Californication – The real question is, how is Hank not suicidal?

After last week’s drug overdose and subsequent collapse, it wasn’t surprising to find Hank waking up in a hospital at the start of last night’s episode of Californication. What was surprising, however, was the role of doctor played by Josh Gad, or Ryan from Back to You. He’s certainly not typecast in my mind, but I always find it strange when the “nice” guy from one show appears on another cursing. The words never seem to flow quite as smoothly. Anyway, I think Hank would arguably still make for a “pretty” corpse. Just saying.

I wasn’t surprised that Karen brought Hank home, but I didn’t buy for a second that he’d been attempting suicide. It was interesting that the situation would turn into yet another one where Hank let Karen down.

What I didn’t see coming was the fact that Becca had seemingly the exact opposite reaction from Karen’s — she was angry at Hank’s suicide “attempt,” while Karen cared more because of it. And, of course, Becca was somewhat appeased to learn that the situation had been misinterpreted from the start, while that set Karen off all over again. He shouldn’t ever be able to work his way back into her good graces, but good for Hank for finally realizing that at some point you can’t apologize anymore. What’s done is done, and it’s “Something I can’t change.”

Lest you be left with the impression that I actually enjoyed Becca in this episode … rest assured that I did not. In fact, I found her to be possibly more annoying than usual, and I noticed that I kept on saying, “Oh, shut up” every time she spoke. I’m just not a fan of the character — could she have been any whinier when yelling at Hank? Although, in good news I did find Zoe Kravitz, as the girl who tried to rip Becca off, to be possibly more annoying than Becca. So by comparison Becca didn’t come in last this episode. Hopefully Kravitz (yes, Lenny’s daughter) is one-and-done.

Marcy’s potential plot is kind of creepy, and not just because Stu (Stephen Tobolowsky) came across as such. I did find it amusing that he’d trade one of his employees, Heather (Camille Chen), for Marcy, but the story would be a lot more interesting if Marcy wasn’t interested in his advances … or at least the size of his penis. Was that a theme on Showtime last night? Anyone else see Episodes? And Heather’s attitude toward sex with Charlie was beyond screwed up; if he wasn’t so horny maybe he’d have developed a little pride in the moment.

Hank’s possibly more moody (zing!) than even his traditionally moody writer brethren. Wanting off the script project despite the fact that he wasn’t actually struggling with depression … sometimes I wonder if he even enjoys writing.

But be that as it may, I enjoyed the moment that Hank finally sat down at his typewriter immensely. It’s pain that drives his talent, and I think he saw some finality in the prior scene at the house, even as I’m sure he’ll always be holding out for some sort of reconciliation with Karen. I just hope that the end of his and Karen’s story, at least to the point that we’ve seen it, doesn’t become a part of the movie. She’s hurting enough … she doesn’t need her entire life up there on a giant screen.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jan 24, 2011 @ 14:00 EST5EDT