Falling In Love With Love (Television Review: Looking Episode 8: Looking Glass)

It's kind of sad that this is Looking's season finale, but what a first season it was. This was a slow burn start, but by the end of the first season, these characters get to crossroads and this early I cannot wait for what it is in store for Season 2, and I know that will be long coming. Jonathan Groff is great int he season finale tonight, and he really serves us a full, three dimensional character. We get to see his character Patrick tonight lose all and lay bare and be vulnerable, and I got tears in my eyes when he had this specific breakdown. Well, he has done and slept with his boss - all that sexual tension has not gotten to waste, and all that chemistry between them did combust. After the deed was done, though, we, just like his character are asking: is that enough?  The physicality, the rush, was it all worth it? Kevin has now cheated on his lover, and Patrick asks himself what's next - only to be greeted at his doorstep by Richie who has professed his love for him. Patrick lays bare his heart in that scene, and it just cuts through you. Richie tells him, "you are not ready to love," and yes it's true, he is still....looking. What a wonderful bookend to the beginning of the season when he was still trolling on OkCupid.  Dom's story line also comes to a head: his feelings for Lynn gets stronger, and we finally get that pay off in the end. What a great boil to burn performance by Murray Bartlett, and every scene with Scott Bakula lights up the screen. He brings an air of experience in this show that elevates it. The only blind spot for me was Augustn's character. As I had suspected, he ends up in the exact same position where he started at the beginning of the season, and it doesn't seem like anything happened to him, or that he had any growth. Please, take his character away. Looking, like any other show, was still looking for a voice, but based on the last few episodes has found it. Andrew Haigh has said in an interview that he looks at each episode like a separate independent film. I think essentially he has achieved that, and I am confident that the next season will just be better and more assured.