What I’m Watching: Californication (Series Finale)

Californication: Season 7, Episode 12 “Grace”

Well, I’m not sure exactly what I expected, but I think that this finale did turn out to be relatively satisfying and fitting. It’s always strange to me how those characters who had no role in a show’s first however many seasons and a major role in the last suddenly seem to have an importance in the show’s legacy, though I guess that does partially make sense since series are rarely plotted out in full from the very beginning. What this finale did was effectively wrap up their storylines, dismissing them from their starring roles and giving them suitable sendoffs. Hank setting Rick and Julia up was great, and it’s nice to see the two of them have what at least temporarily appears to be a happy ending. Levon also scored by landing a cute new girlfriend – future unknown – after an epically bad start to their first date. Stu was eating with his Marcy sex doll while Marcy and Charlie downgraded to an apartment, giving them some blissful closure for the moment. And Hank sort of seduced Karen on a plane, returning them to their perpetual state of temporary happiness and enduring love. Its permanence is a mystery, and that’s about all that could be expected from this show. Barely seeing Becca was fine since she hasn’t been a real part of this show this whole season, and I enjoyed seeing Hank, for once, not have sex with anyone and instead just try to be a nice guy. If I ever want to relive the glory days of this show – or get someone else into it – I’d definitely go back to seasons one and three, when this show was actually terrific rather than just decent entertainment.

Series finale: B+
Season grade: B-
Season MVP: Heather Graham as Julia
Series grade: B+
Series MVP: David Duchovny as Hank
Best Season: Season 1/Season 3
Best Episode: TBD

Round Two: Homeland

Homeland: Season 1, Episode 2 “Grace” (B+)

This show is even more interesting in its second installment than it is in its first, providing a sure sense that this show has what it takes to be an intense and engaging thriller. I love the aspect of surveillance as it is incorporated into the show, with Carrie waking up to Brody waking up from a nightmare and then later watching him while he’s watching TV. Brody’s aggressive reaction to a reporter encroaching upon his property is a sign that he doesn’t have a handle on his behavior, regardless of whether he’s a double agent or not, though it's interesting to note also that he's now a practicing Muslim. The introduction of Carrie’s asset Lynne Reed brought a very real and tangible sense of danger to the show as she expressed just how scared she was of getting caught. Carrie actually being present in the hotel lobby bathroom was even more surprising and intense, and fortunately no one has gotten hurt just yet. Back at home, David Marciano’s Virgil is turning out to be terrific comic relief, sacrificing his life and livelihood to help out the extremely obsessed Carrie. Saul’s meeting with Michael McKean’s judge made for a great scene since we’ve only mainly seen Saul with Carrie to this point, and it’s impressive to see him exert what he wants without hiding the fact that he’s blackmailing the judge. What was most exciting about this hour was the ending, in which Carrie realized that Brody was doing exactly what Saul said he would and playing the part just right, continuing to confirm her suspicions about him having been turned.

Take Three: Falling Skies

Falling Skies: Season 1, Episode 4 “Grace” (B-)

This episode certainly doesn’t contain nearly as much action as the others so far, mainly because it doesn’t contain any action aside from a bit of excitement infused by a rather aggressive Pope. I do think that the two medical characters are a bit too starkly defined, that Anne is actually trying to think creatively and be nice to it while the uncreative brute Dr. Harris refuses to acknowledge any other course than to provoke it by angering it. The notion that it’s controlling Rick even without the harness on is intriguing, but it’s spelled out quite obviously rather than left up in the air to be figured out more gradually. All I know is that ripping a harness out of a kid’s back like Mike did is definitely not a safe or smart idea. The harness curing Rick’s cystic fibrosis is very interesting as well. There’s an awful lot of science in this episode, and this show could do well to remember the things that made it so intriguing and enthralling in its first initial outings. It seems that Pope is going to be the provider of most of that, blowing up sleeping Skitters since he just can’t stand to see them continuing to live while he could be destroying them. I’m amused by the continued Boston references, which in this episode include laughing off an address in Wellesley as constituting Boston, which apparently makes someone a “617 snob.” The Boston humor is fine, but let’s get this show on the road and back onto the battlefield soon.