It has been many a year since I have been this drawn into a show of fictional characters. It was like finishing a great Russian novel. Full of great stories with twists and turns and more characters than you can keep up with. Miss an episode (or a chapter) and miss out on the development.
Great writers, actors, and pop stars made appearances or were referenced. I believe my favorite was the reference to Tolstoy's Anna Karenina near the end of the series, or when Hank was compared to "a poor man's" Bukowski or directly titled "Bukowski" himself by the mother of his child. (Though some will say Hank's character is the the main character from most of Bukowski's novels.)
I could relate all too well with Hank Moody. He was a former rocker who became a writer. He had a beautiful and intelligent daughter (Becca) that seemed to teach him more than he let himself be open to; & he had an odd, and usually astringed, relationship with Becca's mother Karen. One could always tell that Hank had good intentions but they never worked out for him. Karen was always seeing Hank caught up in messes he really wasn't interested in, but looked bad as Karen walked in on him. No matter what he said or tried to do, he was always a snare away from disaster.
Becca's character was always a blast. Well behaved and always wanting to learn. A great touch to the series was when her Thanksgiving Prayer. A Satanic Prayer of gratitude to the meal where the bravest of the family Hailed, Satan with her. She was also shown in an episode reading the Satanic Bible by Anton Levay showing that she wanted to be well informed and study life for herself. (Too bad she wasn't shown reading his Satanic Witch. But that may have been lost in the less Church of Satan savvy watchers.) As the series progressed one sees her become a young adult living life on her own and took what was given to her while finding her own existentialist freedom.
Each season was well acted and well written. I really felt they just kept getting better as they progressed. Sue Collini (played by Kathleen Turner) is a riot of a character that is only more humorous when one remembers her preference as "Serial Mom". The fact that the character Krull really was a member the Sex Pistols. Plus the battles of the Runkle family seem to hit home for anyone who has wanted adventure in life and just didn't know how to do it without damage.
Some will say that the series ended with too much left unfinished. But I feel this added to the main theme that the main character was a writer who rarely was able to write. He couldn't finish what he started on paper, or in his own life. It also goes back to my reference of 1800's Russian Novels. Too much was going on to wrap up every little piece of the story. It lets the viewer's imagination take over and that is where the best forms of art leave off, "Where the audience can take it with them and still find happiness and enjoyment".
For any parts that I missed, and the interesting relationships of the members of the acting staff:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Californication_(TV_series)
Great writers, actors, and pop stars made appearances or were referenced. I believe my favorite was the reference to Tolstoy's Anna Karenina near the end of the series, or when Hank was compared to "a poor man's" Bukowski or directly titled "Bukowski" himself by the mother of his child. (Though some will say Hank's character is the the main character from most of Bukowski's novels.)
I could relate all too well with Hank Moody. He was a former rocker who became a writer. He had a beautiful and intelligent daughter (Becca) that seemed to teach him more than he let himself be open to; & he had an odd, and usually astringed, relationship with Becca's mother Karen. One could always tell that Hank had good intentions but they never worked out for him. Karen was always seeing Hank caught up in messes he really wasn't interested in, but looked bad as Karen walked in on him. No matter what he said or tried to do, he was always a snare away from disaster.
Becca's character was always a blast. Well behaved and always wanting to learn. A great touch to the series was when her Thanksgiving Prayer. A Satanic Prayer of gratitude to the meal where the bravest of the family Hailed, Satan with her. She was also shown in an episode reading the Satanic Bible by Anton Levay showing that she wanted to be well informed and study life for herself. (Too bad she wasn't shown reading his Satanic Witch. But that may have been lost in the less Church of Satan savvy watchers.) As the series progressed one sees her become a young adult living life on her own and took what was given to her while finding her own existentialist freedom.
Each season was well acted and well written. I really felt they just kept getting better as they progressed. Sue Collini (played by Kathleen Turner) is a riot of a character that is only more humorous when one remembers her preference as "Serial Mom". The fact that the character Krull really was a member the Sex Pistols. Plus the battles of the Runkle family seem to hit home for anyone who has wanted adventure in life and just didn't know how to do it without damage.
Some will say that the series ended with too much left unfinished. But I feel this added to the main theme that the main character was a writer who rarely was able to write. He couldn't finish what he started on paper, or in his own life. It also goes back to my reference of 1800's Russian Novels. Too much was going on to wrap up every little piece of the story. It lets the viewer's imagination take over and that is where the best forms of art leave off, "Where the audience can take it with them and still find happiness and enjoyment".
For any parts that I missed, and the interesting relationships of the members of the acting staff:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Californication_(TV_series)
