Much like my review of Girls (https://digitalchumps.com/movie-reviews/53-blu-ray/girls-season-four.html), I hadn’t seen the prior season to Looking. Again, much like Girls, I have to say that this show is incredibly well-written with defined characters that carry dramatic, sometimes humorous situations.
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The main character in Looking is Patrick (Jonathan Groff),who leads the charge with his relationship to video game mogul, Kevin (Russell Tovey). The season starts on Patrick and Kevin’s budding affair, which evolves into something more and eventually conflicts with Kevin’s own relationship to his current boyfriend Jon. While that might seem simple on the surface, the focus of this particular relationship exposes two very different men, who expect different types of lifestyles from the world. Kevin’s need to have an open relationship that isn’t constrained by monogamy is how he prefers to live his life, while Patrick wants a more grounded and traditional, exclusive two-person relationship. Both characters unfold their own trials and tribulations throughout the season, with the focus mainly lying on Patrick’s own insecurities and careful steps. What’s neat and planned out well in this particular part of the overall sea of season stories is how Patrick goes through a lot to find himself and to figure out what he wants exactly. He revisits old flames and tries to figure out what type of relationship he wants/needs to have. It’s journey that opens his character up to flaws, which makes him grounded and relatable.
Good writing and great acting will go a long way when trying to make a character stand out, and Patrick is proof of this concept.
As Patrick and Kevin are dealing with their own issues, side stories come in to fill the gaps between moments. The story of Dom (Murray Bartlett) is an interesting side step. Dom is a man who’s life is passing him by and he is happily looking around to find a moment/place/person to claim as his own. It’s comparable to a kid that is fighting every step of the way to not grow up, but fully understanding that he better get with the program or he’ll have nothing to show for in his life. He is a fascinating character amongst so much youth, and one that goes through a lot of growing pains on the way to adulthood in season two. He has to deal with his misunderstood relationship with Lynn (Scott Bakula), which helps to push him out indirectly into an opportunity to finally creating something he can be proud of by the end.
Another storyline in the mix is one between a gentleman named Eddie (Daniel Franzese), who is HIV positive, and a happenstance relationship with Agustín (Frankie J. Alvarez), part of the show’s main circle of friends. The relationship is a joy to watch, humorous throughout the season and one of those bits in the main story that just shines with a bright outlook, even in Eddie’s somewhat HIV situation. This relationship especially works for this overall season because it lends a breather when the drama gets poured on too thick in some episodes (which is pretty much all episodes minus the Halloween episode — it does have some drama, but it’s mostly funny). Anyway, couldn’t get enough of this couple and hope to see more of them with season three.
While there are some more minor stories and characters to season two, the above was the main body of work. The main stories are more than enough to create a good amount of drama, humor and truly bring out some characters that are very clearly defined. The entire season and the world these folks live in ,that creator Michael Lannan has developed, really seems well constructed. It’s precise, beautiful and brings out a different perspective that maybe a lot of people haven’t experienced before.
Having said that, my only knock on the season is how slow it begins. I know the second season of any show is where things begin to take off, so it might seem like there was drag during the first episode of Looking. It begins to find pacing by episode two and three, and hits its full stride by mid-season. You always want a young show to end in fireworks and Looking: Season Two certainly does this in spectacular fashion. I don’t want to give too much away, but the talk between Patrick and Kevin in the last episode is about as real as it gets between a couple on television. It’s well-written.
If you’re looking for yet another great HBO show to enjoy, look no further than Looking: Season Two.
On the special features side of things, here’s what you’re looking at:
– Looking: Season Two Trailer
– Looking: Season Two Invitation to the Set
– Looking: Season One Recap
Not a lot here, but the invitation to the set is good. The recap is welcomed to those who don’t know anything about season one and the trailer is…well…the trailer.
Again, not a lot here, but the show is good enough to forgive the lack of features.