I think they've kind of been deconstructing the "gay best friend" thing, or at least giving it a deeper look than him just existing to cater to them. Besides seeing it negatively affect his personal life we've also seen him caught between clones trying to be a rock to all of them.

I took his little speech to mean he's looking for a more intimate relationship himself, which we have seen hinted at in his relationship with Colin. The montage of him getting ready for the date was a side of him we hadn't seen before.

I was hoping that he'd turn to be a robot decoy.

Resurrection and Once Upon a Time both have messed up parent/child ages as well. It definitely feels like a trend.

My friends and I still like to call cusswords "sentence enhancers".