‘Looking’ creator shares what would have happened on the season 3 that never was

Daddy Dom, a surprising career move for Richie, the episode that almost was, and more from the creator of the short-lived HBO series.

In an alternate universe, there was a little more Looking. 

For two seasons, fans of the HBO series watched Patrick (Jonathan Groff), Agustín (Frankie J. Alvarez), and Dom (Murray Bartlett) live their (often messy) lives in San Francisco. By the season 2 finale in 2015, Dom was mending his fractured friendship with Doris (Lauren Weedman), Agustín was happy with new love interest Eddie (Daniel Franzese), and Patrick ended his relationship with Kevin (Russell Tovey) only to end the finale in a chair at his ex Richie’s (Raúl Castillo) barbershop. 

The trio was starting to figure out what they wanted — or in Patrick’s case, didn’t want — before things were cut short. Instead of a season 3, HBO greenlit a movie to wrap it all up. In the end, Agustín married Eddie, Patrick reunited with Richie, and Dom’s story ended a bit unfinished.

While the 2016 film provided some closure, it left fans wondering what would’ve happened if there had been a third season instead. Here Looking creator Michael Lannan shares some of his team’s original plans — and some additional unused ideas, like an alternate plan for the season two premiere.

LOOKING, (from left): Frankie J. Alvarez, Jonathan Groff, Murray Bartlett, ‘Looking For Now’, (Seaso

Frankie J. Alvarez, Jonathan Groff, Murray Bartlett on ‘Looking’

| Credit: HBO/Everett

Patrick

Looking explored relationships outside of traditional monogamy through couples like Agustín and Frank (O-T Fagbenle) and Dom and Lynn (Scott Bakula) — and Patrick would have followed suit in season 3 after breaking up with Kevin. “Patrick has this standard love triangle, and it felt like it was time to shatter that trope,” Lannan says. One potential was Patrick entering into a relationship with someone very comfortable with who they are and whose sexuality was more fluid, which would have contrasted starkly with often rigid Patrick. “In the best case scenario, I think Patrick was going to learn to take himself a little less seriously through this relationship, while also feeling more confident in his own identity,” Lannan explains. Another idea was Patrick entering a throuple, giving him some perspective on his views on relationships.

Agustín

Coming off meeting Eddie and starting work at a youth shelter, Agustín’s story would have spent season 3 exploring other gender identities. “He was one of those characters who found compassion for other people in season 2, and one of his superpowers was keeping his mind open,” says Lannan.

Dom

Dom ended his relationship with Lynn in season 2, and the movie leaves him starting a new romance with someone he meets during the celebration of Agustín and Eddie’s union. “After his relationship with Lynn, where he was the younger guy, it would have been fun to flip that to see what it would be like to literally become a daddy and have to be responsible for a kid,” shares Lannon, who envisioned Dom dating a San Francisco activist who is very anti-Google Bus (which was a big issue at the time) and had recently come out of the closet after having a wife and child. The former would have been an issue because all those Google employees raising rents in the city were Dom’s new customers. The latter would have been a Sliding Doors moment for him: “a version of what Dom’s life might have turned out like if he had married Doris back in Modesto, which I think was a real possibility in some moment. Maybe Dom was going to become a stepdad to this teenager, which would be funny and interesting to watch,” Lannan explains.

While Lannan was excited to explore more of Dom’s love life, he says the character’s major season 3 resolution would have been in his professional life. “Dom, in some ways, is quite a self-actualized person, and I like the idea that he goes into the world and maybe he opens up a restaurant in Mexico City after he’s done with San Francisco, and creates a chosen family of his own. That’s our spin-off,” Lannan muses. 

LOOKING: THE MOVIE, l-r: Lauren Weedman, Jonathan Groff, Raul Castillo (aired July 23, 2016). ph: Melissa Moseley/©HBO/courtesy Everett Collection

Jonathan Groff and Raul Castillo in ‘Looking’

| Credit: Melissa Moseley/HBO/Everett

Doris

Dom’s crass yet lovable bestie ends the film planning to have a child, but a third season would have explored that self-described “old mom” journey in more depth. “We thought it would be fun to explore how all of her gay friends reacted and got involved in that kind of issue. We wanted to see someone funny and thoughtful and queer-adjacent try to figure out what motherhood even means at that point in time and in that world,” Lannan explains. 

Richie

Lannan says season 3 would have explored more of Richie’s life, and the work he has to do on himself before reuniting with Patrick. In the film, Richie shares with Patrick how difficult things were with his father, something that would have been mined more in a full season. “We did spin up quite a number of ideas about how Patrick would interact with Richie’s family,” says Lannan. “Patrick would have to figure out how he was going to engage with this family that was so different from his, and how it affected their relationship.” They also considered Richie becoming a hair stylist for celebrities, which would have him under a new kind of pressure.

Kevin

The writers considered Kevin developing a drug addiction after the breakup with Patrick, but it wouldn’t have been be a “drugs are bad” kind of story, says Lannan: “It would be more like the story of a guy deeply entrenched in the very competitive tech and queer cultures who found some tools that helped him be the hottest, best, most fun and wild version of himself — until he wasn’t.”

The episodes that almost were

“We almost did a Burning Man episode, we actually got all the clearances for it. We were one of the first shows to ever get permission to shoot at Burning Man,” Lannan recalls of what they’d planned for the season 2 premiere before going in another direction. There was also discussion of the characters participating in the AIDS/LifeCycle (an annual bike-ride fundraiser that goes from San Francisco to Los Angeles) — and an earthquake episode.

LOOKING: THE MOVIE, l-r: Jonathan Groff, Murray Bartlett, (aired July 23, 2016). ph: Melissa

Jonathan Groff and Murray Bartlett in ‘Looking’

| Credit: HBO/Everett

The Patrick-Dom of it All

Looking often referenced the almost hookup that blossomed into Dom and Patrick’s friendship, but the pals almost actually went through with it: “We had an idea that Dom and Patrick were going to go out one night looking for hookups and then they go home with another couple that wants to have a foursome. They end up doing it, which is fun, hot, surprising, and weird for them,” reveals Lannon, who also considered having the two move in together.

Is more Looking coming?

“We would absolutely bring people back together,” says the creator. He’s confident about everyone’s participation, they just need the right story to reunite the characters. A Christmas special is one idea that has been thrown around, so put that on your wish list.

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