Californication: Difference between revisions

 

 

Duchovny plays Hank Moody, [[Anti-Hero|a ladies' man and occasional novelist who likes his booze and pot a bit too much]]. His life has slowly fallen apart as his significant other Karen leaves him and he fails to produce any kind of written work. After accidentally sleeping with Mia, the underaged daughter of Karen's new fiancé, he proceeds to write his new novel, "Fucking and Punching" (something akin to a present-day ''[[Lolita]]'') about the affair. [[No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup|One of two copies is stolen when his car is jacked.]] [[The Vamp|The other copy is stolen by his underage lover]], who is seeking to carve out a niche as writer for herself. In series two, the happy couple get back together until Karen starts a job in New York, leaving Hank back in abhorred Los Angeles with his daughter Becca, who has taken a liking to [[Los Angeles|the city of angels]]. During series three, Hank deals with Becca's puberty and his new job as a teacher. In season four, "Fucking and Punching" is revealed to be in fact Hank's book (and therefore reveals he slept with Mia), but he narrowly avoids a statutory rape charge. Season five picks up three years later, where Hank is working for a gangster named Samurai Apocalypse.

 

 

Not to be confused with the [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]] album of the [[Name's the Same|same name]].

** During season three, Ken Marino from ''[[The State]]'' made an appearance. He's best known for his character [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR1hI_Ikuv8 Louie], The Guy Who Says His [[Catch Phrase]] Over and Over Again. After successfully cock-blocking him, Hank tells him to make a cup of tea and "dip his balls in it".

** Charlie Runkle and Evan Handler are Jewish.

** Possibly invoked whenever Duchovny himself checked himself into sex rehab during the filming of season 2.

* [[All Women Are Lustful]]: And Hank has trouble saying no.

** Marcy and Charlie, to an extent, after {{spoiler|her son is revealed to be Charlie's,}} and {{spoiler|Charlie (literally) takes a bullet for Hank.}}

* [[As Himself]]: Rick Springfield, in season 3.

** [[The Name Is Bond, James Bond|Collini,]] [[Rule of Cool|out.]]

* [[Catholic School Girls Rule]]: Mia attends one, where nearly every girl is [[Jail Bait]]. Becca later attends the same school, much to Hank's chagrin.

* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: It's Hollywood so expect many bizarre individuals and [[Mad Artist|MadArtists]]; Eddie Nero and Samurai Apocalypse among others.

* [[Comic Sutra]]: Sue Collini knows [[Really Gets Around|way more than she lets on.]] Charlie has trouble saying no.

* [[Cluster F-Bomb]]: Lew, most prominently.

** Averted with Madeleine Martin(Becca), notable given this show is NOT kid friendly

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Hank.

* [[Deceptive Disciple]]: Mia

* [[Destructo-Nookie]]: [[Madeline Zima]] punches Hank while riding him. In season 4 Sasha Bingham does the same after being goaded into it by Hank, after she asked him how hard Mia punched him.

* [[Disposable Vagrant]]: Eddie Nero muses about going on one of his crazy escapades and invoke the trope. Hank and Charlie [[Facial Dialogue|look puzzled at each other]] and an opportune phone call prompts them to leave.

[ringtone] '''Hank:'''Thank God! }}

* [[Everybody Has Lots of Sex]]: Especially Hank.

* [[Fan Service]]: There is a ''spectacular'' amount of nudity in this series, with each season sporting about fifteen to twenty different nude scenes.

* [[Fille Fatale]]: Mia

* [[Flanderization]]: Charlie goes from a capable agent and helpful friend in season one with a weakness for kinky women to a retarded manchild in season four who will stick his weener in anything with a pulse and actually tells a sex story in court. Seriously, the man has been a very successful agent for twenty years prior to the series, he should know better than that.

** ''Vaginatown'', an artsy porn version of [[Chinatown]].

** Samurai's movie ''Santa Monica Cop'', a ripoff of [[Beverly Hills Cop]].

* [[Hollywood Law]]: When a cop arrests Hank in Season 2, [[Jerkass|he completely insults Hank]] for screwing up with Karen instead of [[Miranda Rights|just reading him his rights.]] When Hank retaliates, the officer [[Groin Attack|gets him in his sweet spot.]] It doesn't help that Hank's just had a vasectomy, but [[Balls of Steel|he recovers soon.]]

** Justified with Samurai Apocalypse. Samurai isn't arrested for shooting Charlie '' in the middle of a freaking movie set, '' but then again, [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money|he's a fucking mobster.]]

** During their first meeting, Trixie actually seems to care for Hank, despite the fact that he has nothing to pay her (and has an ugly confrontation with her pimp). Trixie is even a recurring character, and they form an amiable relationship soon enough.

** Jackie is told to be a great writer by Hank, who gets her to quit her job as a stripper. She responds by [[Wacky Marriage Proposal|proposing to him.]]

* [[Horrible Hollywood]]

* [[Hot for Student]]: Hank becomes a teacher in season three. You can imagine how that turns out.

** {{spoiler|Richard Bates to Karen, before she met Hank.}}

** Recreated later with the actress Sasha, only with Hank encouraging her to hit him ever harder.

* [[I Need a Freaking Drink]]: Richard Bates takes one look at Hank, one look at a whore he cheated on Karen with, and one look at Karen. He immediately downs a bottle of the nearest alcohol and [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here|gets the hell out of there.]]

** Samurai forgives him soon enough, especially after Kali professes her love for him.

* [[Interrupted Intimacy]]: Charlie has a tendency to be caught by Marcy at inappropriate times.

* [[Jail Bait]]: Mia, and she really cashes in on the jail ramifications.

* [[Laser-Guided Karma]]: Whenever Hank sleeps with a woman who isn't Karen, it will bite him in the back. ''Hard''. Even when the resulting mess isn't really Hank's fault. ''Especially'' when it isn't Hank's fault.

** Becca uses this to justify her getting high, claiming that it runs in her genes.

* [[Little Miss Snarker]]: Becca.

* [[Meaningful Name]]: Eddie Nero has a voracious appetite for... How shall we put this, "deviant" sexual acts. Deviant sexuality is long tied to corrupt morality, which is in turn tied to corrupt societies. Nero was a Roman emperor notorious for his debauched behaviour, and presided over a city that was equally notorious for this too.

* [[Method Acting]]: [[Crazy Awesome]] Eddie Nero, [[Big OMG|OMG]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnvhJD7nSBE Eddie Nero!] This is him preparing for a gay HIV plus role:

** It earned him the [[Academy Award]].

* [[Most Writers Are Writers]]: Hank and others. Philandering aside, Hollywood and literature are two of the main subjects.

* [[Name's the Same]]: This was grounds for lawsuit by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

** The case has not gone to trial as of late, however.

** Averted with Karen and Marcy, however.

* [[No Nudity Taboo]]: Bates. At least, [[Naked People Are Funny|while he's drunk.]]

* [[Naughty Nuns]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiaA9oooK1U The opening scene of Californication.]

** Subverted when we realize that the whole thing [[All Just a Dream|was Hank's dream.]]

{{quote| '''Hank:''' Hey, big guy! You and me. We've never done this before, but... desperate times call for desperate measures.}}

* [[Papa Wolf]]: Hank takes this to [[Berserk Button|varied degrees of overprotectiveness]] towards Becca.

** He immediately takes a disliking to every single one of her boyfriends, even if they aren't complete toolbags. And when Becca has her first period, he fights the husband of a woman who took the last pair of tampons in the store.

* [[Precision F-Strike]]: Becca.

* [[Really Seventeen Years Old]]: Mia, of course, doesn't reveal her true age until ''after'' she has seduced Hank.

* [[Sensitive Guy and Manly Man]]: Charlie and Hank, respectively.

** Subversion. Hank appears more traditionally manly, but it's often commented that he's "a lover not a fighter", and he demonstrates the capacity to understand emotional nuances much more than Charlie. Justified too, a writer would feasibly need to understand human emotions well.

* [[Screwball Comedy]]: Many crazy situations spiral into it, specially in Season 3 around Dean Koons' uptight family.

** In a flashback, Mia meets Hank while wearing [[Lolita|heart shaped sunglasses.]]

** [http://images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/2010425//425.pitt.lowe.lc.052510.jpg Rob Lowe's character] looks suspiciously similar to [[Brad Pitt]]

* [[Spank the Cutie]]: Charlie Runkle gets to do this to his secretary, to both their pleasure.

* [[Speed Sex]]: Charlie is haunted most of the time by it, given his usual performance. He seems to be improving in Season 5, which is fitting because Evan Handler [[Actor Allusion|seems to have lost weight for his role.]]

** [[Played With]] in Season 2. Hank is suspected to have syphilis, and Karen chides him and his sexual lifestyle. However, Karen has just had sex with Hank, [[Fridge Logic|and she never thinks that he may have given the disease to her as well.]]

* [[Taking the Heat]]: Richard spends a wild night with [[Drea De Matteo|some skank]] who shows up at his home the next day. A noble Hank sets-up a farce in a pure [[Screwball Comedy]] fashion where she is his girlfriend, so Karen won't be unhappy about the infidelity. [[Hilarity Ensues]].

* [[The Sponsor]]: Bates gets one, Gabriel, to help him quit his alcohol addiction. {{spoiler|They end up falling for each other.}}

* [[The Swear Jar]]: Hank Moody has this arrangement with his daughter - both ways. She gets most of the money.

* [[Totally Eighteen]]: Discussed when Hank Moody discovers the attractive socialite that seduced him at a book store (while reading his book no less) is actually 16... and the daughter of his ex-girlfriend's current partner. The mistake is a major plot point for the rest of the series as the girl in question keeps the threat of blackmail pointed at Hank.

** Hank isn't unsympathetic, it's just that there are many times where he doesn't believe that [[You Can't Fight Fate|there are consequences for his actions]] and [[Backhanded Apology|he doesn't always realize that sorry isn't enough.]]

* [[Wise Beyond Their Years]]: Becca

** Also Mia.. in some ways

* [[You Just Told Me]]: The way Marcy tricks Charlie to reveal the relation between Stu and Lizzie.

* [[You Make Me Sic]]: Hank's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGz6NdLBF2Y rant about internet-speak]

** Hank violently refuses, [[Papa Wolf|to avoid hurting his family.]]

*** Mia's agent [[The Stool Pigeon|tells the press anyways,]] so it wasn't like Hank had a choice.

{{reflist}}

[[Category:American Series]]