LOOKING- Page 43

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/24/15 at 10:30pm

I just watched the last two episodes. The only one who ended up at all likable is Agustin. How did that happen?

[HorseTears]

Posted: 3/24/15 at 10:53pm

Sure, of course a barber is going to try to get a feel for your hair. But, Eric, if your barber ruffled your hair that sensually he was with you ALL the way - cut or uncut.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/24/15 at 11:18pm

PalJoey, I never thought you were someone who subscribed tothe "well I need characters to be likeable" to watch theory, given some of your fave theatre and films. (Of course it's subjectiv, but the likeable argument is one that always annoys me.)

Namo, you may be right actually--he certainly isn't a writer whose name I recognize from the magazine, though I suppose that doens't prove anything either way.

I appreciate that NOW I am informed that my barber was looking for a little under the barber robe action. If only I had known about this forum ten years back, how different my sex life could have been...

Updated On: 3/24/15 at 11:18 PM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 5:57am

I just watched the last two episodes. The only one who ended up at all likable is Agustin. How did that happen?

Bad writing. Poor continuity. Take your pick.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 8:32am

PalJoey, I never thought you were someone who subscribed to the "well I need characters to be likeable" to watch theory, given some of your fave theatre and films.

The writing of antiheroes is a fascinating discussion!

It goes back to Richard II, Iago, Hamlet and Madame Rose. But those characters (and their writers) fascinate and engage the viewer in very strong ways. With this kind bad and lazy writing, there is a "loss of sympathy" that occurs on the part of the viewer/reader.

I started off liking all of them, despite their flaws. But the writers failed to engage me. They just annoyed me.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 8:57am

From the very start, this show left me cold. I was not at all interested in these guys ("likability" in terms of characters is somewhat of a misnomer; it isn't about whether you want to have them as pals, it's about whether they interest you as human beings both recognizable but also appealingly individuated), found the dramatic conflicts petty and boring, and the writing beyond trite.

But the last two episodes of this season were a huge improvement in the general quality of the dialogue, individuation of the characters, and engagement of conflict and complication.

I hope this is a trend if the show continues.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 9:01am

Saw the episode the other night -- once again I'm wanting the show to be a full hour instead of the half hour, too much feels left out, which I guess is the point, but it doesn't really feel like the point somehow, all too often it just feels rushed, much like Kevin and Patrick's relationship, which might wind up being the point, after all.

I believe it was the Onion AV Club that pointed out that the season began with Patrick attending a magical Ecstatic liberated all-inclusive dance party in the woods, and ended with Patrick trapped in an all-white A-list labyrinth of angst, unable to find his way out.

I'm fine with Agustin's progression this season from selfish relationship-wrecking twerp into loving community-involved guy in a relationship, I thought it was handled with real sense and integrity, and was even very moving in that scene where he demands that Eddie ask him to be his boyfriend. I bought it all.

Patrick and Kevin -- well, where to start? For the first time I really got a sense that Kevin is seriously head over heels for Patrick, he really does seem committed. I was interested to note Kevin's reaction to the implication that the big party would turn into an orgy later -- it seemed to take him by surprise. It does seem that there are some Big Discussions that Patrick and Kevin needed to have before moving in together, or even before embarking on a real relationship, and they've clearly never had them, which is in keeping I guess with what we know of Patrick's history -- the guy's so utterly clueless that he tells a first date about his afternoon trip to a local cruising ground. I did like Patrick's little gesture of putting his toothbrush next to Kevin's, and I appreciated that there was no sense that the Big Fight was a total dealbreaker.

Did anybody notice that the book Patrick picked up in the new apartment was THE SHOCK OF THE NEW, the title of which at least seems more than a bit relevant.

It's not looking likely that the show will be renewed, I'm reading that they'll do a movie to tie things up and that'll be it. I'm sorry about that, I'll actually miss the show.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 9:47am

According to Jonathan Groff, HBO just canceled it.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 9:50am

Writer Kevin Sessums posted this on Facebook last night shortly after midnight:

===


Kevin Sessums added 2 new photos.

9 hrs · Edited ·

I had an email from my friend Jonathan Groff when I got home from my reading tonight at Books Inc. telling me that HBO announced today that it was canceling Looking but that it would film a movie of the series to air in order to wrap things up instead of leaving things hanging. This makes me sad but life - and television series - are about moving on at some point.

If you get a chance to see Jon in Hamilton in New York, don't miss it. He's having a ball as King George.

For those of you who have watched the last episode this season, here is the Stanley Saitowitz building that Kevin and Patrick move into at the corner of Octavia and Market. And here's the Baptist Church right across the street. You get a glimpse of the church through the window, that window that Patrick tells Kevin he'd like to **** him up against so the neighbors can watch. Not sure why they didn't tell us the neighbors are a bunch of Baptists.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 9:59am

According to HBO's just-released figures, the ratings from the first season to the second season went down 36.84 percent. That's a lot of people deciding not to tune in.

In the 18-49 demo, it went down 39.41 percent.

Other HBO shows like Girls, Veep and The Newsroom also declined, but not as much and not as low.

In the end, Looking had 240,000 viewers (down from 380,000 in season 1), compared to 620,000 for Girls and 6,840,000 for Game of Thrones, their most successful show.

Here's to better writing about gay lives!




HBO TV Show Ratings (updated 3/24/15)

Updated On: 3/25/15 at 09:59 AM

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 10:26am

I never realized just how big a difference there was between GoT and everything.

I'm all for unlikable if I find the characters compelling. Hell...I found Augustine compelling (though the actor could get a titch kabuki during the first season). I just never found Patrick and his search for love all that compelling.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 10:44am

I agree about Agustin. So I hereby amend my use of the words "likable" and sympathetic" to "compelling." Patrick's story was never compelling. Agustin's wasn't at first, but ended up compelling us to see if he would rise to the occasion of his relationship with Eddie. It's a shame that the PrEP storyline only appeared a few episodes before the end. It really distinguished the show as contemporary and might have done some good in opening up an important discussion...if only the writing had been decent.

The show's overall decision to concentrate on the minutiae of the character's lives and their failings was ultimately self-sabotaging. That would work in Seinfeld, with great comedy writing, but this just ended up as bad soap opera.

[Kad]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 10:49am

Patrick wasn't compelling because he was never really well-defined. We had vague hints about his childhood, but not enough to illuminate his character.

He seemed like someone who came out late in life / recently, but I don't think that was ever established.

So basically we got an audience surrogate into gay life, whose naivete was totally out of place.

[Tag]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 11:55am

IT'S CANCELLED!!!

But will get a final special to wrap up the series.

[Kad]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 12:02pm

A feature-length finale film probably is perfect for the show.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 12:04pm

If none of those bitches plays board games, you know, good old fashioned board games, with Light in the Piazza Gay before the end of the final film this will be more than a missed opportunity. This will be the most dramatically unfulfilling conclusion since "Serial".

[Kad]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 12:12pm

This is probably a perfect time to admit that I'm part of a group of gay friends who gathers regularly and plays board / card games.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 12:21pm

I'm almost certain horse-kicked Patrick spells it 'Beverley.'

As much as it annoyed me, and as much as it felt like a missed opportunity, I'm glad we had it because it may bring us closer to a gay show that has mainstream appeal. I live in hope that this is a possibility.

As MAD MEN comes to a close, I'm starting to think about the possibilities of adapting something like the book FELLOW TRAVELERS into a limited series. It wasn't a great book, but a period piece set during the pink purge at the State Department would be something I could get behind.

[Wildcard]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 12:53pm

Looking is the type of show you binge watch after the season airs. There's not that many episodes and they are all leisurely in pace. Game Of Thrones is a series best watched when it airs. Otherwise, you can't avoid all the spoilers each week

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 1:48pm

I'm almost certain horse-kicked Patrick spells it 'Beverley.'

Hahahahaha!

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 2:16pm

It's all for you, Damian!

(Jump, Snap, Swing)

[HorseTears]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 2:21pm

Sad to see it end, though, given that ratings drop, seems inevitable. I would assume Haigh and Lannan will write/dir. I actually wasn't a huge fan of Weekend, but a feature length tv film seems like a good way to wrap the show that sometimes itself resembled an indie film.

BTW, WTF is HBO going to do when GOT ends?

[Fantod]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 3:46pm

I wonder if we will ever get a TV show about gay men that both

A. Is good
B. Accurately and unoffensively handles gay characters and issues

So far, we don't have a show that does ether

Edited my wording in case that was the problem. Updated On: 3/25/15 at 03:46 PM

[HorseTears]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 3:53pm

Oh, Jesus, kid. Jesus.

Namo? PJ? You got this?

[Fantod]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 4:00pm

Sorry, what? What did I say that was so terrible?