As Kali (Megan Good) so aptly pointed out last night, Hank Moody (David Duchovny) can be very cheesy, and by extension so can Californication itself. That's why almost every season of the show features an episode that flashes back to happier, simpler times while incrementally piecing together the impending downward spiral of Henry Moody and his big happy family. These episodes are usually incredibly on-the-nose in many ways, like the black-and-white effect, and lines like last night's "Let's californicate," and yet they are still always engrossing. Poor Hank sure has a lot of demons.
"You are incredibly naive."
As we've been told over and over during these past five years, Los Angeles is the city of sin that ate Hank and Karen's (Natascha McElhone) romance up and spit it out. Their naivete that led them to think they could navigate the treacherous waters of Hollywood cost them their relationship and the purity of Hank's beloved opus, God Hates Us All. Last night we saw the happy couple a few months before the fall, when they were new in town and not entirely sure they wanted to stay.
Specifically, we see Hank right as he is about to sign his masterpiece over to the devil, in the form of a Hollywood agent and self-proclaimed "woman of ill repute." At first, Hank is gung ho on moving out to the West Coast and jump-starting his career, but the unscrupulous agent is a sign to Hank that the city may be toxic. However, Karen ends up convincing him that they can overcome everything as long as they're together. Guess she was wrong, huh?
If we have one gripe about "Love Song," it's the impetus for Hank's trip down memory lane. Screenwriter and author pretty much go hand-in-hand, but really, Hank is so prolific with the pen that he can write a dope song, too? In one day? For the first time? Come on, writers. (Or we should say writer—series creator Tom Kapinos has curiously written every episode this season alone.)
It's about time to move this Kali-Samurai-Hank triangle along as well. Six episodes in and we've seen the same beat about a dozen times already: Hank and Kali do a rather poor job of concealing their affair, Samurai (RZA) catches on, but then convinces himself that he's just tripping, yo.
Confirmed: Karen Is Flighty As Hell
Hank has made some very huge mistakes over the course of the series, but we think it's fair to say that in the process of alienating Hank from his family Californication has succeeded in making Karen come off as very over-reactive, flighty, and thus, unlikable. Remember, she's the one who dealt their relationship the death knell when she cheated on Hank with Bill. Then she gets all the way to the altar with Bill, and says "Yes"... Only to drive off with Hank, laughing, at the wedding reception. Now the loyal lady is running into Hank's arms, distraught and defeated over Bates's (Jason Beghe) alcoholic debacle.
No consideration is paid to the fact that Tyler (Scott Michael Foster) pretty much dosed him and only one day has passed. This is both a lazy way to stir up the Hank-Karen will they or won't they, and further character assassination on Karen's behalf. Honestly, Hank, we're starting to not see the appeal.
