Josh Reviews Louie Season 4
After so thoroughly enjoying the second and third seasons of Louis C.K.’s amazing FX show, Louie, when I watched them this fall, I was excited to continue and to dive into season four. It’s a pleasure to finally be caught up with this phenomenally entertaining and clever show!
One of the unique aspects of the very first season of Louie was the show’s stubborn disinterest in continuity or anything resembling the usual narrative flow of a TV show. Louis C.K. would craft stories that would last exactly as long as he wanted them to, in order for him to make a point or get to a punchline. Each episode was a stand-alone story, and often within an episode there might be two, even three, entirely separate stories or sequences that had nothing whatsoever to do with one another. I loved this about the show. It gave the series a rapid-fire energy, and a very unique feel.
What’s fascinating about Louie season four is how far the show has now gone in the other direction. Here in season four, Louis C.K. has embraced longer-form story-telling. The first three episodes of the season are stand-alone installments, but even those three episodes begin some character-arcs and story-lines that will be carried through the season (most notably the issues facing Louie’s youngest daughter Jane). Then follows a six (!) part story, “Elevator,” that forms the centerpiece of the season. This is followed by two three-part episodes. “Pamela” is three separate episodes, interrupted (between parts 1 & 2) by “In the Woods,” which is a triple-length episode that was shown all in one night (sort of like a Louie feature film!).
I love both versions of Louie — the staccato pace of season one and this more complex, more in-depth version of season four. Both versions have their charm. Here in season four, it’s fascinating to see Louis C.K. take his time with the storytelling, developing his scenarios across multiple episodes. The show remains as weird and idiosyncratic as ever, but now the show feels more leisurely, more relaxed as the stories unfold. It’s an interesting spin on the show that I already loved so much. I applaud Mr. C.K.’s creativity in not resting on his laurels, instead pushing himself to experiment, to be bold and to continue to try new things with the structure of his show.
The season’s first episode, “Back,” is solid, but episode two, “Model,” is terrific. The Seinfeld stuff is fun (it’s funny seeing Jerry as such a cold prick) although I didn’t love this depiction of a more hapless than usual Louie. But then we are presented with the bizarre, almost Twilight Zone-esque scenario in which Louie gets picked up by a gorgeous young blonde (played amazingly by Yvonne Strahovski). It’s a hilarious sequence catapulted to another level altogether by the laugh-and-shock inducing moment that ends it. This is the Louie I had grown to love, at its random and crazy best.
I remember reading a lot about the season’s third episode, “So Did the Fat Lady,” when it came out, so perhaps my hopes were a little too high when watching it because I found it to be one of the season’s lesser installments. The monologue about fat girls by actress Sarah Baker was indeed a great moment. But I didn’t feel like the episode quite earned her tirade. Frankly, I thought Louie was being rather nice and polite to her, so I felt the anger in her speech was a little over-played. But I guess the context of the speech in the episode is less important than the content of the speech itself, which was certainly a fascinating viewpoint to convey on television. So I applaud Louis C.K. and his team for that.
Then we get to the six-part “Elevator,” in which we follow the slow blossoming of a romantic relationship between Louie and Amia, the Hungarian daughter of a woman in Louie’s apartment building. This is a lovely story, an impressively sweet and mature depiction of the relationship between these two adults. It was very interesting to see the show give this relationship the time to develop over the run of these six episodes.
Luckily, “Elevator” isn’t ALL about Louie and Amia, and we do get some wonderful digressions. In “Elevator part 4” we get an extremely memorable flashback to Louie and his wife Janet before they had kids. This extended sequence is very funny and, in it’s conclusion, staggeringly sad. That is an impressive combination of tone, something that Louie does so well. “Elevator part 5” contains my very favorite moment from the whole season — and one of the very best moments of the whole run of the show — in which Louie’s friend, comedian Todd Barry, tells the story of one of his average days.
I’m not sure exactly how I feel about the dramatic, Louie-versus-a-hurricaine climax in “Elevator part 6.” The apocalyptic situation felt at odds with the very intimate, small-scale story of the end of Louie and Amia’s relationship. I get the parallels, but I’m just not sure it worked, tonally. Though the scene of Louie preparing himself to go out into the storm was hysterical. I’m also a little bit puzzled by the apparently serious-within-the-context-of-the-show news reports we see throughout the episode, in which we learn that apparently the storm caused epic loss of life. (Poor LeBron James!) Although I usually love the show’s powerful disregard for continuity, all that death and destruction seems like a big deal to depict and then never mention again. (Sort of like the niece Louie adopted back in season two, who was then never heard from again.)
The triple-length “In the Woods” is one of the highlights of the show’s entire run for me. In this episode, Louie catches his eldest daughter Lily smoking marijuana. We then flash back, for most of the length of the episode, to Louie’s experiences getting involved with drugs at almost exactly Lily’s age. Considering that this episode barely features Louis C.K. or any of the show’s regulars, it’s impressive how this almost feels like the definitive Louie episode to me. It’s a fascinating way to express the challenges of parenting, and a wonderful glimpse into Louie’s past. The flashback was populated with some terrific guest actors, particularly Jeremy Renner as a drug-dealer who takes a shine to the young, goofily-inept Louie. It’s also a great depiction of how good kids sometimes fall down a rabbit home into serious situations that are way beyond their ability to handle.
The season ends with the three-part “Pamela.” (And how indicative, by the way, of the show’s devil-may-care approach to narrative that the lengthy “In the Woods” was actually dropped in between “Pamela” parts one and two?? I love that.) Louie’s friend and crush Pamela (played by Pamela Adlon, who played Louis C.K.’s wife on his short-lived HBO sitcom Lucky Louie) returns to the show. It’s funny, I loved the relationship between these two characters in season one and season two, and I really wanted them to get together. But here in season four, I wasn’t that into it. Maybe it’s because, here in season four, the two both seemed pretty terrible to one another in most of their interactions. Suddenly they seemed very un-compatible. It could also be that after the six-part “Elevator” saga that I was more invested in the Louie-Amia relationship, and wasn’t yet ready to switch gears and start rooting for an Louie-Pamela connection. So I didn’t entirely love this storyline, though it was redeemed somewhat by the funny, sweet, awkward final scene of Louie and Pamela in the tub. Heh. That sort of made the whole thing worthwhile.
You might have noticed in my previous Louie reviews that, for some reason, I’ve been fascinated by Louie’s opening credits. I loved the bizarre, meandering opening credits used in the first two seasons (set to that phenomenal, perfect song), and I was intrigued by the way Mr. C.K. played with tweaking the credits in season three. Here in season four, the opening credits are almost entirely absent from the show. I guess Mr. C.K. wanted more time for his stories, but still, I miss those opening credits!
Other comments on season four:
How great was it to see Charles Grodin in his recurring guest role this season as the crotchety Dr. Bigelow?? It’s great seeing Mr. Grodin on screen again, and this was a terrific melding of actor and character.
I also loved seeing F. Murray Abraham pop up in his third role on the show, this time briefly appearing in flashback as Louie’s dad.
I liked seeing Susan Kelechi Watson, introduced in season three as Louie’s ex-wife Janet, return this series. She’s fantastic, and I was glad we saw her several times this season. (Plus, I loved that this season someone finally commented on the mystery of how this beautiful black woman could have birthed two kids as white and blonde as Lily and Jane!! So funny!)
One of the most memorable moments in the season: when Louie, after having been woken up by garbage men, imagines that they have invaded his apartment to stomp on his bed. I know the feeling.
Conversely, possibly the season and the series’ biggest mis-step was the end of “Pamela part 1” in which Louie bars Pamela from leaving his apartment and repeatedly and forcefully tries to kiss her. The scene was deeply disturbing, and any comedy at the idea that, as Pamela says, Louie “can’t even rape well” was entirely lost on me. Based on the second and third “Pamela” episodes, it seems that the point was more about Louie’s recognizing how emotionally closed off Pamela had become, and his trying to draw her out. But boy as it played out that scene was terribly uncomfortable, with entirely inexcusable behavior from the show’s main character.
Over-all, Louie season four was another impressive season of television. Smart, funny, adult, weird, and definitely unique, Louie remains one of the most wonderfully distinct, entertaining shows of the last decade. I am thrilled to be finally caught up… and now I am impatient for season five!!