Californication Season 2 Comes to an End Laughing

Last night's Season 2 finale of Californication on Showtime had what has to be one of the funniest, falling-down-laughing scenes I've ever seen on television. Hank had been mumbling all season that he wasn't sure if he was the father of Sonja's baby. He said it again, a few times, right before the baby came out ... and, ta da! ... the baby is black! Hank was right, he's off the hook, Sonja realizes the father was an African-American barista she had forgotten about, and Hank's "Yes!" victory air-pound on the floor is hilarious!

Life is working out pretty well for just about all the other characters in Californication - Becca's boyfriend loves her, Karen has a job back in New York, she's feeling good about Hank and happy to leave Becca in his good keeping, Hank's even ok with Mia going on tour with his book - yeah, life's taking a good turn for everyone - with the exception of course of Runkle, whose masturbation once again gets him into trouble.

And I guess life didn't work out too well, either, for Lew Ashby, who died last week. He was a great character, though - the musical equivalent to Hank's writer - and Hank's book about him could well be the beginning of a new day for Hank's writing.

Speaking of writing, Tom Kapinos gets big creds for sparkling great dialog in Californication. David Duchovny continues to be perfect as Hank, so does Evan Handler as Runkle, and you couldn't ask for anything more from Callum Keith Rennie as Lew. The women were all fine, but I especially liked the newcomers Daisy (Carla Gallo), Janie (Mädchen Amick), and Surfer Girl (Michelle Lombardo), who, come to think of it, was also on in 2007. Anyway, I hope we see all of them back next year, and hear more Warren Zevon, whose "Keep Me in Your Heart" was a great theme for last night.



See also: Sneak Preview of Californication Anew and reviews of Season One: 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... 5 ... 6 ... 7 ... 8 ... 9 ... 10 ... 11: Pivitol Mia ... Californication Comes ... To a Season's End


podcast review of Californication, Season One

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Mad Men, Jon Hamm, David Duchovny, Atonement Win Golden Globes!

Well, Mad Men, Jon Hamm, David Duchovny, Atonement have won Golden Globes!

There are a lot of other winners, of course, but the above are the ones I'm cheering about.

Mad Men on AMC was the most original, powerful new series of the year - which is not taking anything away from Showtime's The Tudors (Henry VIII) and HBO's Big Love (polygamy today), which were also superb, also nominated, and I loved. Jon Hamm was magnificent as Don Draper in Mad Men - but I wouldn't have been unhappy, either, had nominee Michael C. Hall won it for Showtime's delightful serially killing Dexter. And nominees Jonathan Rhys Meyers in The Tudors, Bill Paxton in Big Love and Hugh Laurie in House gave powerhouse performances, too. It was a great year for riveting drama on television. That's why I call this the Platinum Age.



David Duchovny as Hank Moody in Showtime's Californication was fall-down-on-the-floor laughing - as hilarious a savvy, comedic performance as ever I've seen.

And Atonement - which my wife and I saw a few weeks ago - is an original masterpiece of a movie. I would have reviewed it here in Infinite Regress already, had not Presidential politics jumped in the way. I will review Atonement here in the next few weeks or months.

In the meantime, links to my reviews of Mad Men, The Tudors, Big Love, Dexter, and Californication follow. The link brings you to my review of the first episode, which contains links to my reviews of all the others...



reviews of Mad Men begin with Cigarette Companies and Nixon Coming
reviews of The Tudors begin with History So Colorful You Can Taste It
reviews of Big Love begin with Big Love Resumes
reviews of Dexter begin with Dexter's Back!
reviews of Californication begin with Californication Going On Mondays

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The Plot to Save Socrates

"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

more about The Plot to Save Socrates...





Read the first chapter of The Plot to Save Socrates .... FREE!

Californication Comes ... To a Season's End

Californication concluded its delightful first season on Showtime last night with an hilarious, savvy, altogether satisfying 12th episode.

I won't tell you the very ending, in case you haven't seen it. But I will say it was 100% motivated.

What I will tell you is that David Duchovny was spectacular, as he was throughout the entire season. And Tom Kapinos' writing was brilliant as it's been throughout the entire series, too.

My favorite line last night was "the ass is always greener" ... this said by Marci - who has had many of the best lines on the show - in some advice she is giving to Karen. This seems only apropos, since I said in my review of the first episode that it had me laughing my ass off.

Mia's character was also written beautifully - her public statement that she and Hank actually didn't have sex helps Hanks, of course, but it also helps her - because her father otherwise would never let her go ahead with her publishing. Fiction about an afternoon with an older man he might tolerate, not autobiography... Madeline Zima did a standout job in playing this super-precocious 16-year old.

In the end, Californication was really not about sex or nudity. It was about attitude. About not always ideal but more or less healthy attitude. About hard luck and good luck and failure in the face of success ... and vice versa, in professional as well as personal life.

There's a lot more of Hank Moody's story to be told - professionally and personally - and I'm very looking forward to seeing him and the sparkling cast back in action next year.

Check out Showtime's Californication wiki for contests.

See reviews of other Californication episodes: 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... 5
... 6 ... 7 ... 8 ... 9
... 10 ... 11: Pivitol Mia ...


5 minute podcast review of Californication

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The Plot to Save Socrates

"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

Californication Continues: 2

I gotta say, again, that not only are the women and sex terrific in Showtime's Californication, but the writing is right now flat-out the best on television.

My favorite bit from last night: Hank (David Duchovny) accepts the assignment from the Hell-A blog, starts writing on his computer at home, it freezes or whatever - so he goes out and files his post from an Apple store.

Everything is right and delightful about that: the name of the blog, the computer not working when you need it, and the Apple store to the rescue.

Meanwhile, I think that Hank is a very appealing character. How can you not like a guy who daydreams in his car about making-out with his almost, now estranged, slightly, wife...

And the other characters are good, too. My favorite is the precocious 16-year old Mia - played just right by Madeline Zima. She's the one who punched Hank twice in the face last week before she ... and she's the daughter of the guy who Hank's almost-wife says she is going to marry ...*

*A reader asked in the comments - how could I not mention Paula Marshall on this show? He's right. Paula Marshall was just splendid as the 40-something Sonja, someone Hank's age. I stand corrected.

But you need to see all of this yourself. You'll laugh at least 30 times in the 20-minute show, unless you're unconscious.*

Did I just write "20" minutes? I was laughing so hard, I lost track of time...

See also reviews of other Californication episodes: Californication Going On Mondays ... 3 ... 4 ... 5 ... 6 ... 7 ... 8 ... 9
... 10 ... 11: Pivitol Mia ... 12: Californication Comes ... To a Season's End



5 minute podcast review of Californication

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The Plot to Save Socrates

"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

Californication Going On Mondays

Californication debuts on Showtime tonight.

I saw an advance copy of the first episode, and was laughing my ass off.

Tom Kapinos' writing is brilliant. David Duchovny's Hank Moody and Natascha McElhone's Karen are called to school to hear a guidance counselor or whoever express concern about their daughter's behavior - they're unmarried parents. The guidance person starts out by saying how good the daughter is in many ways. Hank quips, I sense "a hairy but" coming.

He's a writer whose book is made into a big movie he doesn't like (I only wish I had that problem). He's a font of funny quips - someone's voice sounds like a "dialtone," he says (for some reason, I liked that line - I think I've spoken to that same person - used to be Director of a program I taught in years ago).

And ... the sex is great, and hilarious. Hank gets woken up in the morning with oral sex, later gets punched twice in the face while having sex with a hot chick he picked up in the bookstore reading his book ... who could ask for more.

Californication promises to be the funniest, raunchiest show on television.

See reviews of other Californication episodes: 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... 5
... 6 ... 7 ... 8 ... 9
... 10 ... 11: Pivitol Mia ... 12: Californication Comes ... To a Season's End



5 minute podcast review of Californication

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The Plot to Save Socrates

"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book