Idk what happened to this show. It was potentially the greatest show of all time up until the start of season 5. Somehow once that season started the writing just fell apart. The characters became less believable and less enjoyable, the plots became erratic and less interesting, and the show as a whole just became less genuine. This episode is a perfect case in point, as the flashback with Becca is essentially just cringe worthy. The actress that they chose to portray her is nothing like the actual Becca, and her dialogue and the way she acts is just as far off. The rest of the episode is filled with other flashbacks and conflicts where the characters act just as different. They've just become unauthentic characters who go through unrealistic plot turns that mostly feel like they're there just for the sake of drama and to find a bleak way to continue the show. Seasons 1-4 are some of the best television seasons to ever see the light of day, but somehow, very depressingly, the show just changed for the worse.
4 Reviews
My least favorite episode of the show - It's still not that bad though
mattiasflgrtll64 April 2019
Warning: Spoilers
After getting into a car accident, Karen is transferred to a hospital. Worried out of their minds, Hank, Charlie and Marcy wait to hear if she is gonna be okay or not.
Unlike most entries in the series, this one emphasizes much more on the drama than the comedy. Hence, you can't expect much in terms of funny moments, though there are a few amusing lines here and there, mostly from Charlie.
David Duchovny portrays the anguished Hank very well thinking over all the things he regrets and how he wish life could have taken a different direction. I like when he talks with another guy at the hospital who's waiting for news about his wife with cancer. His talk about how it's not about making your life as perfect as possible but rather doing your best to survive all the hardships is something that rings very true. As for the flashbacks, I thought the conversation between Hank and a young Becca where she asks him why they fight so much all the time was a cute little moment. This was before she would grow resentful of him after screwing up his relationship with Karen over and over again.
Unfortunately, while this had the potential to be a very emotional episode, it falls a bit flat most of the time. The dialogue is too on-the-nose, especially in the flashback scenes. We know Hank, Karen, Charlie and Marcy are best friends, but there's a better way to show that than just the characters saying "We are best friends, and I hope we always stick together". It's too melodramatic, and un-Californication. Karen's line "This doesn't change anything, you know" sticks out like a sore thumb as well. If everything goes back to exactly the way they were before, what was the point of making Karen get into a life-threatening accident? I thought the message was supposed to be how in a life-and-death situation, things you were mad about before seem so trivial now.
Definitely not the best of the series since it has its fair share of problems, but I wouldn't say it's a complete skip either. If you can get through some of the more soapy stuff.
Unlike most entries in the series, this one emphasizes much more on the drama than the comedy. Hence, you can't expect much in terms of funny moments, though there are a few amusing lines here and there, mostly from Charlie.
David Duchovny portrays the anguished Hank very well thinking over all the things he regrets and how he wish life could have taken a different direction. I like when he talks with another guy at the hospital who's waiting for news about his wife with cancer. His talk about how it's not about making your life as perfect as possible but rather doing your best to survive all the hardships is something that rings very true. As for the flashbacks, I thought the conversation between Hank and a young Becca where she asks him why they fight so much all the time was a cute little moment. This was before she would grow resentful of him after screwing up his relationship with Karen over and over again.
Unfortunately, while this had the potential to be a very emotional episode, it falls a bit flat most of the time. The dialogue is too on-the-nose, especially in the flashback scenes. We know Hank, Karen, Charlie and Marcy are best friends, but there's a better way to show that than just the characters saying "We are best friends, and I hope we always stick together". It's too melodramatic, and un-Californication. Karen's line "This doesn't change anything, you know" sticks out like a sore thumb as well. If everything goes back to exactly the way they were before, what was the point of making Karen get into a life-threatening accident? I thought the message was supposed to be how in a life-and-death situation, things you were mad about before seem so trivial now.
Definitely not the best of the series since it has its fair share of problems, but I wouldn't say it's a complete skip either. If you can get through some of the more soapy stuff.
does Karen live or die?
RavenGlamDVDCollector7 January 2017
Warning: Spoilers
AVOID READING THIS UNTIL AFTER HAVING WATCHED.
Not much fun this week, yeah. Episode is quite staid compared to the usual outrageous fare. But of course it has a different feeling to it. This is the episode where we don't know whether Karen lives or dies. As such, this is not the comedy half hour you come to expect from this laugh-a-minute super adult show.
Must say, my money was on Karen not making it. Right to the last I thought, this is too easy, too straightforward, too anti-climactic for this very mature show. Hank is gonna wake up there on the couch, having dozed off, the bit with the doctor saying "concussion, no internal bleeding" had been a dream... After all, with only three episodes left of the entire series, anything could have happened.
Turns out those back-flashes form a prequel to the happenings of earlier episodes. Just before Charlie had that fling with his secretary. Very difficult it must have been to get these people looking young enough again to be passably believable for these scenes to be from a time gone by long ago already. But they did succeed. And Natascha McElhone looks breathtakingly beautiful. She is an eternal classic!
{by the way, this is the only episode in the series that only needs a PG-13 rating, as there is no sex/nudity, even if there are still some references to such - it is also the only one where the religious sequence doesn't turn into sex, so this is kind of the only CALIFORNICATION episode not to step on toes (well, almost, not quite)}
Not much fun this week, yeah. Episode is quite staid compared to the usual outrageous fare. But of course it has a different feeling to it. This is the episode where we don't know whether Karen lives or dies. As such, this is not the comedy half hour you come to expect from this laugh-a-minute super adult show.
Must say, my money was on Karen not making it. Right to the last I thought, this is too easy, too straightforward, too anti-climactic for this very mature show. Hank is gonna wake up there on the couch, having dozed off, the bit with the doctor saying "concussion, no internal bleeding" had been a dream... After all, with only three episodes left of the entire series, anything could have happened.
Turns out those back-flashes form a prequel to the happenings of earlier episodes. Just before Charlie had that fling with his secretary. Very difficult it must have been to get these people looking young enough again to be passably believable for these scenes to be from a time gone by long ago already. But they did succeed. And Natascha McElhone looks breathtakingly beautiful. She is an eternal classic!
{by the way, this is the only episode in the series that only needs a PG-13 rating, as there is no sex/nudity, even if there are still some references to such - it is also the only one where the religious sequence doesn't turn into sex, so this is kind of the only CALIFORNICATION episode not to step on toes (well, almost, not quite)}
No point in this episode
djangovaal8 July 2014
Warning: Spoilers
This is a weird episode. It doesn't even feel like Californication. Maybe the biggest problem is the fact that it doesn't change anything, just like Karen says. It doesn't get funny, maybe a little bit emotional with the stranger who is married a long time with his wife and who tries to be inspirational. In later episodes it hardly matters. It doesn't make any sense to make or watch this episode. IMO it's the worst episode I have ever seen from Californication. There are absolute no new developments, Hank doesn't really change after this episode. Where is Julia in this episode? Why did we get those flashbacks (that weren't well written or well played)?
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