Californication

Season three of Californication ended with a punch to Hank's stomch; or maybe his groin, to be more specific.

On the season finale, just as the womanizer chose to settle down with Karen, he received a surprise visit from Mia. The end result, and final scene, was of Hank being dragged away in handcuffs, as Karen and Becca look on helplessly.

"I always thought that it would be the right endpoint," series creator Tom Kapinos told TV Guide. "That secret with Mia — the fact that [Hank] slept with her and Karen doesn't know about it — is such a huge part of the show and was a huge part of the pilot. To a degree, by the time you get to Season 3, the audience had kind of forgotten about it. So it felt like the right time to bring it back. On another show you might wait to the end of the series to answer that question, but I always vaguely knew that's how I wanted the season to end."

Where does this cliffhanger leave Hank in season four?

Kapinos wouldn't reveal any detailed spoilers, but did say:

"For three seasons, I've had a character who's seemingly unaffected by everything. He skates through life, there are no consequences. I think what we're going to be dealing with next season is consequence. At some point, that character has to be rocked by the choices he makes. That doesn't mean the show is no fun anymore, but I think it's time to deal with consequences of your actions."

With Hank in the legal system next year, how will Karen respond? That's a central issue, Kapinos confirmed.

"Can Karen ever actually get over something like that? That's certainly what we'll be exploring in the season or seasons to come," he said.

Do the Californication writers know how to execute a season finale or what?!?

Though many of us have found some of the episodes this season to be a little wanting, this season's finale, called "Mia Culpa," was a total knock-out! Check out our episode guide for a complete recap of the finale!

Californication is so great because it marries cutesy adult-themed shenanigans and trashy banter with real drama. And they pulled out the drama big time for this finale! (I must admit, I got teary-eyed more than once this episode.)

It seems that the key to this show is ending the season with a dramatic twist in the Moody family story line.  This isn't a show about sex! It's a show about a family - if you take a look at each season's finales, you can see that this is what keep the viewers coming back for more:

Season 1 Finale: "The Last Waltz" - In a dramatic final scene, we see Hank rescuing Karen from her wedding, and running off with her and their daughter -  we were so excited to see what the future held for the newly reunited family.

Season 2 Finale: "La Petite Mort" - Karen gets a job in NYC, but Becca is heartbroken to leave LA and her new boyfriend. Hank makes a huge fatherly sacrifice to stay in LA with his daughter while Karen moves across the country - again, we are unsure of what will happen to the happy family. 

Season 3 Finale: "Mia Culpa" - This whole episode was quite beautiful but the closing scene was just masterful. After a series of unfortunate events, Hank is forced to come clean with Karen about his past with Mia. We don't hear exactly what is said between Hank and Karen, as Elton John's "Rocket Man" plays in the background, but what we see is raw, and quite poignant. Hank is taken away in handcuffs as a heartbroken Karen and helpless Becca watch on. Hank is a completely broken man - and again, we are left desperate to know what will become of the three of them. 

Bravo, Californication team - Bravo.

As always, we'll end this recap with a handful of Californication quotes and ask readers to comment on what they liked best about it...

Becca: I ended up sexiled with the nerd, the Michael Cera type. | permalink

Mia: That's the thing about secrets, Hank, they have a funny way of coming out. | permalink

Becca: We used protection! He had a condom in his wallet that he said had been there since high school. It wasn't love and it wasn't perfect or anything but I'm glad I did it, I got it over with. And i wanted to tell you first, because I wanted you to know that you didn't f**k me up. My life is tough and weird and unpleasant sometimes but I walk around knowing that I have parents who love me and care about me and who always try their best even if they screw up sometimes. I know I gave you a hard time when mom was gone, but I hope you know that I love you, Dad, and I always will.
Hank: Alright... um, can you wait till New York to tell your mom about this? | permalink

Lots of loose ends were tied up in the most recent episode of Californication, titled "Comings and Goings."  Only one more week till the season finale - we're all wondering what's to come for Hank Moody and friends!

Girls are so fickle! Didn't Hank try to break up with flings Felicia, Jill and Jackie for multiple episodes with no luck? These were the most persistent flings ever, right? But all of a sudden, Richard Bates is back, fresh out of rehab, and it seems like they have all forgotten about Hank Moody.  It sends the message that all different types of women are totally fickle in the romance department, trading one guy for the next - one day they're hot for teacher, and the next day, they're... well at least they're consistent! But weren't they all claiming to be in love with Hank just recently? It's all pretty convenient, isn't it?

You know that Hank was just so thrilled to find out that he'd be having lunch with all of those women with one common interest: ripping on Hank. But Hank would probably have preferred to be the butt of the jokes to having to hear Karen and Bates rehash their old romance! Would you blame Hank for being a little suspicious that Karen was so eager to jump in the sack after flirting with her old boyfriend all day? 

Is this the end of Charlie and Marcy? They are so dysfunctional, but you've got to love them! Is anything funnier then a Charlie and Marcy fight? Whatever happens in their romantic relationship, we really hope that we continue to see both Charlie and Marcy in future Californication story lines!

What do you think is in store for the Runkles and Moody families? There is a big secret Hank is going to reveal in the finale next week and we can't wait to hear what happens! Catch up on all the details from this week's episode in our recap!

The last few episodes of Californication have been picking up some steam, but the most recent one, titled "Dogtown," really stalled. The series didn't really build on any of the ongoing story lines; there also weren't any cutesy diversions in it.

It's disappointing with only two more episodes left in the season!

But this episode does do a good job reinforcing the integrity of Hank's character. From this episode, the top three reasons that Hank is a stand-up guy:

1. He stands up for Charlie's honor at the bar when some douche spills a drink on him. When the guy tries to attack their manhood, Hank embraces it - and embraces Charlie - with a nice kiss on the mouth - comfort with his own and other people's sexuality is so appealing in a man! 
2. When Hank sees a punk kid stealing from the liquor store, he says something. How many people would actually say something directly to the offender? Especially these days, when you never know how someone is going to respond, like when they pull a gun on you. So thanks Hank Moody for taking risks to speak up for what's right.
3.  His new tattoo is a symbol of his commitment to his family. He is above all else a family man - Karen and Becca keep him grounded. He can't help that all those other women just throw themselves at him. Hank knows what's important and he's committed to making this family work. 

Check out our full recap of "Dogtown" and let us know your thoughts!

A few of our favorite Californication quotes from the hour:

Hank: There's no reason you should let a professional misstep get in the way of some quality sixty-nining. | permalink

Charlie: No matter what they say, bitches don't like it when you f**k other bitches.
Hank: Word. | permalink

Hank: I think that ultimately they'll have to raise the white flag and just accept us for the emotional retards that we are, don't you think? | permalink

Girl-fights! Tonight's episode of Californication was full of them and we loved it!

Claws Out: Becca and Chelsea got into a real fight! The two besties break into fisticuffs when tempers flare over their parents' recent indiscretion. Unfortunately, we didn't see any of the action, but just hearing about it was reward enough. Oh, and seeing Chelsea's nasty black eye - nice work, Becca! So what if the girls are getting expelled? Becca was leaving at the end of the semester anyway to move to NYC! 

As an aside, can Hank and the gang really move as a family out to NYC? Could the show still go on if they were based on the east coast? The show is called Californication after all... 

Claws Bared: Karen has her claws ready to attack Felicia Koons. Her hatred for Felicia is pretty hilarious. When she finds out about the affair Hank had with her, she seems appalled! It's almost as if she is more embarrassed that he chose Felicia than she is angry that he'd cheat on her!

Even before she knew about Hank's affair with her, she hated the woman - gosh, she is so pretentious, isn't she? I love how Karen can't stand anything about her - she was even irritated at her ass-kissing with the school principal when she was trying to help their daughters out. All of the little facial expression and mumblings under her breath about Felicia are little gems in this story line! 

In another aside, does anyone know why Charlie automatically knew Marcy was hiding in Rick Springfield's trailer when he found the lobster in the cooler? Is that one of Marcy's weird sexual games? The girl has so many, it's hard to keep track. I'm so intrigued!

Check out the full recap of tonight's episode, "Mr. Bad Example," and tell us what your favorite moments were! 

A few of our favorite Californication quotes from the hour are below:

Charlie: Do you know how long its been since I've heard you say those three little words?
Marcy: Eat my clam? | permalink

Rick Springfield: Plus, you know, charity events are like ground zero for single p***y. | permalink

Charlie: Like your dream crush now, Marcy?
Marcy: It's like watching a figure skater fall. | permalink

Karen: (To Felicia) You say one more word to me and I will show you where Becca learned to throw down! | permalink

This week's episode of Californication, called "The Apartment," really made a huge comeback after last week's slump!

In the newest episode, Hank has a string of unsolicited visitors to his apartment, which results in games of hide and seek that are reminiscent of something out of Three's Company - we totally loved this week's episode! Did you? Let us know what you thought after reading our full recap of the episode!

For now, some musings on Hank and his female predicament:

Stacy Koons calls Hank the "girl whisperer," since women fall all over him even when he's such a jackass most of the time. There really is something special about Hank and Hank really nails it on the head when trying to explain to Becca why he behaves the way he does.

He did have good intentions with each of these women - with Jackie, he wanted to show her she had potential and could be more than just a stripper, with Jill he wanted her to have self-confidence again, and with Felicia, he wanted her to know that she deserved to be happy. But of course by being with these women and showing them how each of them is special, he's going to have them fall in love with him! Isn't that exactly what every woman is looking for?

But now that he's built up all these women, he's afraid to let them down, it seems. Is that why he's having so much trouble breaking it off with them? He has so many great opportunities to just end things, especially in this episode, yet he doesn't do ANYTHING!

Stacey asks Hank point blank if he loves Felicia - obviously he doesn't love Felicia, and things are falling apart left and right at the apartment, but he just doesn't say anything and waits to be saved by the arrival of Becca and Chelsea. Why doesn't he say anything??? It just doesn't seem realistic or true to Hank's character... it does make sense if the writers are just trying to drag out this storyline a bit further.. but come on!

I can't wait for this story line to come to an arc - let's get Karen back in there because you know she'll be kicking ass and taking names!

Here's a look at a few of our favorite Californication quotes from the hour:

Jackie: No more grinding up on middle-aged hard-ons for me, except for yours of course. | permalink

Rick Springfield: Nothing like the sound of a stripper's head on a hard-wood floor.
Hank: What the f**k is wrong with you?
Rick: What, oh you don't rough 'em up? Well excuse me George Bailey... | permalink

Stacey: You obviously have this thing with women, some very strong connection, that no matter what you do, no matter how big of an ass you are, they seem to respond - you're a goddamn girl whisperer! | permalink

Welcome to the mid-season slump! Talk about a boring episode! In the most recent episode of Californication, "So Here's the Thing," Hank almost breaks up with all of his campus affairs, but he doesn't succeed at all... so the 29 minutes of the show is pretty much a bunch of failures in communication - but not at all funny. There weren't even any witty one-liners this episode! Snore!

And iconic actor Peter Fonda made a cameo as one of Sue Collini's most important clients. There really was no story line here - he threatens to join another agency, and then concedes within 5 minutes - all within the same scene. Zzzzz...

Ah, yes! There was one redeeming moment of the episode! During Hank's unsuccessful break-up lunch with Jill, she sees her ex boyfriend who wasted years of her life (and most importantly, her reproductive golden years) in a relationship with her and who had dumped her because he wasn't ready for marriage.

But she almost dies when she sees him with a woman donning a huge diamond engagement ring. Hank's performance is stellar - he walks up to this "egg waster" and pretends to be his former lover informing him of STDs he may have passed on to him during their relationship! Silly Hank - those heroic acts won't really work in your favor is you're trying to get the girl to dump you!

We hope that next week we'll turn in the bore for some more of the man-whore and his usual shenanigans. Check out our recap of tonight's episode and let us know what you think!

As for our favorite Californication quotes from the hour, we've listed a few below...

Becca: Actually Dad, yes, this house is a bordello, because that's how it's run by you. | permalink

Hank: I do some of my best work from the bottom. You know why? Hands free - it's like sexual blue tooth. | permalink

Sue: You're Runkle, you'd whack it to a cat dancing on YouTube. | permalink

Karen is back in LA and she's kicking ass and taking names! 

Boy, does she have Hank's number - but, she's not too concerned with his sexual exploits - what she is concerned about is Becca. This mama bear feels threatened and the claws come out - against the Koons', who she criticizes for poor parenting, but look who's talking!

Of course, whenever a teenager is acting horrible, the parent is going to blame it on the bad influence best friend. Chelsea's parents are the cool aloof parents who aren't bothered by teenage rebellion - Karen is high strung when she hears the girls break into a wine stash to get drunk and find Chelsea's parents drinking as well. The Koons' are all too cool about everything - remember how Felicia responded to hearing about the girls' smoking Hank's pot? No big deal! Well, for Karen, everything is a big deal, especially when her little girl is so far away from her.

Now, I know that most teenagers are horrendous and irritating, but it's so much worse with Becca since she's like half robot or something! Initiating anger emotion sequence! It's so bizarre! She even whines in a monotone - if that's even possible...

Who knew that machines could develop attachments? It's funny that Becca doesn't want to leave LA because Chelsea is her only friend who accepts her for who she is. First of all, it's weird that Becca would be friends with the "weird kid" who doesn't have any other friends - Becca is archetype for popular: blonde, pretty and rich. Second, duh! No one is going to accept you for who you are in Los Angeles! Has she ever been to NYC? She'll have so many more friends there! Teenagers can be so stupid. Get her packing, Karen!

Check out the complete details of tonight's episode, "Glass Houses," in our recap and let us know what you thought of the show!

Among our favorite Californication quotes from the hour:

Hank: To our beautiful family, our black President, and my magnificent dong. | permalink

Hank: You look like America's next top smurf. | permalink

Rick Springfield: I made a girl come seven times once.
Marcy: Over the course of an entire relationship? | permalink

Hank: What are you doing moping in the fridge, 80's pop legend Rick Springfield is stealing your girl - not Jesse's girl - Runkle's girl. | permalink

Rick Springfield is in there stealing your girl. Not Jesse's girl. Your girl.

Indeed, Rick Springfield make a hilarious appearance on this week's new episode of Californication, as he brags about once making a woman cum seven times. Seriously!

Check out the official promo below and be sure to return to TV Fanatic after the episode ends for a detailed review of "Glass Houses."

This week's episode of Californication was called "Slow Happy Boys," but it's another installment of men behaving badly, with Hank and Charlie doing their usual thing and guest star Kevin Corrigan playing Hank's wayward former best-friend, Mike Zlosowski, or "Zlos."

Zlos just doesn't know how to behave in LA - apparently, he doesn't know proper etiquette for dealing with lap dancing strippers and misleading transexuals. He's getting an education this weekend, nonetheless.

Hank is screwing around some more with his student, Jackie. We like Jackie as a character, but it just gets annoying that Hank sleeps with everyone. It's totally predictable now, and since the romantic conflict between Hank and Karen is null (since characters are abiding by a "don't ask don't tell" policy), there really is nothing exciting about Hank's sexual exploits.

But, me thinks there is hope! Since Karen surprised Hank with a visit, tensions are sure to grow! A lot of what made this show great in its first two seasons was the family drama, and that has been entirely missing this season! (Becca being an obnoxious teenager does not count!)

And Charlie's behavior is once again reprehensible. I just don't understand it. He wants to be with Marcy, but then he ends up in bed with two skanky strippers in this episode? I understand that Marcy was angry that Charlie was potentially infected with some gnarly STDs from Daisy, but she didn't say they were finished.

She was just pissed off - why would we then go out and sleep with other women who are not Marcy, when he has been doing nothing but bitching and moaning the last few episodes??? 

Tonight's episode had cameos of Californication alum Daisy (Carla Gallo), and newcomer Stephen Root playing Sue Collini's wheelchair bound husband, Dickie. With each of them, we only got a taste, but it left us wanting to see more of them on future episodes!

Read our complete recap of tonight's episode, and let us know what you think.

Below, we've listed our top Californication quotes from the night:

Hank: Just warning you! Something post-pubescent and wicked your way comes. | permalink

Hank: Where'd that plane come from, 1987? You look exactly the same! And that smell! What is that booze, cigarettes and Drakkar Noir - it takes me right back! | permalink

Daisy: Let me tell you, this is some really pernicious s**t! My Vagina looks like downtown Baghdad right now. | permalink

Becca: Merry f**king Christmas. Can we go home already?
Hank & Karen: Shut up! | permalink