Californication: The Second Season

Californication has a penchant for shining a light on the dirty world of Los Angeles living. The tales of Hank Moody’s (David Duchovny) promiscuous adventures continue in season two, despite Karen (Natasha McElhone) leaving her fiancé at the altar for her id-fueled former fiancé Hank. Together with his daughter (Madeleine Martin) and the only woman in the world who could possibly love him for whom he actually is, Hank spends season two dragged into a world of drugs and rock-and-roll. Despite all the hilarity, it often seems that what’s so funny about Hank’s story in season two is that it isn’t funny at all. Mostly it’s just a sad tale of a man trying to come to grips with his life. Californication has a penchant for shining a light on the dirty world of Los Angeles living. The tales of Hank Moody’s (David Duchovny) promiscuous adventures do indeed continue on in season two, despite Karen (Natasha McElhone) leaving her fiancé at the altar for her id-fueled former fiancé Hank. Together with his daughter (Madeleine Martin) and the only woman in the world who could possibly love him for whom he actually is, Hank spends season two dragged into a world of drugs and rock-and-roll. Despite all the hilarity, it often seems that what’s so funny about Hank’s story in season two is that it isn’t funny at all. Mostly it’s just a sad tale of a man trying to come to grips with his life.

“Happily ever after” is never in the cards for a man like Hank, who proves that he is a loyal man in season two. Except he’s loyal to women, not a woman. As Karen learns of Hank’s misadventures during their time apart, she has trouble coming to terms with the man she loves. Hank’s professional life takes a seeming turn for the better as he begins an autobiography of music-industry icon Lew Ashby (Battlestar Galactica’s Callum Keith Rennie). Lew, as in “lewd” (ah, that’s clever), ends up being a mirror for Hank. If there’s a man in the world as messed up when it comes to women as Hank, it’s certainly this guy. The real problem with this storyline is that it undercuts Hank’s charm and wit by showcasing what a horrible womanizer both men can be.

That’s not to say Hank is a bad man. He’s still the same guy we were willing to follow into the bedroom during season one; and that’s the problem. Hank doesn’t grow or learn throughout the season. For a show so focused on its characters, Californication drops the ball with its lead. Charlie Runkle, Hank’s agent, on the other hand, goes through many transformations. First he’s fired from his job for masturbating more than a masturbating bear. Then he meets Daisy (Carla Gallo), a wannabe porn actress. And just to make things interesting, Marcy (Pamela Adlon) gets heavily back into cocaine. For pure comedy and absurdist humor, there’s nothing better than the Runkle family adventures, whether it’s Charlie putting his quick-draw bedroom technique to use to help get a porn film finished or his coked-out yelling at Marcy that, “You never listen to me!” This is the hilarious world of Los Angeles living that season one promised.

By season two’s end, Hank does come back around, getting through the turmoil of his life with that disarming smile intact. But at what cost to the viewer, who may no longer be willing to fall for his charms? The only reason to get Californication: The Second Season on DVD is if you’re a fan of the show. Only the show. You have no interest in learning more about the making of the series, or having something fun to watch in relation to the show. Showtime has gone out of their way to produce a set that is as barebones as the DVDs from the late ‘90s.

Included are some photo galleries, one-on-one interviews with the cast that I’m pretty sure are the same canned interviews sent out to websites during promotional pushes, and “Marcy’s Waxing Salon.” Pamela Adlon visits an L.A. waxing and tanning salon to wax some patrons. Anyone who is a fan of Californication will find no satisfaction in these sparse offerings.