Louie is alone after Christmas and has a traumatic New Year's Eve, so he decides to get away from it all--in China.Louie is alone after Christmas and has a traumatic New Year's Eve, so he decides to get away from it all--in China.Louie is alone after Christmas and has a traumatic New Year's Eve, so he decides to get away from it all--in China.
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAlthough the show's famous production deal has remained in place during its run on FX (Louis CK gets a very small amount of funding for each episode in exchange for FX not interfering with his production process or having any idea what an episode is like until he finishes and sends the final product to them), it has seen two fairly major changes during the 3 seasons and counting so far. One change is that the amount per episode has been increased somewhat, from $200,000 in Season 1 to a range of $250-300,000 for Seasons 2 and 3. The other is that FX has been willing to outlay additional money for location shooting: episodes in Seasons 2 and 3 were thus filmed in Texas and California (standing in for Afghanistan), Miami, Boston, and the People's Republic of China.
- GoofsMainland China requires a visa for any visit by Americans. While the visa process can be expedited it requires at least a three-day turnaround. The airline would not let him board the flight without it. It is possible that there was some unshown time passage between his trip to the airport and his actual departure.
- SoundtracksAuld Lang Syne
(uncredited)
Featured review
Season 3: Has moments but is below the high standard of the previous seasons
There is little I don't like about Louis CK; the last two seasons of this show were great and his friendly and direct way in which he sells his products is really a model that others should consider. This season returns him to the screens with a lot of critical praise and I was looking forward to it. On the whole the show did deliver what I was used to, which was mini-stories of weirdness, tragedy and the occasional actual joke, but for some reason this season just didn't seem to work quite as well for me as the previous ones.
The season has some very good episodes where the characters are compelling, the acting is strong and the episode is quite engaging. Examples are the Late Show thread, which I really enjoyed because it produced quite a battle within Louie as well as having good guest stars. The particular high-point was the main episode with Parker Posey, it worked because the characters were so vividly created and delivered and there was real heart behind the excess of the actual events. On the flipside of that the episode in Florida was colourful and upbeat but all came down to rather one awkward point which it could have made just as well with half of the episode given over to it. There are several other episodes where the scenarios didn't work for me and it was more than one or two.
The performances throughout are all good though and in many cases the weaker, less interesting/funny/engaging/compelling (whatever way it is) scenarios are mostly helped by this. Louis CK himself is strong at the core of the show and I like his awkwardness, his sense of fatigue and the like – it isn't like he things he is always right and society is always wrong, it is often that he can't make sense of things and wishes it was all just easier or would go away; depressingly I find that relatable. In this season the relationship with his kids worked very well and I liked his chemistry with Delany and Parker, both of whom were really good throughout. The addition of Susan Kelechi Watson as Louie's ex is a good one in that she gives a natural performance but also her race is a non-issue in a rather pleasant way. Of the guest stars F Abraham Murray and David Lynch are great for color but like I said, it was Parker Posey who really commanded her episode totally.
This third season is a little disappointing though. It lacks the consistency of the previous two and while a lot of it does work, a lot of it simply doesn't have too much behind it and makes for rather dull or flat viewing. There is enough to make me glad I watched it and come back for any fourth season, but it does feel like it is a little off target and it only exceeds the previous seasons in terms of the number of famous guests it has in it.
The season has some very good episodes where the characters are compelling, the acting is strong and the episode is quite engaging. Examples are the Late Show thread, which I really enjoyed because it produced quite a battle within Louie as well as having good guest stars. The particular high-point was the main episode with Parker Posey, it worked because the characters were so vividly created and delivered and there was real heart behind the excess of the actual events. On the flipside of that the episode in Florida was colourful and upbeat but all came down to rather one awkward point which it could have made just as well with half of the episode given over to it. There are several other episodes where the scenarios didn't work for me and it was more than one or two.
The performances throughout are all good though and in many cases the weaker, less interesting/funny/engaging/compelling (whatever way it is) scenarios are mostly helped by this. Louis CK himself is strong at the core of the show and I like his awkwardness, his sense of fatigue and the like – it isn't like he things he is always right and society is always wrong, it is often that he can't make sense of things and wishes it was all just easier or would go away; depressingly I find that relatable. In this season the relationship with his kids worked very well and I liked his chemistry with Delany and Parker, both of whom were really good throughout. The addition of Susan Kelechi Watson as Louie's ex is a good one in that she gives a natural performance but also her race is a non-issue in a rather pleasant way. Of the guest stars F Abraham Murray and David Lynch are great for color but like I said, it was Parker Posey who really commanded her episode totally.
This third season is a little disappointing though. It lacks the consistency of the previous two and while a lot of it does work, a lot of it simply doesn't have too much behind it and makes for rather dull or flat viewing. There is enough to make me glad I watched it and come back for any fourth season, but it does feel like it is a little off target and it only exceeds the previous seasons in terms of the number of famous guests it has in it.
helpful•326
- bob the moo
- Nov 10, 2012
Details
- Runtime25 minutes
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