'Partners' Season 1, Episode 1: 'Pilot' Recap

From the creators of “Will and Grace,” we have “Partners,” a cute, fast-paced comedy that has some potential.

In the pilot, we meet Joe and Louis, who have been friends since they were children, and had the same argument over model houses since being children. This has translated into an adult relationship of being partner architects, still arguing over tiny houses.

Joe, it is set up, is the responsible, steady one, while Louis is his flamboyantly gay counterpart.

“You only go with your gut; that’s why you have a tattoo of Clay Aiken on your ass!”

Joe is having issues with his girlfriend, Ali, and reveals to Louis that he is considering breaking up with her. Louis tells him to go with his gut—when Joe’s gut has no immediate answer, Louis determines that there’s no other option than to dump Ali.

Joe goes to see her, determined to break the news, but Ali has just gotten great news about selling her jewelry line, and she couldn’t be happier or more in love. She looks into Joe’s face, and Joe… instead of dumping her, bends down and proposes. Ali accepts happily.

Louis and Ali have yoga together the next day, and Ali asks Louis if he knows what went down, and says she’s thrilled about it.

“Good for you, you brave little toaster,” he quips. Ali is confused, and Louis lets it slip that Joe had been planning on dumping her, not proposing.

So when he slinks guiltily into Joe’s office later, and listens while Joe is on the phone getting dumped by Ali, he isn’t surprised. Joe, however, is. He and Louis fight.

Louis goes to see Ali, and begs her to take Joe back, trying to explain how important his friend is to him and how Joe loves Ali more than… almost anything in the world. He worries no one will take care of Joe when he is gone. He bends down and proposes to Ali, again, in Joe’s name.

Joe runs into Louis’ boyfriend, Wyatt, when getting coffee. Wyatt is a male nurse but the running joke is that Louis tells everyone his put-upon boyfriend is a doctor. Joe asks him how he does it, being with Louis, and Wyatt tells him that no one can love like Louis.

“I’m in the cardiac wing today, that’s why I’ve got a heart on,” he adds, pointing to his pin.

In the office, Louis begins to pack, but Joe receives another call from Ali. She takes him back, and happily, Louis unpacks his stuff, glad to stay.

The foursome go out to celebrate, and Ali and Wyatt, a little alarmed, realize that there’s no coming between the two, and that the “couple” of Ali and Joe will always include Louis. Joe and Louis seem perfectly happy to ignore this, but Wyatt and Ali seem a little distressed.