Reviews · TV

TV Review: Californication 2.6 – Coke Dick & the First Kick

Hank decides to seek out Lew Ashby’s long lost love. He finds her in the surprising form of Beverly Hills mom Janie Jones. Later, Hank accidentally walks in on Julian going at it with a rocker chick he’s “mentoring.”
By  · Published on November 3rd, 2008

Californication, Showtime, Airs Sundays 10pm E/P

Episode: “Coke Dick & the First Kick” (Season Two, Episode Six)

Synopsis: Hank decides to seek out Lew Ashby’s long lost love. He finds her in the surprising form of Beverly Hills mom Janie Jones. Later, Hank accidentally walks in on Julian going at it with a rocker chick he’s “mentoring.” When Hank confronts Sonja about the discovery she reveals that, much to her frustration, they have an open relationship. Mia spends the day trailed by Rolling Stone reporter Annika Staley. After finagling their way over to Ashby Manor, Hank takes a liking to Staley, but is shocked to discover Mia leaving Ashby’s bedroom later that night. Meanwhile, when a location falls through, the Runkle residence is transformed into the set of Vaginatown. The lead actor’s failings force Charlie is to step in for the money shot.

Review: This show continues to impress as one of the funniest on TV.  Californication is firing on all fronts from hilarious prat-falls to hysterically innocuous statements like “I made a mess of your bush this morning.”  Hank Moody’s bawdy wit may be “puerile” at times, but how do you resist a man who says he wants to “muff punch you with a typewriter?”  Plenty of laughs this week, something which is quickly and happily becoming the norm, but there was a definite lack of heartfelt moments.  I’m not complaining though, as the humor and the brief hint of drama we did get will easily tide me over another week.

Runkle’s porn plot-line continued and while it’s at least mildly entertaining, it’s also more than mildly unbelievable.  Vaginatown looks to be nothing more than a soft-core romp… the cameras aren’t in any position to capture penetration shots.  Obviously the show isn’t X-rated, but can they make the effort to make the shoot look real?  The fact that Daisy was wearing a pair of big and tight undies while Runkle was supposedly porking her didn’t help the matter either.  The other half of the Runkle storyline is Marcy’s ongoing cocaine addiction.  I’m curious how far the show will allow her to spiral, because if she gets in too deep the issue may become a bit too serious for a half hour comedy show.

The two hints of seriousness we did get this week both stem from Hank’s reactions to women he’s banged.  First, he finds Julian giving some hands-on mentoring to a young woman on the floor of Ashby’s home, and he’s immediately vindicated and concerned for Sonja.  I fully expect Hank to knock Julian on his ass with a well-placed punch sometime in the near future.  The second heartfelt moment from Hank comes as he heads to the kitchen for some post-coital lubrication and finds Ashby and Mia are screwing in the room next door.  The look on Hank’s face is painful to see, and he could be moments away from punching Ashby.  The Rolling Stone reporter comments that Hank’s fiction is misogynistic, but for all his sleeping around and questionable morals Hank cares more about women than anyone gives him credit for.  Between his concern for the women he knows and for the women of Los Angeles in general, he’s the biggest fan of pussy on TV.  Although I guess we’ve known that for some time now…

Up Next Week: Hank and Karen attend a parent-teacher conference at Becca’s high school. Hank hits it off with the English teacher, Mrs. Patterson, only to discover that this latest possible conquest is also the mother of Becca’s boyfriend Damien. Meanwhile, Charlie and Marcy take a frightened Daisy into their home. When Daisy’s former manager shows up for reparations, Marcy is forced to reveal that she’s spent their cash stash on cocaine, forcing Charlie’s to hand over the keys to his prized convertible.

For more coverage of your favorite shows, check out the Control Freaks Archive.

Did you catch this week’s episode of Californication? If so, feel free to discuss below.

Related Topics:

Rob Hunter has been writing for Film School Rejects since before you were born, which is weird seeing as he's so damn young. He's our Chief Film Critic and Associate Editor and lists 'Broadcast News' as his favorite film of all time. Feel free to say hi if you see him on Twitter @FakeRobHunter.