"Californication" LOL (2007)

Director:

Bart Freundlich

Writers:

Tom Kapinos (creator)
Susan McMartin (written by)

TV Series:

"Californication" (2007)

Original Air Date:

10 September 2007 (Season 1, Episode 5)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Bill asks Hank to replace him as a guest speaker at Mia's creative writing class. Becca has a crush on her guitar teacher.

Plot Keywords:

Family Relationships | Writer | Father Daughter Relationship | Los Angeles California | Male Female Relationship

Cast

David Duchovny	...	Hank Moody
Natascha McElhone	...	Karen
Madeleine Martin	...	Becca Moody
Madeline Zima	...	Mia Lewis
Evan Handler	...	Charlie Runkle
Pamela Adlon	...	Marcy Runkle
Lance Barber	...	Nick Lowry
Rachel Miner	...	Dani
Damian Young	...	Bill Lewis
Amy Price-Francis	...	Meredith
Henry Rollins	...	Radio Show Host
Joaquin Pastor	...	Dave
Amy Okuda	...	Mia's Classmate

Runtime:

29 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Aggressive Mediocrity

Trivia:

The names of Hank Moody's books ('South of Heaven', 'Seasons in the Abyss', and 'God Hates Us All') are all names of albums by the metal band Slayer.

Quotes:

[to Meredith]
Hank Moody: Try not to forget all the times I brought you to fruition. 33 to be exact.

Movie Connections:

References Beloved (1998/I)

Soundtrack:

Little Round Mirrors

A bit of self-loathing never hurts

LOL is one of the most satisfying episodes of Californication's first season. Why? Because it does that age-old thing (comedy serving as a social commentary) with newfound gusto and irony. In other words: it goes all Hank Moody on whatever topic is at hand.

Two significant events take place in the episode: Hank's relationship with Meredith is endangered by her sudden use of acronyms instead of full sentences, which bugs the depressed writer for obvious reasons and makes for an excellent subject during a radio interview. The other thing is that Bill asks Hank to replace him as a guest lecturer at Mia's creative writing course. No need to say how that ends... Oh, and sweet little Becca has a crush on her guitar teacher.

The interview is the key to the show's charm: in truly old-fashioned style, Hank berates what post-modernism and technology have done to the English language, reduce to "BRB" and "LOL". The irony is, of course, that he himself contributes to this decay by writing a blog. Naturally, being the nihilist he is, he doesn't give a damn. Way to go, Duchovny!