Californication, Showtime, Airs Sundays 10pm E/P
Episode: “Down and Out In Beverly Hills” (Season Two, Episode Eight)
Synopsis: Hank spends the day at the home of Janie Jones trying to get the back story on her relationship with Lew Ashby. When Janie’s husband comes home early, Hank is forced to bide his time in the pool house with the Jones family maid, Rosario. When Karen learns that Mia is having an affair with Ashby, she heads to his house to confront him but winds up having a tender heart-to-heart with the legendary producer instead. Meanwhile, Charlie sends Marcy to her mother’s house to detox and succumbs to temptation with Daisy.
Review: How the show can open with sexpot Mia singing a song entitled “Your Face Is That Place” and not have Hank or Ashby make a reference to her sitting on their respective faces… or maybe I’m just capable of reading sex into absolutely anything. In retrospect though, it was one of only two lazy dialogue choices. The other being Karen calling Hank the “mouth rapist” again. It’s seven episodes later and it’s been referenced almost as many times. Give it a break! The rest were mostly winners though including Charlie’s heartfelt query, “who says shrimping is niche?” and his admission that he shame jizzes. My favorite though would actually be Hank’s aside about “spanglish” being “an underrated movie in my opinion,” which of course is funny due to who starred in Spanglish.
On to the plot! Hank’s quest to explore Janie Jones results in a “dip in the pool and a dip in the maid” but it ends with Mrs. Jones hitting on him. I can’t say I didn’t see that development coming since she was first introduced, but still it bodes well for some fireworks between Hank and Ashby. And while we’re on the subject of Mrs. Jones… Mädchen Amick is stunningly sexy for thirty-eight years old. Just saying. I’m curious what they’ll do with the Hank/Janie plot-line, as I’m thinking it’d be more than a little rude to bang the girl he’s trying to return to Ashby. But there’s a nice symmetry developing by the episode’s end when Karen acknowledges to Hank that Ashby’s “a great kisser.” Should be quite interesting.
Charlie’s life continues to roll onward towards who knows what. The man’s lost his job, his car, and his life savings, but he still manages to hang onto his expensive home. Then he gets to send away Cokie Smurf for some familial rehab leaving him alone and free to screw the porn star. This is a good thing because Marcy is more annoying these days than entertaining, and I’ve been sick of hearing her call him “daddy” for many episodes now. And I realize Charlie is more than a little sick in the sack, but what’s with his fascination with pseudo-youthful sex partners? The skanky, pale, flat-chested secretary, the sweet, not-so-innocent, flat-chested Daisy, and the diminutive wife that calls him “daddy” all show Runkle to be a fan of father-figure fornication. Granted, that’s still better than actually sleeping with an underage girl. (Hank and Ashby take note…)
A good episode overall, but it seems to be more of a setup for future actions than an episode of action itself. What’s going to happen between Hank and Janie? Hank and Karen? Karen and Ashby? Ashby and Mia? Mia and Becca? (Kidding, just making sure you’re paying attention.)
Up Next Week: Hank meets Janie Jones for a date at a Venice art gallery, where they bump into a very pregnant Sonja and Julian. After a quick escape, Janie invites Hank back to her place, but he declines. Karen goes on an impromptu date, of sorts, with Lew Ashby. Meanwhile, with Marcy in rehab, Charlie is left to hold down the fort at her waxing salon. And he and Daisy bond over Dirty Dancing.
