“You smell like you just stepped out of a fisting contest.” – Abby
Californication has a specific aesthetic and vocabulary (with a cadence that’s both crude and witty, and often quite funny) and atmosphere to it. It’s not family viewing to be sure, but if you’re of a certain debaucherous (or aspirationally debaucherous) spirit, it’s easy to let its boozy vibe seep into you. Translated, I suppose that means that at its best it’s a show where you sit back and let it do the driving. And thankfully you don’t have to worry about being pulled over as you’re at home… unless you’re watching on your iPhone while going 90 m.p.h. down the 405 with a fifth of vodka between your legs, but let’s assume that’s not the case, eh?
In any event, Californication’s fourth season premiere reminded me of all of this when our man Hank Moody uttered the following line: “Not only does the lady have bodacious tatas, but she also has splendiferous taste in literature.” It says much about David Duchovney’s acting chops that he pulls that line off and has us laughing with him and instead of at him.
And that’s kind of the fine line that Californication walks at times, where we’re not sure if we’re witnessing sublime raunchy humor for adults or, to paraphrase Hank’s new attorney Abby (Carla Gugino) with reference to our man’s shabby appearance after getting sprung from jail, it smells like it just stepped out of a fisting contest.
That said, perhaps the break after a bit of a yawner of a third season was just what the show needed as I found “Exile on Main St.” to be as sharp and bawdy and funny as ever. I particularly enjoyed the banter between Hank and sleazy but good-natured agent Charlie Runkle (Evan Handler). For example, Runkle pushes Hank to reveal how many women he’s slept with (Hank replies that Charlie’s “limited imagination can’t handle it”) before blurting that he’s made love to 11 women in his life. Now that he’s getting divorced, he adds that he needs to get the number up to “triple digits” so that he can die happy. “Well, you may have to cryogenically freeze your [naughty word for penis] and attach it to Brad Pitt in order to get there, buddy boy,” Hank shoots back. But he does it in a kindly way that lets you know this is both straight talk and easy banter between two old friends who go way back. And it’s much to the show’s credit that they let the pacing breath to allow for conversations that are not tightly plot-driven (a trap that Entourage has fallen into in latter seasons).
As for the plotty bits, Hank has seen better days. The ramifications of his liaison with Mia (Madeline Zima) are still unfolding. I have to point out here that I love that the writers played out the really big reveal – ex-wife and daughter finding out about his sleeping with the underage daughter of Karen’s (Natascha McElhone) then boyfriend, albeit without knowing her age – for three full seasons (the producers of The Shield would be proud!).
Now that he’s essentially homeless and adrift from the things in his life that give him grounding and meaning, he’s free to be enticed by Los Angeles’ offerings as only a handsome, rich, and famous guy hitting the skids can: by sleeping with movie star Sasha Bingham (Addison Timlin) and having her punch him repeatedly in the face, essentially reliving his tryst with Mia (and Don Draper would be proud this time!).
The episode ends on a dark note, with a montage of Karen and Becca (Madeleine Martin) getting all smashy smashy with things back at the house and soon after Hank finds himself arrested for statutory rape.
As Hank tells Marcy (Pamela Adlon, who I wish we could see more of both here and on the fabulous Louie) early in the episode, “It’s true but it’s complicated.”
Should be an interesting season.
More thoughts on “Exile on Main St.”:
- “Remember how fast my masturbation video spread? That was unnerving.” – Charlie
- Nice Pink is the New Blog drop.
- It took me a few times before I realized that Hank was calling Charlie “Skeeves” to riff on “Jeeves” when the latter would drive him to court.
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.