at Showtime
The end of the first season of Californication was a bit baffling, given it was a supposedly happy moment (Hank Moody winning back his ex-girlfriend Karen hours after her wedding with another man) that could lead people to believe that the funniest moments of the show - Hank's sex-related troubles - would be less prominent in Season 2, now that he has no apparent reason to keep fornicating. The season opener proves those fears were superfluous: Hank is still one of the best TV characters in recent years, and Slip of the Tongue marks one hell of a comeback.It's been a few months since the previous season's finale, and Hank and Karen are considering moving back to New York, much to the dismay of their daughter Becca, who retaliates by spending a lot of time with Mia, who has managed to publish Hank's book as her own and secretly hopes Karen will come to her senses and get back together with Bill. That's not very likely, though, since Hank undergoes the ultimate "torture" - getting a vasectomy - to prove his love, since Karen doesn't want more kids and he refuses to wear condoms. Because of the operation, he is not allowed to have sex for 48 hours, which becomes the humorous subject of his conversations with Becca and Charlie (who apparently went through the same thing). Of course, it's not that easy to resist temptation when you run into an old flame (Sonja, the vomiting woman played by Paula Marshall) and end up at a sex- and-drugs party hosted by notorious troublemaker Lew Ashby (Callum Keith Rennie)...The main joy of the episode, apart from seeing the terrific Pamela Adlon's name in the opening credits, is the sight of Hank walking with a limp and protecting his, uh, privates for the bulk of the running time. It's such an unusual development for that character (not to mention the fact that he's also quitting smoking) it automatically becomes impossible not to enjoy, and Duchovny (who also directs) takes the most out of the opportunity presented to him. Given he's also behind the camera, another source of entertainment is the visual in- jokes (a poster for A Crazy Little Thing Called Love 2, still starring Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, being the most easily recognizable one).Oh, and in case anyone still thinks the episode is too different from the usual Californication offerings, there's always the unmissable last five minutes. Without giving away anything, it's Hank at his Moodiest (pun intended).
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