Looking, Season 2, Episode 8: “Looking for Glory”
Directed by Jamie Babbit
Written by Michael Lannan & JC Lee
Airs Sundays at 10 PM on HBO
As they explain multiple times in “Looking for Glory,” Patrick and Kevin are now “a thing.” They’re living together at Patrick and Agustin’s place, they’re wearing each other’s clothes, and they’re debuting their new app at the GaymerX convention. It’s unclear how much time has passed since Doris’s father’s funeral, but Patrick no longer has a cast on his arm, so it’s been a few weeks at least since the two reunited. No one seems particularly thrilled by this coupling. Patrick and Kevin’s coworkers seem miffed and bring up completely valid points about the ethicacy of a boss having a relationship with his employee. Richie, condescending as ever, warns Patrick that he’s moving too fast. Agustin simply doesn’t want a second roommate. Even Brent, the snarky developer of a glory hole review app called Glorified, played by the delightful Gabe Leidman, doesn’t approve.
While Brent focuses his scorn on Kevin and Patrick’s physical resemblance – these are two handsome, muscular, clean cut white guys who probably wouldn’t look twice at the bespectacled, pudgy, wheelchair-bound Brent – he gets to a deeper truth about their similarities. Patrick and Kevin are both immature, insecure young men who get by on their looks and charm while being unwilling or unable to develop meaningful romantic relationships. Patrick’s desire for Kevin stems from Richie’s current unavailability, and Kevin seems to be attracted to Patrick because he is a new shiny thing, unlike his long-term boyfriend who sacrificed moving from Seattle to be with him and in return asked only for commitment. So far, the one demand Patrick has put on Kevin is to break up with John, which he’d been looking for an excuse to do for months. They’re together because their last relationships failed. They’re together because they don’t challenge each other or ask each other to be better, and that’s easier. So when at the end of the episode they say “I love you” for the first time, it means very little.
Meanwhile, Agustin is in a new relationship with Eddie, someone who does challenge him, confound his expectations, and ask him to be better. And so far, Agustin is rising to the challenge. So he freaks out a little after having sex and getting cum in his eye. On the one hand, he’s acting irrationally. Everyone with a cursory sex education knows you cannot contact HIV through the eye socket. On the other hand, having a mixed-status relationship is not without its risks for the negative partner, and it’s wise to proceed with caution. Eddie is hurt and angry at Agustin’s behavior and communicates that to him. Agustin verbalizes his feelings, apologizes, and promises to act more sensitively in the future. Already, Agustin and Eddie’s relationship has greater stakes and a deeper connection than whatever’s going on between Patrick and Kevin. When the time comes for them to confess their love to each other, they’ll be sure to really mean it.
Dom is experiencing some changes in the most important relationship in his life, his lifelong friendship with Doris. Doris chooses to go to Vallejo with Malik for his niece’s birthday instead of helping Dom with the water filtration system in his chicken window. In the time since the last episode, she’s opened up to her boyfriend and moved past a lot of the fear she had about diving into a romantic relationship. The fact that she’s excited to see Malik’s family, after only a few weeks ago not wanting him to meet hers shows that she’s ready for a relationship, even if it means spending less time with Dom. Malik has never been threatened by Dom, and it looks like Dom is handling the situation with grace, but this means that Dom is now the one single guy in their group of friends, which is never a fun place to be. Based on his experience with Lynn, who was unwilling to commit, Dom is looking for a serious, meaningful relationship. It will be interesting to see if he finds someone like Eddie or settles for someone like Kevin.
Other thoughts:
Is Richie just constantly embarrassed by all his boyfriends’ behavior?
I do really like Kevin’s bulldog sweater.
“So your game’s about stereotypes.”
Dom – “Why am I the go to I’m having an AIDS meltdown friend?” Agustin – “Because you’re old… and wise.”
“I can see it now – Castro clone seeks funny lady.”
“Another attempt to divide and label the gay community. One star.”