Spying a Gay Character on AMC’s “Rubicon”

AMC’s slow-moving, atmospheric Rubicon firmly outed one of its lead characters last night after a scene in last week’s episode hinted at his sexual identity.

Kale Ingram (Arliss Howard), a character so inscrutable that viewers only recently learned his name, is one of the directors at the American Policy Institute, a shadowy organization that facilitates the communication of secrets among America’s security agencies and the military.

Arliss Howard as Kale Ingram

Former CIA agent Ingram, who wears his short graying hair in a Caesar-style cut, is the immediate boss of API analyst and Rubicon hero Will Travers (James Badge Dale), who is beginning to believe he’s stumbled upon a conspiracy within the ranks of API. (Yes, Rubicon is one of those shows with many layers and a conspiracy lurking at every turn.)

In the Aug. 22 episode, Travers follows a possible conspirator, ex-CIA black ops agent Donald Bloom, who meets the often menacing Ingram for dinner. During their meal the pair speak cryptically and seem to hint at a past together. Ingram tells Bloom he looks good; Bloom deflects the compliment with:

“Eh, I’m fat.”

Ingram replies, “You’re not.”

“You alone these days?” Ingram asks

“Yeah, I find it simplifies things,” Bloom says. “You?”

“Various delights,” the ever-cryptic Ingram replies.

“I generally have to pay for my pleasures,” Bloom says. “You know, I have to tell you, sometimes, late at night when I’m alone and feeling sorry for myself, I think of you … and us, the old days in Beirut. I have a photograph of you somewhere sitting on a balcony, sipping a cup of coffee with a great, big grin on your face.”

“We were killing people, Donny,” Ingram says.

“Yeah, that was half the fun,” Bloom says.

It’s the potential other half of the fun that had commenters at the Rubicon IMDB.com page speculating on Ingram’s sexuality and whether he and Bloom were once lovers.

Last night’s episode settled that debate when Ingram invited Travers over for dinner at the home he shares with his younger partner, Walter. Rubicon reveals Ingram’s sexuality with a casual nonchalance. The word “gay” is never used; there’s no awkward introduction of the partner. Instead Walter just greets Travers as he steps off the elevator into the posh New York condo Ingram bought 20 years ago before the neighborhood gentrified, and viewers are left to connect the dots.

At the condo, Walter and Travers share a beer and Walter mentions he hardly gets to meet any of Ingram’s co-workers.

“I think he’s ashamed of me,” Walter says playfully. “I’m certain it’s us he’s ashamed of,” Travers says. “We’re not a very presentable bunch.”

“What’s he like in the office? Is he the scary boss?” Walter asks. “Yes,” Travers responds quickly in an attempt to be light-hearted but speaking a truth. “He’s the man we all fear.”

At that point Ingram enters complaining about the beat-heavy techno music Walter has playing in the background: “What the hell are we listening to?”

“Kale doesn’t realize lots of great music came out after 1980,” Walter says.

“I feel like I’m listening to a pinball machine,” Ingram complains.

Walter and Travers