http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/03/CALIFORNICATION----California-Son.aspx California Son is the most interesting episode of one of the most interesting series on television, CALIFORNICATION.  Since its debut, its chief protagonist, Hank Moody (David Duchovny), has revealed numerous different slices of personality: drug addled, funny, tough guy and downright incomprehensible – among others.   But in California Son we finally get a picture of where that all originated. Hank gets a call from a sister that their father died.  Hank hated him and said he’s not going to go home for the funeral.  Instead he goes on a rum and coke bender (and I don’t mean the soft drink) that ultimately gets him into a room with a gorgeous prostitute he doesn’t believe is a hooker.   When he finds out, he also discovers he has no cash, which gets him a beating from her pimp.  But in between we see flashbacks of Hank and dad during the latter’s last visit to L.A. and Hank and his girl friend Karen (Natascha McElhone) when they were still together that fills in a lot of blanks. Dad was something of an a-hole, a philanderer who was never there for his kids and was critical of them when he was around.  He never had a nice word to say about anyone.  He called Hank’s bald agent Charlie (Evan Handler) “a walking penis.”  And his philosophy of life seemed to be “Life’s too short to dance with fat chicks.”  You get the sense that one of the reasons Hank doesn’t like his father is because he is a lot like him.  Looking at dad is a little like looking in a mirror and Moody doesn’t like his reflection. But we also go back to where Hank, Karen and their child Becca (Madeleine Martin) first came to California.  You see Hank becoming disillusioned wit what the film industry was doing to his novel (and there’s a cameo by a great Tom Cruise look-alike here that’s not to be missed) and by the general lifestyle. en-US Critics Rant info@criticsrant.com Subtext Version 1.9.4.0 http://www.criticsrant.com/images/default_gravatar_bullhorn.png http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/03/CALIFORNICATION----California-Son.aspx 77 60 http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/03/CALIFORNICATION----California-Son.aspx#1703 ill watch anything with David Duchovny in it. although, i am not sure why. lol brokun1 http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/03/CALIFORNICATION----California-Son.aspx#1703 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 00:17:48 GMT