'Californication': South of heaven

For a brief and almost startling moment Sunday night, we saw something in Hank Moody that we’d never seen before: fear. Gunshots were going off, the rifle-toting owner of a market chasing out the two punks who had just seconds before pointed their own pistols at Hank and his best friend, Charlie. In the aftermath, Hank and Charlie slumped over in a state of shock. We’d never seen them so shaken, so genuinely vulnerable. It was an odd and somehow wonderful thing.

Then they settled into the dirty Porsche, still silent. Until … 

“I thought that was it, Hank. The End,” Charlie said, Hank nodding. “What was going through your head?”

“What do you think?” Hank said. “Karen and Becca. How much I love them. How much time I’ve wasted being a selfish prick.”

Charlie talked about his life flashing before his eyes like a TiVo on fast-forward, and “it was really pathetic,” he noted. “OK, so what now? Where do we go from here?”

'Californication': That's my girl

“Californication” is certainly intended for adults, but Sunday night’s episode got me thinking: What if this show spent just a little bit more time at the kids’ table? Or in the kids’ room? Or at the kids’ school?

This line of thought stemmed from watching this latest episode twice. The first time I found it amusing but felt as if this was more or less one of those bridge episodes that come along during the course of a TV season, a half hour that serves as a connector of sorts between what was and what’s next. Nothing much seemed to really happen, other than Marcy finding out what everyone else already had — that Rick Springfield is a degenerate (no offense, Rick Springfield). The rest was merely further fallout from last week’s romp.

But then I watched it again and realized that something major had happened; we just didn’t see it, and perhaps the show — like its parents — glossed over the event just a little too passively. Becca (Madeleine Martin) and her best friend, Chelsea (Ellen Woglom), had gotten into a fight, the physical kind, the kind that got them both expelled from school — a posh, all-girls private school, from what we can tell. But we only discovered this through Hank getting that phone call from the principal’s office and not by actually seeing the fight itself. Hank’s reaction? A big smile and an “Ah, that’s my girl.”

That response — and especially with David Duchovny’s always-hilarious line reading — made me laugh. But then later, when Hank’s ho-hum ways continued both at Becca’s school and at home, I felt Karen’s pain. “Do you know how frustrating you are?” she asked. Becca, meanwhile, whined to her parents as she usually does (and usually has reason for) before escaping to her room, slamming the door. Hank and Karen then fought with each other, and she kicked him out. Then Hank whined about the whole thing to Charlie.

'Californication': David Duchovny, literarily speaking

Marty Beckerman of The Daily Beast wrote an interesting piece about David Duchovny earlier this week, in which the actor spoke of his teaching and literary ambitions of the past. In short, he wanted to be a teacher and use his summers off to work on his own poetry and prose. This idea led him to Princeton, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English literature, and then later to Yale, where he received his master’s but dropped out before earning his Ph.D. because his acting career had by then taken hold.

The Beast interview reminded me of a similar conversation I shared with Duchovny this past summer, when I visited the “Californication” set to write about Madeleine Martin, who plays his daughter on the show. Duchovny, along with series creator Tom Kapinos, was kind enough to talk to me between takes about not just Martin but a few other topics, including his literary life. And so after watching him do several takes of pulling up to a Venice house in the filthy Porsche that has become Hank Moody’s signature vehicle on the show, the actor arrived for a chat, though he had to cut away a few more times for a few takes inside the Venice home.

Duchovny stood in his typical Hank Moody uniform – black shirt, dark jeans, dark sunglasses shielding his eyes. He came off as warm and witty, though I got the sense that he wasn't one to give a reporter too much, no matter how personal the question was. Even before I talked to him, one of his handlers asked that the questions not get "too personal" in the first place, and it doesn't take a genius to know what that means. To that end, I actually admire the consistency with which Duchovny has not discussed (at least in any great detail) the personal issues that were once frequent tabloid fodder; for one, it's old news, and second, it really is none of our business, we just want it to be our business. But even a question about the kind of prose he's written, as you'll see, yielded little more than an "I dabble." Duchovny just won't give up too much, though there is actually something refreshing about this, despite the fact that my occupation is to actually pry into people's lives.

Here, now, is an edited version of the interview with Duchovny and show runner Kapinos, which centered primarily on literature's effect on both Duchovny's life as well as this show.

'Californication': Hank, meet consequence

The score card from Sunday night’s “Californication” will show that there were three naked ladies, a threesome involving Rick Springfield and a house fire that had to be extinguished by David Duchovny, who was wearing a kimono. But what made this the best episode of the season wasn’t so much what we saw but what we actually felt. Feeling, in fact, is what this show has sometimes lacked this season, the balance between flash and substance more often teetering to the former.

Here, though, the show reverted back to its best form, when it manages to trick us into really caring about the individuals on screen rather than just amusing us with their wild behavior. Here, behavior had consequence. Here, the hurt feelings of those who’ve crossed Hank Moody’s path continually swelled, carrying the story forward. Here, Hank Moody wasn’t let off the hook. Not once.

The episode was titled “The Apartment,” a nod to the 1960 Billy Wilder film of the same name, but it might as well have been titled “The Reminder,” for this was also a nod to just how good this show can be. See? You can have both: hilarity and emotion, the absurd and also the sweet.

And while the maestro in the middle, Duchovny, was at his usual brilliant best, the writing, too, was fantastic. When Becca Moody pressed her father to explain himself, she wouldn’t allow him to get away with his too-simple explanations of “I don’t know” and “I’m an idiot.” She pressed further this time. Finally, people were pressing him further.

'Californication': Growing up is hard to do

On the Venice boardwalk, hope appeared, jogging toward us. Yes, jogging. Hank Moody. Jogging.

You see, to begin with, Hank Moody wouldn’t seem to be a jogger. Joggers wake up early, wear Lycra, that kind of thing. Joggers jog to challenge or better themselves, or maybe just look better than the rest of us.

Hank Moody? Well, he writes and he drinks and he sleeps. Late.

But here he was at the start of Sunday night’s “Californication,” beneath the palm trees and beside the bums, maybe smelling the incense and then finally making sense. “It’s time for me to grow up, do the right thing,” he told his buddy as they stopped on the boardwalk to catch their breath. These were the most welcomed words from a refreshing scene; Hank (David Duchovny) was caring again. 

Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned the outfit yet. 

'Californication': The return of mother and muse

All season, “Californication” has searched for fresh air. First, it put Hank Moody in a college classroom, where he could spout his warped wisdom to aspiring scribes, including a hot coed who took a liking to him (naturally). Then it introduced us to Kathleen Turner’s character, someone who took the concept of a “cougar” and turned it into more of a lion. She’s the hungriest sexual creature on earth, and she roars. Peter Gallagher? Sure. Rick Springfield? Why not, bring him the party too.

But maybe the answer was in the nest all along. Karen, Hank’s One True Love and the mother of his child, returned Sunday night and not a moment too soon. Deftly played by the lovely Natascha McElhone, her immediate presence proved far more effective than her absence.  She'd been kept on the fringes of the story since the start of the season. Late-night phone calls, iChat, that sort of thing.

But here she was in the flesh on a visit from New York. She was auditing Hank’s class, auditing his life. And it was only because she knew him so well that there were no surprises. She suspected the coed as well as the teaching assistant. And if she wasn’t so instinctive in sniffing out the resting desires of the dean’s wife, she made up for it by making fun of her “ridiculous accent,” a moment made more hilarious if you were aware of the fact that McElhone was in fact British and faked an American accent to play Karen.

'Californication': The plane from 1987

A man called "Zloz" stepped off the airplane, looking like a landscaper, because he was a landscaper. “Where’d that plane come from, 1987?” his old pal asked. “You look exactly the same. And that smell -- what is that, booze, cigarettes and Drakkar Noir? Takes me right back.”

A crazy weekend in Los Angeles unfolded, though at times I swear it seemed as if these two had taken the return flight right back to ’87. Isn’t that when awful pickup lines still existed? And when bar fights so easily broke out? (At least in the movies.)

After a delightful beginning, this was an episode that went backward after the opening credits, which is when Zloz arrived, favoring a dry hump to a handshake. And this is by no means a knock on actor Kevin Corrigan, who inhabited Zloz -- technically Mike Zlozowski -- the guy from Long Island who came to visit our favorite (anti-) hero, Hank (David Duchovny). It’s just that I didn’t really feel that there was a point to this episode, other than maybe getting Corrigan (“The Departed”) and Duchovny together to do their thing, hoping some on-screen magic might unfold. But the story itself didn’t seem to lend anything to the overall story arc, other than providing a little 25-minute filler before we finally got somewhere, Karen (Natascha McElhone) arriving in Los Angeles as a surprise. We don’t know how long she’ll be staying, but her L.A. arrival is welcomed; this season has suffered without the tension of her immediate presence.

The best part of this episode was without question the very charming opening scene between Hank and Becca at the airport, her going to New York to visit Karen -- reluctantly, though, for her best friend had tickets to a Lakers game, home of “a killer scene.” Dad didn't get it, not understanding her lack of enthusiasm for New York, especially New York in the fall, where Becca would be “stepping into a Woody Allen film. Old Woody Allen, not recent Woody Allen. ‘Manhattan,’ ‘Annie Hall’ Woody Allen.” She got up to go, and as she headed for the gate entrance, Dad stood there, desperately hoping for the quick look-back from his daughter. “Come on, turn around just once, then I’ll know you still love me,” he whispered. “Come on, come on, come on…” When she did, he hopped with glee. It was a golden Duchovny moment.

'Californication': The good, the bad and the gross

Viewers, let’s talk.

A friend of mine who’s watched “Californication” from Day 1 just told me, after watching this latest episode, “It’s just not the same.” I asked him what he meant, and he said, “It’s just not as edgy anymore. I mean, the most edgy thing about this episode was the tampon in the toilet, and that’s just gross, just gratuitous, right?”

I generally agreed, but it got me thinking. Has “Californication” actually lost its way, or is this just a case of a show falling victim to its own past? “Californication” has always thrived on shock value, and some of the series’ funniest moments have been of the over-the-top, gross-but-I-can’t-possibly-look-away moments. Remember Hank and Sonja getting it on at Bill’s house, only to both get sick as they were walked in on? Or how about the threesome among Hank, Charlie and a very, very happy lady (there’s just no good way to describe what happens in that scene here, but if you saw it, you know what I’m talking about).

Other moments of hilarity: The Mia double punch, and Sonja’s water birth that resulted in Hank pumping his fist and screaming, “Booooooooyaaaah! The baby is black!”

The first two seasons were littered with such comedic gems. Our jaws would drop and the laughter would come, even if we were cringing simultaneously.

'Californication': Don't put Daddy in a corner

Hilarity, heart and David Duchovny in a Snuggie. Welcome back, “Californication”; this is the episode I’ve been waiting for.

We had Hank and his shortcomings, along with his charm, but then we had the consequences of crossing paths with such a man -- women who want a little more of him than he wants of them, matched with a daughter who continues to wonder about dear old dad … while hallucinating on mushrooms, for lack of a better alternative.

Arriving, of course, in the dirty Porsche, these were Hank and Becca’s respective play dates: snooty English Department colleagues for him, and a new best friend intent on showing her the light (boys, substances) for her. “Becca, this is your last chance to change your mind,” Hank said as they pulled up, him not wanting to be there. “Just do me one favor,” she answered. “Try not to get too hammered.”

'Californication': Tom Kapinos talks about the green light for Season 4

As Hank Moody would say, “It’s all good.” A week after opening its third season to big ratings, Showtime renewed “Californication” for a fourth season Monday. The announcement came on the heels of a season premiere that drew 821,000 viewers, up 57 percent from last season’s premiere.

Tom Kapinos, who created the series about the boozing L.A. novelist (David Duchovny) who pretty much lives by the creed, “A morning of awkwardness is far better than a night of loneliness,” talked to Show Tracker by phone after learning the news that his longtime passion project -- which was once a feature-length screenplay that he could never quite get a handle on before changing it into a TV show -- was given another season to breathe.

The ratings, the renewal -- what’s your reaction to all this good news?

What’s really nice about it is I feel like people are finally catching up with the show. We’d gotten so much love and enthusiasm from people we met who were fans of the show, but that never seemed to be reflected in the ratings. We were more of a cult show based on ratings, and now I feel like [people are] finally watching it, talking about it, getting the DVDs, passing them around, and getting to do this for another year is great. We feel like we’re getting away with something.