Three quarters of the reviews here are based on the pilot alone. Every TV lover knows pilots are not the way to judge the overall quality of a series. This is a series that grows on you slowly and by episode 6 (the best of the season) you will be rewarded! Everyone who's seen Weekend (2011) by the same Andrew Haigh knows what to expect in terms of plot and pacing.
Someone commented how the amount of (alluded) sex annoyed them, how yet another series about gay men portrays them as nothing more than nymphomaniacs. While I can understand why one would form such an opinion when the very first scene in the pilot starts with a handjob in a park, that scene was chosen not (just) for the shock value but more to immediately present the character of Patrick as this boyish man too prude for his looks. After all, his first thoughts in those moments send him to his mother, a theme that is revisited in later episodes. Furthermore, the sex scenes are cooled down from episode 2 onwards.
Someone commented how the banality of the plot makes this series pale in comparison to the mighty Queer as Folk, often regarded as the magnum opus of all TV series about gays. While that series was groundbreaking in more ways than one, it hatched caricatures and does not stand the test of time. It was a show that allowed the creators and the viewers to unleash all of their fantasies and play out their frustrations. That is therapeutic but it does not make for quality TV.
I won't even start comparing Looking to Girls or Sex and the City. If you want to relive the glory of the latter look elsewhere; if you are afraid it stretches out the former by being shown right after it, have no fear!
Bottom line: this is a slow paced show that requires multiple episodes to fully get it but looking at only 8 episodes of 22 minutes each, the creators are not asking for much. Give it a chance!
Your gay friend.
Someone commented how the amount of (alluded) sex annoyed them, how yet another series about gay men portrays them as nothing more than nymphomaniacs. While I can understand why one would form such an opinion when the very first scene in the pilot starts with a handjob in a park, that scene was chosen not (just) for the shock value but more to immediately present the character of Patrick as this boyish man too prude for his looks. After all, his first thoughts in those moments send him to his mother, a theme that is revisited in later episodes. Furthermore, the sex scenes are cooled down from episode 2 onwards.
Someone commented how the banality of the plot makes this series pale in comparison to the mighty Queer as Folk, often regarded as the magnum opus of all TV series about gays. While that series was groundbreaking in more ways than one, it hatched caricatures and does not stand the test of time. It was a show that allowed the creators and the viewers to unleash all of their fantasies and play out their frustrations. That is therapeutic but it does not make for quality TV.
I won't even start comparing Looking to Girls or Sex and the City. If you want to relive the glory of the latter look elsewhere; if you are afraid it stretches out the former by being shown right after it, have no fear!
Bottom line: this is a slow paced show that requires multiple episodes to fully get it but looking at only 8 episodes of 22 minutes each, the creators are not asking for much. Give it a chance!
Your gay friend.