Looking for the Promised Land

Looking for the Promised Land is the 1st episode of season's 2 of Looking.

Synopsis
Patrick, Agustín and Dom head to Russian River to stay at Lynn’s weekend cabin for relaxation and bonding. Though Patrick wants to lay low, the guys end up at a bacchanalian party in the woods after running into a Faerie. Meanwhile, Patrick mulls over what he wants from his life in the city, and Dom looks for clues in the house about Lynn’s old life.

Plot
Patrick marvels over the beauty of the nature whizzing by as Dom drives him and Agustín into the woods. Patrick wants the weekend getaway to Lynn’s Russian River be about the three of them “hanging out together.” While drinking mint-infused tea, Patrick balks when Agustín suggests raiding the liquor cabinet. Agustín smells a rat: "Please, God, tell me this isn't some kind of inter-f**king-vention." Explaining that they wallow differently, Agustín chides Patrick about his neurosis after the Richie situation. Patrick rebuffs him: “Honestly, I need this weekend if you don't. I just do."

Dom and Agustín follow Patrick on a hike to an ancient tree. As Patrick hugs the trunk, Agustín says that it'd be "a great tree to get f**ked against." Back at the house, Dom pages through Lynn's photo album, mining it for information about his elusive boyfriend. "Lynn's not big on sharing," he says, telling Patrick he understands why Lynn may not want to talk about his past boyfriend who died of AIDS. The conversation turns to Richie. "I regret the way that I dealt with everything and I miss him, but…," Patrick says, giving Dom a pensive look, "...do you ever do things that surprise you? Are you ever shocked by your own behavior?" Agustín smokes weed, and the guys play Monopoly.

The three guys float down the river in a canoe, passing gay beach and then bear beach, where Eddie yells at Agustín from the sand. "Hey," he says, "come party with the big boys." Eddie invites Agustín -- as well as "the clone and the seal pup," referring to Dom and Patrick -- to a party in the woods that evening, saying that fairies will guide them there. Doris greets the boys upon their arrival back at the cabin. "Hello, bitches!" she says. "So you guys thought you were gonna have your little sausage party without me?" Doris lights a joint she found in Agustín’s room, and Patrick says they're going to play parcheesi. "That's a f**king joke," Doris assures him. "There's no way that Dom just played $200 for a taxi -- thank you -- to get me here for that. We're going out."

Doris and the boys wander through the woods looking for the party. A fantastically dressed fairie appears and directs the group to the Promised Land, “where all your dreams will come true." The foursome takes molly just before entering the outdoor bacchanalia, which is packed with people of all stripes dancing to Sister Sledge's "Lost in Music.” Agustín thanks Patrick for the help in the wake of his break-up -- and reiterates their differences. "I deal with feeling like a shitty person by being bad," he says. "You do it by being good." Patrick says he doesn't feel like he's been good recently and pauses before saying anything else -- just as the molly hits him and euphoria takes over. Everyone dances as a disco ball shines down. Patrick kisses a guy who has Richie’s look at first glance.

Patrick leaves the party to make a call. "What are you doing right now?" he screams into his phone. Agustín and Eddie skinny dip in the river. Back at the cabin, Dom gives a blowjob to a beautiful guy, who asks about the guy in the photo albums: "Is that your dad?" Dom explains that it’s his boyfriend, and he doesn't mind if he sleeps with other guys. Patrick waits as a car pulls up in the forest -- Kevin is inside. Patrick holds his glowstick tight as the two have sex against a tree. "You think we're ever gonna actually get to do it in a real bed sometime?" Patrick asks.

Patrick returns as the sun rises and tells Agustín and Dom he finally had sex in the woods -- with Kevin. Agustín recaps his night, describing Eddie as "a big bear who cares about trans people and has a house in Virginia," explaining to Patrick that that means he’s HIV-positive. Patrick says he can't stop things with Kevin. "Tomorrow you can tell me everything I already probably know," he says. "Now can we just all watch the sunrise and pretend everything is going to turn out fine?"