Oh gosh. So these episodes of Looking are no longer boring, but these recaps certainly will be. The pace has picked up and on top of all that we’ve got a whole lot of meaningful silences to dissect and there’s so much to recap and it’s all so, so harrowing.
There’s a few things going on. Dom’s turning 40 and the gang is planning a birthday hang in Dolores Park. Richie is about to meet all of Patrick’s friends, which prompts them to have the “are we boyfriends?” talk that all of us fine boyfriends across the U.S.A. have had at some point. They decide that yes, they are boyfriends, and Richie gives Patrick an escapulario — a religious good luck pendant which I guess is like the gay Catholic version of a promise ring or a BE FR / ST IENDS necklace combo? In any case, Patrick was touched, and accepted.
Meanwhile, Dom is prepping for 40 by hanging out with a couple of old gays and Lynn, hoping to get funding for his Portuguese chicken startup (“The last thing this city needs is another Zuni,” one wise old gay says). Lynn and Dom are business partners in all this, yes, but we’re increasingly getting the feeling that Dom is heading toward wanting more (Bakula happens, you guys).
Over in Oakland, Agustin, who is my least favorite character and gets more and more upsettingly steampunk with each episode, has his panties all in a bunch because his art sucks (surprise!). We learn he’s invited his muse/probable crush CJ (the Thor guy with the bratwurst) to Dom’s bday, so we’re all excited because we all know this means sex!
Okay, so THEN, we’re at Dolores Park for the birthday soiree and EVERYONE is there, so obviously we run into Patrick’s boss Kevin (the hot Ricky Gervais with the ears) and his boyfriend John! Patrick introduces Richie to the pair, but not only fails to utter the word boyfriend but belittles his career as a hairdresser as a “for now” thing and all that.
And then even WORSE, Agustin buys pot truffles and acts like a dick for the rest of the episode (drugs, you guys!). He accuses Patrick of “slumming it” with Richie, that Patrick just has Richie around to prove a point to the rest of them, and makes fun of their gay Catholic boyfriend necklaces. Obviously Richie is right behind him and hears everything — and Agustin tries to apologize to him en Espanol but it’s like so uncomfortably CLASS CONFLICT that everything basically just turned into a John Hughes movie and I need to fan myself off.
Agustin goes to wallow in his misstep with Frank and CJ (whose only line this episode is: “I fuckin’ love Cheetos,” thankfully). They all go home and obviously have a threesome and film it and shit seems to get a little too real between Frank and CJ and Agustin notices and we know Agustin is like 15 minutes away from a full-on breakdown. I’m hoping Agustin gets written off the show and they instead lock CJ in as the character who eats homoerotic snacks 2-3X per episode (outlook: promising!).
Alright. So meanwhile, Dom continues sulking because he’s 40 and, even though he’s been propositioned on Grindr, he goes to hang with Lynn instead (who sent him birthday flowers btw!). They settle in with cartoons and some pot and Lynn suggests they get the Portuguese chicken startup off the ground as a pop-up. Dom goes in for a Lynn kiss and Lynn’s like exqueeze me? and tells him he just wants to be biz partners. Class act, that Lynn.
Back in the Mission, Richie asks Patrick if he’s embarrassed of him, because he has transformed into Molly Ringwald before our eyes. Patrick flashes his best Andrew McCarthy smile and invites Richie to his sister’s wedding to pacify him (“I’ve been slow all my life and that’s over,” he says). We later witness Patrick looking at himself in the mirror, adjusting his gay charm necklace, and I think we know that some of what Agustin said was true. Patrick IS trying to prove something to himself or someone, or both. He wants to be a type of guy, but he may not yet be that type of guy. Oh, Patrick.
Did you know that in the original version of Pretty in Pink, Molly Ringwald and Jon Cryer end up together, but it tested poorly with audiences so they went with the Andrew McCarthy ending instead? They really should have stuck with that first ending, because why you gotta settle for being someone’s tacky pity girlfriend? Basically, Richie needs to find himself a Duckie to love because Patrick is kind of a dick and not ready for any of this. This will all explode before our eyes like a Portuguese chicken startup in the next few episodes, and I’m gonna be the one crossing my arms and shaking my head like a surly abuela.
No, you hang up!
Spotted in this episode: Dolores Park, truffle guy, Muni (probably the 33).
Kevin is not played by Ricky Gervais. He’s played by the incredibly hot new to be star Russ Tovey. If you get that wrong, how much else can I NOT believe?
Not being literal there, buddy.
Omg do you think we can get on Literally Unbelieveable??
So if it’s a TeeVee soap opera that takes place in SF that makes it ok to watch a TeeVee soap opera?
I got through half way the second episode and thought “WTF am I thinking??!!” so fucking boring.
doing stuff is way more interesting and rewarding than watching stuff. (even if that includes trolling MM.org)