The Way to Feet A Lady

Thoughts on

 

 

 

Call me a sap, but gosh, I loved the first scene, for purely perverse reasons.  I was rendered all Bob-nostalgic again, right off the bat, just when I thought I was finally getting that behind me, learning to appreciate Hank for what's inside.  <g>  I'm only to stEP three, remember.  Nah, seriously, I already do.  But really, Blatant!Bob on first sight?  It was a little difficult not to notice, Hanky coming out all sleepy in his boxer briefs.  But okay, the image is taken away pretty quickly, thank goodness :cough:, and Hank goes to work putting Bob to work, to Karen's intermittent delight and disgust.  "What?  With your hands?"  Hee.  But it was cute and Karen getting all giggly made me grin from ear-to-ear.  What a horndog.  Maybe I shouldn't be, but I'm so-o-o jealous.

 

Mia is jealous, Mia is jealous, na, na, na-na, na!  The raised eyebrows and that 'knowing' kind of 'whatever/God they're so lame' look she takes.  Hank concerned for her health, asking about breakfast, awww.  Becca afraid to come out in her uniform, Hank making matters worse, Becca's assertion that she should be home-schooled, Hank's assertion that being a brick in the wall isn't cool.  All funny.   

 

Hank's reaction to the latest Lew band mirrored my own pretty well.  Yawn.  Ouch.  Lew and Hank together was enlightening, and I'm glad to see Hank taking the book thing seriously, writing it all down in his little notes.  Another bromance underway, it would seem.  But really, they're nauseatingly funny together. 

 

Ah, the team of hookers, led by the lovely Beatrice Trixie.  I love Judy Greer, for the record, really like Trixie and I'm stoked that she's back, and hope she shows up later, too. 

 

I feel for Charlie again, that nobody will even talk to him or have lunch with him anymore.  I'm still meh about Daisy and her budding relationship with Charlie, but I suppose the whole thing fits in well with Mr. Runkle's current downward spiral, alongside his adorable wife.  Charlie picks 'em young, doesn't he?   I’d say Daisy is about Dani's age, maybe even younger.

 

I haven't liked Julian from first sight, anymore than Hank did, but he seals my thorough distrust of him in his scene in this one.  Yack.  He's disgusting.  Not to mention, totally full of himself and a complete phony.  However, Karen's on to him, I think, which is quite refreshing, so I appreciated that part of the scene.  Way to go, Karen, woo!

 

The slam van scene was too much Runkle and raw porn-making for me.  Charlie's certainly seen enough porn that he shouldn't have been so aghast at the proceedings, I mean really.  I get where he might be clueless about how porn gets made and where, but please.  I can appreciate the father-type role he takes on, seeing himself as an agent who should act on Daisy's behalf, but I just thought his reactions were a little overdone.  He acted like he'd never seen a guy get a blowjob before and even we know better than that.  Slap me for saying it, but the director was the best part of the scene.  Yes, he's a complete scumbag, but he was brazenly funny and self-aware.  He knows he's a scumbag and isn't going to apologize to anybody for it.  I can relate.  <g>

 

How much did I love the toenail-painting scene?  A bit too much.  Really sweet, though, and I loved Trixie and Hank both, more than I previously thought possible.  Some reinforcing dialogue from Hank, and I love the determination he maintains through almost the whole day!  I'd sell my soul to have Hank paint my toenails, even blow on them, :swoon:, so I hope Trixie realizes how lucky she is.  I snorted at 'accidental oralist' and the particulars of what constitutes cheating, according to Hank.  'Whore Seasons' was good and Trixie's admission of actual feelings for Hank was, indeed, romantic.  Hank really got under her skin, and I certainly know that feeling.  Me, too, girlfriend.  Me, too.

 

Don't quote me, but I can see them together.  I saw a comment at Haven that Trixie could give up the hooker life and go to veterinary school (right on!) and I hear a lot of folks saying they'd like to see Karen crawling to Hank for a change and I, too, really like that idea a lot.  I think Trixie would be perfect for getting Karen on her knees.  Even if it was just a reverse-Bill scenario, where Hank and the Trix get together and it starts to look serious, so Karen freaks out and goes to war to get Hank back, like he did for her last season, that could be suffice.  Eh?

 

I don't care what anybody says about Becca, but she's, for real, Hank's daughter, and she rocks.  A prom queen, she is not.  She borders on adorable, but with just enough edge to keep her real.  I heart her a lot.  And I likey Damien.  A lot.  He's perfect for The Becca.

 

Hank at the drums.  I hope he doesn't quit his day job.  But he was cute, finding the keys to his chi, anyway.  Trixie's beautiful when she's angry.  And I, of course, loved Hank diving in to defend Trixie's honor.  The fight was stupid, but expected, and the way Lew ended it was appropriately ludicrous. 

 

More slam van.  I wish I cared about it, but I'll mostly fast-forward through that part, when possible. 

 

I thought Hank handled all challenges to his morality and marital fidelity with his usual charm and aplomb in the 'who's better?' scene, and again, such a silly thing for two grown men to even discuss. More silliness when Hank and Lew 'fight', but I still chuckled a few times, in spite of the silliness of it all.   

 

I, too, was a little displeased that not any of the Hank/Karen/Trixie triangle remembered them meeting before, being it was such a dramatic moment in Hank and Karen's story ...Hank all weirded out about his Dad dying and Karen going to extraordinary lengths to get Hank on track that night, yet none of the three remembers the meet-up, that he blew Karen off that night for the hooker?  Reckon the writers actually forgot that?  Wouldn't be the first time canon was disposed of, I suppose :cough:, but I'm still baffled at why they'd prefer none of them remembered having met.  Perhaps there was just much going down, including liquor and blow, that night and it seemed the least memorable thing of the evening.

 

Again, we have the heartwarming Becca and Hank scene, immediately preceding the Hank and Karen fight scene.  Getting a little too typical, but maybe that's just me.  Seems it's all Hank and Karen know to do; make love or fight.  There's no middle ground.  Like they can't really talk to each other, and I have to wonder why that would be.  But failing with his usual humor and 'excuses', it all came out, in that scene.  No beating around the bush or trying civility and compromise.  Just pure, agonizing truth.  Loud truth. 

 

And ya know, as much as I dug that scene, Hank defending himself admirably, the two of them really blasting each other with their equal iniquity and blame and logic, it was disheartening, just the same.  And naturally, Karen ends it by storming off into the bathroom with an unproductive "I hate you!"  That's how you end an argument, when you run out of ways to defend yourself, when the tables get turned on you and you can't swallow your own medicine.  When you don't have an answer, you cover it with, "I hate you."  Great.

 

I don't know if Karen realizes it, but nothing will ruin a good man like suspicion and false accusation.  They figure, well Hell, if she's going to think I'm doing all these bad things, even when I'm not, I may as well just do the bad things, live up to my bad name and have fun doing it.  You only live once, after all.  Men (and humanity, in general) will think like that.  It's easier to lower yourself to the perceived level than to rise above it, especially when you get no respect when you try to.  If it's hard, and you give them an out, they'll do it the easier way, and giving into temptation has been the easier and more attractive way since Adam and Eve. 

 

Karen's cutting off her nose to spite her face, trying to stay one step ahead of Hank, always fearing and even believing the worst about him, and the two of them will never make it, if she doesn't get past this unpleasant habit of hers.  You could argue that she has reason for the paranoia.  She's twice-bitten gun-shy, sure, but she's been blinded by it, seems to forget she's perpetrated the same basic marital crime against him before, and it'll have to change or Hank will never be the guy she wants him to be, because he has no incentive to endure the hardship of rising to that level of perfection.  He'll be the guy she thinks he is, and whether she knows it or not, she's viewing him through a cracked lens. 

 

I'd love to see Trixie straighten her out, even if it was just to give Karen a good talking to.  Somebody needs to, and Hank's not really in a position to.  Becca would come closer than Hank, and with the mouth on her, Mia could probably do it in 25 words or less and leave her stinging for a while, to boot, if motivated to.  But Trixie has proof of Hank's valiant attempts to stay true to his love for Karen, and it would make my day, if an enlightening situation would happen between the two of them.  Karen could learn a lot from Trixie, as stupid as it sounds. 

 

Funny thing is, Karen thinks she already has and it's the one thing about Trixie that's really of no consequence to Karen now.  Like Hank alluded to, it happened in the past, while they were apart, because she left him for Bill, and it means nothing and she's wrong to let it come between her and Hank now, to let it gnaw at her.  The only thing she's chosen to learn from Trixie thus far, is that Hank was "sleeping with prostitutes," plural, while they were apart. 

 

So what if he was?  He's not now, even when offered services, and that's all she needs to know, if she really wants this current thing between her and Hank to work out.  Seriously.  She's using the past to base her future on, and where it's often necessary to avoid repeating it, she's merely making it happen all over again with her ceaseless paranoia and suspicion.  It's really so unfair to Hank.  Nevertheless, I was proud of him for standing up for himself.  They both made good points, but my own personal poll shows a win for Hank in the that debate.  If she ever had the lead at all, she blew it for me with the "I hate you!" nonsense, but that's just me.   

 

My heart ached for Hank at the end.  Again.  So much for the smoke and drink abstention.   But really, who could blame him?  Like I said, he's not getting credit for his pain and hard work, so why not just smoke and drink and screw, like Karen thinks he is, anyway.  He'll never convince her to trust him, regardless, so why suffer?  He looked so defeated, and he was.  Very sad, and I don't think they'll be together long.  I guess it makes the show more interesting, when Hank has something to fight for, nothing to lose and everything to gain, but the realization of the opposite coming to be, everything to lose and nothing to gain, is pretty painful to watch.  I hate seeing him frustrated and heartbroken, just like always, but I guess it's what makes the show go around, eh?   What fun would Happy!Hank be?  

 

Knowing what I know, I know it won't get any better next week, and that it'll get a lot worse before it gets better for Hank.  Nevertheless, you'd have to kill me to keep me from watching it all come down to the season (series?) finale.  They do keep me guessing, yes indeed-y, and I'm still entirely energized about the rest of the season, regardless.  It's Californication, or death, for me.  <g> 

 

I hope you'll wish me the former, and heck, even join me.  Later. 

 

 

 

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