Californication - General Discussion

[David T. Cole]

Discuss Californication here!

[Kathira]

I thought that Levon being his son was pretty cliched. Of course, as soon as Becca left, another kid shows up. And I am very tired of Hank's eternal mooning after Karen. I really don't care any more if they get together, and frankly, I hope they don't. Although inflicting either of them on other people seems mean, so maybe they do deserve each other.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I'm not sure how I feel about this new kid. On the one hand, it's plausible since Hank is a man whore. On the other hand, it seems like a lame/lazy storyline.

I wonder if he was telling the truth or if he just used the "interview for a college paper" excuse to get access to Hank. If he's really in college, that makes him around the same age as Becca which could be a potential roadblock to reconciling with Karen. But let's be honest - isn't everything on this show a roadblock to Hank getting back together with Karen?

[Mama No Life]

I was pleased to see Hank making an attempt at growing up.  I hope some much needed character growth isn't going to derail next week.    I think the Levon story could be interesting if done correctly...I mean, surely by mathematical averages alone Hank has to have more than one kid, so it seems real to me. 

Is the thought of Marcy with Stu what's keeping Runks from getting it up? Poor Smurfs.

On a side note, we made it til the very end without seeing Hank light up.  I was hoping we'd go the whole ep. DD is kind of a health nut...wonder how he feels about having to smoke in this role?

[whiporee]

Very disappointing compared to last season. I couldn't care less about Hank trying to connect with another child, and I'm just tired of seeing Hank moon after Karen. So I'm already missing Faith because she was awesome. 

It does say something that Hank really does see himself as needing to grow up. That might be fun to watch this year. 

I did think it was funny seeing that Snata Monica Cop had crashed and burned. Just because. 

Edited April 17, 2014 by whiporee

[PatsyStone]

Is this going to be the last season?  I agree that I'm over the Hank/Karen yo-yomance. Either do it or don't. And, the whole story line with Levon was so completely predictable from the second he appeared on screen. I think that even some of the usually biting and witty dialogue is getting lame. "Cummus"? C'mon Hank, you can do better. Oh well. Of course I'll stick it out but I'm hoping this is the final season.

[ganesh]

I heard elsewhere that this was the last season, thankfully. 

I don't have a problem with Hank wanting to find a job and not piss all over it this time. Isn't his job, writing books though? Can't he just go to a publisher, get an advance and write something?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Behind the Scenes S07.E01 (which David Duchovny directed):

 

Marcy's greatest hits:

 

Hank abuse:

 

Californication from the beginning (this was a promo for S7 so it does start in S1 but is by no means a comprehensive summary):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pukjFpopII8

Edited April 21, 2014 by ElectricBoogaloo

[whiporee]

Getting better. I like more grown-up Hank. Levon was irritating, but I think it's clear the kid isn't just insecure but challenged. It's always nice to see Rollergirl again. Pretty obvious how much contempt the writers have for TV writers, but the Instagram thing was funny. I didn't get when Terry got pissed at Hank, because she seems to be happy to meet him the first time she saw him, so I'm a little confused (and yes, I'm going with she. Just because)

To much Runkle penis talk (but when isn't there too much Runkle penis talk) and then we end with Karen getting what appears to be pissed again FOR NO REASON other than Hank actually existed before he met her. The tragedy of it all. Dislike her so. 

Getting there. Better than last week. 

[Mama No Life]

I'm liking Hank more this season, which is very important to me. I would be happy if they'd spare me the autism jokes...too close to home....but I get that nothing is sacred with them so I can deal. I am going to be annoyed if Karen holds this against him....it has nothing to do with her.

[ganesh]

Is the kid really mentally ill. That's fine if it's the case; otherwise, I'm finding really hard to believe someone acts like that. 

Of course Karen is going to hold it against him. Everything Hank does outside of her is wrong despite him consistently for 2 decades treating her like she shits strawberry ice cream. 

I'm just playing out the string for the final season, really. I'm hoping something more interesting develops, but so far it's been flat. I think the thing for me is that there's been zero growth for Karen in seven seasons. Hank at least connects with Becca pretty well, actually has writing talent. He doesn't take himself too seriously, which can sometimes result in some trying situations, but he is serious about Karen. 

I'm having a little hard time thinking he had a child unknowingly. I mean, if the show is implying he didn't bother with condoms. Given how sexually active he seems to be, that he'd take precautions. Though, that's not 100% I know. 

I actually hope he finally washes his hands of Karen.

[CodeNameDuchess]

Two episodes in and not one mention of a DNA test for Levon?  It's not unlikely that Hank's a father to more kids than Becca, but it's odd that he would just outright accept his story.  Back in season 2 when Sonja thought Hank knocked her up, he was requesting paternity testing before the kid was even born!  This current storyline is really irritating, especially since the series is almost over.

 

 

The scenes in the writer's room of Santa Monica Cop were fun.  Loved the Instagram bit.

[ganesh]

Hank did ask if he was definitely the father, and one of the guys in the writer's room said he could hook Hank up with a lawyer. I think Runkle said something too.

[CodeNameDuchess]

Oh yeah, i'm now remembering a line about lawyers and 18-years of child of support.  I just found it odd that Hank was so accepting of the situation and even got the kid a job where he works.  With only 10 episodes left in the series, i'm hoping there's more to season 7 besides the Levon arc. 

[whiporee]

A very nice flow tonight. Heather calling her son out -- and bringing cookies --was just the right level of absurd to make me laugh out loud. And only one Runkle penis line, so yeah.

 

And Karen even admitted her craziness. Still unjustified crazy, but at least she admitted it. 

 

The writer's room is getting funnier. It's getting there. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

It's only been a few episodes and I'm already tired of Levon. I have to blame some of his craziness and social awkwardness on his mom since she's the one who said that he used to expose himself but that she thought it was totally normal. Uh, no.

 

As for showing up at the studio to yell at people, ugh. Parents need to stop fighting their kids' battles for them. This kid is supposed to be in his 20s. If he can't handle the simple job responsibilities of being a PA, don't yell at his boss. It's not his boss's fault that Levon can't handle ordering lunch. I am not a Becca fan, but I can't wait to see what acerbic things she has to say about her nitwit half brother.

[Mama No Life]

I was ready to be mad at Karen for being mad at Hank, but she wasn't really.  She knows she honestly has no reason to be mad at him, and yet she's still hurt. That's believable to me.  I'm enjoying watching Hank try to parent this totally immature child since Becca was always more mature than Hank.

 

On a side note, last night's cig was only the second of the season, and Hank didn't finish it.  It's been noticeable to me b/c I hate the chain smoking of past seasons. Wonder what's up with that? It has to be a conscious choice by someone.

 

Thank goodness last night was light on the Runkle wrinkles. They grate.

[ganesh]

I found Karen's response at the beginning of the episode to be predictable and way out of proportion. As she correctly pointed out, this happened before Hank even knew her. I'll give Hank a shred of credit by trying to be involved in the kid's life. But "she's always going to be Baby Mama #1." How old are you, Karen? 

 

And really, ok, they have to tell Becca. But Karen ranting about it was whatever to me. Do they actually know Becca? She's either going to roll with it or spend a few months ignoring Hank and making pithy remarks and then will come around. It's not like they really have to worry about her mental stability on the issue. 

 

 

As for showing up at the studio to yell at people, ugh. Parents need to stop fighting their kids' battles for them.

Really. I just don't know what the show is doing or the show knows what it's doing. Is Hank in the writers' room because TPTB just wanted to flip it up and do something new? I can get that, but I just don't by that Hank needs this kind of job. Are they showing that Hank's influence on his just-now son might be helpful to the kid? Then don't have his mother fighting the battles for him. Having him apologize is an important thing to do, ok. But he's got to go in and do it on his own. 

 

The actor coming on to Hank and using his finger to finger herself, is funny because that's typical Hank. And it's true that with his reputation he could bring a lot of heat down on the office. Well, then, Christofuh, *don't leave Hank alone in a room with the actors*. It's not that difficult. 

 

I'm not really finding Levon funny. If he's mentally ill; it's not funny because he should be getting help. If he's not and just a social nitwit, then it's not funny because it's a tired cliche. 

 

It's like everything is just absurd for the sake of absurdity. 

 

I wonder if DD is just sick of smoking? It might be just that. They could have him just quit. Some people do. 

[Mama No Life]

I didn't see anything about Marcie and Runk having money problems?

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out Charlie's impotency issues were with Marcie only....I mean, for God's sake, who wouldn't? She constantly talks about her ex's big dick.

[whiporee]

I've had post-pube hard-ons for nearly 35 years now, and I've never had one that made me run to the bathroom to jack off. I've never, actually, had to run to a bathroom to jack off. Never. 47 years of being alive, never had to do that. So are they trying to say Charlie has explosive testicles, where if he doesn't blow every time he gets hard something will rupture? I just don't even see the point. 

 

Runkle penis issues aside, DD and HG have some sparkling chemistry. Drunken teeth cleaning would be a great way to spend an evening. It's remarkable how much energy this chow can have without Karen.

[ganesh]

The problem is, I'm watching two good actors, and a third, actually with MI, just not having anything to work with. I can't get past this bs. There is no Hank would be toiling away in some writer's room on a derivative show.

But yeah, no Karen is better.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I don't think it was that Charlie's head is going to explode if he doesn't handle his business immediately. I think it just goes back to jerking it in his office - he just chooses not to exercise self control when it comes to his boners.

 

Levon continues to be weird and not in a good way. Great, you like a girl you work with and you don't know how to get her to like you, but berating her for sleeping with the director and then unzipping your pants is DEFINITELY not the way to go. How has this kid gone to high school and college and not figured out simple things like that yet?

 

I guess I am willing to say that at least watching Hank try to parent a son (as opposed to Becca who he clearly treasured and put on a pedastal) is new material. Too often in past seasons, I have felt like they were just covering the same ground (see: Karen and Hank's endless merry go round relationship). Even if I'm not a Levon fan, at least I'm seeing Hank in a new situation. He is not only adjusting to trying to be a parent to a boy, but a boy he doesn't know at all, which is very different from parenting Becca who had known her whole life. And if that weren't enough, he's trying to parent a totally weird kid who seems like he needs a behavioral therapist at the very least.

 

I don't think Heather Graham is a very good actress, but I loved when she was deliberately acting badly during her audition. It was sweet of Hank to get her hired for the show, even though he knew it would be awkward for him to watch Christofaaaaa hit on her.

 

I loved Hank's utter disdain for the director. I was creeped out by the director clearly planning to have sex with Levon's coworker and then trying to convince Levon to play along so that she would cry on his shoulder later. GROSS. This is exactly what's wrong with the power structure in Hollywood. Guys like that are predators, deliberately manipulating situations so they can prey on their underlings. The look on her face when they were having sex said it all.

[Tara Ariano]

Matt considers how a few key decisions could have made this a better show!

[Kathira]

Ugh. I  actually had to fast forward past the parts with Karen. I can't stand her anymore. Seriously, what is her problem? It's not like Hank cheated on her, or knew about Levon when he was with her. I like Hank and Levon, though. They're kinda cute together.

[Mama No Life]

Am I the only one liking Hank this season?  He's going to work, he's trying to be a good father to Levon, who is really growing on me, and as much as he wants Karen, he's not running around behind her.  It's growth IMO.  On the other hand, Charlie gets worse and worse. I hate the chick from 24 he is representing, so that is not working for me.  And is no one ever going to realize that his problem isn't with getting it up but rather with following in the path of big dick Stu?

 

And again I say that DD is barely smoking at all this year. I mean, he's going entire eps without a cig. Am I the only one who has noticed?

[whiporee]

 

Am I the only one liking Hank this season?

 

I generally like Hank a lot, but I think this year they are showing him as a calming center rather than self destructive. I think that's a nice change. I actually think he was right about getting Levon a hooker -- if you go to long fantasizing and romanticizing sex, you build it into way way way more than it is. Karen't speech was nice and sweet and the general opinion on such things, but it was countered by Marcy's tale. Sometimes you just need to get shit over with, and I don't think Hank was out of line at all for helping Levon -- who was clearly becoming obsessed -- get a better perspective on it. 

 

Did we really need to see Charlie's pants tent up like something out of Porky's?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

As annoying as Levon can be, I am enjoying Hank's interaction with him. It's an interesting combination of awkwardly unfamiliar, sincerely trying to be a father, and attempting to be buddies with him. When he and Marcy came up with the idea to get a hooker for Levon and then Hank said, "Is this wrong? I can't tell anymore," that summed up their relationship pretty well for me.

 

Even though Becca had her rebellious moments, she didn't seem to need as much help as Levon does. With Becca, it was more like "let's wait this out and hopefully she'll get this shit out of her system" but Levon seems like he needs assistance for, like, just living. His social skills are non-existent, he has no filter, he acts like a 13 year old, he can't handle the simplest of responsibilities like ordering lunch, and he tells his mom everything.

 

I don't think this is because he lacked a father figure but because he lacked any parental figure at all. His mother is one of those coddlers who thinks sun shines out of his ass which is why she thought it was okay that he had a phase where he exposed himself to girls. Levon's in need of so much help that it's put Hank in the position of trying to fix someone else's mess (rather than fixing the messes he has made himself after countless bouts of debauchery and poor decision making). So even though I still think Levon is a weird pain in the ass, I like how he's forced Hank to act differently.

[ganesh]

 

Am I the only one liking Hank this season?  He's going to work, he's trying to be a good father to Levon, who is really growing on me, and as much as he wants Karen, he's not running around behind her.  It's growth IMO.

I never really disliked him. He's fairly honest, when he's "with" Karen, he's never cheated, and he tries to be a good parent to Becca and now Levon. To his fault, he kind of rolls through life and it ended him up in some weird situations. So he's gotten older, and he's kind of over doing that. I can buy that. Karen still acts like everything wrong is always his fault and he's the worst person ever. I hope that this new "growth" for Hank realizes that he doesn't need her harpy bitch ass anymore. 

 

I just don't buy him working in the writer's room on a shitty show when he's already published best selling and critically acclaimed books. 

 

 

I actually think he was right about getting Levon a hooker -- if you go to long fantasizing and romanticizing sex, you build it into way way way more than it is. Karen't speech was nice and sweet and the general opinion on such things, but it was countered by Marcy's tale. Sometimes you just need to get shit over with, and I don't think Hank was out of line at all for helping Levon -- who was clearly becoming obsessed -- get a better perspective on it.

Objectively this makes sense. It's done, it's not that big of a deal, but it's awesome, move the fuck on and relax.

 

However.

 

His social skills are non-existent, he has no filter, he acts like a 13 year old, he can't handle the simplest of responsibilities like ordering lunch, and he tells his mom everything.

He does act like a 13 y/o, so I don't know if getting him a hooker was the best decision. Honestly, getting him therapy is the better option. I still think he's mentally ill. I don't think he's suddenly going to be better because he got laid. I get Hank's point, and yeah, just get shit over with, and I don't have a problem with professional sex workers at all. But I'm not so sure this was the right call for him. Hank's conversation to Karen, yeah, I get that too, but I don't think this applies to Levon. 

 

I was cracking up at the "pimp" getting all huffy. You know what, dude? Dress business casual then, don't wear a Metallica t-shirt. 

 

 

 

I don't think this is because he lacked a father figure but because he lacked any parental figure at all. His mother is one of those coddlers who thinks sun shines out of his ass which is why she thought it was okay that he had a phase where he exposed himself to girls.

 

She's a terrible parent. I bet she's one of those parents who say they're 'friends' with their kids.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

[Mama No Life]

I love you, DD.

 

That's about all I can say.

 

Good God.

[whiporee]

Hank's just seem at ease with everything this season, and that's fun to see. The banter seems a lot less forced than it has in past seasons. 

 

I thought Hank going down on the actress was not really in character and didn't make a lot of sense. Beyond the obvious, I mean. Is he trying to get back with karen -- if so, that doesn't seem like something he'd do. He wasn't drunk -- a little high -- so I don't think he's just dive into casual anything if he's trying to get karen back. 

 

Not that he should. I think he's a got a lot more chemistry with Heather Graham than he's had with Natasha. There's a calmness to their interactions that is very nice. I've thought this before -- I don't think Hank can ever really be happy with Karen because she can't help but think the worst of him in any situation -- she's expecting him to let her down (I've no idea why she thinks this, since it's not ever happened on the show, but whatevs ..) 

 

But still fun enough. I liked the more philosophical/artistic bent to last season more, but still pretty good. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I didn't think it was out of character for Hank to go down on Amy. Hank has been portrayed as someone who treats sex as the equivalent of beer or pizza or money or a sandwich - even when it's not great, it's still a beer/pizza/money/a sandwich so how bad can it really be? His attitude is "How demented a situation would I have to be in to turn down this beer/pizza/money/sandwich?"

 

How many times have we seen him actually turn down sex over seven seasons, even when he's actively pursuing Karen? Mia once he found out how old she was is the main one I remember.

 

He is always open for sex even when he's stone cold sober. Despite what he told Levon, Hank does actually have women throwing themselves at him for sex all the time. He falls ass backwards into vaginas left and right. So when Amy essentially invited him to go downtown, I knew he wouldn't say no to that. His attitude when it comes to women is usually, "Eh, why not?"

 

I thought Hashtag would be super annoying but he ended up being more entertaining than I thought he would be.

 

I'm not interested in everyone chasing after Julia's magical vagina, but I'm glad that when all of the men started their pissing contest she told them that she is the one who actually gets to decide whose pecker gets to enter the promised land. It drives me crazy when guys act so possessive of a woman who they have no claim to. I mean, look at how tenuous their claims are: Hank screwed her 20 years ago, Rath went on one date with her, and Hashtag just me her that night. No one has any cause to be getting so huffy with the others.

 

Levon continues to be a weird immature piece of shit. His little temper tantrum because Hank wouldn't pay for him to have sex with Nikki again showed what an entitled little brat he is. It's so strange because once again, I don't like Levon but I actually like Hank's interaction with Levon because he seems to be doing a halfway decent job as a parent. He doesn't have much competition coming from Julia who alternates between saying it's okay that he used to expose himself and threatening to spank him in front of his coworkers.

Edited May 21, 2014 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ganesh]

 

I've thought this before -- I don't think Hank can ever really be happy with Karen because she can't help but think the worst of him in any situation -- she's expecting him to let her down (I've no idea why she thinks this, since it's not ever happened on the show, but whatevs ..)

Exactly. Everything is always 100% Hank's fault all the time, no exceptions. He's got to wise up to this. 

 

 

How many times have we seen him actually turn down sex over seven seasons, even when he's actively pursuing Karen?

When he's 'officially' with Karen he has turned it down in 'real-time' and in the show flashback they made a big deal of it. 

I didn't have a problem with Hank going down on the actor either mainly because one doesn't often hear from someone how great they are at going down on a woman. 

 

WTF Rath? "Come on Hank, you know I like her?" What is this, the 7th grade dance. You going to hide in the bathroom and have a mancrai? Like Hank and she don't have a different dynamic going on because of the Levon situation. 

 

 

So when Amy essentially invited him to go downtown, I knew he wouldn't say no to that. His attitude when it comes to women is usually, "Eh, why not?"

And she asked him to. Although he does have a lot of sex, it's pretty much been at the invitation of women. He flirts a ton, but it's not like he's getting women drunk or high and taking advantage of them. So, really, why not?

 

 

I don't like Levon but I actually like Hank's interaction with Levon because he seems to be doing a halfway decent job as a parent.

He has always been the better parent imo so I'm not surprised. But I don't know why they're writing Levon like this. It's just shit. If he's mentally ill, it's not funny and he needs therapy. If he's not, then TPTB are writing the character so shitty that he is coming off as mentally ill. So it's not funny. 

 

I did find it very funny when Hank realized Levon was going to spill the beans about Nikki, and he was like, "Here it comes."

 

The actor playing Nikki has a nice butt though. Thank you.

 

I cannot wait for this show to end so I can shed its mortal coil.

[Mama No Life]

Once again, I find myself wishing Hank would give up on crazy Karen and stick with a woman who is a much better match for him. I like him with Julia, just as I liked him with Faith.  I did love him telling Karen he wasn't asking for forgiveness b/c he hadn't done anything wrong.

 

I know I'm obsessed with this, but yet another episode in which Hank did not have a cigarette. Weed, yes. Cig, no. Yay.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Karen and Hank have this neverending cycle where something happens, she gets angry/self-righteous and blames him, and then he keeps coming around until she gets over it. In this particular situation, Hank bears no blame. He didn't know about Levon, so how was he supposed to tell Karen about a kid he didn't know existed?

 

I understand Karen being upset and she's allowed to be upset, but blaming him or expecting him to apologize is a bit much. It's not like he kept it a huge secret from her all these years and deliberately deceived her about it. She loves to play the victim, so when she tore up his check and said he couldn't buy her forgiveness, I thought, great here we go again with the Karen self-pity routine.

 

The entire premise of this episode was lame. Julia, who was cast as the receptionist at the police station, dropped out so the whole script had to be rewritten? Rath said in a previous episode that it was a very small but recurring role. This week he said that without her, the whole script falls apart. They couldn't just cast someone else for the pilot? Or give her lines to some other scrub in the police station? Or hell, cut her lines and the character completely? When did her very minor role in the pilot become so huge that losing her required rewriting the entire pilot?

 

I agree with Levon - Dr. Dan is a creeper! He hired Julia so he could creep on her at close range. He proposed when, as Julia pointed out, they've never even been on a date.

[ganesh]

I haven't seen this episode, but in the episode where Karen found out, she wasn't actually mad at Hank for Levon. She said she was mad because there was someone else before her. Which is kind of worse.

 

Why would Karen even want to get back with Hank? She leads him around by the nose, accepts no responsibility for anything, and gets away with it. If Becca did something stupid, it was Hank's fault. If she's with Hank, he's going to expect her to put in work in their relationship and she's never done that before, so why start now?

 

I don't get what this show is. I've been hit over the head that these two people just aren't right for one another. When the show started, they seemed on friendly terms and were sharing parenting of Becca, while Karen was getting married to Bill. Then she flaked and bailed. Since then she's really done nothing. She's not going to get into another relationship because Hank is the only person who thinks she shits strawberry ice cream and a real man will call her on her P-A BS and expect her to act like an adult.

 

So this is how it is? They just circle one another's orbits for the next 50 years?

[CodeNameDuchess]

Was Becca completely written out of the show?  I know she's off galavanting overseas, but is Hank ever going to introduce to her to half-brother?  A Skype scene or something would suffice.

 

This season is so strange with very little funny in the mix.  I'm in this to the end, but it looks like my once favorite show is going out with a whimper instead of a bang. 

[DrLar]

Why am I a week earlier?, I guess I stay off the internetz for huge spoilers, be back Monday to post about this episode..

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I think I'm at the point in the season where I'm tired of the shenanigans. Levon is still annoying. Hank is once again unable to say no to sex. I don't remember Karen being in this episode, so that's as plus. I feel like very little happened in this episode because what did happen was just variations on the same things that always happen.

 

Levon is so delusional and immature. He dragged Hank away from work so he could sit and watch his audition? And then he could barely bring himself to read the lines! Sorry, kid, your dream of acting is just that: a dream. Julia moved all the way to California so he could pursue his dream of acting but apparently he's never taken a single acting class (based on his audition). He's not going to be able to get by on his looks like Julia so he should take some classes at the very least.

[ganesh]

I'm surprised Hank actually said to Karen "I didn't do anything wrong." 

 

 

Julia, who was cast as the receptionist at the police station, dropped out so the whole script had to be rewritten? Rath said in a previous episode that it was a very small but recurring role. This week he said that without her, the whole script falls apart.

I can't get past any of this Hank as a tv writer bs. He's a real writer. Published, multiple-ly. Critically acclaimed. *Everything* about these plots is contrived. 

I actually find Rath (Christufuh!) to be a good character, but just not used correctly. 

 

I thought it was interesting that Hank pointed out that he didn't take a paternity test again, and that he's only going on what Julia says.

 

I like how Hank did call Julia out though; honey, every man is going to want to fuck you. Seriously.

[ganesh]

Ok, hearing DD say, "I don't know the rules of tv, but I think you're supposed to milk the sexual tension as long as inhumanly possible" was funny.

 

How is Hank a producer? When was this said? 

 

 

Levon is so delusional and immature.

If he was mentally ill, then it could have been an interesting plot. But yeah, he's also a brat and an asshole. That's different then being socially awkward and introverted. He's had shitty parenting so far, so it's not all on him, but at some point, you're an adult, and you're expected to function appropriately in society. If you can't, then you need to seek professional help.

 

I mean, he must have gone to high school, so it's not like he hasn't been around people his own age. Shouldn't he have friends? Why isn't he in an acting class? I think Hank wouldn't have a problem paying for it. 

 

I don't think it's wrong that Runkle and Marcy get horny over the idea of her banging other guys. So what? I don't have a problem with Hank having sex with whomever, but who is he to decide what's fucked up or not? 

 

 

I think I'm at the point in the season where I'm tired of the shenanigans.

 

I have to laugh also at all the women hitting on Hank. Seriously, who wouldn't like that? It happening constantly is silly, and everything being Hank's fault is stupid at this point. Everyone is behaving like they're in 7th grade. He turned down the women who practically threw themselves at him, and sorry Rath, there's no laws against two consenting adults having sex just because you like one of them.

 

I assume Karen getting in the car accident is also Hank's fault. A car accident, really? A little hacked, no?

It's taking too much work to watch this show, but I have to play the string out. 

Edited May 29, 2014 by ganesh

[TVFan17]

I agree, ganesh -- It is getting tiresome, mainly because there don't seem to be any surprises in this show.  Despite the silly plot development with Karen this week, it seems clear how this series is going to end (I am guessing she and Hank will end up together/married, which is shocking, I know...).  There is no reason to think that any jaw-dropping developments will be thrown our way before the series ends.  And yet, I feel I need to see it through to its final moments because I have hung in there this long.

 

I actually wish that we could find out that Hank has been dead or dying for the duration of the series, and that this has all been part of some comatose dream, or his "life flashing before his eyes" before leaving the Earth.  Normally that kind of ending would be ridiculous in today's TV world, but anything to shake up the final episodes of this series at this point would be good for me!

[BeatrixK]

OK - now I am seriously concerned about the end game.  This season has kinda been going nowhere...and now:  Yowsa.  The ending kinda jolted me back into the game, so to speak.

 

I see a very dark ending for Hank in the next 4 episodes.  I really hope I'm wrong.

[TVFan17]

I wish there were going to be a very dark ending for Hank, just to shake things up on this show and not be what is expected!  I don't think that will happen, though.

 

I really think that what happened at the end of tonight's episode is not going to lead to anything other than the expected marriage and happy ending.  It is probably just a calculated scare thrown in to make the viewers worry that our lead couple won't triumph in the end.  It's there to advance the plot.  I would be shocked if the writers went dark with it at all.

[BeatrixK]

I actually wish that we could find out that Hank has been dead or dying for the duration of the series, and that this has all been part of some comatose dream, or his "life flashing before his eyes" before leaving the Earth.  Normally that kind of ending would be ridiculous in today's TV world, but anything to shake up the final episodes of this series at this point would be good for me!

 

I swear to God...if Hank runs off and becomes a lumberjack, I'm hunting down the showrunner and cockpunching him!

[ganesh]

Has their been any legit character growth for anyone? I think the show is just going to end the way it began, and I have to ask why then? What did TPTBs hope to achieve by producing this show? Any given show doesn't have to be about anything per se, but there's usually some character growth or something. 

[Mama No Life]

This sounds morbid, but it's a tv show, so....I hope Karen dies.  I'd love to see Hank forced to be the main parent for Becca and move on with his life instead of going in the same circle around her like he has for six years. 

[ganesh]

That's really the only way he'd be able to move on from her. Based on seven seasons of the show, all he does is circle around and wait for her. 

[Lone Wolf]

Picking nits here, but how did Hank know which hospital to go to?  Marcy said that she was "at the hospital", Karen had been in an accident, and he hung up.

 

I've been hate-watching this for several seasons now.  I started because I was curious and it quickly became very predictable (Hank and Becca would do the reversed father/child role thing, with Hank ultimately stepping up; Hank would moon over Karen while nailing an unrealistic number of impossibly willing women; Harry, er, Runkle would schlub it up), but I've kept watching out of inertia - somehow at the start of every season when I would program Nurse Jackie on my DVR I'd program Californication, too - so I'll finish it out.  

 

Props to TBTB for changing it out with the Levon arc, but (other than feeing a little sad to see Christophuh Moltisanti again, not unlike seeing Jake Clemons in the E Street Band now), I really don't care much about the characters - too little, too late.   

[whiporee]

I'm bummed because I'm really sort of enjoying this season. And now it's going to be all about Karen and her mean-spirited love that won't go away.

 

But, forgetting that part, does anyone do sexually hungry better than Heather Graham? It was like her lust was palpable.  

 

Also, I have not gotten the Elton John song out of my head for five weeks now.