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| Left to right: Ellen Burstyn and Louis C.K. |
Welcome to the return of TV Recap on the FX comedy series Louie. After over a year off, Louis C.K. returns to TV with one of the most innovative, funny, and disturbing shows on TV. Join me as I chronicle season four's highs and lows and see just where he winds up next. His irreverent take is sure to keep you laughing and with back-to-back episodes, double your pleasure on a weekly basis with recaps every Tuesday and Wednesday unless specified. So join the fun, watch some of the most innovative TV out there and bring your own thoughts into the discussion.
With the story officially underway, the saga that is the "Elevator" series is starting to take shape. Where "Part 1" was responsible for introducing us to the new characters, this one begins to establish the conflicts. Things aren't all roses for Louis C.K. and maybe the parallels between his family life and his neighbors aren't all that clear just yet. However, much to the show's credit, it hasn't settled for obviousness in its continuation. It is still as strangely jointed as we'd expect, and it also feels like some of the most mature work he's produced. It feels insightful.
The episode opens with C.K. buying food from a market that which he makes for his neighbors. He has lunch with Evanka (Ellen Burstyn), who tells him about her time as an entertainer. She was young and performed in a family group singing songs in Russian. Things are going well until he gets a call from Jane's (Hadley Delany) school about her being disruptive. He picks her up and has a talk about what is wrong with her. She claims that she hates school and finds many things about it contradicting. During a playground incident, she ripped off a girl's skirt for disobeying the laws of the playground. After dropping Jane off, she goes out with Janet (Susan Kelechi Watson) to discuss their daughter. During this time, it is discovered that C.K. has a disdain for private school because of his background as a blue collar, lower class worker who feels like private school will land her in Hitler Youth. Janet disagrees, feeling that it would be the best option for her.
Running into Amia (Eszter Balint) getting off the elevator, C.K. invites her to go out for some fun. They stop by the market and try food. Since they don't speak a common language, they try and interpret what each other wants playfully. Things are going well as they sight see around New York. They end the night with a feeling of exhilaration that makes a potential romance seem plausible.
The episode ends with C.K. doing a routine about how cannibalism should be more respected and what he would do in those situations.
Rating: 4 out of 5
I will admit that the issue with the "Elevator" story is that it isn't succinct without the other parts. My biggest gripe with "Part 1" was largely the lack of context. I felt like it threw us into the plot without much concern. I didn't know why we needed to care about the elevator, as the ending was kind of anticlimactic. Knowing that it was building somewhere, it was hard to discredit it entirely, but you wanted more. Yes, I have harped on wanting Louie to be longer, but with the jarring format that suggests that FX has no idea how to release episodes, it is hard to make a proper case. Maybe upon the "Elevator" completion, I will look back and grade as an entire package. For now, I can only judge individual episodes.
"Part 2" was very much an improvement over "Part 1." This is thankfully due to "Part 1" being the building blocks that set everything in motion. We don't have to worry about exposition any longer. What we now have is C.K. dealing with two ongoing stories: the conflicts of Jane and her weird and endearingly anarchic take on education as well as the immigrant neighbors. Evanka sounds interesting, even if I didn't believe her at first about being a comedian. It rang false, but she proved herself by the end.
Even then, the real strengths lie in the dynamic of C.K. and Amia, who are adorable in their mismatched pattern. Neither speak the same language and thus it creates some amazing conflict. The hair dryer scene in particular is a fascinating watch largely because it takes the show into territory that seems ambitious. It is miming of the highest quality. We see the routine of her taking a shower and the eventual payoff that comes with breaking the language barrier. It does seem strange how affectionate they are towards each other, yet it works as C.K.'s strangest date that didn't end up going into a depressing direction... yet.
However, what is more impressive is that this is essentially a minimalist episode. There isn't much to it beyond a few key scenes. From the lunch with Evanka to picking up Jane to talking with Janet to hanging out with Amia, there is a simplicity to this. I am not entirely what the connective tissue is just yet, but many of the scenes are caught up in people venting their frustrations. Janet is sick of their daughter being a nuisance. Jane is surprisingly well opinionated and hostile at a young age. The C.K. family is really strange and I predict that things are going to get stranger. Maybe not in a tragic way, but there has to be some perverse payoff from t his whole education riff, which has given Hadley Delany a surprise amount of intriguing material.
The appeal of Louie remains its increasingly abstract dedication to the realism of French New Wave and old school film. There isn't a lot of direct influence present to average viewers, but the choice to linger on conversations and let them play out add a sense of tension that only comes with the quiet moments. It feels real and the conflicts become present in clear ways. It is ambitious in its simplicity, which may make Louie one of the weirdest, more accessible forms of auteur film making crossed with occasional cannibalism jokes. By feeling more real, it feels more magnetic, and I cannot wait to see where "Elevator" goes. Even if it is just a string of moments tied together by these specific characters, it may end up paying off nicely.
The episode opens with C.K. buying food from a market that which he makes for his neighbors. He has lunch with Evanka (Ellen Burstyn), who tells him about her time as an entertainer. She was young and performed in a family group singing songs in Russian. Things are going well until he gets a call from Jane's (Hadley Delany) school about her being disruptive. He picks her up and has a talk about what is wrong with her. She claims that she hates school and finds many things about it contradicting. During a playground incident, she ripped off a girl's skirt for disobeying the laws of the playground. After dropping Jane off, she goes out with Janet (Susan Kelechi Watson) to discuss their daughter. During this time, it is discovered that C.K. has a disdain for private school because of his background as a blue collar, lower class worker who feels like private school will land her in Hitler Youth. Janet disagrees, feeling that it would be the best option for her.
Running into Amia (Eszter Balint) getting off the elevator, C.K. invites her to go out for some fun. They stop by the market and try food. Since they don't speak a common language, they try and interpret what each other wants playfully. Things are going well as they sight see around New York. They end the night with a feeling of exhilaration that makes a potential romance seem plausible.
The episode ends with C.K. doing a routine about how cannibalism should be more respected and what he would do in those situations.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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| Left to right: Eszter Balint and C.K. |
"Part 2" was very much an improvement over "Part 1." This is thankfully due to "Part 1" being the building blocks that set everything in motion. We don't have to worry about exposition any longer. What we now have is C.K. dealing with two ongoing stories: the conflicts of Jane and her weird and endearingly anarchic take on education as well as the immigrant neighbors. Evanka sounds interesting, even if I didn't believe her at first about being a comedian. It rang false, but she proved herself by the end.
Even then, the real strengths lie in the dynamic of C.K. and Amia, who are adorable in their mismatched pattern. Neither speak the same language and thus it creates some amazing conflict. The hair dryer scene in particular is a fascinating watch largely because it takes the show into territory that seems ambitious. It is miming of the highest quality. We see the routine of her taking a shower and the eventual payoff that comes with breaking the language barrier. It does seem strange how affectionate they are towards each other, yet it works as C.K.'s strangest date that didn't end up going into a depressing direction... yet.
However, what is more impressive is that this is essentially a minimalist episode. There isn't much to it beyond a few key scenes. From the lunch with Evanka to picking up Jane to talking with Janet to hanging out with Amia, there is a simplicity to this. I am not entirely what the connective tissue is just yet, but many of the scenes are caught up in people venting their frustrations. Janet is sick of their daughter being a nuisance. Jane is surprisingly well opinionated and hostile at a young age. The C.K. family is really strange and I predict that things are going to get stranger. Maybe not in a tragic way, but there has to be some perverse payoff from t his whole education riff, which has given Hadley Delany a surprise amount of intriguing material.
The appeal of Louie remains its increasingly abstract dedication to the realism of French New Wave and old school film. There isn't a lot of direct influence present to average viewers, but the choice to linger on conversations and let them play out add a sense of tension that only comes with the quiet moments. It feels real and the conflicts become present in clear ways. It is ambitious in its simplicity, which may make Louie one of the weirdest, more accessible forms of auteur film making crossed with occasional cannibalism jokes. By feeling more real, it feels more magnetic, and I cannot wait to see where "Elevator" goes. Even if it is just a string of moments tied together by these specific characters, it may end up paying off nicely.
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