Gay TV Recap: What will Greek do with Halvin?

*-*-SPOILERY, OF COURSE-*-*

It's kind of funny that, on the very day that we ran an article lauding ABC Family for celebrating diversity in its programming, the interracial same-sex love affair between Calvin and Heath washed up on the rocks like so much gay jetsam (although I'm a Flying Monkey's uncle if things are really over).

But it's even funnier that we managed to get to the end of the affair without ascribing one of those annoying hybrid names to the couple ... you know, like "Nuke" or "Brangelina" or "TomKat". So for this recaplet (and hopefully for more), I'll refer to the fellas as "Halvin". Catchword immortality, here I come!

This episode focused on the difficulties that surround relationships of all kinds and how miscommunication can really screw things up. And thank God, it actually mixed things up a bit in terms of the show's alliances and feuds, making for one of the liveliest episodes to date. (It also didn't just that half the episode took place in a strip joint.) Rusty tells Lonelygirl15 he loves her after three weeks of dating because he thinks that's what she wants, and she cools faster than takeout french fries, sending him to Cappie for help. Cappie is mourning the loss of Casey (again) by compulsively cleaning the frathouse and later compulsively pole-dancing and dressing in bad stripper drag. (Uh, I'll have what he's having...) Casey and Ashleigh are still scrapping over Travis (whom Ashleigh pretended to dump, remember), which leads to an unlikely alliance between Ash and Rebecca, aka Satan's Pledge.

But the real story here is Halvin's. It seems that the whirlwind closet-door romance is already nearing its freshness date, as we see the fellas come out of a production of Waiting for Godot with different reactions. Calvin obviously doesn't think Heath is very cultured due to his poor reception, and pretty much cuts the date short as a result, with no explanation. I'm kind of loving how Calvin, who was initially presented as a totally put-together guy, is proving increasingly more complicated as we go along, but more on that later. Right now, Heath looks like he's totally over Calvin's passive-aggressive behavior and they part company.

But they run into each other by accident later at the strip club, where Cappie has taken Rusty (and Calvin) to forget about girls (and I'm thinking it was a bit easier for Calvin than Rusty). It's actually kind of a funny reminder that Calvin and Rusty were best buds just a few weeks ago, but that they haven't had any screen time together since they found make-out pals. Ah, college...

Calvin is of course less-than-thrilled to be at a strip club, which Cappie dragged them to under the pretense of going to a "lunch buffet" (referring to the chafing dishes of taco meat and calcified chicken wings the club offers). Calvin points out which of the strippers have fake boobs (uh, throw a rock...) and opts to keep Rusty company.

But then Heath arrives and is a bit freaked to see Calvin. Which is odd, since Calvin is usually the one to impose the three-foot "no homo!" personal space rule. But Heath's frat brothers are here, and he's worried about being outed. In a strip club. Like his reluctance to get a lapdance isn't going to take care of that particular business for him.

Calvin jokes about getting a lapdance so that they can say they "experimented in college" (heh, heh) and Heath makes a confession: after their bad date, he hooked up with another guy. Calvin looks like someone just told him that Abercrombie and Fitch has gone out of business. Heath says that he was mad at Calvin for blowing him off but that he feels terrible and it won't happen again. Calvin says he's got that right, and makes one of his trademark dramatic exits.

Later, back on campus, Heath catches up with Calvin and says that, in his own defense, they aren't exactly carrying on a traditional courtship and that Calvin has always resisted the relationship getting too serious, which Calvin can't argue with. Heath tentatively says that he guesses that this frees up Calvin to do whatever he wants, if he wants (obviously trying to give him his space), and Calvin calls his bluff and agrees. The two look around before engaging in the most awkward hug in primetime history and Heath takes off. Calvin calls after him and Heath turns back, hopeful; but when Calvin can only muster a lame "see you around" Heath's eyes roll into the gutter, where he must retrieve them before taking off.

What I like about the way the show is treating this relationship is that it's taking a pretty hard look at just how hard it is for guys who are in the closet to act with any sort of emotional authenticity in their relationships. These two are both so afraid of making themselves vulnerable (Calvin much more so than Heath) that neither will actually ask anything of the other or offer anything of himself, which of course ends in a stalemate and an awkward hug. But it's clear that these guys are good guys and that they do like one another, and I bet it's not the end of Halvin.

As with its other dozen or so storylines, the gay love story is being told with honesty and with the admission that college is a terribly exciting and confusing time for everyone, and where a lot of mistakes are made and lessons are learned. Here's to hoping that Calvin and Heath both come out the better (or just come out, period!) for it, and here's to the show for giving the couple ample screen time and some dignity to go along with their faults.