These Slate people. Last night’s episode of “Louie” was not good. It was boring. The episode began with Louie picking up a woman he’d met in the previous episode for a date. We quickly realize that the woman is loony tunes – unbeknownst to Louie she’s an alcoholic. This is basically an episode where the woman leads Louie on a series of adventures – a bunch of things that Louie would never do on his own. He tries on a dress, eats at a deli that he’s never tried before, helps out a homeless man by filling his Rx and getting him a motel room, and by hiking up a flight of stairs to the top of a building overlooking the city. But the episode is not entertaining; it’s mostly just a platform for Parker Posey’s (who plays the crazy female character) to display) acting skills. At the end of the episode we see Posey’s character telegraph her mental problems when she’s sitting on the edge of the rooftop. Louie is scared for her, afraid she’ll jump. She tells Louie that he’s afraid of the ledge because a part of him wants to jump off. L’appel du vide, “into the void”. The tension between the rational and irrational, and the fear that the irrational will win out. But Posey’s character says that she does not want to jump therefore she is not afraid of sitting on the ledge. But she quickly turns. She finally tells Louie her name (after the entire date) and then looks solemnly down to the street, indicating that her mind has switched, that she’s now back into her “real” self, and is afraid that she might jump. She is then ready to leave the rooftop and go home. Sounds all artistic and artsy-fartsy, but it’s mostly just boring and overplayed. But nobody at Slate is willing to admit that they don’t like such refined tastes so they pen these ridiculous circle-jerks trying to make “Louie” something that it isn’t – an entertaining, or better yet, compelling, TV show.
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Have to agree about Mr. CK. I started out watching the show with a fascination of occasional glimmers awareness of total frustration with indignities and emptiness modern life. Alas I’m not sure if I’m missing the point of his more recent output… Perhaps I’m dumber than the terribly clever Slate editors. (Who made them so influential anyways?)
But maybe Emperor Louie is just screwing around and the joke’s on us. What we call deep and meaningful, is maybe just a fat redheaded mexican American dude standing around naked on the stage. I’m all for subtlety and I can’t stand the heavy handed battering the point home with a two-by-four. Deeper meaning to the “Artist” perhaps, maybe I’m just not getting it.
On an earlier episode’s note, he had that cunnilingus scene where he flipped the narrative as well. A woman forcing him instead of the other way round.
As for comedy, it’s the more serious shows that make me laugh real hard. Tyranny of expectations?
This season has been a disappointment overall. The bit they showed of him doing the stand up, I thought was really funny last night, but that was about it
I’m still trying to figure out how his ex-wife can be black, because their daughters are whiter than a Pat Boone Christmas special.
DMann, the standup scenes are the best part of each episode. I wonder if that is CK’s ultimate intent. Somehow I don’t think it is.
brian, it was meant to fuck with our heads and make us ask the very question. perhaps i’m just a negative person, but i see it as a ploy that stands in place of good, solid content. it’s a gimmick. i find it annoying.
I thought the black wife was a subtle dig at the Jizzabells who complained about lack of color on Girls – so he dumps color in where it obviously doesn’t belong. But perhaps I’m giving him too much credit. And Chuck is probably still butt-hurt after CK called him a boring douchebag or something on Twitter.
I understand Jerry Seinfeld will be making several appearances this season, so maybe things will pick up comedy-wise.
“I’m still trying to figure out how his ex-wife can be black, ”
trans-racialism? or maybe it’s the little girls who imbibed too much anti-black propaganda.
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