If you have worn down the buttons on your television remote by scanning through an endless sea of shows, then pause your restless finger for a moment and upgrade to HBO. HBO’s binge worthy show Looking, aired in 2014, will have you distracted from your winter blues and enthralled in the San Francisco lifestyle. The show begins with the introduction of Patrick (or Pat) cruising in the woods. If you feel left out about what cruising could possibly mean, don’t; just watch and all will be explained. After he flees his meeting with the stranger in the woods, the audience is introduced to his two best friends. Looking focuses around three main characters, Patrick, Augustín, and Dom as they navigate through dating, work, and what it means to reach thirty. As the show progresses, each character is developed, revealing his unique struggles and temptations.
Pat, a level engineer for a video game company, finds that he is unable to be successful in the dating pool. As he goes on several dates and even signs up for Ok Cupid, he finds that he is constantly saying or doing the incorrect thing. Although he is nearing thirty years old, his friends’ opinions sway his judgment about the different men he sees. But his wit and humor remain redeeming features for the audience. Augustín (or August) on the other hand is in a steady relationship and in the first episode agrees to move in with his boyfriend. Dom and Pat make predictions about how long August and his boyfriend’s relationship will last as he moves away from the city to the suburbs. Tension is high for August as he is fired from his job and deals with his failure as an artist. Dom, while seemingly put together and happy, struggles with his own inadequacy. When his ex-boyfriend re-enters the picture Dom is challenged by the success he has had without him, stirring Dom’s desire to make a change in his life. All three characters center on their issues regarding the building and maintain of relationships. Pat believes he would love to be in a relationship but has never had one, Dom is always looking for a casual hookup but underneath he struggles with his self-confidence, and August finds domesticity boring and unsatisfying and is jealous as his friends party in the city.
Looking taps into a trend that television has become keen to lately, the depiction and articulation of people in their everyday lives. The creators of Looking have successfully fashioned three dimensional, believable characters with interesting, compelling narratives. All of this is a surprisingly tall order for television shows these days. But what sets this story apart from other options is its witty banter and honest commentary about what societal expectations are like in 2014. It doesn’t matter if you live in San Francisco or Chicago, are single or married, employed or not, this show is one that will have you binging until the credits of the final episode have blinked across the screen.
