The latest episode of HBO's "Looking" requires something from viewers that past episodes have not: forgiveness for a plot propped up almost entirely by a tired cliche.
It is forgivable, in the end, because the cliche in question, that the truth will set you free, is a universal one -- not a gay one that would have weakened the ethos of ordinariness surrounding the show's gay characters.
It's also forgivable because it finally delivers, although in a slightly too tidy way, a new, take-no-prisoners Patrick ready to confront the tangled truths he's been covering up or dismissing since last season.
This is the episode, titled "Looking for Truth," where we finally get to see Patrick stoically brush off the continuing overtures from Kevin, the boss with whom he'd been having an affair. Patrick lays the absurdity of the affair on the table, seemingly without the emotion one would have if still invested in the relationship, by naming the central issue: that Kevin seems completely disinclined to leave his actual boyfriend, Jon.
This is also the episode where we finally get to see Patrick admit to Richie that last season, their relationship crumbled not just because Patrick wasn't able to commit. It was also because that tearful night when they had their break-up conversation, Patrick had hooked up with Kevin at the office.
Much of the episode centers around a one-on-one trip by Patrick and Richie back to Richie's old neighborhood that once again shows their inability to stop flirting with one another, so when Patrick decides to interrupt everything to share his old infidelity, it seems jarring.
It certainly disrupts the mood. The pair's laughing banter from minutes before stops, and we're treated once again to the sad-faced Richie we know all too well.
But if the truth sets you free, then lies will surely do the opposite, and Patrick seems to be at a point of reconciliation. He wants to clear out the baggage he feels with Richie, and to Richie's credit, it seems to work.
Richie, as hurt as he is, tells Patrick he'd be sad without him in his life, and the pair agree that they can keep trying this "friends" thing.
This episode is also notable for its paired down scope. Dom and Lynn, and Doris for that matter, are all missing from the episode. The only other characters to take the screen are Agustin and Eddie.
The narrowed focus works well. Like with the Patrick-and-Richie relationship, we benefit from the added time devoted to the Agustin-and-Eddie relationship. We see deeper into it, even if its future seems just as blurry.
Kudos to "Looking" for taking on the complicated subject of HIV, and how people discuss it when they are interested in one another and only one is HIV positive. (It's not the first time, by the way. "Queer as Folk" did it, too.)
But to be clear, the fact that Agustin, who is presumably negative, is interested in Eddie, who is positive, is not what makes the future of their relationship blurry.
Even though Agustin initiates the pair's makeout session -- we don't know if it went farther, yet -- I still feel nervous for Eddie. Time after time we've seen Agustin flit from one fancy to the next, and I fear Eddie will be another passing note in that rhythm.
At least Eddie seems to have his own hesitations. He's not diving right in, and that might be important down the line as this thing plays out.
What's your game Agustin?
That's one truth I still want to know.