Light In A Lonely Place
Thoughts on
If I didn't know better, I'd think Hank had been listening to all of us fussing over his behavior, because in spite of it not really changing all that much this week, at least he seems to realize why it isn't such a great thing. Of course, I suppose the annoying thing about Hank is that he seems to realize it every week, but next week, he's back to doing the same kind of things all over again. Silly boy. The consequences of his actions are something he rarely considers until the damage has already been done. He teaches his daughter wisely, but heeds not his own lessons. No right or wrong, just consequences.
It's an interesting concept, certainly, removing right and
wrong from the life's landscape, functioning with regard only to consequences
and not the wisdom of history and convention, how you've been raised, what
you've been taught, what you believe; it's all based on the precept of right
and wrong, your own personal one, combined with experience. When you get
right down to it, there are as many interpretations of right and wrong as there
are people to interpret them, and how we could possibly expect every human on
Earth to agree on the rules of right and wrong is, in fact, pretty
preposterous. Right is wrong and wrong is right, depending on who you're
talking to and what day of the week it is and what happened to you yesterday
and who the president of the
Maybe people don't change, but their minds do, and right and wrong right along with it, and I think what we need in abundance, besides conscience, is tolerance. I apologize for the redundancy, but to oversimplify it, if we'd all just treat everybody the way we'd wish to be treated, there would be no need for Heaven or actually *wishing* to get there (hullo?), because we'd be standing in it. Still, it seems right and wrong is nothing more than what we know as our conscience, and without conscience, a *sense* of right and wrong to start with as your base, you'd have no order, no way of determining what consequences would be good (right) and which would be bad (wrong), in order to proceed with your actions. Right? Am I missing something?
I do like the notion of tolerance which the 'no right or wrong' ideology lends itself to. There would be no need for judging others for the things they do, but rather judging only by how they affect you personally. For example, no one would care, say, who their neighbor wants to marry or live with or have sex with, because it has no real or direct affect on your day-to-day life or ability to function normally within your constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness, your right to maintaining a reasonable expectation of privacy in private matters yourself, unless it's you they want to marry or live or have sex with. :sniping at Prop 8 & tabloid journalism: Only the people directly affected by your behavior and its consequences would have the task of passing judgment or formulating their reactionary behavior to yours. What a wonderful world this would be! Or Tree-Hugging Peace-Loving Hippie Chick Earth Mother from the 60's thinks so, anyway. <g>
I'll adjust the philosophy to, "Conscience precludes right or wrong, but only before consequences." Waiting until the consequences arrive to determine if what you did was right or wrong isn't how the game is played, unfortunately for Hank (and the current power structure in D.C., ahem). You can find yourself marching steadily backward, sinking torturously into quicksand when acting consistently on impulse, and that's where I see Hank, a slow erosion of all that is healthy or helpful about him; regression into wretchedness. Hank seems to have no conscience sometimes, just an insatiable pleasure center that precludes conscience itself, and if he doesn't stop it, he's going to go blind. And stay that way. Yeah, he will miss EVERYTHING.
Interesting that Hank doesn't seem to apply the philosophy well to his own life, because although I see that, to him, nothing he does is really right or wrong, he also doesn't seem to care beforehand what the consequences of his actions will be, at least, not until after they've arrived and somebody points them out to him in a negative way. He rarely sees beyond his lovemaking as a gift he enjoys sharing with as many as possible, and like I said before, pleasing as it may be, it's nothing more than a moment in time, which exists only as a drop of water in a large bucket, the expansiveness of its reverberations much larger than the drop itself. It may be fun, I'm sure it's fulfilling, :slaps self: but no matter how much Hank wants it to, it cannot exist as a no-harm-done singular event, because it has consequences. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Especially if you're Hank Moody.
I liked Hank much better in this episode, in spite of not entirely approving of his behavior, but only because he was shown the light shining on his lonely place and he appeared to be looking right into it. He's going to be lonely, forever, if he continues to act without conscience OR regard to consequences, using selective ignorance and opportunely skewed logic as an excuse for his missteps. He got slapped around the whole episode for it, by people other than me, though, so maybe it's beginning to sink in a little. Just in case, I'll probably slap him around a little myself, before I'm done picking at this week's ep. In fact, I think I already have.
But on with the show, which is why I'm here to begin with. I'm still trying to put my finger on exactly why Hank seemed so uncharacteristic to me, right off the bat, first scene. I mentioned to someone else that the pacing of the whole ep seemed different, quickened, like we were feeling Hank's heartbeat the whole episode. Anybody know what I mean? Even the cadence of Hank's voice seemed unusual in some way. Lots of near-squawking and raising his voice a few decibels, mixed in with lowered, lazy, dulcet tones, colloquial phrasing and even accents not his own.
Maybe I'll get into specifics as I go along, but if I closed my eyes and just listened to the dialogue and his voice, Hank would seem like many different people, besides Hank, as the ep progressed. All I can come up with for the overall weirdness of the atmospherics is that Hank seemed edge-of-the-world desperate for the entire episode. Hank is generally so suave, cavalier and nonchalant, non-judgmental, speaking of, and yet he seems to have gone tearing all the way across to the other pole, absolutely fraught with despair that he needs to save everyone from themselves, but himself.
He must save Mia from the evil jackass record producer! He must save Charlie and Marcy from permanent residence down the rabbit hole! He must save Janie Jones from mediocrity! He must save Karen from her dichotomous stupidity in dealing with Mia's questions about dating older men! He must save Mrs. Patterson from loneliness and lack of orgasms! He must save Lew and Mia from immobilizing moral decay :cough:! He must save Becca from hating her father more than life itself, which is a lot of hate! He must save Damien from losing Becca's love and save him the same acidic and corrosive effects of Hank Hatred as Becca! He must save Becca from growing up without a father! He must save the beautiful barmaid from ... ... ... Heaven in bed, poor thing!
Hank spent most of the ep pleading with everyone he came in contact with, and to me, that was really different for Hank. He showed signs of caring about someone other than himself, which was refreshing, at least, but almost overdone for a juvenile delinquent like Hank. We start out with Hank demanding of Lew that he never fuck Mia again, and where Lew repeats the words as Hank demands, didn't take him a whole two sentences to rescind, on the basis of hypocrisy. First, Lew responds by saying he gets wet just saying it. This pisses Hank off and he turns to storm out, telling Lew that, basically, he can find another writer for his autobiography, because Hank's had enough. But Lew stops him by claiming Hank's the first friend he's had in a long time, which I have no trouble believing. A battle of wits and evil deeds ensures.
Hank appreciates the sentiment, and stops to argue his point some more. The most enlightening moment of the scene was when Hank realizes what it must be like for anyone to live with him. Go, Hank! And wipe than bemused grin off your face, you pig. Take yourself seriously for once, please. Nevertheless, it's Hank doing that thing he does, flogging someone for doing things he does or has done himself, and Lew didn't fall for it. Very troubling that Mia the Mouth told Lew about Hank. Gulp. That can't be good. Still, I laughed at Lew's own, "Repeat after me." Highly appropriate to the circumstance, if I may say so. The 'look who's talking' aspects couldn't be more glaring.
You could argue that Hank has zero credibility to be telling *anybody* how to live or conduct themselves or be more cautious about who they do it with. I mean, c'mon. But at the same time, who better than Hank would KNOW what the consequences of such actions can be, who better to warn you of impending disaster as a result of your behavior and choices? Still, Hank comes off as the embodiment of Do As I Say and Not As I Do, doesn't he? And it merely added to his desperation in this episode, that no one pays heed to anything he says. Like everything's spinning out of his control, in earnest now. He's powerless to stop it, he's beginning to realize it, and I felt that desperation and despair through the whole episode. Edgy, without melodrama.
You'll have to forgive me for veering off-topic again, but Mr. Duchovny is brilliant in this role. I don't care what you think about Hank or the show as a whole, David's "nailed it!" with this portrayal. In my ever so humble opinion, he did it with Mulder, and he's done it again with Hank. I have no idea why I'd love such an incorrigible and exasperating, utterly juvenile grown man, but to put it simply and in the most awful, cliché way possible, he's captured my heart and refuses to let go. He can err as often as he likes, and I still find myself cheering him on. It's the infuriating magic of Hank, I suppose.
The naysayers will laugh, but if David doesn't get some nominations in the coming year, especially if it's the last season of the show we're witnessing, then there truly is no justice in awards land. For me, personally, when I factor in what I think I know about the behind the scenes situation during filming, it's even more remarkable to consider the kind of empathy and reality he injects into Hank. People would laugh and say 'how hard is it to play yourself?' which tells me two things; they don't know what I know about the man in question, and they don't know anything about acting.
But back to our story in progress. I just wanted something to do while I ignored the credits sequence music. ;-P
We're following Hank and Charlie through the Hustler porn
store. Nice place. I kept thinking how much it reminded me of Hallmark store. Only we're not in
So now Hank wants out of his book-writing contract. Again, desperation. He sees his life turning to shit, all the people around him swimming in it, and he thinks Lew's influence is the cause. So like him to place blame elsewhere, like he has no self-control, and figures if he gets away from Lew and the book project, everything will be okay. I'm glad Charlie mentioned Hank really didn't need to live with Lew to write the book, for Pete's sake, but I again, noticed Charlie offered no shelter, himself. I suppose it's so he has room for Daisy, but at this juncture, he didn't know Daisy was going to end up moving in with him, so I still find it strange that when Marcy threw Charlie out, he went straight to Hank's, but when Karen throws Hank out, Charlie doesn't even suggest Hank come stay with the Runkles, until he can find other accommodations.
Still, it was a cute scene, Hank passing judgment again on Charlie's new agenda and direction, his closeness with Daisy, his involvement in porn, etc. I laughed when Hank Mulderishly pokes at, then Hankishly speaks to the plastic vagina, of course, one of the first uses of one of many new voices and accents, his second use of the term 'pee-pee', plus another politically incorrect and unspeakable word thrown in, and all without saying 'retard' or any form of, I noticed. If I'm not mistaken, I think we broke the trend this week. I was beginning to think they were determined to get the word 'retard' into every ep this season at least once, but I'm not remembering any uses this week. Anybody hear something I'm not remembering?
I also liked the 'how we gonna keep you down on the farm now that you've penetrated a porn star?' line. Anybody under the age of 40 (which definitely doesn't include me) probably wouldn't get the reference, unless they're into music history or maybe old movies, but it made me chuckle, at least. I noticed Josh missed that ancient musical reference. :wink to Josh G.:
But then Hank claims they're all going down the rabbit hole and he fears they'll never come out, suggesting Charlie go get Cokie Smurf and meet him at LAX for a quick retreat to the Center of The Universe, NYC. Charlie just stares at him, so I'm thinking he's the third person Hank spoke to that day that didn't take anything Hank said seriously. Lew, Hank himself, and Charlie. Unless you count me, which makes at least four, so far.
Suddenly, it's nighttime, and Hank's pulling up to park at Becca's school. Amazing how Hank never hurts for a parking space. Doesn't matter where he's going, he always gets a prime parking space without even trying. But he sees Janie Jones heading for her car. And does she have a child or is she a teacher or what? That's twice we've seen her at the school, but I haven't spotted her with a kid yet. Doesn't seem to be anyone with her this second time, either. Hank seems to have an idea being born, though, the second he lays eyes on her. He jumps out of his car and runs over in front of her moving vehicle, jumps up on the hood and slides off to the asphalt, faking injury.
Janie freaks, jumps out and runs to him, as he bitches and moans and groans, taking his time straightening up to face her, as he tells her he guesses he'll have to get her name for insurance purposes. She recognizes him, calls him 'that asshole', which hurts his feelings. He'd rather be 'that handsome stranger', or 'that guy who messed up my bush' and it make him sad her inner dialogue brands him 'that asshole', instead. He reintroduces himself as Hank Moody again, offering his hand for a shake. She takes it and tells him her name is Jones. He finds that a letdown, after all the intrigue prior to knowing her name. She elaborates, says it's Janie Jones, Hank references the Clash tune, and confesses he's half-chubbed. Hee.
He suggests they have a drink. Janie refuses. I assume half-chubbed isn't enough. Hank regrets that the threat of legal action hasn't convinced her, so he threatens her with his powers of seduction. Personally, they worked great on me, in spite of the minimal effort he put forth before admitting he had no more power to wield. Works for me. But not Janie, who doesn’t seem the least bit daunted, until he names a time and place, tomorrow night at Marat in Venice, and suggests she get there before he wets himself, which makes her laugh. Hank's sure at that point that he's, "Nailed it!" and says so in that adorably familiar falsetto way, claiming that oh yeah, he's still got it. Couldn't agree more. Janie drives away into the night.
Hank and Karen are inside the school now, speaking to Hank's next conquest, Becca's English teacher, Mrs. Patterson. Now, we know from an earlier ep that Mrs. Patterson the English teacher is Damien's mom, but Hank has no way of knowing that, because he's too deferential to ever ask probing questions of his daughter about her boyfriend or of the women he beds, don't ya know. That would be rude, I guess, to ask how old they are, or if they're on birth control or if they have kids or boyfriends or husbands or an STD or a history of criminal behavior or mental deficiencies or ... Mrs. P's saying all the right things and asking all the right questions; Becca's teacher's pet, Becca's Satanism is just a phase, caused by whatever's going on between Hank and Karen, which leads to the explanation that they're not living together, so Mrs. P can make sure Hank knows she's divorced.
If Karen had a lick of sense, she would've known Mrs. P was setting Hank up for a fall into bed later, and instead of asking Hank stupid questions about Mia and revealing her Bohemian checkered past in actually recommending older men to Mia, getting Hank's goat while she was at it, then turning around and insisting Hank keep Mia away from Older Man Lew, she could've mentioned to Hank that Mrs. P was fishing for a fucking later, perhaps informing Hank of the Damien connection. A little preventive information goes a long way, but only if you utilize it preventatively.
Maybe she couldn't tell Mrs. P was flirting with Hank, but I sure could. Having voiced her usual mixed message, Karen's had enough of Hank for one evening, but lets him kiss her cheek and smell her hair, before she pushes him away and departs the premises. I was mad at Karen for the whole scene with Hank, so I was kinda glad she left. Good riddance. Hank expresses his Karen encounter pain facially, finishes his spiked drink from the totally un-classy paper cup, gets maybe six steps toward the exit himself, before he bumps into the hungry Mrs. P.
She loves his writing and feels only now is it appropriate for her to say so, since it may not have had the instant seductive effects with Karen within earshot that it has without her anywhere around. Works like a charm, as usual. She tells Hank she neglected to mention it before because she didn't want to piss off the ex-lover, yeah right. You ain't foolin' me for a second, chicky. Hank says he wishes she'd mentioned it in front of Karen, because it would've pissed her off. I wish she'd mentioned it, because it would've pissed Karen off and maybe she'd have subsequently warned Hank of Mrs. P's ulterior motive in mentioning it with a snarky remark about it, BEFORE it had already happened. Too easy, I guess. Mrs. P ascertains that Hank loves pissing off his ex, and Hank agrees.
A blink of the eye later, she's telling Hank she likes pissing off her ex, too, as Hank kisses her through her bedroom door to the bed, promising to use his good cock for the deed just ahead of them. God help me if he has more than one. Mrs. P decides she should tell Hank she's on her period and she hasn't trimmed the hedges lately, and Hank seizes the opportunity to tell her that the blood doesn't bother him because he was in Nam (:buzzer sound: Unless Hank's much older than even his actor is, he was too young to be drafted or enlist when the war *ended*, so...) and assure her he's not one of those guys who belittles or rejects women on the basis of their natural body functions or pubic hair ...or for pretty much any reason at all. What a guy. Hank likes women the way they are naturally, obviously, and Mrs. P loves him for it. I kind of love him for it, too.
Like Mrs. P alludes to, I never met a guy who would come anywhere near me during my menstrual cycle, and as a result, I always found sex with blood as icky a thought as 99% of the male and/or female population does. Not because it's icky, but because I assumed all men thought it was icky. I let the perceptions of others color my own. Strangely enough, I reached enlightenment on this subject several years ago, although I never, to this day, had sex with anyone while menstruating. I managed to explore it another way, however, and because of that, I found Hank's capacity for overlooking it radically coincidental, quite heartwarming and personally vindicating. There are probably two people in the whole world who would have any idea what I'm talking about, and I think it's best that way. Just take my word for it, Hank is truly enlightened, like me, and my kudos for his tolerance of 'dirty' sex.
Hank asks Mrs. P if she has any other factoids to impart, and she mentions she's really excited about fucking him. Nothing like stating the obvious for the envious in the crowd, eh? Hank calls her a 'chatty one', as he flattens her out on the bed with a big, sloppy kiss. Last week, I wanted to be Annika, and this week, I wanted to be Mrs. P. Anybody see a pattern emerging here? Scully?
Now we're at the Runkles'. Charlie is awakened by Marcy entering the room with Daisy, who she claims she found sleeping in her car in front of the house. Marcy climbs into bed, while Daisy tells yet another sad story about how Mr. Slam Van is actually her manager, and has shown up to trash her apartment and eat all her food, insisting she belongs to him and she's scared and didn't know where else to go. Mr. Scumbag wants Daisy back, now that she's been poached and made a movie elsewhere, or money to buy out her contract with him. Charlie's understandably a little put out that Daisy's been hiding the details and her past from him, but she tells him she was scared he wouldn't want to work with her, when if she'd just told him from the get-go, Charlie may have been able to avoid what happens to him later in the ep.
I mentioned before that I was wary of Daisy and I like her less every episode. This scene kind of seals it for me. She's a leech. She needs to get herself a nice job as a waitress or something else not so 'glamorous' and leave poor Charlie alone, before she bleeds him dry and ruins his life. If he wasn't trying so hard to make her a star and fulfill her every porn star wish, she'd never look at him twice. She annoys me. Sorry. But Marcy invites her into their bed, anyway, and she climbs right in between the Runkles, big smile on her face and Marcy's hand on her head as she snuggles in. Charlie looks befuddled. Poor Charlie. He's been screwed over by yet another ambitious, gold-digging female, looks like.
Hank, on the other hand, has screwed yet another horny and forever [formerly] mistreated female, and we return to Mrs. P's bedroom to find Hank on bottom again, Mrs. P climbing to her peak by bouncing in Hank's lap until Hank's Magic O Elixir again works its magic, and she O's! Wee! She tells him that's just what she needed, right before she tells him she thinks she's going to cry and dismounts to crawl under the covers. Hank appears concerned, but she tells him it's common for her to cry after she comes, so no biggie. Hank interjects that yeah, sometimes when he comes, he wants to weep after, and I'd have to guess it's because it such a rarity for him.
Does it bother anyone else that Hank never, EVER gets to come? Practically every woman we've seen Hank engaged on screen with, starting with the Pilot, ends the act as soon as his partner has reached her orgasm, before Hank ever reaches his. It's no wonder we never see his O face, because he's never given the chance to have one! The 'nun' lady gets hers, her husband comes home and Hank runs away. Mia gets hers, punches him in the face, then walks away. Restaurant lady gets hers, Karen interrupts with a phone call, and Hank has to leave. Sonja's going for hers, but knocks him off his feet and into the furniture and onto the floor, then they're interrupted. More recently, Annika obviously has her fun, but makes Hank stop so she can get a toe cramp and demand Vagatorade, and Mrs. P gets just what she needed, but has to stop the act so she can cry.
Where's the justice for Hank in all that? Reckon that's why he does it with so many women? He's searching for the one with enough stamina and thoughtfulness to let *him* finish, for a change? I'd probably weep, too, if I worked as hard as Hank does for little to no reward. It must seem like a gift from Heaven when he gets to come. Sheesh. I guess napping would do it almost as well, too, so I'd probably do that, too ...after I wept.
I still laughed at Hank's admission, and the visual puzzlement and desperation he went through, bereft of any satisfactory way to handle his blubbering lover. I thought it was sweet of him to ask if he should comfort her, but I read some comments that would indicate a lot of people found him utterly cold-hearted in that scene. I didn't see it that way at all. I think he was trying to determine how she wanted him to react, rather than just reacting and upsetting her even more in doing so. As we all realize, he knows virtually nothing about this woman, except that she's Becca's teacher, she's divorced, she loves Hank's writing, and she's lonely, horny and willing, of which the last t 3 basically fit the criteria of Hank's checklist for who deserves a good and proper fucking.
I don't think he expected any melodrama and weeping, once the act was over, anyway, and he was caught off-guard by Mrs. P's response to orgasm. I'd say he took the best possible course of action, considering the circumstances, and I commend him for at least offering further services, if required, showing some concern over the results of his magnificence on this particular, lonesome female. And please note how she responded. If she'd really wanted coddling or cuddling, you really think she'd turn down a hug from Hank, of all people?
Maybe it's just me, but I think he does great hugs, maybe the bestest ever hugger, going by looks alone. Never had the pleasure myself, sniff. Even if I wasn't crying, if Hank offered me a hug, I'd take it whether I really needed it or not. But Mrs. P didn't deem it necessary and it would seem flight quickly exceeded fight, eventually, she gives Hank his out, and he beats a speedy retreat to let her work it out for herself, while he goes to the shitter. No bathroom upstairs? I guess it's probably more common than I realize, but I found that an odd layout for a 2-story home. A loft-type room, I might get, but not a 2-story. Seems really inconvenient, even risky, but maybe that's just me.
And you know, for one of those totally random revelations ...in going back over all the sex we've seen Hank engage in, I really got stuck on something. Sonja vomiting shortly after Hank did. Pregnancy sickness at work, perhaps? Hank said something to her in the last episode that unlike her, he wasn't a big sympathy or empathy vomiter, implying that she is, and thinking about it now, I want to think it was more new pregnancy at work that sympathy/empathy that made her throw up that night.
I can't tell you how much I hope it turns out Sonja was pregnant by her 'big homo' ex-husband the night she and Hank did it at Bill and Karen's, and that it was pregnancy (morning) sickness that made her hurl that evening, not drink and drug and hyperactivity and embarrassment, as they both claimed then, or sympathy/empathy vomiting, as they insinuate now. It was because she was already pregnant that night! Woo-HOO! That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. At least until the show itself explains it all to me.
Back in line, we see Hank's intriguing bare legs and feet tripping the light fantastic down the stairs to the bathroom. He gets to this bottom and sees a very familiar young man, sitting at a counter eating. It's Damien. Yikes. Again, I felt Hank's heartbeat, felt that quickened heart rate and nausea Hank was feeling. Right off the bat, we get the first of two priceless shots of Hank from head all the way down to almost-head, yeah, *there* there, quite possibly the most beautiful sight these sore eyes ever saw in human flesh, and my heart races a little faster than Hank's. Then we get the first of two *gorgeous* shots of the VFA, and I wonder briefly if my heart's going to stop. It skips a beat! Both times! I was in VFA heaven.
But then I remember where Hank is and who's there where I'm not, staring at the entire bloodied full frontal Hank picture, and the nausea kind of took over the lustfulness. A funny, albeit disheartening, exchange of sentences ensues, as Hank realizes his latest snafu, with Damien misinterpreting the blood on Hank's pee-pee as evidence of violence. It was horrifying and funny all at once, something this show seems really good at.
But the scene ends there, and we move on to Hank, presumably the next day. He's climbing the stairs at Lew's den of iniquity, all glum-looking. I figure he was pondering the spanking he was in for, next time he saw Becca and Karen, which is why he was at Lew's, instead of Karen's. Hank gets to the top of the stairs and everything seems to kick into overdrive. He rushes toward the partially open door to Lew's bedroom, finding Mia and Lew playing a bondage game in their underwear.
Hank starts squawking at them, 'oh no, you didn't!' chastising them both for acting against his wishes. Lew tries pretending he was just a helpless victim of Mia's insistence, but she shuts him down pretty fast. Natch. Hank shouts that this is 'sick and wrong!', when he should know there actually is no wrong. Oops.
Mia points out his hypocrisy; that it's okay for him to have sex with her, but not Lew? He retorts that it's why they never did it again, using her name to emphasis his desperation again, and she reminds him never to say never. Yack. If he ever has sex with her again, I give up. He's hopeless. But then he asks her if she wants Karen to find out (like Mia would give a shit what Karen thinks? After the 'advice' Karen's given her?!), but her biting comeback reminds him that if Karen finds out about Mia and Lew, she just might find out about Hank and Mia, and that could mean the death of hope, *Hank*. I hate her, but not really.
Which brings me back to a major complaint for me from season one. If Hank would just TELL Karen about it, instead of waiting for her to find out from Mia or 'Mia's' book or Charlie or Lew or whoever the Hell is finally going to let it slip, does anybody else think it would soften the blow tremendously for Karen and take tons of weight off Hank's shoulders? I've mentioned before that I have no idea how Karen might react to the news, but I just think it would be at least half-again more devastating for her to have someone other than Hank tell her, because it would add her own mortification into the mix of emotions it might stir for her. I still wish he'd just tell her, and after what Mia said to him in that scene, I kept thinking how I wished he was formulating a plan to tell Karen himself, before someone else does.
But in real time, Mia prances out of the room, having hurled her latest spiteful comment at Hank, and Lew and Hank are left to work this out between them. Lew's struggling to get out of his bondage, and Hank gives him a hand, literally and figurative, then angrily throws a ball on the bed at Lew's head. Hank goes back to pouting, while Lew frees himself, jumps up and grabs a guitar in the room off a stand, scurries around and puts it in Hank's lap. Lew tells Hank Kurt Cobain played that guitar, that Courtney gave it to him for helping her write songs and record a demo, and if Hank takes care of it, he can put Becca through college with that thing.
Hank asks Lew if he's giving him the guitar because Lew fucked Mia. Lew tells him that he's giving him the guitar because he's Lew's only friend, awww. Hank doesn't appear as impressed as I was, no warm and fuzzies apparent, but Lew marches on, asks Hank if he's hungry, does he like crepes. Hank just stares at him, so Lew says he has a new pan he wants to try out and makes the decision without Hank's input that he's going to make them some crepes.
A few Lew crepes later, I assume, Hank's at Karen's, talking to the closed door of Becca's bedroom, with the valuable guitar in hand, trying to apologize. He tells Becca it isn't half as crazy as it sounds, and again, I'm dangerously assuming he tried to explain how he could've ended up bonking Damien's mother, without realizing it. She yells, "Fuck you!" at him through the door, and the way he says, "Okay, but..." makes me laugh every time I see it. Don't ask me, but it just struck me as hilarious, the delivery. He tells Becca her response was inappropriate.
Then Stupid!Karen pipes in with thinking it's highly 'fucking' appropriate, when your father fucks your boyfriend's mother. Hank asks for slack, Karen's not giving him any. Would it be too much to expect Hank to actually know something about the women he beds, before he beds them? Is it too much to expect him to consider the consequences of his actions before he acts on occasion? Apparently so.
Hank blames Karen for not informing him of the connection and for making his dick homeless. Such a sad story he tells about homeless dicks. My eyes got all misty. Not. But I snickered, at least. Cute story and only Hank would look at it that way, but Karen ain't biting. Still, it gives us insight into how Hank thinks about his promiscuity, how he gets himself into trouble with it, and no, it didn't make me feel any better about his behavior, either. I'm telling ya ...Karen's looking for some sexual discretion and decency in the bad boy she claims to love, and he's not showing her any.
Karen nails it (!) when she uses her psychic powers to guess that Mrs. P spoke Hank's four favorite words in the English language to him, "I love your writing," and Hank laughs and tells her how Karen knows his shit, and that's why they should be together. Karen counters that it's why they shouldn't be. Hank tells Karen, hey Mrs. P was lonely and needed a good cry, so what's the harm? See how he assumes his actions have no repercussions on anyone but him? How could he possibly still think that?
Karen points to Becca's closed door and informs him the harm is right there. She goes on to tell him that Damien didn't break up with Becca, but he told Becca Hank was a dick for sleeping with his mother, something Hank finds a legitimate sentiment. Becca doesn't react well to Hank bashing, however, so she broke up with Damien for calling her father a dick. The dick looks really bummed out, now that he realizes the consequences of his actions with Mrs. P. D'OH!
Becca comes out about this time, Hank approaches her with the guitar, and goes straight for the physical conciliatory affection he wants to give her and get back. Becca won't let Hank touch her, actually dares him not to. Hank is crushed, but he shouldn't be surprised, so he tries offering her the guitar, mentioning its infinite value, being Kurt Cobain-played. She's less than taken, tells Hank he's not buying his way out of this screw-up. She agrees with Damien that Hank's a dick, goes back in her room, guitar-less, and slams the door behind her.
We cut to Hank, knocking on Mrs. P's door. She opens the door to this lovely vision in her doorway, and makes one of those 'bay-beh!' kind of groaning sounds. She's happy to see Hank, needless to say. He asks if Damien's home, and she says he's at band practice, asking if Hank wants to come in. He, again, sounds so different when he says he doesn't think that would be such "a great idea." Not sure what it was specifically, but those words sounded so different, kind of low and growly and lazy-sounding. Rawr.
But she tries telling Hank not to let Damien scare him off. He's a good kid, just really protective of his mom. Hank thinks it's wonderful that he is, that he should be. Mrs. P tells Hank they shouldn't let the kids lay waste to their excellent sexual chemistry, and Hank really likes it when she says that, asking if she'll write it down for him, and if Angry!Damien hadn't shown up when he did, I suspect they would've been fucking like bunnies again within seconds. Fortunately, Damien breaks Hank's derailing train of conscience, with his threat of medieval violence against Hank's Old Man person, a guitar as his sword.
Hank starts toward him, explaining to Townsend (?) that he's there to work this out with him, but Damien goes for the kill, anyway, rushing angrily at Hank with his guitar. Hank grabs him and manages to get a good, defensive hold on Damien, while he asks what he can do to right the situation. I hadn't realized until this moment how tall Damien is. Unless Hank's standing on a lower step the whole time or something or Damien's standing on a platform, Damien's just about as tall as Hank! Tall for his age, if that's the case, and he does seem a lot taller than Becca, too. Anyways, Damien jerks around and spits at Hank that Hank is totally dead to him, Becca is totally dead to him. Hank tells Damien that's a shame, because conversely, Becca seems very fond of Damien.
Damien's like, 'she is?' and wants to know what Becca said. Hank finally lets calmed-down Damien go, and tells Damien that he couldn't repeat anything Becca said about Damien without throwing up. Hank persists; what can he do to make this right with Damien. Damien makes him repeat Lew's pledge from earlier, with one emphatic "ever" added, and the 'Mia' changed to 'my/your mom'. No more fucking his mom. Hank complies without objection. Mrs. P wants to object, and I must confess, I don't blame her a bit, but the looks she gets from both guys backs her down and leaves her obviously disappointed. Hank asks if there's anything else Damien wants, and Damien asks about the priceless guitar sitting in the passenger seat of Hank's Porsche.
We cut to the Runkle residence, where Charlie's arriving home to Daisy and Marcy with Chinese food for all. He discovers Mr. Scumbag Slam Van and his bully guy there. Looks like they've already made a few messes here and there, and accusations and threats begin to fly back and forth between Daisy's scumbag manager, the guy with a lifetime contract for her services, and her new agent, the one ready to go into battle for her. Her knight in shining armor.
Mr. Slam Van proceeds with destroying Runkle household items and pouring Charlie's precious soy milk and Chinese food all over the furnishings, while Marcy wrestles with the bully, who's holding her up off the floor to keep her from attacking Mr. Slam Van. Charlie insists the bully let Marcy go and he does, and then Charlie asks how much Mr. SV wants for Daisy, like a slave trader at work, and Marcy objects.
Charlie goes to the safe, planning to give Mr. Slam Van some money so he'll go away, and Marcy freaks, because what Charlie discovers upon opening the safe is that Marcy's spent every penny of their emergency cash on coke. She whines, well, it was her mad money, baby. Feh. What a letdown for poor Charlie. Anyway, he has no money to buy off Mr. SV, so we cut to the victorious Mr. SV and his bully driving off in Captain Jackass' beautiful red convertible, while the two teary females most important to him look on. When Charlie ruefully expresses his love for the car he just gave away to save her from the evil Mr. Slam Van, Daisy runs back inside.
I guess I should feel sorry for Daisy, but I was angry with her instead, even more so than with Marcy, who sticks around to apologize, at least. Daisy never should've let Charlie do that. I'd think the whole thing could be handled legally, but she could've at least agreed to go with the guy until Charlie could raise the cash to buy the contract. She worked with the guy before, and if it would repay Charlie in some small way for all he'd done for her already, why not just go and give Charlie some space to work it out somehow. I just thought it was icky of her to let Charlie lose his car for her, especially after everything he's already done for her, all the money she's cost him already. Gold-digger.
But Daisy gets her way from daddy, as usual, so good for her, I guess. Marcy cries and apologizes to Charlie and he tells her she's going to her mother's to detox. She objects, but Charlie's not hearing her. He's going to help her, if she'll let him, and he reaches for her. Sweet. She accepts his offer and they share a long hug, while she boo-hoos. I have to hope they're both going to be okay, but I have my doubts, unfortunately.
We continue the lovely melancholic music accompanying the Runkle scene on into the next; Hank and Becca taking a walk. Becca wants to know where they're going and we learn of Becca's assertion that nobody walks in LA. He tells *they* do and always will because they're New Yorkers. I guess that goes for Texans, too, because I walked every chance I got when I was in LA recently. Only way to see what one goes there to see, if you ask me. But anyways, Becca claims there's no such thing as 'always', just the right now.
This leads Hank to suggesting that Becca doesn't like him much right now, and she confirms his fears. He tells her again, meaningless though it may be, that he was wrong to do what he did and to be so glib about trying to right the wrong. We learn of Hank's teachings, no right or wrong, just consequences, and Hank admits he isn't liking the current ones. Becca doesn't like them either.
Moving on, Hank asks why she likes Damien so much. She says she doesn't know, but Hank insists there's something and she should use her words to express it better. He's really smart, she says, and Hank suggests they not go crazy. I snorted. Then she says Damien makes her feel pretty. Hanks tells her she is pretty, she's beautiful. Shut up, she responds, she's not beautiful. Hank stops their forward progress, gets face-to-face with her and tells her never to say that. She *is* beautiful, the most beautiful thing in the world to him.
"Then treat me that way!"
Touché. I've lost count of how many times Becca has punched me in the gut with her honesty, but she goes a little ballistic on Hank, and tells him how it is to be her, and how he's ruining his own life, along with hers. Makes me cry every time I watch it. What a precious child and what a beautiful mind under attack, and I'd give my right arm if Hank would never, ever forget what Becca said to him for a nanosecond again. Won't turn out that way, I'm sure, but it was a powerful, powerful exchange between them, and I cried more than Becca did. You go, girl.
Hank joins foreheads with Becca, then we hear Damien call to Becca from off camera, and we see him in front of his residence with the Kurt Cobain guitar in hand. Now we and Becca know why she and Hank went for a walk. Hank wanted to get Becca and Damien back together, ASAP, and it worked. Hank tries to appear innocent of Cupidity, but it's obvious he isn't, so Becca gives dad a big hug. Hank tells her to have fun, but not too much fun, she giggles, wipes the tears off her face and takes off for a reunion with Damien.
Cut to Hank's reaction, watching his daughter join her beloved, the big expelled breath and the pain on his face get me blubbering all over again. Don't ask me why, but I felt so sorry for Hank. He tries so hard sometimes but he really can't get out of his own way, and I just wanted to hug the poor cool guy and tell him I know he means well, and for that reason, everything's going to be okay. I just wish I really thought it would be. Nevertheless, David did another excellent job of making me feel what Hank was feeling (and hiding from Becca temporarily), and I empathized with him for it. Poor Hank.
I noticed Becca gave Damien a little peck on the lips before
she hugged him. Ah, puppy love. Hank calls
after Damien and asks if he can take him to
Either way, I thought it was strange, and things didn't get
any clearer when Hank let the idea slide so easily. Hmmm.
I'm guessing Damien had no idea about the Cobain connection, but had merely
made a coincidental remark about the guitar.
The scene ends with Hank smiling and saying, "Awesome," rather
languidly, so I guess that went well, regardless of why he offered to take
Damien to
The closing scene was the most redemptive of all, in my opinion. We have a beautiful barmaid, serving an apparently stood-up Hank at Marat. Hank asks for another drink of the BB, but she refuses. Why? Is he that sloshed, he asks of her. No, but if she's going to take him home with her, she doesn't want him at half-mast, is her answer, spoken all British-y. "Ow," Hank says with less verve than usual. I wonder if half-chubbed would be better.
But then, will wonders never cease? He turns her down! Gently, but he still turns her down. It reminded me of the way he talked to Surfer Girl in the first ep, like the offer was indubitably an attractive one, but this time he uses melancholy and his daughter's voice in his head as his excuse. I was so proud of him, I could've kissed him! Of course, I could say that any old time, but I had hope for Hank, for a change. As sorry as I felt for the poor beautiful barmaid who'd 'heard good things' (like ...all you gotta do is ask, perhaps? <g> Actually, I'm thinking he's got the reputation for a good time in bed, ya think?) about Hank, and as his annoying assertion that any other time, he'd be agreeable to her offer, I was still proud of him for thinking of his daughter and trying to change his ways, instead of taking the BB up on her offer, as has become habit for him.
I doubt she got the joke, when he told her she'd have to settle for, "The tip! Just the tip!", but I did, so I chuckled when he said it. When he says, 'get it, got it, "Good," comes out in a different inflection. He sounds almost ...southern, the way he says, "Good."
But then BB accepts his gentle letdown, wishes him goodnight, he kisses her hand and returns the sentiment. I also noticed a glitch in editing. Hank takes his cigarette out of his mouth twice, from two different angles, before he kisses BB's hand. Oopsie. Only, before he can gather himself to leave, Janie Jones plops down on the barstool next to him, asking first if she's too late, has he wet himself yet, then asks what they're drinking, before Hank can answer her first two questions. Hank's facial expressions are typically hilarious and need no words to answer her questions or end the episode.
And me, I'm thinking, 'Oh dear God. He's not only going to hurt the BB's feelings, but I'm probably not going to get my wish about Janie and Hank from last review.' I can only hope Hank's got the balls, strange as that sounds, not to fall into the sack with Janie. Maybe it's incredibly blind and hypocritical of *me*, but that just seems so wrong to me, for some reason. Equally, if not more wrong than what I saw in the teaser for next week; the potential of Karen and Lew together. The only thing I like about the pairing is how ferociously it will piss Mia off if Lew dumps her for Karen. Look. Out.
But it'll break Hank's heart, if that happens, just like it'll infuriate Lew if Hank beds Janie. I feel we're all being set up for this big huge showdown between Hank and Lew, which I suppose could end their already tenuous friendship and could even end the book project for Hank; Hank bedding Janie and Lew bedding Karen, all four of them trying to spite the others with the worst possible vindictiveness, using sex as a weapon. Not cool. They're acting like children, if that's where this is headed. And by the way, if Lew cuts those beautiful Moody cheeks with a straight razor, he's a dead man. I'll kill Lew myself, thanks. ;-P And yeah, if that Lew/Karen happens, I'm officially disowning Karen. She's hopelessly fickle and Hank would be better off without her. She treading water with me, anyway, and if she goes off half-cocked to half the cock she has with Hank, then there's no hope for her, as far as I'm concerned. She better not! ;-P
But she just might, and Hank might hop into bed with Janie, too, but I guess we'll see. I'm the patient type, tolerant even when I shouldn't be, so I'm going to hang in for the rest of the ride and see how it goes. Yeah, it all makes me uncomfortable, still, but again, I think it's supposed to, and I wouldn't have it any other way, truth be told. Always a fun ride, if nothing else, don't you think? Anyway, enough for now. Everyone have a great week ahead, and thanks for reading.
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