Californication: Season 5, Episode 1 “JFK --> LAX” (B+)
It’s great to have this show back, and hard to believe that it’s already year five. If this premiere is any indication, however, this show is as strong as ever, with new directions to be taken, retracing roads and themes already taken many times over the show’s history. Hank’s New York displacement couldn’t have lasted long, and therefore jumping ahead several years makes a lot of sense, and allows our characters the opportunity to be in entirely different situations from the ones in which we last left them. Karen’s new boyfriend seems to be extremely different from Bill in that he’s actually quite like Hank, and their dynamic is highly entertaining. Watching with someone who had never seen this show before, it is appalling to note just how freely the sex and sexual dialogue flows, with no care to who might be present, such as Charlie’s poor baby, privy to the sexual efforts of Marcy and Stu. Becca’s new boyfriend is hardly as charming as her mother’s, and it’s nice to see Hank and the Karen’s man agree on something. Hank definitely seems to be lacking direction, unsure of whether he wants to take this potential job with Samurai Apocalypse that certainly isn’t what he always dreamed of doing. I wish we could see more of Natalie Zea’s ex-girlfriend Carrie, who delivered a memorable and stinging public scene after being broken up with by Hank and then seemed to exist only in electronic form as she wrought havoc on Hank’s life back in New York, damning him to California. I’m looking forward to a wild and entertaining season.
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