"Greek" Greecaplet (1.11 and 1.12): Calvin may be out of the house, but he's not out of the picture

Paul James as Calvin, Greek's gay pledge  

Last week ABC Family premiered the second season of Greek, last summer's surprise hit college comedy. Greek brought the youth-targeted network a rare gay character, Calvin (played by Paul James). Calvin romanced a fella from another frat and was accidentally "outed" to his own frat by his best girlfriend, and in last season's finale decided to leave his house due to the chilly reception he got after his brothers learned about his sexuality.

Now the show is back and, unlike some shows that dispose of gay characters once they've come out or move them into the background, Calvin is back on campus and getting plenty of screentime. Was I the only one scared that they'd have him on a bus out of town by now? 

When we meet up with the kids after the winter break, Calvin is still out of the Omegas, although house leader Evan is actively trying to win him back and says that he's talking to the frat about it. In a clever bit of cross-cutting, we catch up with Heath (Calvin's fling from season one), who decides to come out to his Kappa Tau brothers as Evan is confronting the Omegas about bringing Calvin back. While Heath's bros couldn't care less that he's gay, Evan's preening preppies resist wooing back Calvin, as they feel that it wouldn't be good for the house.

Meanwhile, Calvin mulls some new extracurricular options and reconnects with Ashleigh, who accidentally outed him to the Omegas in the finale. They go shopping together and look at cute boys. Ah, youth ...

In this week's episode, Calvin entertains the idea of joining the Kappa Tau house, at Rusty's insistence. Meanwhile, Evan hasn't given up on getting Calvin back into the Omega house, gay or no. I actually started feeling like Evan's concern for Calvin was being used as a chip strictly to build sympathy for his character, but Evan reminds us in this episode that he's not just the Omega president, he's also Calvin's "big brother", which means he's also tied to him by fraternity protocol and has more than just a personal interest in the gay prodigal pledge.

Calvin, meanwhile, isn't too impressed with the Kappas, and makes it clear that he's not looking at frats just for the parties they throw, but as a means of making relationships for his future professional life. While Calvin might be a bit prickly, he's undoubtedly one of the most forward-thinking and proactive characters on the show, and the shrewdness he displays while entertaining joining the Kappa Taus is refreshingly self-assured.

In fact, Calvin's self-confidence is the crux of the episode's best moment, in a scene where Calvin, who is helping the Kappa Taus to smuggle booze into the house for a Prohibition party, is confronted by Trent, one of Evan's nasty Aberzombies. Trent quips, "Be sure there's enough cosmo mix for the fairy" and Calvin steps up to the guy. The Kappas hold him back from a fight, but as they drag him off, Calvin shouts back, "I don't even like cosmos, bitch!"

In the next scene Trent tries to relive the glory of his gay-baiting moment with Evan, and Evan promptly kicks him out of the house for being a homophobe. Nice!

This is what I like best about Greek: These characters are faulted, complicated, occasionally kind of stupid, but on the whole not bad people. The over-arching message of the show is that life becomes infinitely more complicated as you move into adulthood and have more responsibilities and more people in your life. It would have been easier to paint Evan as a one-dimensional goon like some of the other Omegas, and having him back up Calvin and stand up to their smears was a bold move.

Calvin and straight BFF Rusty

Meanwhile, Calvin and Heath made sort-of-amends, but as I learned when talking to Greek creator Sean Smith a few weeks back, there's another love interest on the horizon for Calvin, so don't get your hopes up for more Halvin anytime soon. And I've seen next week's Calvin-centric episode, which is pretty hilarious: Calvin plays Odd Couple with Dale, Rusty's Evangelical roommate, who is convinced that he can turn Calvin straight. While this could potentially be a groan-inducing or offensive storyline, the show handles it with its trademark gentle irreverence for institutions and respect for the characters involved.

Anyone else been keeping up with Greek? Definitely a welcome return, in my opinion.