MovieChat Forums > Californication (2007) Discussion > The REAL ending of this show... happened...

The REAL ending of this show... happened four years ago.

posted 11 years ago by MovieAddict2016
20 replies | jump to latest

In a perfect world, Californication should have ended after its fourth season.

I rewatched the finale of S4 and it felt more than ever like a perfect closure to both the story, and the character of Hank Moody.

Season 3 was when the show first started to show signs of becoming a formulaic comedy (with 'muthafvkka' type catchphrases, cheap sex jokes, and Hank's sudden ability to immediately sleep with any woman he meets), but by the end of S3, the finale re-introduced the Mia storyline, and the Rocket Man finale of S3 was one of the best moments of the show for me.

S4 as such brought everything full circle, as it dealt with Hank going to trial and having to face his demons so to speak.

The end of S4 was beautiful. "You Can't Always Get What You Want" played as Hank visited the film set recreation of his memoirs. Everything about this moment was a callback to season one, and it just felt right. Hank is kind of moving on from Karen, but not really, as he sees her face in the actress of the show; it leaves it kind of open-ended that he's still got immense feelings for her and will get back together with her. The way he explains his love for Karen to the actress playing her ("I don't know. I don't think I've ever known. I think sometimes you get it right the first time, and then it defines your life. It becomes who you are") was way more poetic and Hank Moody-esque than the lame letter he write in the S7 finale. I loved how they had cameo appearances from all the season regulars (he sees Mia's and Becca's faces in the faces of the actors; Runkle and Eddie Nero show up on the set). It felt like everything had come full circle, and it ended with him driving off into the sunset in his Porsche with the same song that opened the first season playing into the credits.

Everything since then has been utter rubbish. Seasons five, six and seven were embarrassingly awful and the series finale was disappointing to say the least. For me, the real finale will always be the last episode of Season 4.

If you've forgotten how poignant and well-done it was, I urge you to go revisit it, and it will help wash away the awful taste of last Sunday's finale. That, for me, is the appropriate farewell to Hank Moody.

W.W.G.D.
What Would Gibson Do?

[–] RoyWilliamsbeatsCoachK 10 years ago

Hank had always been able to sleep with anyone he meets. In the pilot he hooks up with a young hottie that has a boyfriend who attacks him, has a hot married woman waiting in his bedroom, gets with Mia, hooks up with a woman at a bar later, and meets a redhead that he would sleep with in a later episode. The only character who gets women as easily as him in Television history is probably George Costanza. Both get sex with limited effort.

[–] rwburnham 10 years ago

It is interesting that you say that, because when I finished season four, I took a few weeks off before continuing on to season five. I felt a sense of completion with season four. Five, six and seven were plenty fun to watch, but they did kind of feel like a new chapter for the characters.

[–] Lastnamehere 10 years ago

It's funny, because after that episode I was shocked to see there were more seasons even though I watched it on Netflix and KNEW there were a lot of seasons. That episode felt so final and prophetic that it felt wrong to keep going when the next episode queued up. There was something beautiful about showing his home as a set only replaced with look-alike actors and that he kept right on playing his role despite that fact.

[–] shehateme01 9 years ago

I read an interview with Kapinos, and he admitted that season 4 was the spiritual end of the story, but he was "interested in continuing to follow the character Hank"

The aftermath of sleeping with Mia when she was a minor, Karen being called on her bull$hit (by the lawyer), showing just how far Hank fell into despair prior to where the season 1 picked up (via flashbacks in season 4... which also showed how he started the affair with the director's wife, Hank finally seeing Jesus (in season one, everytime he tried in his dreams, he was interrupted), and the final scene all wrapped the show up perfectly.

Personally, I started watching the show since it's pilot, and oddly, I swear I saw a 2007 article that said the show was a 7 part theory, which sounded like a plan for 7 seasons, which was ironic that the show did last that long. I stopped watching a time or two, but came back to finish season 4 (I guess I only missed about 4 eps) - and season 4 was clearly the end to me, and I stopped there.
I'll trust that the show lost its way from the reports of others, and it makes perfect sense, because the last three seasons seemed to have clearly been made for monetary gain.

[–] Bigsax 9 years ago

Just recently finished this show on Netflix and I came here to comment the same thing. Seasons 4-6 all had good/great finales, either one could have and probably should have been a SERIES ending finale. Season 4 def had the best finale and it should have ended right there. Even though I didn't follow the show during its run, I will certainly miss the Runkles and the Moodys very much.

Millennial = Homo Sapiens born 1990 or after; Losers who think they know everything but don't

[–] SheHateMe (37) 7 years ago

Interestingly enough, Kapinos himself has basically admitted that season 4 was the end, but he wanted to "follow the character of Hank" further (see:$$$).

I haven't watched the other seasons to this day, save for a couple exceptions when I was visiting my sis out of state and couldn't think of anything to look up on the Firestick

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Hey! Thanks for that. I quit after S04 and now I understand that it's smart to leave it at that!

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

I keep wanted to watch the series again but am reminded here that I did good quitting after season 3 and should let it be an unspoiled memory. Without risk of watching the later seasons.