As good a show about hedonism in balance with family values as I’ve seen, Showtime’s Californication is a smart and sometimes pretentious peek at what happens when a New York writer with a veritable fleet of addictions moves to California to raise his daughter and attempt a relationship with the “love of his life.”
David Duchovny stars as Hank Moody, author of God Hates Us All and possessor of absolutely no self-control. His daughter, Becca Moody (Madeleine Martin), is along for the ride watching all of her father’s ups and downs. Also in the mix is Becca’s mother and Hank’s long-term on-and-off-and-on-again girlfriend Karen (Natascha McElhone).
In the first season of Californication, audiences witnesses Hank attempting to deal with a major dose of self-loathing. In part due to the ridiculous film adaptation of his book and in part due to his numerous “issues,” our “hero” spent most of his time banging chicks and getting high or drunk. Hank also met and consequently banged Mia (Madeline Zima), a 16-year-old girl who winds up stealing his stories for her creative writing class.
The second season picks up where the first season left off, of course. Hank and Karen have reunited and Becca is pleased as punch with the possibility of her family getting together in some fashion. Through a series of wild events, Hank winds up meeting producer Lew Ashby (Callum Keith Rennie) and is tapped to write his biography.
Hank moves in with Ashby and discovers that the producer’s lifestyle is even more self-gratifying than his own. This, along with a few complications involving a cast of strange but ultimately affable characters, is enough to cause Hank to question his choices and prioritize his family for a change.
That’s not to say that the second season offers us a Hank Moody on the path to redemption, however, but rather that Hank proves his “fidelity” yet again with innumerable women and vices. Constantly confronted with his past (and present) mistakes, he is forced to make a number of decisions about his future course.
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Article comments
1 - Nick
I really like Californication and seeing Hank Moody struggle with his addictions. I wish they'd experiment more with scenes from Hank's imagination -- he's a writer after all and that could be fodder for some interesting story ideas.