IMHO: Greek (2.18): The problem with fauxmosexuals

This week's Greek finally gave Calvin a story that didn't involve his developing career as Cyprus-Rhodes' dependable advice dispenser, while Rebecca ventured into sapphic territory with her first date with Robin.

I have to admit, this episode inspired plenty of mixed emotions in me (I almost gave it a sideways arrow). However, after some thought I decided to tilt the arrow upward. Don't read any further, though, if you want to avoid SPOILERS.

Deciding he needs to be more open to dating possibilities, Calvin notices a hot guy, Jess, checking him out at the gym. Calvin chats him up and the guy flirts up a storm with Calvin, right down to turning a compliment on Calvin's pecs into an excuse to lift his shirt and show off his physique.

The two bond over their shared love of their favorite underdog team, the Lions, making plans to watch the game over drinks. However, when no one at Dobler's wants to watch the Lions game, they begin to discuss alternative activities, which Calvin takes as a cue to lean in for a kiss. Unfortunately, Jess quickly stops him letting Calvin know he's straight.

Meanwhile, Rebecca has been treating Calvin as her new sister in the sorority of gays. After her sudden coming out declaration, she's running to him for the kind of advice she'd normally get from her ZBZ sisters. Since Rebecca never bothered with him until now, her sudden attention bothers Calvin and he doesn't hide his annoyance. Rebecca being Rebecca, however, she brushes it off as if Calvin's problem was just that the gay recruitment committee were out of those cool brushed chrome toasters.

After her date with Robin, Rebecca starts to realize that she was drawn to the idea of dating women but isn't really gay. When she confides in Calvin, he warns her not to use Robin to satisfy her bicuriosity. His advice gives Rebecca something to think about, but it's clear he really means those words for Jess.

Rather than sit on those feelings, Calvin goes back to the gym to confront Jess. Jess admits he realized Calvin is gay and that, after being dumped by his girlfriend, he enjoyed the attention his flirting and shirt-lifting got from Calvin. Meanwhile, Rebecca admits to Robin that she might have made her coming out announcement rather rashly. Robin tells her she's not angry and she knew this was a risk she was taking in dating Rebecca.

When I first watched the episode, I was more than a little annoyed at watching two gay characters were so even-tempered about straight people using them to stroke their egos or to help them find themselves. Taking another look at the episode, however, I was struck by how Calvin doesn't hesitate to try to kiss Jess at Dobler's -- the local straight bar -- which got me thinking about how surprising it was to see something like that on a tween-focused channel like ABC Family.

It's still pretty common to see stories where a straight guy comfortable around gay guys has his heterosexuality and masculinity questioned, so I realize Greek challenged perceptions with this story. Jesse's biggest fault isn't that his flirtations with Calvin make him a little gay, but how he was willing to overlook Calvin's feelings. Still, I'm much more interested in seeing how things turn out when Calvin meets his new love interest in a couple of weeks.

What did you think? Was this just another story where gays help the straight characters find themselves? Was Rebecca's interest in Robin a thoughtful storyline or just an attempt at gay-for-pay sensationalism? How did you feel about Jess' flirting with Calvin?