Review: Californication

The American comedy series will always remain a story between two letters for me, the two being two decades apart.

 I’ll upbraid the show for its foibles first. I don’t know why I stuck so long with this show to be honest. It wasn’t one that was consistently good. In fact, some parts of it were consistently nauseating – and by that I mean all the side stories starting with that of the protagonist’s agent and his wife / ex-wife / wife. Adultery and debauchery were the granted USPs of the show to the early audience but unlike shows like Game of Thrones, it seemed mostly forced and out of course in the show. But then again, what was I expecting from ‘Californication’?

That’s not to say that there is no silver lining. Here’s what I loved about the show. Hank and Karen. Hank is a writer suffering from a writer’s block in the beginning of season 1. He’s a nymphomaniac and tosspot of sorts getting laid with every tall and skinny blonde across the city but his soul remains true to its pivot. His soul’s pivot, his saving grace and solace is Karen, a woman he met in 1994 while he was in a relationship with someone else. Unusual to his character, he fell for Karen.

 

Hank's first letter to Karen. 1994.

Hank's last letter to Karen. 2014.

They had a daughter and stayed together for nine years but for some reason never got married. Towards the end of this nine-year togetherness, things started to fall apart because Karen started liking some other man. It was Hank’s alcoholism and the consequential insincerity towards his work that drove Karen away. Despite falling apart in societal terms, their chemistry and emotional wavelengths were always at the same place. This is easily one of my favourite on screen couples of all time because of their scintillating chemistry.

The show teaches you to not mess up beautiful relationships for trivial reasons because sometimes you don’t get an opportunity to fix them. And then it’s too late. Is it a show that I would recommend? Well, no.