Californication (TV Series) California Son (2007) User Reviews

The best of Season One

[MaxBorg89 · 10/10 · 9 January 2009]

California Son is the high point of Californication's first year, mainly because of its fearless portrayal of the lowest aspects of Hank Moody's character. It's bold, it's outrageous, and of course it's incredibly hilarious.

Just how low do you think a guy like Hank can sink? Well, how about this: after hearing his father Al (Mark Margolis) has passed away, he flat out refuses to go to the funeral. Okay, so he and the old man weren't on the best of the terms (the only one who always got along with him was Karen), but still - it doesn't justify going to bed with a prostitute (especially when you don't have the money to pay her).

The episode moves freely between flashbacks of Al Moody's rare visits to L.A. and people's memories about him in the present. Margolis is a great presence, his determination acting as a clear counterbalance to the more decadent approach to life Duchovny's character has, but it's the today section that really stands out, highlighting just how unbearably (and amusingly) flawed the show's sex-driven protagonist really is. Furthermore, what's not to love about dialogue like Hank and Charlie's conversation about Al? "He was a good man." "No, he wasn't. He used to say you looked like a walking penis.". Priceless

Writers writing fathers, and the fallout, 101

[hockey_kody · 10/10 · 30 September 2020]

I'm amazed that this episode doesn't have more reviews, because the writing is really top notch for television. After many years and a lot of growing up since I first saw this episode, this rugged piece of television still resonates - with myself and I'm sure a few more fans as well.

Rocking back and forth between the present and flashbacks - showing Hank in both his current, self-loathing state and his younger yet still bitter Hollywood self - this episode gives us it's prime example of our protagonist at his most vulnerable. Losing a parent is never easy, even when the relationship centres around a steadfast, but differing, belief in old-school machismo. Hank receives a call about his father's death and the episode builds with an emotional depth from there.

As many of us do in times of pain and as our favourite writer is known for, he decides to drown himself in sin; booze, cocaine and as he regretfully finds out later, hookers. Throughout this montage of debauchery, Hank attempts to show off his, "down to Earth," family life to his father - a loud, adulterous, but debatably good-hearted man. As it always does, the meeting and eventual dinner end in arguments and misunderstandings, which ultimately lead to the realization that Karen is cheating on him with Bill.

Both hilarity and sadness follow, which culminates in Karen coming to comfort him. She begins to read a tucked-away, unopened letter that his father wrote a year or two prior, leading into the fabulous Mark Margolis' voiceover. Grab tissues, I warn. It's all beautiful and outrageous and sad at the same time, and the ending is a step forward for Hank and for the show. If you could watch a single episode of this series, it is this one, and it should also be looked at as a brilliant piece of writing.