What I’m Watching: Californication

Californication: Season 4, Episode 6 “Lawyers, Guns, and Money” (B)

This episode was weird. That’s about it. Furiously compelling at times, sure, but definitely weird. Most of that is due to the bizarre guest appearance by Rob Lowe as an actor even nuttier than the last person who wanted to finance the film and ended up hanging himself. It’s a trip to see Lowe all whacked out here while he plays the complete opposite of this character on “Parks and Recreation” as the impossibly polite and health-obsessed Chris. Lowe is entertaining here for the reactions he elicits from everyone except Hank, since our hero seems rather sedated compared to all of the other people on whom Eddie Nero rubs off. Becca’s response, and that whole showdown at the tattoo parlor, was particularly interesting, and having Hank work with Eddie is definitely going to be a wild ride. Marcy’s interaction with Stu was entertaining, especially with the forced wax included. My favorite part of the episode, and certainly the most unexpected, was Karen going to talk to Abby and saying that Abby should give him a second chance because Karen had given him far too many and it was someone else’s turn. It’s hard to find a dynamic quite as fascinating as that between Karen and Hank, evidenced perfectly by Hank’s exclamation of “it’s the law!” after she showed up at his front door. Though he’s hanging out with one of the craziest guys in town, Hank may actually be on his way to turning himself around, but that can’t last long.