From SHO.com:

Mia is still fucking insane. NOT SO MUCH, but still up there. All I wanted was for Karen to find her on the other side of the bed! "You're a good little sociopath." Speaking of which, will someone PLEASE lock that pedophile teacher up already? He's just...nasty.

Was I the only one thinking Charlie would get caught in this episode, because I was certainly hoping for it. At least his wife is more appealing to me this week, even if she screamed in pain during what was SUPPOSED to be the interlude to a reintroduction of wedded bliss.

I don't know what it is about married couples on television shows, but I always get sad when something starts driving them apart. I really don't like the secretary or Charlie because of that.

Speaking of people I like seeing stay together, I really loved all the Hank/Karen interaction this week. And Becca's minor scenes were very nice. I loved Hank crying about his little girl growing up to become a rock star. And I also think it's finally a good time for me to become a Hank/Karen shipper. He didn't 'run for the hills', I don't think. I say she pushed him.

And even when he's not in town, Bill still manages to be a tool. Anyone surprised?

It is still far too predictable, but this show is growing on me. Favorite scene: Hank as the lone male at the breakfast table with three women he is intimate with, albeit in different ways. Comparing himself to the absent Bill and knowing they are comparing him, too. It was sweet, but I'm not sure sweet is what they should be going for.

Wish they would lose the Evan Handler character. His scenes are the emergency brake of every episode and they were tonight. Not his fault. He is working with what they give him. But still.

Really, the only reason I continue to watch this show is for the Mia/Hank scenes.

After this episode, I have to admit to myself that I am falling in love with this show. I found this episode very well acted, very well directed, and very well written.

I watched this episode in bed, listening on headphones while my wife was trying to get some sleep. During the scene with Charlie and his wife trying new things in bed, I was uncontrollably laughing as quietly as I could. My wife woke up half-way and gave me a look like "What the fuck is wrong with you?" and went back to sleep. Sorry, honey!

Once again Mia breaks Becca's heart. It is hard for me to totally hate Mia because I also feel sorry for her. I thought the scenes between Hank and Karen were electric. Hank realizing Becca is growing up is a story line that cuts a little close to the bone for me. The surfer girl story line, while maybe not plausible in real life, is something I am willing to accept within the reality of this show. I really liked the contrast between Ms. Right (Karen) and Ms. Right Now (Surfer Girl).

I hope we see Disapproving Checkout Girl again because I thought she was kind of cute.

I laughed, I cried, I wanted more nudity.

I wish Surfer Girl hadn't brought his stuff back. Or that Mia's essay was more cutting (she has it in her). Because it would be an interesting change if just once Hank wasn't affirmed in his own adorableness. Because he isn't that adorable.

That cashier should be a television critic - her rolled eyes provided a wry commentary on what passes for 'writing' on this show.

This episode was better but I do have one gripe. Duchovny/Hank was born in 1960. I know both are well read and versed in music/literature, so I'll give him his Bob Dylan lyrics love, but someone Hank's age/attitude etc. would probably have been more of a Clash, X etc fan than a Stones fan. His love of all things Rolling Stones just doesn't ring true to me.

I also figured out what the opening credits remind me of...a mid to late 80's music video from someone like the aforementioned band X.

"Some Girls" came out in the summer of 1978, just before Hank's freshman year in college. By this point the Stones already had a huge body of work, and delivering a masterpiece at this point in their career was amazing. I can totally believe that a 12-year-old Hank got hooked on the Stones long before anyone had heard of the Clash. "The Clash" came out in 1977; "London Calling" in 1979. This may have been after when Hank made his musical choices. Plus as we have seen, Hank has a hard time moving on from the familiar to the new.

A good point about the "familiar" Two Dollar Toll, but I just can't shake the fact that his "Stones-phile" is anachronistic. Hank more than likely went to an East coast school in the late 70's/80's, than on to some master's/writer's program through the mid 80's. The Stones by then were very passe to the musical intelligentsia, and though he may still enjoy their body of work...which probably peaked in the early 70's "Exile on Main Street" etc... to be a "fanatic" of the Stones i.e. buying Keith Richards t-shirts etc for a supposed "hip" person/writer like Hank rings false.

I understand the metaphor that the Stones/LP's etc represent to the character but the albums of his "youth" (that is his )early to mid 20's etc. would be more along the lines of Husker Du, Replacements, REM et. al.

Just a gripe of mine as a Gen X'er I suppose (I'm 5 years younger than Hank and as a teen was also a Stones fan but moved on) that the 1960's culture represent all things rebellious or "true" rock and roll.

It's true that Some Girls was everywhere in the summer of 1978 and, if I recall correctly, there was a "yuge" tour to go with it. So it's not unbelievable that Hank would appreciate the Rolling Stones. But they were already past the point where a teenager trying to establish his own identity would tribally identify with them unless that teenager was one who lamented that he'd missed the Sixties by a few crucial years. I remember some kids like that. Thing is, based on what we know of Hank's character in 2007, I can't conceive of what kind of kid he would have been. Hank is actually pretty conventional (although whether it's Hank that's conventional or the writers' conception of him, who knows?). Maybe the writers want us to conclude that Hank is not so cool as he pretends as evidence by his attraction to the safe, cliched rebellion of the Rolling Stones. Or maybe the writers simply want us to make a connection between the debauched narcissism of the Rolling Stones, and Mick Jagger specifically, and Hank's own debauched narcissism and they're willing to live with the anachronism. Or maybe the writers are actually as shallow as Hank and actually think the Rolling Stones are cool and are comparing themselves to the Rolling Stones, although that would be some stone cold arrogance. It's hard to tell with this show.

Marcy didnt like getting her butt smacked. her cursing and rolling over just cracked me up, they need to show more of her, she's a wonderful actress. Her conversation with her husband discussing bdsm was just beyond funny.." you want me to beat you up?" " you want to beat ME up?" lol and the safe word " dont pee on me" LMAO

I found that really inconsistent with her, "Let's have sex right now!" attitude from last week and the fact that she works in a spa in L.A. She's never heard of S&M? Or spanking? What is she, 16? No, wait, that's Mia.

Gen X is considered 1965 -1975/76. Hank would still be considered Baby Boom being born in 1960. Also, you don't have to be a certain "age" to enjoy a particular type of music.


Cause then she's not in control. She loved the idea if she were the one smacking Charlie. Otherwise, ho hum.

I liked Hank with the hot pink shirt being "normal"ish...for him anyway. He should have taken Mia home and called the cops on the teacher. Blech. Maybe he could get a gig teaching there. He at least has published work.

Mia & Hank will get found out soon enough, I have no doubt. I like that he's flustered by her, though, even if I don't entirely buy her character. Madeline Zima a good actress.

Becca is a little too precocious for me, though.

I had a different take on that scene. I saw it as a moment of Hank experiencing the kind of life he could be having if he wasn't such a screw-up. And the spell was broken when Bill, the person whose life this really is, called.

I didn't think I was going to make it past episode 2 or 3 of this show but, although I started out only liking Becca, it seems that with each episode I see something new in a character that makes them more appealing/less of a caricature. Also, I admit that the fact that it's only a 30 minute commitment makes it easier to deal with.

That cashier should be a television critic - her rolled eyes provided a wry commentary on what passes for 'writing' on this show.

Love the uberpretentious username. Makes sense.

True. I thought she'd be up for it especially after all that begging for sex. Then the WTF reaction... Odd.

It didn't seem to me like she'd never heard of these things -- it just seemed like she wasn't into it. I'll agree with isiscloud that she would have tolerated it a little more had she been the top, but even then I don't think it would have been a turn-on. Plus, she was grossed out that Charlie wanted to pee on her. That doesn't mean she's never heard of people doing that, it just means she doesn't want him to do that to her.

If they bothered to give Hank more depth than "heart-of-gold-bad-boy" it would be part of his character to be in love with a youth that was not his own and in doing so, totally missed his own viable youth movement. In Hank's formative years, rock's rebels had become decadent millionaires and the new rebellion was punk. To paraphrase, "If you can remember the music of the 60's you weren't there."

And Becca onstage just sealed the deal that this show should be retooled to be more about her.

I found this episode to be the worst-written and directed one so far.

I know were only a few eps into this, but where is the backstory? When, why etc did Hank's wife (I can't even think of her name) move to the west coast? How long did Hank, his wife and robot child live together??? What brought their relationship to a close as it were?? Questions,questions, questions.

The Rolling Stones thing with Hank continues to grate with me as well...sorry, I just can't get over that.

Yeah, I think it's pretty weird that Karen and Bill had to have been together for some time now and Hank had never met Mia and it seemed like he barely knew Bill. Seeing how much he has been to their house in the series, it evoked quite a bit of suspension of disbelief.

He said in the last episode that it was a decade long love affair, which was probably him rounding off. Becca said that she was born about 9 months after they met, assuming she was born in late 1994/early 1995, it would be about 1994-2004+ that they were together. And they probably been in LA for several years. I think Mia said it's been five years since Hank has published anything and I'm sure that the move from NYC had something to do with that.

One of the best things about this show, imho, is the character development. What you may think of a character one week, totally changes in the next. Mia, for instance, who I originally thought of as a coniving little b***h, I now feel sorry for. I wouldn't label any of these characters just yet.



And I'm sorry, Satanic, but I gotta disagree. I like Beccabot, but I thought her whole onstage performance was totally lame.

Oh, God no! Her love is real, but she is not.

Ha! One thing that would make her creepier: if she carried around a talking teddy bear.

...that killed her enemies.

But that would still be a better show if it were centered around her and Pussyman for a dad was just a supporting character. He'd be great in small doses, like the way Col. Flagg was back on MASH.



I would and Hank is still the writer's fantasy concept he was in the first episode.

Is he?

Omar? Where are you, you sexy dawg? Is this true? Do you writer types have fantasy concepts about yourselves? And that's a bad thing?

It really doesn't matter to me one way or the other. I like this show and it's entertaining to me, fantasy or not.

Yep, in our heads, we all look like David Duchovny, even when we're pushing 60.