This week on The Handsome Hour, Wes, Cody, and Stony attempt to write a dating constitution and get stuck litigating it's very first commandment: Don't be horrible. Is that actionable moral guidance, a useless tautology, or exactly the sign everyone in modern dating needs tapped directly in front of their face?
Before they can settle that question, Wes launches the show's first pledge drive with the help of new in-studio producer Rael. What follows is an impressively unsuccessful attempt to raise money for the Starfish Project, establish goodwill with women, explain human trafficking, and promote a second "sponsor" devoted to duck hunting and federal easement regulations.
Eventually, Cody proposes that "Don't be horrible" should become Rule Number 1 of the Handsome Hour Ten Commandments. Stony objects: sometimes the world needs a good horrible person to stop a bad horrible person. If someone blasts music on the subway, perhaps smashing the speaker would technically be horrible -- but also make civilization better. The guys debate cooperation, retaliation, virtue, blind spots, and whether the more useful rule might simply be: Remember that you're the problem.
That leads to Commandment No. 2 -- or at least a potential one: Don't be transactional. Stop treating romance like a vending machine where you insert dinners, favors, and strategic kindness until sex falls out. Do things because you genuinely want to improve another person's life, not because you're secretly maintaining an internal ledger. Naturally, this lesson arrives immediately after Wes admits the charity drive is partly intended to make women like the show.
Then the guys turn their attention to Rael, who reportedly thinks publicly committing to a girlfriend is "gay" and "low testosterone." What begins as big-brother dating advice becomes an even deeper conversation about freedom, responsibility, and Type Two fun. Everything meaningful -- children, marriage, employees, houses, difficult accomplishments -- restricts your freedom. But that restriction may be the source of meaning rather than its enemy. One more hookup delivers immediate stimulation; building a family or landing a SpaceX rocket requires years of work and produces something closer to durable fulfillment.
From there, the episode moves into delayed marriage, premarital sex, celibacy, abortion, "hoe phases," and why older generations imposed sexual norms that felt arbitrary to young people. The guys argue over whether some experimentation helps people understand what they actually want -- or merely creates damage they later expect a spouse to absorb. Stony also presents the engagement ring as an ingenious old-world solution to the problem now being addressed by "Are We Dating the Same Guy?" Facebook groups: a costly, public signal that one man has committed to one woman.
Then come the prenups. Billionaire lawyer John Morgan reportedly requires his children to sign one before marriage or survive on the crushing deprivation of only $1 million per year. The guys debate inheritance, alimony, divorce incentives, stay-at-home motherhood, and whether a prenup is prudent insurance or evidence that you already distrust the person you're marrying. Cody compares it to buying insurance against a Godzilla attack. Stony counters that even spaceships have shields because eventually somebody is going to shoot a laser at you.
Finally, Wes reflects on spending a week starting fights online for engagement. It worked -- but it also felt unbecoming. Cody connects that experience back to dating: never trade long-term, compounding virtue for short-term rewards. Don't perform merely to secure an outcome. Listen to feedback without surrendering your identity to it. And before sending a car for a demanding first date, ask whether that behavior reflects the relationship you actually want -- or merely the approval you hope to extract.
Before they can settle that question, Wes launches the show's first pledge drive with the help of new in-studio producer Rael. What follows is an impressively unsuccessful attempt to raise money for the Starfish Project, establish goodwill with women, explain human trafficking, and promote a second "sponsor" devoted to duck hunting and federal easement regulations.
Eventually, Cody proposes that "Don't be horrible" should become Rule Number 1 of the Handsome Hour Ten Commandments. Stony objects: sometimes the world needs a good horrible person to stop a bad horrible person. If someone blasts music on the subway, perhaps smashing the speaker would technically be horrible -- but also make civilization better. The guys debate cooperation, retaliation, virtue, blind spots, and whether the more useful rule might simply be: Remember that you're the problem.
That leads to Commandment No. 2 -- or at least a potential one: Don't be transactional. Stop treating romance like a vending machine where you insert dinners, favors, and strategic kindness until sex falls out. Do things because you genuinely want to improve another person's life, not because you're secretly maintaining an internal ledger. Naturally, this lesson arrives immediately after Wes admits the charity drive is partly intended to make women like the show.
Then the guys turn their attention to Rael, who reportedly thinks publicly committing to a girlfriend is "gay" and "low testosterone." What begins as big-brother dating advice becomes an even deeper conversation about freedom, responsibility, and Type Two fun. Everything meaningful -- children, marriage, employees, houses, difficult accomplishments -- restricts your freedom. But that restriction may be the source of meaning rather than its enemy. One more hookup delivers immediate stimulation; building a family or landing a SpaceX rocket requires years of work and produces something closer to durable fulfillment.
From there, the episode moves into delayed marriage, premarital sex, celibacy, abortion, "hoe phases," and why older generations imposed sexual norms that felt arbitrary to young people. The guys argue over whether some experimentation helps people understand what they actually want -- or merely creates damage they later expect a spouse to absorb. Stony also presents the engagement ring as an ingenious old-world solution to the problem now being addressed by "Are We Dating the Same Guy?" Facebook groups: a costly, public signal that one man has committed to one woman.
Then come the prenups. Billionaire lawyer John Morgan reportedly requires his children to sign one before marriage or survive on the crushing deprivation of only $1 million per year. The guys debate inheritance, alimony, divorce incentives, stay-at-home motherhood, and whether a prenup is prudent insurance or evidence that you already distrust the person you're marrying. Cody compares it to buying insurance against a Godzilla attack. Stony counters that even spaceships have shields because eventually somebody is going to shoot a laser at you.
Finally, Wes reflects on spending a week starting fights online for engagement. It worked -- but it also felt unbecoming. Cody connects that experience back to dating: never trade long-term, compounding virtue for short-term rewards. Don't perform merely to secure an outcome. Listen to feedback without surrendering your identity to it. And before sending a car for a demanding first date, ask whether that behavior reflects the relationship you actually want -- or merely the approval you hope to extract.