GIF-cap: 'Looking for the Promised Land'

Looking, HBO's series about three gay guys (and a straight girl), was deemed not boring enough to live another season and so we welcome you back -- and for those who are new here, hello -- to another ten weeks of Dom's mustache, GIFs of Kevin's butt, snappy Doris remarks, and what we can only believe to be is a long-running performance art project about the depths of self-hate by Agustin.

So before we get started, let's recap where we left off: Patrick is alone, Dom is growing up, and Agustin is a (possibly drug-addicted) asshole.

After all the sudden drama at the end of last season, the boys have found their friendships strained and in much need of some bonding. So where do they go? Into the woods!

Sadly, this road trip is not prompted by a prologue of tunes by Meryl Streep telling them that they're cursed. (Though that would have made for a great reboot of the series -- if both Galavant and Empire are doing it, why not Looking?) But these woods do have fairies. (And I thought True Blood was canceled!)

Anyway, this field trip does have soberness, hugging trees, board games and Doris to ruin all attempts at being sober, hugging trees or playing board games!

All eye rolls at Patrick aside, it quickly becomes clear what this trip is actually about: plot setup! So let's run through it:

Patrick has a secret! You can tell because he "subtly" drops hints throughout the entire episode.

What's his secret? He tells himself he's beautiful every single day. No, just kidding. He's sleeping with Kevin. That's right, also tucked away in the woods is sex against a tree with your boss while high on Molly.

And while we're here: an obligatory GIF of Kevin's butt.

And speaking of Molly, you know Patrick is "letting loose" because he kisses that guy from Daniel Franzese's YouTube parodies and doesn't even care. We're such a long way from the skittish Patrick of season 1.

Dom has daddy issues! When we left him, he finally had the balls to confront (and kiss Lynn) and luckily it paid off. The two are dating, Lynn is supplying his Russian River cabin for the boys' weekend of play, and Dom is discovering the benefits of an open relationship.

Though, it comes with a price: being accused of dating your dad...

A portrait of your dad on the wall...

And some unresolved issues with daddy's dead boyfriend.

Agustin has a beard! And a drug and alcohol abuse problem. And passive aggressive tendencies. And a new desire to live life among the bears. While the faux-intervention Patrick planned for the weekend failed the minute Doris showed up, Agustin does exhibit some positive characteristics in the form of an attraction to Eddie aka Damian from Mean Girls aka Daniel Franzese.

And where the bears are, there's dancing...

More of the same fairies...

And skinny-dipping.

And Doris has -- wait, where is Doris?

So after sex in the woods, bonfires, Molly, losing Doris, and true confessions...

...We're left with three gay guys, no straight girl, and lots of changes.

Thanks to the character development -- and criticism of how slow the show progressed -- in the first eight episodes, season 2 dives right in with sex, drugs, and plenty of setup. It's nice to see this show fully realize its potential and ready to add on layers of story now that we're comfortably in the skin of Agustin, Dom, and Patrick. As for where this season is headed? We have a few guesses but we'll save it for next week when the boys are back in The City.