"Californication" Fear and Loathing at the Fundraiser (2007)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Michael Lembeck

Writers:

Tom Kapinos (creator)
Daisy Gardner (written by)

TV Series:

"Californication" (2007)

Original Air Date:

3 September 2007 (Season 1, Episode 4)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Meredith talks Hank into going to a fund-raiser. Karen and Bill are there as well. And so is the married guy Meredith has an affair with.

Plot Keywords:

Dog | Male Female Relationship | Writer | Los Angeles California | Family Relationships

Cast

David Duchovny	...	Hank Moody
Natascha McElhone	...	Karen
Madeleine Martin	...	Becca Moody
Madeline Zima	...	Mia Lewis
Evan Handler	...	Charlie Runkle
Rachel Miner	...	Dani
Chris Williams	...	Todd Carr
Damian Young	...	Bill Lewis
Camille Langfield	...	Sandy Carr
Amy Price-Francis	...	Meredith
Kathy Christopherson	...	Nikki Mandel
Robert Merrill	...	Jonathan Mandel
John Scarangello	...	Hollywood Jerk

Runtime:

29 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Company:

Aggressive Mediocrity

Quotes:

Hank Moody: [Charlie hugs Hank] Oh, big boy... are you crying?
Charlie Rumkle: A little.
Hank Moody: Jesus Christ.

Movie Connections:

References Splash (1984)

Soundtrack:

Meu Esquema

"Oh, big boy... are you crying?"

Hank, Hank, Hank: always looking for trouble, whether he's invited or not. But can you blame him? He's reasonably good-looking and he's got charisma. Plus, he's played by David Duchovny. That's gotta matter in some way.

The fourth episode of Season 1 shows a partial expansion of the subplot introduced in the previous half hour, namely Charlie's discovery of his secretary's S & M tendencies. Hank tries to help him deal with the awkward situation, while also coping with a difficulty of his own: Meredith, sick of just spending the day in bed, has convinced him to go with her to a fund-raiser. Things get interesting (read: embarrassing) when Hank meets Bill and Karen at the event, and even more so when he runs into the married guy Meredith is sleeping with when not seeing him.

The show's classic recipe of bizarre social comedy combined with explicit sexual humor is sued in yet another inventive fashion when both aspects combine in the last section of the episode, with a particularly hilarious bit involving Duchovny, McElhone and a fairly outrageous use of the C-word. Still doesn't beat Larry David's take on it in Curb Your Enthusiasm, though...