Californication "Another Perfect Day" Review

So here we are the weekend before Hank goes on trial and he's sleeping in his car because he owes the hotel $25k.

Most of this week's episode frustrated the shit out of me. Make that most of this season has frustrated the shit out of me. At least where Hank is concerned. Remember way back in episode two when Hand drank too much and took too many pills then wrote a beautiful letter to his daughter? It seemed as though Hank had had an epiphany. He had finally realized the damage he was doing not only to himself but to his kid. We didn't need to see a complete 180 in Hank's behavior but even a minor attempt to change would have been a welcomed reprieve. At some point watching Hank go from girl to girl, making witty comments and pining over Karen gets boring without a hint of personal growth. You could have completely removed episode two from this season and nothing would have changed. That is either a wasted opportunity or writing masturbation.

After an episode of pure debauchery we're back to seeing Hank spending time with Karen and Becca. I hate the scenes where Hank is making jokes, being dad and Karen and Becca are laughing and eating it all up. The jokes aren't that funny. I'd rather see Hank struggling with those jokes and being obviously humored by Karen and Becca. Aside from these few minutes it's obvious they've lost all remaining respect for him. Why fake it then? Hank seems to have accepted Karen's new relationship though a few barbs here and there still fee good. We did get one a touching story about how Hank was jealous because he used to be that guy anxiously waiting for Karen to come to the door and now it's Ben.

Following the girls wrecking Hank's car we finally get a poignant conversation between Hank and Karen. Hank obviously wants things to return to his idealized version of normal. The three of them living together as a family. Karen is quick to point out that they can't return to that place because Monday morning they'll wake up, take Becca to school and then drive Hank to his trial for raping a teenaged girl. Now I liked this conversation because Hank doesn't get enough "real talk" in his life. He surrounds himself with sycophants and you women who couldn't spell sycophant. My issue is Karen's emphasis on Hank "raping" a teenager. The show has gone a long way to point out that Karen is both book smart and street smart. She might hound him for having sex with Mia but I she would undoubtedly find his relationship with Mia being defined as rape as ridiculous. Yet she seemed fixed on the term last night. That really bugged me especially with he knowledge of the kind of person Mia is.

So next week we finally get to the trial. Looks like Bill returns to testify against Hank and we get the obligatory Karen freak out over the whole thing. I assume we'll see Marcy and Runkle inch closer to resolving their feelings towards one another. Runkle was visibly upset by Marcy's news of being pregnant with Stu's baby. Marcy at the same time didn't want to tell Runkle because, well it's Runkle's kid and she's got unresolved feelings for him as well. The stuff with Charlie and the real estate agent isn't working for me so hopefully that relationship hits the skids soon. I'm excited to finally get more Abbey. She's been terribly underused this season but the trial should be her time to shine.

Californication "Freeze-Frame" Review

Sometimes sports and fiction kind of collide to form a magical rainbow. Right after tonight's Super Bowl feature Ben Roethlisberger I turn on Californication with an opening exchange that included this gem.

"How do I look?"

"Like a statutory rapist in a suit."

See what happened there?

Tonight's "Freeze-Frame" episode was truest in a long time and possibly the season. Hank was back to his charming silver tongue ways as he continues to pound away trying to break through Abby's fortress walls. I'm starting to think that Hank is way too reckless and the match with Abby is way too obvious for it to ever happen. What we learned about her tonight is that she digs writers and silver tongue devils. See what I mean? Way too obvious.

Everything falls apart for Hank in the final 10 minutes of the episode. He has to let Karen move on with a new man. Then he puts jeopardizes his own freedom by getting himself photographed in bed with Mia and Sasha. I guess this statutory rape case may not go away as easily as it appeared it would at the beginning of the episode. One day Hank probably should realize only bad shit happens to him when Mia's around and just get the hell away from her.

On the Runkle front we learned that Charlie is kind of a pussy when it comes to blood, but we already knew that. We also found out he's a cheap bastard who probably didn't get a successful vasectomy. Which leads us to the realization we've all seen coming for weeks that Runkle is going to be Marcy's baby's daddy. How else do they keep the stellar Pamela Adlon relevant in the show? We also were reminded that Stu is "rich as fuck and hung like a moose."

One question for you though, is Madeleine Martin (Becca) the worst kid actor since Shane Botwin or is she the best? I can't tell if she's that bad an actress or just playing a bizarrely odd kid. You tell me.