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January 26, 2015 7:02 PM - Season 2, Episode 3

Patrick buys an enema. Augustin gets his beard trimmed. Dom plays rugby. Doris gets laid.
posted by dnash (3 comments total)

As usual, my reaction to this episode doesn't seem to jibe with a lot of the reviewers and commenters out there. I really loved it. Other receptions seem to be just above lukewarm.

I loved the enema stuff, for example. I mean, it's great that gay relationships and gay sex are becoming more find-able in movies and TV, but let's face it, rarely if ever are the real mechanics of the whole thing ever discussed. I know I was a bit of a late bloomer with regards to actual gay sex but no matter when it became a reality for me, the idea that something like needing to use an enema first would've shocked me just as much. That shot of Partrick cleaning out, muttering "oh, so sexy"? Oh yeah. C'mon, gay men, admit it, you've been there. (Is that airing our, um, dirty laundry too much?) Oh, and sure, his comments to the cashier are silly, but I will admit to basically thinking the same sort of thing in that situation, and I think within the conventions of TV it kinda had to be written for him to say them out loud.

Another thing that really struck me watching this is the quality of the photography. The scene of Dom and Lynn in bed, I noted how lovely Dom's chest hair looks in that lighting. When Kevin gets out of bed to take that (uh oh) phone call from his "boyfriend," I noted not just how gorgeous Russell Tovey's body is, but how they had the briefs he's wearing ride up on one butt cheek. I just feel like there's an attention to warm, intimate detail in this show that brings it to life for me in a wonderful way. And so when I read recaps and reviews that focus on what the plot did or didn't do this week, I feel like the point has been missed, because the plot isn't the point. The point is gay lives, gay sex, in rich, intimate detail.
posted by dnash at 7:15 PM on January 26, 2015

I was going to encapsulate this ep as "Dom plays rugby, Agustin plays nice, and Patrick gets played (again) (some more)" ...it's cheeky, but I think it jibes with your read of the show too, dnash: people who are expecting major plot movement are going to be disappointed, because it really is about people who aren't driving toward something but are just at play, going through life normally. It's refreshing, and likably well-observed.

I just wish it didn't keep throwing Kevin in my face as someone who's so superficially charming and lovely, but is really being a selfish jerk, because he reminds me much too much of certain people I've known.
posted by psoas at 10:10 AM on February 2, 2015

I think my problem with Kevin is, unless I've missed something I don't understand why he's so committed to his current real boyfriend? Is it an immigration thing? Are they literally married? (I don't recall hearing the word "husband.") The one time I remember ever seeing Kevin and the BF on the show, it ended in a fight, didn't it?

Kevin & Patrick just seem so perfect for each other when they're together, so it just makes me feel like if this was the real world, wouldn't Kevin just dump the boyfriend he seems to be unhappy with? I don't feel like the show has explained why he stays.

The inter-office affair, though, would be another story, since they're boss and underling, which the HR department would freak out about. That would be a reason to keep things secret, but that doesn't seem to be the reason the show points at.
posted by dnash at 4:37 PM on February 2, 2015