S4E11: One of the things that makes Hank Moody such an interesting character is that he’s in a constant state of struggle. He never settles. He’s never satisfied. He’s always looking for more in his life, whether that’s more booze, more sex, or just more love. In fact, his actions are so engaging and go so unchecked that we often forget that they will always, inevitably, have consequences. So when everything catches up to him — like being found guilty of statutory rape — as an audience it catches us off guard just like it does Hank. Instead of being disgusted or taken aback though, we feel sympathetic because we loved the ride that he gave us to get to that point.
“The Last Supper” was about feeling and experiencing the consequences of not only this season, but Californication’s entire series run — and it was successful. Really, really successful.
“We wanted to throw you a ‘Hank Is Innocent!’ party but we had to work with what you gave us.” -Charlie
So Hank wants to run, again. At its heart, “The Last Supper” was about Hank’s realization of his consequences, but at the same time, it was about how much he didn’t want to accept those consequences. He would rather spend his days daydreaming and thinking of a better time. Facing his problems is hard. Running is easy. It’s not really hard to see why Becca is annoyed with her father. So Hank runs. Or at least, he attempts to run. Just before he can, he gets a call that pulls him back home where he finds a surprise party from his closest friends.
“If you’re careless with something long enough, it breaks. That’s how I feel. Broken.” -Karen
Simply, the party is great. Californication follows Hank Moody, but the foursome of Hank, Karen, Marcy and Charlie have always surrounded the show’s heart. To see those four together again — joking, laughing, getting high — was not only enjoyable, but necessary. As a viewer, I’ve invested a lot of time and energy thinking about these characters and their actions. They feel like an extension of my friends and family. Knowing this was probably the last time I’d ever see them together like this was sad, because Hank’s sentence finally felt real. He finally stopped trying to run away from his problems, and when he actually sat down to accept them, we saw that the impact expanded beyond just Hank Moody. It affects everybody. And there’s nothing that we can do to fix it.
