Every season of this show I do rather struggle to explain what it is about it that I enjoy; it is a comedy that is very light on laughs, and a drama that features too much absurdity to convince it is real, and at the same time it is far too personally focused to somehow reach the audience with universal truths. But yet I watch these rambling vignettes and enjoy them throughout previous seasons and again through this one. This is not to say that all is perfect, because there were some aspects of the stories here that I didn't really go with and didn't seem to have any grounding even within the world of the show far less without. These include the central language-less relationship of the majority of the episodes, which only worked when it pushed away from its root, while in other episodes the return of Pamela was a bit of a retread in some regards.
At its best though, the show works well because it is true to itself – as hard to define as that is. The dialogue scenes tend to push taboo subjects and include people talking in a way that feels like real people, even if it is absolutely unlike any real conversation I have ever been party to. Likewise the scenarios rely a lot of convenience in the writing, but it is the central honest that somehow makes it work; probably it is this that I appreciate and that draws me in – in that Louis CK's plays this out with an honest and personal touch which makes sense and is slightly touching no matter how low or high his character goes in any one specific scenario.
The cast list is starry, with even some famous faces without even a line; but even with these higher values, it is CK himself that remains the central figure and I could happily watch him by himself. Another typically obscure and awkward season then, but one that plays to the internal honesty and awkwardness that makes it mostly work and engage.
At its best though, the show works well because it is true to itself – as hard to define as that is. The dialogue scenes tend to push taboo subjects and include people talking in a way that feels like real people, even if it is absolutely unlike any real conversation I have ever been party to. Likewise the scenarios rely a lot of convenience in the writing, but it is the central honest that somehow makes it work; probably it is this that I appreciate and that draws me in – in that Louis CK's plays this out with an honest and personal touch which makes sense and is slightly touching no matter how low or high his character goes in any one specific scenario.
The cast list is starry, with even some famous faces without even a line; but even with these higher values, it is CK himself that remains the central figure and I could happily watch him by himself. Another typically obscure and awkward season then, but one that plays to the internal honesty and awkwardness that makes it mostly work and engage.
