The Long Arc: Looking Season 1 is a 10-week program exploring the first season of HBO’s Looking, one episode a week.

Over ten weeks, the experience deepens.

We’ll watch and dive deep into one episode a week for the first 8 weeks, then spend our final two weeks stepping back to look at the season as a whole.

Week 1: We begin with Episode 1 — getting our bearings in the world of the show and the visual language director Andrew Haigh establishes from the beginning. 

I’ll steer the ship, and we’ll each decide on what we want to track throughout the season from a list of elements worth considering.

Weeks 2–4: The early deep dives start changing how moments in episodes 2–4 land.

The blocking in one meet-cute is echoed in another.

A character’s costumes evolve as they do.

One relationship shifts how we see another.

Suddenly, things that seemed small in Episode 1 start carrying more weight.

Weeks 5–8: Everything starts to come together as we watch and discuss episodes 5–8. 

By now, you’ve been keeping an eye on the same thread for weeks and talking with the same people in depth.

The conversations deepen as we build on shared observations — and the season itself grows more emotionally layered.

Weeks 9–10: Rather than saying goodbye after the finale, we’ll meet again for two sessions to synthesize the arc of the season and what’s shifted from episode 1 to 8.

The Long Arc is a new program, but it borrows from the approach I used in The Long Take, a four-month program I ran a few months ago.

In the Long Take, we watched three films on a theme over three months; each month was a new film, and we discussed it multiple times during that month.

That’s a lot like our weeks 1-8, since we’ll have 90 minutes to discuss 30 minutes of screen time each week.

Then, in the final month, we compared and contrasted the films across multiple sessions, which is a lot like our weeks 9-10 — only now the synthesis focuses on the season as a whole.

Here’s what one of the participants in The Long Take said about that cumulative journey:

“We come back within the month and have another talk about it, and something that someone said before can unlock something… the first discussion can feed into a rewatch… and then you pick out different things.

You might watch the film again and talk about it again, and it just gets richer and deeper.

Outside of academia, I just don’t think you really get that invitation to really spend time digging in.” 

– Hazel S., The Long Take participant

Which gets at part of why I wanted to create The Long Arc in the first place…

Each week in The Long Arc, we’ll meet live for 90 minutes, where we’ll:

🍿Rewatch key scenes together, 15 seconds at a time

🔎 Notice details that are easy to miss the first time — like a moment of blocking, a cut, or how a scene develops visually

👀 Notice something in one scene that changes how a later one lands — so moments in the episode and across the season start opening up in new ways

✍️ Put language to feelings you understood instinctively but couldn’t fully explain

♥️ And in the process, feel the episode even more deeply.

Even one live close reading session can shift what you see…

“I feel like I have more acute vision and a better understanding of how a director influences what I get out of a film. 

Before, I understood what was going on in the character’s head, but could not have said why I felt that way. I wouldn’t have been able to point to, for example, the way he moved the camera in this scene.

The close reading helped me do that. I now understand how the director helped me understand what the character was going through.

And it’s made me understand it more deeply at the same time.“
– Nancy Mills, participant in Indecisions and Revisions: The Worst Person in the World, USA

And the surprising part is: The Long Arc doesn’t just shift how you watch Looking.

(Although that’s obviously a huge part of it.)

It can shift what you get excited and curious about next.

Close attention to one work often leads people toward new curiosities they couldn’t have predicted at the beginning.

Like:
✨ Watching other films by the same director

✨Picking up a related book or listening to a radio play of the same text 

✨ Finding yourself at a live performance months later of music introduced to you in something we watched together.

These are just a few examples of the kinds of spillovers that happen all the time in my programs.

Here’s an email I got about 2 months after The Long Take (TLT) finished:

The Long Arc is a place to nurture that curiosity — and to let the group expand how you think.

The Long Arc is a new program.

But people who spent over a year inside my other programs described what the groups gave them this way:

“Everyone has a different way of watching movies and expressing their thoughts about the movie, even if it’s expressing a similar feeling.

Sometimes, other members have had a whole different perspective that I wouldn’t have thought about at all, and it’s fantastic.”
– Nurri Kim, Reel Ruminators Member

“Sometimes, you just realize what you think while you hear someone argue something different.

You may not have been sure what you thought about something, and then somebody tries to explain it, you go, ‘No, no, I don’t think it’s that! I think it’s actually something else.

It helps clarify your own thought processes.”
– Hazel S., Reel Ruminators Member and The Long Take participant, UK

You don’t need film-school language to participate, though if you have it, you won’t be the only one

The group usually includes some culture lovers who don’t identify as film experts.

“I was worried I didn’t have film-expert insights to add — but that’s really not required.

The community is so welcoming, and the emails felt genuinely encouraging.”

— Culture lover, Engineering Professor, and Reel Ruminators Member, Canada

And some people with more formal training in film:

“I have a bit of an academic background in film, but I don’t feel like I’m required to use any particular vocabulary. I don’t feel like I need to have done background reading on how film is made to have the discussion.

As much as we are sometimes talking about shots or scenes in terms of filmmaking, a lot of the time, we’re also talking about just sort of what’s shown and when. There isn’t that same terminology for that at all. 

Someone hiding their cigarette from their son is someone hiding their cigarette from their son, whether you want to talk about the focus or how the camera does or doesn’t move, or when the cut comes.

But we’re talking at least as much about what’s in it, what’s visible on the screen, as we are about how the camera or the film is working.”

– Hazel S., Reel Ruminators Member and The Long Take participant, UK

I trained as an engineer, so it’s important to me that you feel welcome regardless of your background because, in my experience, everyone has a valuable perspective to offer.

What unites us is this:

“Anyone who likes to pause, to consider, to discuss, to listen to other people’s opinions would get a lot from it.”

— Hazel S., Reel Ruminators Member and The Long Take participant, UK

Plus, the goal isn’t to show up to “sound smart” — but to let the group sharpen your thinking 

“The folks who join (in my experience) are overwhelmingly present/curious and not just there to sound smart.”
— Michael Borek, Reel Ruminators Member, USA

“We’re all very good at leaping off other people’s points, adding, redirecting, or disagreeing. There’s a nice group dynamic.

The close attention to what each other is saying goes along with the close readings of the film.

We will get into: “What did somebody mean in this precise moment?” Or “What did that cutaway shot tell us?”

We really do have to think about things.”
— Hazel S., Reel Ruminators Member and The Long Take participant, UK

You’re more than welcome to listen more than you speak

In fact, listening is part of the work — to really hear what other people are saying, not just to wait your turn to speak.

Because when you listen to other people — and look again at specific moments in the show together — you discover something new that you didn’t walk in already knowing or thinking.

Still here?

You might already think that The Long Arc sounds exciting — and still have a few practical or emotional question marks.

Totally fair.

Let me take a stab at some elephants that might be currently sitting in your room.

🐘 I’ve done watch groups before… and they’ve been kind of meh. I’m not convinced this would be any different.

Oh yeah, me, too.

Here’s what’s bugged me about these spaces:

1️⃣ Everyone raises their virtual hands in the first 5 minutes — and, if the group is big, you finally get called on 45 minutes later. 

2️⃣ People show up to pontificate instead of actually being in conversation. They’re not really listening or open to shifting their thinking — just defending pre-existing opinions, often without grounding them in what the text is actually doing moment to moment beyond plot and dialogue.

3️⃣ There’s a tacit assumption that you already have some shared context.

Maybe that means owning the same Criterion DVDs, watching whatever A24 puts out next, or already being a Paul Thomas Anderson fan.

And if you’re missing any of that? You can feel out of place.

That’s not what The Long Arc is like.

We listen to each other. That’s the first rule.

We try not to speak for too long at a time so everyone else has space to digest, respond, and come back in.

There’s no expectation that you speak right away — or even in every session.

We’re here to have an ongoing conversation about this show, together.

Which means everything stays rooted in what we’re actually seeing on screen together.

We can disagree about a cut, a costume choice, or what a moment means — because we’re all looking closely at the same detail. And we can debate specific behaviours and what they mean. We aren’t going to debate if Patrick sucks.

And we don’t need a shared backlog of references or film-school vocabulary to do that.

What matters here is curiosity, close attention, and a willingness to really listen to each other.

🐘 I’ve taken courses before, and showing up to a live Zoom meeting to be lectured at REALLY SUCKS

Yeah, WTAF?! If I wanted a lecture, I’d listen to that offline at a more convenient time.

The reason we have live sessions is that being in the room together lets us think together in real time — and actually watch the scene we’re discussing together.

And IMO, good teaching is not “listen to me lecture for 90 minutes.” It’s about helping you think in real time —in new ways. So you’ll experience a lot of “here’s a thing to look at,” “here’s a question to ask,” and “here’s the order to do that in.”

My first questions will always be:

What do you notice?

What does that mean?

Because articulating what you’re thinking when you’re thinking it — and hearing other people do the same — is a great way to learn.

And if there’s something important the group hasn’t landed on yet, I’ll point it out. (It helps that I’ve seen the show 20 times and thought about how to teach it.)

🐘 This sounds great, but it also sounds like a lot. How much time do I actually need for this?

You need about 2-3 hours a week, spread out across the week.

Each week, you’ll need to watch the episode (30 minutes).

To track the filmmaking element you’re responsible for, you might find you need to watch it twice — especially if you’ve never seen the show before. So that’s maybe another 30 minutes.

The live discussions are 90 minutes.

Maybe plan to spend 30 mins in the group space in between sessions.

🐘  I’ve actually already seen Looking — what’s different about this group?

Back when Looking was on the air, I would watch it every Sunday night, and then immediately spend HOURS discussing it with the person whose job it was to recap it (meaning, he’d already thought about the show more than I had).

It expanded how I thought about the show, let me work through my thoughts, and then, I got to unpack it with a lot of other people on Twitter who were watching it at the same time.

That’s exactly the kind of experience The Long Arc recreates, but with four big differences:

1. By now, I’ve been thinking about and studying the show for a decade, not just a few days.
2. When we gather to rewatch scenes together, we’ll be discussing the filmmaking in depth, not just sharing our thoughts — which means you can see for yourself what the show is doing.
3. By watching the season with a specific lens in mind (e.g., one character’s costumes, the use of two-shots), you’ll become especially attuned to how the show uses it throughout the season.
4. Because everyone in the group is using a different lens, you’ll discover insights that would usually take many, many careful rewatches to spot.

🐘  When I watch a TV show…and the next episode just loads…I can’t stop myself from watching it!

HAHAHA ME, TOO. And since every episode of Looking ends with a flirtatious cut, goodness, it is hard to stop.

That is OK! Stay with that impulse! Binge the whole thing from the start! Then, you’ll know what happens and where it’s going.

Which means that, week to week, you can just focus on what you missed the first time — and the one thing you’re paying special attention to throughout the season.

🐘  I’m not sure if I can come to every live session.

The norm here is showing up — but also being human.

This is a high-participation space, and the live sessions are one of the richest parts of The Long Arc — which is why I ask that you plan to attend most of them.

Life happens. Travel happens. Energy crashes. Totally normal.

Every session is recorded, and if you miss one, you’re expected to catch up on the recording so everyone has the same context.

But this probably isn’t the right fit if you already know you’re unlikely to make the live sessions or keep up with the recordings.

A big part of what makes this work is everyone returning with the same shared context — and building on what we noticed together week to week.

The Group Space (our async forum) also stays open between sessions, so you can reflect, share, and continue the conversation — even if you couldn’t be there in real time.

🐘 I’m not sure if I’ll like Looking.

Fair question.

Committing to ten weeks with a show you haven’t seen yet can feel like a lot.

A few things that might help:

✨ Season 1 is only 8 episodes (about 4 hours total) — so if you want to check it out before joining, it’s easy to sample.

✨ If you loved All of Us Strangers — or Andrew Haigh’s films like Weekend, 45 Years, or Lean on Pete — there’s a very good chance Looking will feel like home. He co-ran the show and directed half the episodes, including the first three.

✨ If Andrew Haigh is new to you: Looking is a warm, funny, emotionally sharp show — about people figuring out who they are, what they want, and what kind of life actually fits.

Every week, the characters get nudged into questions like:

1️⃣ What do I think I want — and what do I actually need?
2️⃣ What expectations around me feel right — and which ones might need rethinking?
3️⃣ Who do I become in different relationships and different spaces?

And while Looking is centred on gay men in San Francisco, it resonates so deeply with so many people because those questions feel incredibly human.

If you’re drawn to character-driven stories, visual storytelling on TV, and shows that take on existential questions without feeling heavy, there’s a very good chance Looking will feel like your kind of show. 

🐘 I’m not sure I’ll have anything valuable to share.

As long as you show up having seen the episode and ready to listen, I can pretty much guarantee you have something valuable to share.

Your unique life experiences, identity, and perspective mean you will notice different things in the episodes than other people. And what seems obvious to you isn’t always obvious to everyone else.

Throughout the season, you will also have your own unique lens to bring to the show — so you’ll be our resident expert on that thread. You can talk about many other things, but it will mean you are uniquely capable of helping us think about this thread.

A week before each live session, I’ll share the main question we’ll be exploring, and can start to think about it.

Plus, rewatching scenes together helps to spark your thinking in real time. 

“There are times when I don’t necessarily think I’ve got that much to say, and then maybe Alex calls on me to start a discussion or something, and then I realize that actually I do as I’m talking.

But then there are other times that I’m trying really hard not to jump in on something else someone else is saying, because I want to say more on that topic, or take it into a slightly different angle, or maybe, maybe I disagree with them.

I realized I still have things to say in both of those situations, and I may say better things than when I don’t think I’ve got much to say.“
– Hazel S., Reel Ruminators Member and The Long Take participant

🐘 But will I actually belong? I’ve been in spaces that are accepting on paper but aren’t really in practice.

A lot of spaces say they’re welcoming on paper — and then once you’re inside, you realize you still have to brace yourself, translate yourself, or decide whether it feels worth speaking up.

That’s not what I want for The Long Arc.

I’m a cis white woman with an invisible disability. I know what it’s like to move through some spaces feeling like I don’t quite fit. I also know I have blind spots.

Creating a genuinely welcoming space takes more than saying “everyone’s welcome” and hoping for the best.

It means being thoughtful about how the room is held, being clear about expectations, listening when something isn’t landing, and paying attention to how people are actually experiencing the space — not just how I intended it to feel.

I’ve spent the last 15 years covering films by and about marginalized communities, and people from those communities have long been part of my audience and my programs.

That matters to me deeply.

My hope for The Long Arc is that it feels like a space where you can show up as you are, bring your own relationship to the work, and trust that curiosity and care matter more than performing expertise.

I want The Long Arc to be a space where people can think out loud, disagree generously, notice different things, and still feel respected and at ease.

And if something feels off, I want to know. 

Because the goal isn’t just “inclusive” on paper.

It’s to create a space where people actually feel welcome once they’re inside.

FAQs

What exactly are we watching?

For this round of The Long Arc, we’re focusing on Season 1 of Looking only — all 8 episodes.

That gives us plenty of time to really settle into the show, track what’s unfolding week to week, and look back on the season as a whole together.

And if there’s interest in continuing? I may offer The Long Arc: Looking Season 2 in the future.

How do I watch Looking?

If you’re in Canada, it’s streaming on Crave.

In the US and most of Europe, it’s streaming on HBO Max.

If you’re elsewhere, you can check where it’s streaming — or available to rent or buy on VOD — here.

And if you’d rather not track it down yourself, I will mail you the Blu-ray or DVD of the series. You can add this option to your order from your cart for $75 USD.

I can do that for folks in the US, Canada, the UK, and Europe (as long as English closed captions work for you).

Where will everything happen?

On a platform called Circle. If you haven’t used it before, it’s great! One login for everything, a clean UX, and an app you can download on your phone.

The live sessions will be hosted on Zoom because it’s still the best platform for it. All you need is a free account.

What if I realize partway through that this isn’t for me?

As soon as you sign up, you’ll get an email with more details on the program, including a group agreement. 

If anything in there feels out of alignment with your values or expectations, let me know and I’ll process a refund. 

To be clear, if you’re clicking with what’s on this page, there really shouldn’t be any surprises in that doc, but I know not everyone reads every word, so here we are 😉.

How many people will be inside?

I don’t really know! It’s a new program for me — though it’s been shaped by running The Long Take — so we’ll see.

There absolutely definitely won’t be more than 19 other people in the group. That’s the cap.

If fewer than three people join, I will refund everyone and reschedule this for a later date with a bigger group.

If it’s still on the small side, it is not on you to carry the group. That’s my job. I’ll also likely just be participating more rather than focusing on facilitating.

If it’s larger, you’ll be doing more listening than talking, but there will always be room to share live and in the group space.

I know this experience breaks at 20, so I won’t let it get bigger than that.

Who else is in the group?

Since this is my first time running The Long Arc, I can’t know exactly who will join.

But here’s what I’m sure of:

These will be curious, open-minded people who love to think (and have their thinking challenged) and share perspectives.

They’re also culture lovers — some will be cinephiles, others just love a good story.

But these are people who, like you, want to watch a show more than once and talk about it for longer than its runtime.

I’ve deliberately designed this so that the people who join will be engaged and excited to be here.

That’s what I’m like, and I’ve spent years trying to become a magnet for similar people. And in my past programs, that was definitely the case. 

Past participants have included lawyers, engineers, academics, filmmakers, and union organizers from Canada, the US, and the UK (though many had lived in other parts of the world, too!) — and people aged 25 to 80 with a wide array of identities and backgrounds.

I’ve scheduled this at a time when people in North America and Europe are awake, so I expect we’ll have some participants from both continents, as that’s been true of most of my past offers.

When is the cut-off for joining?

June 29 at 7 pm ET (just slightly under 24 hours before we start, so you still have time to watch episode 1).

If you join any time after June 23, you’ll get access to The Long Arc space within 24 hours so you can jump straight in and get prepped for the first live session.

What if I can’t afford the full price?

If the full price would make it hard or impossible to join — especially due to disability, chronic illness, care responsibilities, uncertain employment or systemic barriers — the access rate is here for you.

I’ve set aside two access-priced seats in each round of The Long Arc — available at:

• $325 upfront (50% off)
• $170/month for 3 months (30% off).

There’s no application and no need to explain your circumstances.

If this applies to you, just email me at contact@seventh-row.com and let me know you’d like one of the access seats.

Spots are first-come, first-served. This is one way I’m working to make sure the space reflects the richness of our wider communities — while also keeping it sustainable for me as the facilitator.

What if I change my mind — is there a refund policy?

Sometimes, something looks right on the surface, but doesn’t feel right once you’re inside.

If you register and find The Long Arc isn’t for you, you’re welcome to request a full refund any time before the first live session.

After that point, I don’t offer refunds — both because the real-time content is a huge part of the experience, and because you’ll have access to one third of the program.

My hope is that this gives you space to dip your toes in and trust that you’ll know if it’s the right fit.

I have another question…

Great! Send me an email at contact@seventh-row.com, and I’ll get back to you ASAP. Messy thought dumps are always welcome!