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Blu-ray Review Looking: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Matt Hough

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Looking: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Review

A more laid back version of Sex and the City featuring gay male protagonists, HBO’s Looking offers an updated look at gay men seeking love, sex, and fulfilling careers in modern day San Francisco. While there is humor present as the three leading men stumble and bumble their way through awkward attempts at coupling, the primary emphasis in the first season’s eight episodes is more seriously romantic and dramatic in nature as the interpersonal struggles these men have with finding satisfaction personally and professionally drive the plots of these increasingly interesting and entertaining half hour episodes.



Studio: HBO

Distributed By: N/A

Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HDMA, French 5.1 DTS, Other

Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French, Dutch, Other

Rating: TV-MA

Run Time: 4 Hr. 0 Min.

Package Includes: Blu-ray

keep case in a slipcover

Disc Type: BD25 (single layer)

Region: A

Release Date: 01/06/2015

MSRP: $39.98




The Production Rating: 3.5/5

Three friends – Patrick in his late 20s (Jonathan Groff), Agustin (Frankie J. Alvarez) in his early 30s, and Dom (Murray Bartlett) a few weeks away from the dreaded 40 – make their way around San Francisco (and in Agustin’s case Oakland) with their work and with their evolving love lives. Patrick is a video game developer, Agustin is an artist, and Dom is a waiter who longs to own his own restaurant. Agustin begins the series moving in with his boy friend Franklin (O.T. Fagbenle) while Patrick and Dom are currently single but, as the title suggests, looking. Patrick meets barber Richie (Raúl Castillo) and their rocky relationship begins, hindered by Patrick’s inability to stop himself from innocently saying the dumbest things and hurting Richie’s feelings. Dom meets an older man Lynn (Scott Bakula) in a bathhouse, and they hit it off, but Lynn decides in helping Dom start a new business, they must not engage in a personal relationship.

The series’ first three episodes, while effectively introducing the three leading men to the viewer and setting up the rough and tumble world of a gay San Francisco (sex in the park, loads of gay clubs, the bathhouse scene, Folsom Street Fair: with no shying away from simulated sex scenes or language), feature choppy narrative sequencing as the series of continually individual scenes with the three guys are sometimes less than a minute long and seem over before being developed to any satisfactory extent. Things change for the better in the next two episodes: Patrick and Richie spend the day together getting to know one another, and without the constant interruption of the other broken up stories, we get a long, interesting look at our leading character. Episode five dealing with Dom’s 40th birthday in a Facebook event in the park celebration likewise allows an extended scene where we can take long looks at the main characters. In the program’s final episodes, the jerkiness of the intercut scenes doesn’t matter as much since we now have a firmer handle on the personalities of the players. Also, the writers have written a very interesting love triangle for Patrick with the on again/off again Richie and Patrick’s boss Kevin (Russell Tovey) the other points of the triangle. Developments there will be of primary concern in season two. Hampering the season, however, is the completely uninteresting character of Agustin who seems a very definite, unnecessary link in the story chain. Perhaps the writers will find something imminently more intriguing for the character in the second season.

No quibbles about the performances, however, as Jonathan Groff exudes that wide-eyed wonder in many of his scenes that makes Patrick endearing but yet also seems believably awkward in dealing with the personal side of things especially when life isn’t going according to plan. Murray Bartlett is appealing, too, as Dom who’s reaching 40 and not yet realized any part of his life’s dream. Yet, despite his setbacks, he’s not a downer to be around, and his tentative steps toward starting something meaningful with Scott Bakula’s likeable Lynn keep viewer interest heightened. Frankie J. Alvarez is weighed down with an uninteresting character, but that’s not to fault his performance. He seems totally committed to the role. Also outstanding are both of Patrick’s centers of attraction: Raúl Castillo’s sensitive Richie and Russell Tovey’s outwardly confident but inwardly tormented Kevin.

Here are the eight episodes contained on two discs in this Blu-ray set. There are six commentaries, and series creator Michael Lannan and series producer/director Andrew Haigh take part in all of them. The names in parentheses refer to the other cast and crew who are present for the commentary with that episode.

1 – Looking for Now (actors Jonathan Groff, Murray Bartlett, Frankie J. Alvarez)
2 – Looking for Uncut (actor Jonathan Groff)
3 – Looking at Your Browser History
4 – Looking for $220/Hour (writer J.C. Lee, producer John Hoffman, actor Frankie J. Alvarez)
5 – Looking for the Future (director of photography Reed Morano, actors Raúl Castillo, Jonathan Groff)
6 – Looking in the Mirror
7 – Looking for a Plus-One (director Jamie Babbit, writer John Hoffman, actors Murray Bartlett, Lauren Weedman)
8 – Looking Glass (writer Tanya Saracho, actor Jonathan Groff)



Video Rating: 4/5  3D Rating: NA

The program’s widescreen television aspect ratio of 1.78:1 is faithfully delivered in 1080p transfers using the AVC codec. There’s a slight green cast that’s been applied to the color timing of the series on disc that occasionally mutes other color values and makes flesh tones seem overly pale and not especially appealing. Sharpness is very good while contrast seems a bit lighter than normal which makes black levels less than optimum.



Audio Rating: 3.5/5

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix does allow the music from bars and discos and outside venues to filter through the entire soundstage and give the mix a full surround presence, but otherwise, the mix seems more front directed. Dialogue has been satisfactorily recorded and has been placed in the center channel.



Special Features Rating: 2/5

Audio Commentaries: there is an easy camaraderie between the participants (see above list) and a sense of pride and accomplishment found in all six of the audio commentaries contained on the disc, but the information contained within them doesn’t always give the listener a deep sense of the work involved in producing this show.



Overall Rating: 3.5/5

A second season of Looking has been ordered by HBO (ten episodes for season two), and one hopes the writing will more crisply define some of the less appealing characters while continuing to build up interesting complications in the lives of all of them.


Reviewed By: Matt Hough


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Mark-W

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Thanks for the fantastic and, as always, in depth review.

I agree with all of your points of concern about the series. I am really glad to read all the information about the commentary tracks, as these now seem like the #1 reason I buy a Blu-ray as opposed to rent it or stream it.

These great reviews of yours are a core reason I continue to visit this forum!
 

Will Krupp

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ScottDombrowski said:
I don't have HBO so have been waiting to see this show since it started! Great review! Can't wait to get the Blu-Rays!

I have to admit I found it a slow starter, with characters (more often than not) I probably wouldn't care to be friends with in real life, but patience rewarded me with a series I fell in love with about half way through (shades of the original COMEBACK)


I think you'll really like it but be sure to give it a chance and to give yourself a chance to become comfortable with the characters and their stories (although most of them are still the self-absorbed, oxygen-sucking types I tend to avoid if I can help it.)
 

KeithDA

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I've just re-watched these episodes in anticipation of the UK's series 2 summer release on Blu Ray only to find on Amazon that my pre-release order has been put back to July 2017. Yes - a whole 12 months later! I wonder if its a mistake in that it could be being confused with the Season 3 film finale release (HBO tend to release stuff a whole year after a Satellite showing - Game of Thrones for example)
Fingers crossed for something this summer...
 

Mark-W

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I've just re-watched these episodes in anticipation of the UK's series 2 summer release on Blu Ray only to find on Amazon that my pre-release order has been put back to July 2017. Yes - a whole 12 months later! I wonder if its a mistake in that it could be being confused with the Season 3 film finale release (HBO tend to release stuff a whole year after a Satellite showing - Game of Thrones for example)
Fingers crossed for something this summer...
I wonder if they want to include the final movie (or two part episode they intended to make once the show was cancelled to give it some sense of closure), on the Blu-ray set in hopes it motivates folks to purchase it and it also would be kind to fans by not having us buy season two and then a subsequent finale episode in a separate package.
 
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Matt Hough

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I can't think of any other reason why season two hasn't come out yet. It has to be that upcoming HBO movie that will likely be included in the set. (But that's just a guess; I know nothing.)
 

KeithDA

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I can't think of any other reason why season two hasn't come out yet. It has to be that upcoming HBO movie that will likely be included in the set. (But that's just a guess; I know nothing.)
Yes - it's possible, but surely HBO will want the potential revenue from 2 releases rather than 1? For season 2 to be released two years after season 1, I wonder who will care about these characters any more...
 

Mark-W

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Looking: The Movie premieres on HBO Saturday, July 23rd.
tumblr_o7c0xfhDnD1sgj1w7o1_1280.jpg
 

KeithDA

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I can't think of any other reason why season two hasn't come out yet. It has to be that upcoming HBO movie that will likely be included in the set. (But that's just a guess; I know nothing.)

Yes - full set plus movie just pre-ordered on Amazon UK for a price cheaper than they were advertising Season 2, so I suppose having to buy season 1 again at this price is not too bad!
 

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