Hello, guys and dolls! Welcome back to Looking, which was preempted by the Super Bowl, but not the Grammys or the Oscars because HBO accidentally switched demographic sheets with Boardwalk Empire. When last we left our Three Musketeers, they were disappointing neighborhood children with an empty ice cream truck, dancing to CeCe Peniston, and – in the case of Dom and Doris – allowing entropy to slowly disassemble their atoms into ashes and dust.

The showrunners must have known that I wasn’t a huge fan of last week’s episode and decided to make it up to me by tossing us directly into my favorite holiday: Halloween. “Looking for Gordon Freeman” is a huge return to form for Looking, drawing every important figure of the season into its orbit without sacrificing the humanistic wit and heart that has won over its fans. Even Owen (Andrew Law) stops by for a line or two! It’s a real celebration.

We begin with our core trio shopping for Halloween costumes, Dom (Murray Bartlett) having returned from the Other Side with a newfound resolve and merry tidings from Lana Del Rey. It might seem self-explanatory, but these scenes of the three of them together actually help me remember that they’re supposed to be friends. The three leads have great chemistry but are given so few opportunities to whip it out. It’s a real shame, because scenes like this lead to much richer emotional payoffs down the line, as evidenced by this episode’s finale. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Patrick (Jonathan Groff) is determined to finally be a “fun gay” instead of a… Well, what’s the word for an easily diverted, perpetually clueless jelly bean? We’ll just call him a “hamster” for now and wait to hear from more experienced queer linguists in the comments. Agustín (Frankie J. Alvarez) wants the three of them to dress as the “Golden Ghouls” again, but Patrick insists that he go as a Hairy Fairy, especially because there’s no getting in between Dom and Doris (Lauren Weedman) in terms of “Annoying Themed Couples Costumes.” Or is there?

Agustín dashes off to work, shirking his party-planning responsibilities (“He’s trying his best. His best just isn’t that great.”), while Peppermint Patty skips over to the office to grab his Monster Mash remix karaoke tape. He dashes around the break room, joyously stuffing plastic cups, utensils, and Halloween treats into his bag like a cherry-cheeked goblin in a candy store.

His whimsical reverie is cut short when he spots Kevin (Russell Tovey) on the computer in his office. Kev says that he’s understimulated so he’s just playing with himself (video games, you sicko). However, it’s easy to see that he’s trying to cover up just how down in the dumps he really is. Patrick asks if Kevin got the e-vite to his party because, despite working with computers for a living, he apparently still hasn’t upgraded from his Hotmail account.

Patrick obviously wants Kevin to come. Kevin obviously wants to oblige. But the looming presence of Kevin’s inability to properly admit the truth to his boyfriend is too overbearing. The two carefully maneuver through the conversation like they’re the skippers on the Titanic. That is, until Kevin tells Patrick that he and Jon (Joe Williamson) might be moving back to Seattle. Thud. A crack appears in Patrick’s hull.

Down at the youth shelter, Agustín and Eddie (Daniel Franzese) watch over their darling trans charges (who are really in need of a spin-off) as they carve pumpkins. Augie practically gets on hand and knee and begs for them to spend the night together after the party, but Eddie says he has plans with friends. You know how much Dr. Frank-N-Furter hates to be kept waiting.

Eddie says that the right costume might change his mind, and Agustín replies that he’ll want to spend many nights together after what he has in store. Yup, this is gonna go great. I can feel it.

Over at Dom and Doris’ apartment, which I should start calling it “Double D’s”, Dom swans in with a laptop. In an attempt to create buzz around his Kickstarter, he’s made himself a Twitter account: chickendom40. He doesn’t have many followers yet, but with a name like that, he’ll find himself broiling cocks before you know it. If you catch my drift.

Dom shows off his brand spanking new (emphasis on spanking) He-Man costume and pulls out an accompanying She-Ra headdress to match. Doris gulps and tugs at her collar. It turns out that she’s already planning to do a couple’s costume with her boyfriend Malik (Bashir Salahuddin). A rain cloud spontaneously forms over Dom’s head, but he nods his support like a good best friend.

Over at Peppermint Patty’s Apartment of Horrors, he waltzes into the kitchen dressed as Gordon Freeman from Half Life. Agustín thinks he looks more like a mailman from the future, but Patrick is determined that his costume will paint him as a hale, hearty young #instagay ready for some adult lovin’. His every action following this declaration will undermine that idea more and more, but for now he’s rarin’ to go.

Augie loves Patty’s enthusiasm, but still mocks his obscure choice of outfit. Yeah, like the Hairy Fairy costume is a staple at Party City. It takes one to know one, bub.

Once the party kicks into full gear, Augie takes a second out of his busy schedule to mock Patrick’s party playlist for sounding a little too “Now That’s What I Call Lame.” Patrick insists that it’s his super special chocolatey-covered party playlist and that everything is fine. He runs around cooing over guests’ costumes and fretting about his karaoke sign-up sheet. Everybody mostly ignores him. There’s alcohol and shirtless men dressed like cats, so they’re having a good time.

Owen earns his paycheck this week when Dom corners him to ask about social media. His fifteen minutes of fame end quickly when Doris and Malik arrive to steal the show, dressed as gender-bent Sonny and Cher. Despite Malik’s admirably committed dance moves, Patrick utterly, miserably fails to guess who they’re supposed to be, because he was raised in a cornfield with only the beetles for friends.

Dom appears in a puff of smoke to share his new Tumblr username: domsjuicychicken. I laugh so hard my lungs explode.

Eddie shows up, dressed as Bilbo Baggins, dragging a forlorn Legolas in his wake. Patrick guesses that he’s Link from The Legend of Zelda. Please remind me never to join his team on charades night. Eddie tosses the cute, single Legolas at Patrick like chum to a shark, but he quickly (and rudely) bows out when he sees Richie (Raúl Castillo).

Richie and Ginger Roger (Chris Perfetti) are making waves with the cutest Where the Wild Things Are costume in the known universe. G.R. is celebrating setting a record number of views with a recent article, and eagerly bounces toward the bar. Patrick makes a snide comment about his energy, but Richie says that his new boo is way more fun than Patrick ever was. Patty clutches his pearls and begins to unscrew his earrings, but is interrupted by Richie’s Chipotlé Friend, who wants to take a selfie.

In between shoving people toward the karaoke machine and explaining his costume to passersby, Patrick finds himself chatting up Legolas once again. He is so actively bored that he slides out of this dimension to join a different conversation in the backyard. Ginger Roger is telling the group about his article and the positive benefits of taking PrEP, and Patrick butts in with a useless diatribe about how those darn slutty gays should just stop having slutty slutty unprotected slut sex.

Ginger Roger shuts him down right quick with some actual scientific facts, but Patty keeps on goin’. I’m cringing even more than I did when John Travolta gently held Idina Menzel by the face at the Oscars. Patrick should really take a page from Gordon Freeman’s book and never speak again.

It quickly becomes clear that Patrick hasn’t even read the article in question and the awkward silence smothers everyone to death. Eddie and Agustín make their way to the restroom, where the former relieves himself and the latter hovers behind him like the world’s creepiest guardian angel. Agustín vainly attempts to get Eddie to want to be more than friends. Eddie doesn’t relent, but they do kiss.

Malik tells Dom that he thinks he scared Doris off by suggesting a couples costume. Dom can tell that she’s nervous, but he thinks it’s because she feels the same way about him. They bond and it’s sweet. Everything even tangentially about Dom and Doris is the best.

Patrick respawns in the kitchen, where he swigs from a red cup and attempts to find that elusive gateway between sad drunk and fun drunk. He rolls over and plants a kiss on Legolas, who pushes him away and storms off. Of course, Kevin and Jon pick this moment to show up, because Patrick’s life is an I Love Lucy episode, only with more enemas.

Jon is wrecked. He grabs Kevin’s balls just for the hell of it and totters over to drain the remaining alcohol supply. The iceberg tears a hole into Patrick’s iron belly. In quick succession, someone compliments his “Megaman” costume and he spots a completely blank karaoke sign-up sheet. Patrick’s hull shatters. His cargo bay fills with water and he sinks to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

He unplugs the music and jumps onto a chair. At first it seems like he’s merely livening up the party by going supernova gay to counteract his hurt feelings. But his welcome speech quickly devolves into a slurred rant. He manages to personally alienate just about every single human being in the room, mentioning Dom’s struggling restaurant and Agustín’s inability to pay rent, passing around a chicken window collection hat, calling Ginger Roger Richie’s soulmate, and almost admitting his affair with Kevin before he is pulled offstage by less inebriated individuals. My roommate, who is allergic to secondhand embarrassment, quietly slips away to cry in his room and never returns.

Later, Kevin approaches Patrick as he stews on the stoop. He admits that he doesn’t want to be the reason that Kevin leaves San Francisco, and that he’ll really miss him. Jon interrupts with an invitation to Celine Dion karaoke and Kevin says that he wants to go home. Patrick says he hopes everything works out with them. Jon gives them a four look. As in, “putting two and two together.” They head out.

Patrick heads inside and lies distraught in Dom’s welcoming embrace. Richie looks like he’s about to approach, but then he thinks better of it, heading back to Ginger Roger on the dance floor. Eddie and Agustín bust out some Dirty Dancing moves to “Monster Mash.”

Fin.

Grade: I truly enjoyed myself this episode. It was genuinely funny throughout, and it brought every single character into the spotlight and allowed them to bounce off one another in exciting ways. I’ve been searching for balance in Looking’s storylines and I think they finally found it.

As each character faces their own challenges with relationships as represented through the constant motif of couples costumes (Dom feels left out when Doris chooses to match with Malik, Agustín isn’t making the connection he wants with Eddie, and Patrick sees how well Richie and Ginger Roger are fitting together), this episode really allows them to explore who they are and what they need out of life.

It also doesn’t hurt that the comedy was on fleek tonight. (Sidebar: I’ve never said that phrase before and I never will again. Cherish this moment.) Every line coming out of Eddie’s mouth was like a glittering pearl. Doris’ sarcastic barbs reach atomic levels, especially because they’re attempting to counteract her scary feelings. And Patrick’s constant, forlorn insistence on how Gordon Freeman revolutionized first person shooters reminds me of why Jonathan Groff is such an invaluable asset to the show, even when his character goes off the rails a little bit.

Thank you, Looking, for reminding me that you have the power to be truly great, fun television in between all the soft filters and normcore romance.

A-

MVG (Most Valuable Gay): Ginger Roger takes the cake this time around for his success at work, his devotion to his PrEP principles, and his general enthusiasm for the world around him. Also I want him to wear that costume every week from now on. Adorable.

Champion Dialogue: “It’s not not meant for porn.” – Owen, perfectly describing Tumblr

Assorted Nuts

*This episode was directed by Jamie Babbit, best known for the indie gem But I’m a Cheerleader. I think it carried a little bit of that film's zany energy, which is totally fine by me. I could always go for a little more zany in my TV.

*The three things Eddie believes in are RuPaul, Hillary Clinton, and his homeless trans teens. Add “Eddie” to my list of things I believe in wholeheartedly.

*Does a bottom howl at the moon? Something to think about.

*Doris’ advice for online nudies: “Don’t show butthole.” Sage wisdom from a woman of the world.

*Dom’s internet usernames are the best running gag this season. Though his followers won’t know about that, because they almost certainly have no gag reflex.

*Patrick hosts this party like a freakin’ suburban mom. I’m pretty sure he grew up in the first 20 minutes of Edward Scissorhands.

*Owen apparently has 3300 Tumblr followers. I’m happy to see that his Patrick/Kevin fanfiction is doing so well.

*Do you think I could get a Kickstarter going for a Cher biopic starring Malik?

*Of course Ginger Roger is more fun than Patrick. He probably doesn’t have stress dreams about uncut penises or sleep with his boss after fights. I really like Ginger Roger, you guys.

*I’m pretty sure that this episode’s secret theme was that literally everyone else in the show is a better match for Patrick than either Kevin or Richie. Ginger Roger is the only one to actually recognize his costume, and Jon genuinely praises his playlist then shows interest in karaoke. I think the writers should start mixing things up. Ginger Roger and Patrick? Why not! Richie and Agustín? Worth a shot, I guess. Me and Soapy Joe? A match made in Heaven.

So what do you all think? Was this episode a trick or a treat? Please let us know in the comments below!