There was a time when Californication was definitely in my top 3 series because seriously, what wasn’t there to like about it?
Hank Moody was a really compelling character. A charming rogue who, though he slept with hundreds of women, only ever loved one (Karen) and spent the whole of the first season trying to win her back.
However, the plot twist that really made the series compelling happened in the first episode when Hank sleeps with a woman (Mia) who he later finds out is not only 16 years old, but is also the daughter of the man Karen is dating.
This transgression haunts Hank throughout the next four seasons of the show, with things coming to a head at the end of season three when he finally confesses to Karen that he slept with Mia.
It made sense for there to be a fourth season after that – everyone wanted to see how Hank was going to make things right after his epic confession, but to be honest, season four felt a little tired.
To put it bluntly, I was glad when season four ended because it felt like they were wrapping the series up. Hank gets acquitted of the statutory rape charges laid against him for sleeping with Mia and he packs up his life, heading back to New York to make a fresh start of things.
It all ended with a nice, stereotypical driving into the sunset shot while this sense of closure washed over us all.
The End.
Or so we thought…
Enter Californication Season 5, which takes place two years after the last season and finds Hank flying back to California, and meeting up with Runkle again because a hip-hop artist / music producer who calls himself “Samurai Apocalypse†(TERRIBLE!) wants Hank to write a movie for him.
I’ll watch Season 5 because I’ve watched every other episode to date and it doesn’t feel right missing out. Also who knows, maybe they can save it, take the series in a completely new direction and breathe new life into it, but judging from the first episode this could very well be the weakest season of Californication to date.
-ST
