LOOKING
It may have started a little flaccid but Marc Andrews is now convinced that Looking is a gay series with real balls.
When it was announced in early 2013 that HBO had commissioned a new series based on the lives of three gay friends in San Francisco there were not only some stifled yawns, but plenty of consternation, too. Was this merely a gesture to keep the Double-Income-No-Kids crowd happy?
With gay Executive Producer Andrew Haigh, the series already had a certain cachet. Haigh’s feature film Weekend may be one of the best examinations of a gay one-night-stand ever made. On paper, the cast of Looking seemed well-chosen, especially with Aussie hottie Murray Bartlett as Dom sporting a groovy ’70s porn moustache. Dreamy Jonathan Groff was in the mix, too, as Patrick and his signing to the show led to some memorable headlines such as “From Glee to Grindr”. Then there’s the scruffy scallywag, Frankie J Alvarez as Agustin. And let’s give a shout-out to openly gay British hottie Russell Tovey (with his sexy
Either Jonathan Groff is not a great actor or… he’s simply a gay actor who can’t play gay.
big ears) as an IT manager more interested in the guys’ “hardware” than software.
After the first few episodes aired this year it seemed everyone had an opinion online, and there was much complaining. It was too talky, the sound too murky and some of the characters didn’t ring true.
To be honest, either Jonathan Groff is not a great actor or he just can’t quite embody the role of video game designer Patrick. It’s hard to imagine why he has all those hotties falling over him left, right and centre when he’s played like a goofball douche bag with few, if any, redeeming attributes.
Admittedly, as the series went on, we became used to his character and he jarred less but there still seemed to be something that didn’t quite fit with him. Was this simply a case of a gay actor who just couldn’t play gay? Let’s leave that up to the Emmy voters to decide.
Eventually, Looking found its feet as storylines developed about hiring hookers for threesomes, taking recreational drugs to stop the hurting and what happens when your friends think you are “slumming it” with your current boyfriend.
By the end of season one (a total of only eight 30-minute episodes), the series had won us over. It did gloss over a few important points. Notably, when Patrick had sex with his boss Kevin (Russell Tovey) there was no hint of a condom, let alone lube. That the three live in San Francisco and there is no mention of HIV, barebacking or chillout sex parties seems a tad unrealistic, as if someone high up at HBO may have edited or airbrushed this out of the series.
We can only hope that season two takes us much further down the path of modern gay life. But can we just put in a request for Jonathan Groff to at least try to make us like or, dare we hope, love his character? Patrick is, after all, of central importance to Looking.
Perhaps the finest scene in series one was left until the very last moment. Patrick came home after having unexpected sex with his boss and then later an unexpected encounter with his on-again-offagain Latino hairdresser boyfriend, Richie (sexy Raul Castillo). On a comedown, Agustin has fallen asleep in his former flatmate’s bedroom watching The Golden Girls re-runs. Patrick cuddles up to him on the bed as we hear some of the still-hilarious dialogue between Blanche and Dorothy from the 1980s classic sitcom.
The last line, “Because I had compassionate friends,” is where Looking leaves off, cutting knowingly to a new version of The Golden Girls theme song, Thank You For Being A Friend, playing over the end credits. It’s a touching and poignant moment, telling us, in an instant, what the crux of the whole series is – that gay men’s friends are their family, or, yes, our Golden Girls.
Here’s looking to a brave, exciting and sexy season two. Bring it on!