Gay TV Recap: Greek

ABC Family's newest series, Greek, has certainly grabbed my attention for its inclusion of a gay character who, so far, has managed a balance between not being defined by his orientation without being de-sexualized. Series creator Patrick Sean Smith has said that he wanted to create a character who "isn't burdened by his homosexuality." So far, Smith has succeeded in that effort.

In last night's episode, "The Rusty Nail," the pledges have to arrange their first date mixers for their respective organizations. Growing tired of his fellow Omega Chi Delta pledges' repetitive conversations, Calvin (Paul James) offers to help the sisters at Zeta Beta Zeta plan their mixer. After suggesting that the Zetas go with a military theme (since, he points out, it would get the Omega Chi brothers to dress up in military uniform for the Zetas), Calvin ends up working with Ashleigh in putting the party together.

Ashleigh quickly takes his patience and helpfulness the wrong way, however. In noting how Calvin has helped her plan, shop and decorate, she decides that it must signal a romantic interest in Calvin's part. The rest of the episode has a few moments where Ashleigh mistakes Calvin's friendliness for flirtation, eventually ending with a close moment where Calvin provides an ear for Ashleigh, who confesses to frustration at living away from her boyfriend and watching the other happy couples on campus.

What struck me about "The Rusty Nail" was how the episode lacked a moment where Calvin comes out to correct Ashleigh's mistaken assumption. He laughs when she tells him to back off and leaves it at that -- and then he heads off to very openly flirt with another guy. (Considering how crowded the room was, I'm impressed with Calvin's gaydar.) Watching him dance with another guy without the slightest hint of self-consciousness makes it clear that Calvin isn't closeted (except after one-night stands with Kappa Tau Gamma boys who are "not gay") but sitting aside as Ashleigh works through her own issues.

For a show that has some fairly broad characters, there is an interesting amount of subtlety at play in how it continues to handle Calvin. Equally interesting to me was how Calvin's flirtations with his dance partner were so sexual, leaving no room for questioning that they were dancing together, or why.