw grittiness to their styles of production. The themes of sexuality and sexual exploration were depicted in varying degrees among our three leads, but perhaps most importantly, I believe Looking did a fantastic job of depicting the lives of three very different gay men, guys with different tastes and desires, while simultaneously honoring the gay community without getting exploitative, working off of tired stereotypes, or diminishing that which makes a gay perspective important and special in today's progressive society. Here is the Recap and Review of Season 1 Episode 1 of Looking, “Looking for Now,” the series premiere!

HBO "Looking"

To begin, this is a show that is clearly grounded in the nuances of the dialogue between these three friends. Patrick is a video game designer whose slightly overbearing mother has made enough of an impact on his dating life that he’s simply unsure of what he’s even attracted to anymore. He’s relationship oriented, apparently, but he’s yet to find someone to truly build a life with. 39-year-old Dom is the oldest of the bunch, and it seems that he’s become entirely set in his ways, a life that’s mostly grounded in casual sex with men who, until this premiere, had yet to reject his charms. Augustín is an artist’s assistant, and his creative sense of expression isn’t solely linked to his work, if you catch my drift.

Cold hands! Cold hands!

The series premiere opened with Patrick’s first attempt at “cruising” in the park. A hand-job situation quickly went from uncomfortable to unbearable in a matter of seconds. Luckily, Patrick was saved by the buzz of his phone. This was an interesting way to kick of the first episode of this show, as oftentimes people tend to peg the gay community as being stereotypically oversexed. Taking that into consideration, it was indeed a risk to kick off a series with plenty of high hopes surrounding it with a sexual act between the show’s lead and a random stranger in a public place; however, most likely due to the writing and the way Jonathan Groff handled the work, the entire encounter seemed almost entirely innocent and silly. We believe him later when he spills the beans about his first-time park-cruising experience, something he was attempting to prove still existed at all. Of course, he did try to actually go through with the hand job, almost out of sheer politeness. That was very human. The point here, if you ask me, was that the man Patty picked up in the park was very serious about the whole ordeal, and he acted as a sort of a dying breed. "Do people still go cruising?" The fact that the question was posed was the point. Thus, this was a clever way to kick things off, Looking!

Augustín and his boyfriend Frank (O.T. Fagbenle) kicked off their arc during the premiere by making the decision to live together. Augustín seemed to be hesitant at first, perhaps because his sexual freedom is an outlet for his own creative nature. It was interesting to watch him connect with Scotty, a new employee at his boss’ studio, only to later see Frank added to the mix. Before we knew it, Augustín was stroking Scotty’s proposed tattoo, a Dolly Parton signature, almost to Frank’s frustration and annoyance, yet he’d inevitably join in. Later, the two discussed the new nature of their relationship. It should be interesting to see how this turns out. It seems like Augustín and Frank are set in their ways, and it almost seems like Augustín’s open sex life is a major part of his being. I thought Looking did a very good job of depicting this relationship, again, without playing into stereotypes surrounding the sexplorations of the general gay community.

Both men and women are sexual beings, but that’s not to say that they don’t have different kinds of innate sexual natures. I think it’s important for a show like Looking to carefully depict this kind of a relationship between these two men the way they’re beginning to do so. It's also important for viewers to remember and realize that up until very recently, same-sex relations were extremely taboo in society, and much of the progress made by the gay community based in San Francisco was initially focused on the right to one's own body and to sharing it with another person with a beating heart, via sex, as a symbol for equal humanity.

HBO "Looking"

Dom is pushing forty and his plot centers on a bit of an existential crisis. Where is he going? What is he doing? What has he accomplished for himself. He’s tired of waiting tables for the arrogant and the ignorant, a job he most likely suffered through with some help from an active sex life that included sleeping with any guy he’s ever wanted to screw. During Episode 1, Dom was allegedly rejected for the very first time (Even Patrick has caved!). A hot young waiter at his place of employment seemed confused and put-off by the mere attempt by Dom to seduce him into having a drink or, well, just skipping the bourbon and hopping into the sack. It’s one thing to get rejected. It’s another thing to have the person you’re attempting to woo look at you as though you’re of another species or out of your mind for even considering such a thing.

All of this was capped off by the fact that Dom had been considering reconnecting with an old flame, Ethan the real estate agent, much to his roommate Doris’ (Lauren Weedman) dismay. By the way, more Doris please, Looking. Apparently, Ethan has psychopathic qualities. It’s probably not a good sign if you’re considering reconnecting with someone who, at least at one point in time, wanted you dead. By the end of the premiere, following his rejection by the new waiter, Dom had been demoted from common Facebook stalker to desperate ex-boyfriend. I think it’s important that Looking maintains this honest balance in introducing viewers who might be uninformed or in the dark of the goings-on of the gay community in San Francisco to three new characters as three new people. Just as there are problems with working and building off of stereotypes, there are issues with a “they just happen to be gay” way of doing things that diminishes the unique perspective of gay folks living in modern America. For a show that's not centered on gay men, maybe that works, but Looking is intended to be a show for people who truly want to get to know what it means to be a gay person. So far, Looking is doing a great job of creating three gay men having their own human experiences.

Patrick is slightly too attached to OK Cupid, a casual dating site corrupted by the distorting filters of Instagram. With Augustín on his way out, Patty had the excuse to surf through hopefuls, looking to kill two birds with one date. If he could find the perfect boyfriend, he’d have the ideal roommate. Of course, things did not turn out as planned whatsoever. His date with Benjamin, an oncologist that served to feed into Patrick’s insecurities as a video game designer, started off just fine but eventually unraveled entirely. Patrick’s tale of attempting to cruise in the park for pure pleasure, as in to have some good sexy fun and maybe a laugh, did not go over well with the man who boasted a previous relationship that lasted for five years. If your date divvies up the bill, you know you’ve royally screwed up.

HBO "Looking"

Sadly, no bad date goes unpunished. Patrick was forced to follow up his sorry dinner with Benjamin by attending his ex’s bachelor party. Luckily, his night was turned around by Richie (Raul Castillo), a doorman at a local gay club and a studying cosmetologist. Richie charmed the pants off of Patrick. Not literally. A park is one thing, a subway ride is another. Patrick, however, remained set in his unsatisfying ways. This man was, by his standards, not Patrick’s typical type by any means, but later on, Dom came to show Patrick that his presumed type most likely isn’t even his type at all. This is a video game designer who thinks it’s only appropriate to date stuck-up yuppies and Ivy leaguers. He’s someone who’s allowed, as we witnessed for ourselves, people to dictate from where he gets his joy to a certain degree.

To put things into perspective, you don’t become a video game designer because you’re simply good at it. You become a video game designer because you have a passion for the work. Patrick demonstrated a great friendship chemistry with his straight work buddy early on in the episode because of this, yet it’s funny that we all tend to knowingly or subconsciously convince ourselves that we want and need that which we lack fulfillment-wise within ourselves from a significant other. Meaning, Patrick is insecure about this side of who he is because he’s probably had his mother chirping in his ear regarding what’s socially acceptable for his entire life. It’s important to have those personal breakthroughs first and then to subsequently find a partner to foster that sense of self.

All in all, the joint bachelor party wasn’t too painful. With Dom at his side, Patty managed to come to terms with the situation, eventually finding a sense of peace and honest happiness for his ex’s impending marriage to the fellow he previously described solely as “portly.” Having suffered through that humiliating date and after receiving some encouragement from his older and wiser friend Dom, Patrick closed out the series premiere of Looking by hightailing it over to Richie’s club. There was a two-drink special for those with pretty blue eyes, after all.

What did you think of the series premiere of Looking, Episode 1 of Season 1, “Looking for Now”? Did you find the comparisons to GIRLS to be unfounded? Do you feel like the show handled the gay subject matter well? Do you find the characters to be believable and endearing?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of the series premiere of Looking, Episode 1 of Season 1, “Looking for Now”!