Looking is nearly half way through its second season on HBO and we can’t help but think, are the stakes high enough?
HBO’s Sunday night line up is stacked with three original comedy programs. They do not contain the brand of humor viewers will catch on the basic cable networks. No laugh tracks, no asides to the camera men, and worst of all, no anticipation for next week’s episode.
One could argue, and I certainly have, that shows like the Big Bang Theory get by on the success of running the same formulaic episodes season after season. That is not what we are hoping to see in a show like Looking, nor should the series be judged in terms of comedy against a series such as The Big Bang Theory. But even New Girl, Big Bang, and Girls leave room for the stakes to at least peak your interest enough to passively tune in the next week.
Looking‘s second season has the potential to tell a moving a story. Dom (Murray Bartlett) and Lynn’s (Scott Bakula) story comes closest to evoking any concern from viewers. Lynn’s deep-seeded emotional commitment issues keep Dom dragging along at his side. Last week’s confrontation finally saw one of the leads on the show facing the issue head on and making a decisive move. If Lynn cannot commit to making it work with Dom, then why is Dom wasting his time on someone who only sees him as a temporary investment?
In fact, we finally have someone to root for. All sympathy for Patrick was washed away in season 1. There is no character growth over 14 episodes and his storyline with Kevin, though arguably sexy, feels like it’s moving in slow motion.
Why don’t we care? Perhaps it is because their ending already feels written. Kevin can leave Jon and Patrick will continually bring up that it was because he pushed Kevin too much and now Kevin regrets his decision. They break up. Or Kevin cannot do it and Patrick is dragged along back in and out of Kevin’s orbit until option one becomes a reality.
We’re in the midst of the latter and it’s not exactly evoking any emotional response.
There was promise early on. The opening of the season brought the separate lives of Patrick, Dom, and Agustîn back together. Their lives are certainly more intertwined this season as they act as sounding boards for the troubles we already see off screen. But there is not result, no advice, nothing to suggest that Patrick will be able to make a decision, nothing to push Agustîn in the right direction. Those nudges, however small, come from forces outside the trifecta of leading men.
Don’t get us wrong; Eddie, Doris, and Lynn are excellent catalysts, but their stories are far more interesting than any of our leads. What exactly is going on inside Lynn? How is Malik? What is Eddie’s backstory?
Those are the questions we are left pondering at the close of each week. Shouldn’t we care whether Kevin and Patrick can make it work? We’re still waiting for the ball to drop on this season and it looks like we’ll be Looking for it in episode 10 just like we did way back in season 1.
Watch Looking season 2, episode 5, “Looking for Truth,” Sunday, February 15 at 10:00 p.m. ET on HBO.
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