By Lane Forsman

And here we are, the end of season one. I need some redemption for these guys. Well, honestly, I don’t care if they redeem Agustin. I’ve resigned myself to being eternally annoyed by that particular egotistical man-child, but the other two have a lot of likeable qualities, and if I’m going to hold onto this show then I need to see those from time to time. Let’s see what this episode gives us.

At the top of the show Patrick goes by Richie’s workplace to try and talk to him, and he gets a pretty clear message to back off for a bit. He handled it better than I expected, though I’m not even close to surprised that Patrick is the “call 20 times and then stop by your work” kind of guy. Afterward he heads into work, where he’s late, because, yes, Patrick is the kind of guy to call 20 times, stop by where you work, and be skipping out on his own job to do so. They’re in a meeting being led by Kevin, who gets immediately awkward upon Patrick’s arrival. Just a little later Kevin tries to apologize, but Patrick isn’t in the mood to talk so he shuts down Kevin in much the same way that he was just shut down.

Agustin is freaking out about losing Frank, and I don’t know if I believe it’s because he cares about Frank, or if he’s just afraid to be alone. But I feel he deserves it. Agustin has no one to blame for losing Frank but himself. Frank is rather harsh with Agustin, and while I don’t think I could ever treat someone the way Frank does in this moment, I don’t disagree with his sentiments. Agustin has no idea who he is, and he’s so afraid to find out that he never follows through with anything. He decides to wander around the city, and is on some kind of drug (though I have no idea what).

Dom has a moment of clarity about things while setting up for his event, and he calls Lynn.

Patrick meets up with the still high Agustin to go support Dom at his restaurant pop-up. While there they get into a conversation about their respective relationships and where they are. Patrick ends up telling Agustin about Kevin kissing him, and the entire time they’re having the conversation I just kept waiting for Richie to show up and overhear. Relationships get more complicated when Lynn shows up with a date that is noticeably younger. This obviously upsets Dom.

Patrick gets called into work by Kevin. And by “called into work” I mean cornered so that Kevin can confess all the not so repressed feelings he has for Patrick. And then it happens that they have sex right there in the office. Rather significantly, Patrick bottoms for Kevin. The show made a pretty big point of letting us know the issues he has with bottoming, and even had him tell Richie that he wanted to bottom for him as a show of trust and connection in allowing Richie to guide him through the process. So, it’s incredibly telling that he bottoms for Kevin during a secret hook-up before he does so with the boyfriend he’s trying to hold onto.

At the end of the night as Lynn is leaving Dom pulls him aside to talk to him, and he has the most personal clarity of any of the main three characters. He apologizes to Lynn for his behavior in an incomplete but sincere way, and then (after being assured that the guy with Lynn is only a friend) kisses him. But this time the kiss is returned.

When Patrick gets home he finds Richie waiting there. Richie begins a very honest and self-aware apology for his actions. He’s also smart enough to know that Patrick isn’t in a place to commit to something right now, or as he says, “Pato, I am this close to falling in love with you, but I’m not going to do that to myself if you aren’t ready. And I don’t think you’re ready.” Patrick’s only response is tears.

Then the season closes on Patrick lying in bed with Agustin’s head in his lap watching “The Golden Girls.”

Dom I’m good with at the moment. Patrick, I don’t know. I give him credit for finally realizing he wasn’t being fair to Richie, and for not trying to bury himself in their relationship again, or convince them both of something that isn’t true. It’s a step, even if it took a major mistake to get there, even a major mistake we all saw coming. Agustin, well, I think I’ve made it clear how I feel about him.

I’ll be back for the show’s second season.