Network: HBO
Episodes: 18 (half-hour)
Seasons: Two
TV show dates: January 19, 2014 — March 22, 2015
Series status: Cancelled but wrapped up with a movie
Performers include: Jonathan Groff, Frankie J. Alvarez, Murray Bartlett, O-T Fagbenie, Lauren Weedman, Russell Tovey, Andrew Law, Raul Castillo, and Scott Bakula.
TV show description:
This comedic drama follows the lives of three gay friends in modern-day San Francisco. Each is at a different place in their personal journeys.
A 29-year-old transplant from Colorado, Patrick (Jonathan Groff) is a video game designer who works at the Most Dangerous Games company and lives in the Lower Haight. Recently out of a six-month relationship (with a guy who’s now engaged), he’s the “boy next door” who spends time with his buddies and surfing dating websites looking for love.
A struggling artist and free spirit, Agustín (Frankie J. Alvarez) is Patrick’s 31-year-old roommate and friend from college. He works for another artist, Stina, while looking to be inspired for his next project. With a Cuban background, Agustín was raised in the Miami area and has a good-natured boyfriend named Frank (O-T Fagbenie). Frank plays in a band, lives across the San Francisco Bay in Oakland, and wants Agustín to move in with him.
A longtime waiter at Zuni on San Francisco’s Market Street, Dom (Murray Bartlett) is 39 and is facing middle age with his romantic and professional dreams still unfulfilled. He’s contemplating what he really wants out of life and that may include opening a restaurant of his own. Dom lives with Doris (Lauren Weedman), a fellow Modesto native, and romantically gravitates toward younger men.
Other characters include Kevin (Russell Tovey), a 30-year-old British video game whiz; Owen (Andrew Law), Patrick’s co-worker; Richie (Raul Castillo), a charming thirtysomething who’s working his way up at a barber shop while manning the door at the Mission’s Esta Noche club; and Lynn (Scott Bakula), a possible investor for Dom.
Episode #18 — Looking for Home
Patrick carries a box labeled “valuables” into his new apartment building. He runs into a couple along the way — Milo asks if he’s moving into the apartment with the roof garden, Jake asks if Kevin is Patrick’s husband. Inside the new apartment, Patrick notices Kevin’s stuff for the first time and learns that his boyfriend’s favorite movie is ‘Field of Dreams.’ Patrick admits Agustín and Dom think things are moving too quickly. “Ever since my mom completely imploded our family, I feel oddly liberated,” Patrick says, reassuring Kevin. “I don’t have anything to live up to anymore. We get to make up our own way.”
The doorbell rings. Kevin answers and says yes to a Christmas party invite for that evening from Jake and Milo. Patrick says they can stop by on their way out to see the mural at the trans shelter.
Dom meets Malik on the steps of City Hall. “Dude, she misses you, too,” Malik says. “Let’s just cut to it.” Malik suggests Dom come around and take Doris out for a walk. When Dom asks if he loves her, Malik says simply, “Big time.”
Everyone at Milo and Jake’s party — a good-looking, white crowd — is flirty. “Maybe we should stay and watch?” Patrick says of the potential orgy to come. “A little looky-loo of some nooky-new action, why not?” Milo and Jake take note of a profile on Grindr titled “Romford.” Patrick immediately recognizes the name as the place where Kevin grew up and makes excuses for them to leave — he’s pissed Kevin was on Grindr. Kevin tries calming down Patrick in the elevator: “Please don’t freak out about this.” Kevin explains that he was just checking out who was in the building, adding, “Please don’t read into something that isn’t there.” Patrick wants to make sure he “didn’t move in with a sex addict.”
Agustín calls Patrick to find out why he isn’t at the shelter yet. Patrick explains the Grindr situation, and Agustín tries to talk him off the ledge, telling him to “just breathe.” Patrick asks Kevin about whether he hooked up with other people when he was with Jon. “A few things happened a few times, and it was just little things,” Kevin explains. “I don’t think this is a good terrain to get into right now.” Kevin wants to leave all of this in the past, explaining that he’s happy he cheated on Jon because it brought them together.
Kevin wants an honest relationship, which Patrick takes as Kevin’s desire for an open relationship. “If something happens, it doesn’t have to be the end of the world,” Kevin postures, “as long as we talk about it.” Patrick assumed they were going to be monogamous. He storms down the hall of the apartment building, headed to the shelter, with Kevin following behind. “The cat is out of the bag, so everytime you go to the gym or go get a massage or go get a f**king bagel, I’m going to wonder what you’re doing,” Patrick says. “And you’re such a good liar Kevin, I’ve seen you do it.” Kevin pleads with him to say.
Dom meets Doris and quickly admits: “I was such a f**king asshole.” Doris calls the fight the worst breakup. Dom agrees: “We do kind of need to break up. You need to start thinking about someone else first, instead of me.”
Kevin and Patrick talk in their roof garden. “I feel like maybe your heart works one way and mine works the other,” Patrick says. “Deep down I’ve always known that, and I ignored it.” Kevin says this “can work. It is working.” Kevin pledges to change now that he knows how Patrick feels. “You just need to trust me,” Kevin says.
Dom lights up the neon sign on his chicken window and enjoys a beer alone.
Lying awake in bed with Kevin, Patrick gets up and finds the scapular Richie gave him in an unpacked box. He goes to Richie’s barber shop to get a haircut. “Actually, you know what, just buzz it off,” Patrick tells him. Just before he starts, Richie asks, “You ready?” To which Patrick replies, “I’m ready.” Richie shaves Patrick’s hair short. (Courtesy HBO.)
First aired: March 22, 2015
Looking: The Movie
Patrick returns to the city for the first time in almost a year to celebrate a momentous event with his old friends. In the process, he must face the unresolved relationships he left behind and make difficult choices about what’s important to him.
First aired: July 23, 2016.
What do you think? Do you like the Looking TV series? Do you think it should have been cancelled or renewed for a third season?
Looking was a great series, very disappointed it has been canceled!
Is there a Looking movie in process?
Great show……. don’t cancel. I look for it every season. Would be a shame not to see it continued.
I have mixed feelings about Looking. It was a fantastic, innovative idea, but there were a few flaws that left a bitter aftertaste in my mouth. The idea of setting up a series focused on gay men in modern day san Fran is fantastic however there are 2 main topics I’d like to touch on… 1) Casting issue: Jonathan Groff. When my friends and I would get together on Sunday nights to watch, we all flinched at his character portrayal. I’m not slamming his capacity as an Actor, but this was not a role he could carry. I thought it… Read more »
Since HBO decided to cancel Looking I felt very sad. It was such a great series. The Patrick and Kevin story was the best of the season. Hope they don’t break them up in th Special. Also, is there a chance for another network to pick this series next year? There are not any gay series on TV now. Jonathan GROFF IS SUCH A SENSITIVE AND AWESOME ACTOR, HBO was wrong to cancel this show. It had such great potential and should have been a hit like Qeer As Folk. My thoughts are Looking should have been an hour show.… Read more »
This show should not be cancelled! Why can’t gay shows ever last? They so many lame shows like the kardassians idiots, but not something so different like this show..
The show is an absolute wonder!!! It deserves more airtime !! Why is it being canceled without it having fair enough chance? It needed more publicity and advertisement. It is amazing and shame on the network for pulling the plug!! If we only had more gay oriented shows out there that would depict an honest gay lifestyle such as “Looking”. Can it ever be resurrected by another network?????
Please renew for Season 3!! I am hooked on this show!! The actors are wonderful
My partner of 34 years, Tom and I are so “looking” forward to season two. Great character development so please give us more. I was trying to find out when season 2 would air and found this site. Keep us in the loop.
Cheers,
Ron& Tom
Just found the show and am hooked !
Have just caught this show. Love it . . . please don’t kill it!!!
We want to see more of Looking. Its solidly real — not filled with a bunch of eye-candy (i.e. QaF). A show like this needs to age before being judged–is not the same true of good literature and good wine? As a SGM with some age on me; its refreshing to see a series that I can more readily identify with than the “fluff” so often passed as “gay” entertainment. I want to know these guys better; their backgrounds, their likes and dislikes, their good qualities and their self center preoccupations. Keep on keeping on!
Please don’t end this series now, there is so much more to tell. Like Tales of the city, more tales of the city, further tales of the city. These characters cant be left without us knowing their future……… Like q ueer as folk a story should be told….?
Looking deserves another season…actually, it deserved a longer season in its first year. the acting is good, the scripts are good, and we need more ‘real’ depictions of gay life. I hope the show sticks around for a long time.
Agree
Love the series. It’s been a long time since a gay themed show has been shown. Look forward every week for the new episode.
Totally agree.
This show has great acting! Please keep this show on the air! I really enjoy all of the characters so far!