Californication s04e01 & s04e02 review

The first two episodes of season four of Californication have been leaked online! Hooray! Showtime clearly leaked the episodes themselves, there’s even the 'previously' bit right at the start. I'm glad they leaked them both together; the two episodes feel more like a one hour pilot.

Episode one starts with a gritty reimagining of the title sequence with the great Charlie Runkle bringing Hank his booze and smokes as soon as he comes out of jail, you instantly get back into the mindset of the show. The series of events that led to this moment started in season one episode one, I love the fact it took three seasons for Hanks uppance to finally come, and now that it has I can't wait to see how he deals with everything. Things are more serious than they have been in the show up to this point; Karen seems more out of reach than ever, Becca has to deal with her father’s short comings and there’s a real threat of Hank going to jail. They still get some great laughs in the episodes, but there’s a feeling that when a character cracks a joke they’re just putting on a brave face.

Of course Hanks lawyer is hot and there’s instantly sexual tension between them despite the hatred they show for each other. After meeting the lawyer we meet another hot young girl in the very next scene. By now we all know the drill, it’s gonna be about 30 seconds before Hanks fucking her. It turns out this girl is an actor that’s going to play Mia in the film adaption of Fucking and Punching, which I can’t believe Hanks on board with considering how much Mia and the book has destroyed the happy family Hanks spent the last three seasons chasing. I suppose it shows how attached Hank is to his words, even when everything else is falling apart he craves credit and admiration for his creative output.

Hank has sex with the girl playing Mia. Even though I know it was coming, I’m still a little shocked when it actually happens. This is the girl who’s going to play Mia. Things get even more fucked up when Hank encourages the girl to punch him in the face, just like Mia did. He’s reliving it and it makes me hate Hank quite a lot. I can’t stay mad at him for long though, its clear Hank is a good person at his core. The first half wraps up with Hank being formally charged with statutory rape, which we could all see coming anyway. The assault charges are dropped and seemingly swapped for the rape charges, it’s all academic at this point really. Hank seems shocked for some reason, but I guess he doesn’t know he’s in a TV show like I do.

The second half focuses more of the family side of things. Becca, who kind of pisses me off these days, hates Hank with a passion. Mia was the same age as Becca is now when Hank slept with her, you can tell how hard it’s hitting Becca. Hank try’s to buy her off with a new guitar, but his gesture seems to do more harm than good. He needs to talk to her about the whole situation, but what would he say?

Eventually Rob Lowe makes an appearance as the actor who’s going to play Hank in the film. I’ve been looking forward to this since I’ve seen the trailer and he’s instantly brilliant, with his goatee and his rambling gibberish. ‘I see a girl I defecated on in Palm Springs once.’ I can’t wait to see more of him as the season goes on. Who decided to cast Rob Lowe? A genius that’s who.

Later, despite knowing he’s being charged with rape, he starts to get sexy with the girl who’s playing Mia again. A few minutes ago I was feeling sorry for Hank and how his family sees him, now I’m back to hating him again. God damn it Hank.

The closing scene is one of the best they’ve done on the show. This is why I think the two leaked episodes should be seen as one. The ending of the first episode seemed very middle of the road, but Hanks letter to Becca was amazing. Whenever Hank writes anything in the show you really get a feeling of how he’s a great writer. I still think about his letter to Karen in a previous season, and his blog post from season one. Lines stick with you. (for example – ‘I wont go down in history, but I will go down on your sister.’ The voice over of the new letter actually gives me shivers. Hank sums himself up perfectly with the line ‘Nobel in thought, weak in action’. You see Hank take more and more of some pills he stole earlier in the episode, then he falls on the floor. Its moments like this where the show puts itself a head of the crap usually on TV and you see how it should be done.

All in all a brilliant start to what looks like it could be the most interesting season yet. NINE THUMBS UP.

Catch up on seasons 1-3 on Amazon.
Californication - The First Season
Californication : The Complete Second Season
Californication: The Third Season