IMHO: Greek (3.01) The new odd couple of Cyprus-Rhodes

ABC Family's Greek returned for its third season last night and gave me a solid reminder to why gay fratboy Calvin is one of my favorite gay characters on TV. Amid the relationship drama for the likes of Casey, Cappie and Ashleigh, we saw Calvin try to figure out where his most recent hook-up will lead with the unlikely help from conservative evangelical Dale.

For the details of why the episode gets an up arrow, however, you'll have to wade into the SPOILERS below.

After the Kappa Tau "End of the World" party, everyone is waking up in recovery from one kind of overindulgence or another. For Calvin that means waking up to the sound of John de Lancie (aka Star Trek's Q) - or a good soundalike - reading the Bible on Rusty and Dale's couch.

For a moment Calvin takes this as a sign that he managed not to break the purity pledge he made with Dale. That ends, however, when Grant comes walking into the living room to find his pants.

Since Calvin can't remember anything beyond kissing Grant, Grant takes the opportunity to prank Calvin, telling him how they discussed potential wedding arrangements. It's a really cute moment for the two but I'm left wondering how a closeted guy like Grant could be so at ease in discussing their potential relationship. Grant's behavior is plausible, but I need something to pull it all together.

Meanwhile we also learn that, while Calvin kept up his purity pledge, Dale broke his vow and had sex with Sheila in a moment of post-apocalyptic panic. Dale confesses his moment of weakness to Calvin, who feels free to discuss Grant with Dale.

I'm really loving their unlikely friendship, which is starting to remind me of Swingtown's Janet and Trina - on paper you'd expect these two characters to hate each other, but due to a friend in common they've learned to accept each other's differences without changing who they are.

So. While I'm loving Calvin and Dale's friendship, I'm starting to feel a bit wary about Calvin and Grant's romance. Paul James and Gregory Michael are definitely showing chemistry but I'm looking for a chance to get to know Grant better. I'd like to think that being closeted is more than just a way to explain why we didn't know there were any more gays in Omega Chi.

Greek has managed some compelling character-based romances (it's even managed to make me find Casey and Cappie compelling), so I'm eager to learn more about Grant the way we did with Max, Jordan and Michael. Still, for the moment watching Calvin and Grant together is enough fun to make me overlook those worries.

What did you think? Is Calvin and Dale's friendship convincing for you? How about Grant? Are you getting drawn into their potential relationship?