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Looking Season 1 Review

Looking is a 2020 dramedy television series that premiered its first season on HBO in 2014. It’s a terrific show and this first season is the best one.

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“I’m this close to falling in love you,

but I’m not gonna do that to myself

if you’re not ready“

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It follows the lives of three gay men living in San Francisco. Each got their own set of problems, which the series explores with a lot of depth and realism. This first season unfortunately only has eight half-hour episodes, but most are great with a couple being downright perfect. The show truly gets the gay experience, but it also subverts it and manages to be just as relevant to straight people as it is to the gay community, which is all due to the universally applicable themes and problems that it deals with.

Patrick is the protagonist of the show and he’s a very complicated, superbly realized character. You couldn’t wish for a better protagonist in this type of series. He is somewhat naïve and he has the tendency to not think about the things that he does, thus hurting people in the process. He may be a bad person, but the show cleverly showcases that he is only learning to be better one step at a time.

Everything relating to him during this season was very interesting to follow. His complicated relationship with his mother is very well explored in the wedding episode, which is all around a terrific, very complex episode that is among this season’s best. He blames her, but he is just like her. Looking depicts classism in the American society with such force and through many tragic scenes. It also touches upon racism in a very effective, nuanced manner.

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Both are explored in Patrick’s relationship with Richie. Patrick is a level designer while Richie is just a hairdresser. And he’s also from Mexico. Their relationship is the heart and soul of this season. The episode where they just talk and open up to each other on their wonderful date was incredibly beautiful, but eventually the two broke up and that sequence was heartbreaking to watch, especially as it emphasized the cruelty of Patrick and how naïve, overly good-hearted people like Richie can get hurt in life way too easily.

The show treats classism and racism in such a nuanced, grounded in reality manner that it becomes just an ugly fact of life and not a messaging tool, which made the show truly sophisticated. As for Kevin, Patrick’s British boss, their fling felt less realistic as it was borderline soapy in some scenes, but undeniably sexy and entertaining to follow. Looking doesn’t shy away from portraying the immense infidelity and promiscuity that continue to plague the gay male community. Still, their interactions were so much fun and the fact that Patrick got two interesting, well developed partners here was commendable.

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I really like Dom. He is this 40-year-old top daddy with aging issues and who has a hard time starting a proper relationship. There are so many people like him in this age group, so the show truly is very relevant and relatable for everybody. I loved Doris, his best friend. She is not only so much fun, but also genuinely caring toward Dom, depicted in a couple of touching moments toward the end. Dom’s relationship with Lynn is a very engaging arc for this season as they start off as friends, but end up as lovers in the finale. It was unexpected, but it worked as the two share a genuine connection and Lynn is such a sweet soul.

Agustin is by far the most unlikable person of the bunch. I hated him, but I have to once again commend the show for portraying troublesome, far from great people, and even terrible ones such as Agustin as he is particularly realistic unfortunately. He is this very annoying, off-putting guy who thinks too high of himself, but is a failed artist and a disrespectful person toward both his boyfriend and his friends. Frank ultimately left him in such a powerful scene while his relationship with Patrick continues to be fun, but toxic.

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Looking is tremendously well acted across the board. Frankie J. Alvarez and Murray Bartlett are both excellent while Raul Castillo and Russell Tovey play their characters with a lot of nuance. Jonathan Groff himself got the most important role of his career. Although he has the tendency to smile way too often, he still did a great job and his performance is mostly fantastic. The direction is strong, the pacing is mostly good and the series is well shot and scored too, though nothing particularly arresting. I just wish that it were longer because at times it felt very rushed as too many plot points piled in way too quickly.