Dreams of Californication

You know what I wish...I wish that the show that I have been defending since it first aired would give me reason to continue defending it.
Californication...oh how you've let me down. I could look past the opening sequence, I looked beyond the self love it has for itself, I even got over the really bad, really cheesy freeze frame at the end of last season, but the camel's back is officially broken (I think).
Hank and Karen get back together. Ah! character suicide for Hank! How ever will we still find his shenanigans hilarious, and hang dog luck lovable if he can no longer partake? He can't sleep with every available and unavailable L.A.dy while in the epitome of all true loving, soul matey of all relationships on earth (Hank and Karen together). We were told all last season that all Hank needs to straighten hiself out is the true return love from Karen. Even more, we were told all last season that Karen is the best person to be in love with. There is no other lady in L.A or on the planet that compares to Karen and we should all be so lucky to find something comparable...cause you've got it made if you do. And you know what? I could believe it. I wanted to believe that Karen was the best. Having said that; I didn't want to see Hank end up with her!
And they totally screwed it up because (exactly as I had predicted) they've screwed themselves over with a combination of character assassination (the literal kind) and predictable, shitty writing.
The second we opened on season two and Hank and Karen were together I said outloud (that's how confident I was in my prophecy) that Hank would fall into some hairy situations and Karen (being the salt of the earth that she is) would forgive Hank until something too difficult to get over would happen. Unitl even Karen, the most forgiving, loving, understanding, smart, left her fiance at the altar for a freeze frame devoted woman herself couldn't overlook Hank's mistakes. So what do we watch Hank do? We watch him acidentally go down on the wrong woman, get involved with the worst possible influence, find out he made a woman who very conveniently keeps popping up in the Moody's lives pregnant during a vomity, self loathing one night stand in Karen's and then fiance's house, go to jail, get caught spending the day with Trixie a hooker he slept with last season...the list goes on sadly.
Furthermore, now, because we can't really follow the main characters with any interest or semblance of cohesiveness we are forced to follow Marcy and Charlie. Don't get me wrong...I like them, but I don't like that we have to settle.
Lastly, now they've rushed back to good 'ol Hank. Just when we were rooting for him to try to turn over a new leaf, he's back to his old tricks. Hank wakes up drunk and decides that he wants to sleep with the obnoxious cooking lady from tv. He gets set up and does the deed and doesn't think twice about it. This pisses me off because we invested all of last season feeling bad for Hank and wanting him to obtain that happiness that he desires. Actually, we wanted to watch him try to obtain it while not actually getting it. The thrill of the real chase is what we want to watch. The real chase for Karen and a family again. But Hank doesn't even care about that anymore. So why the hell should we? I'm bored with Hank hook ups. I wouldn't be bored with them at all if they hadn't tried to entice me with a little depth. But I was happy wading in the shallow end of Hank Moody...that is until the got him and Karen back together. Of course that wouldn't work!

It's just getting harder and harder to find a redeeming quality in Hank. And Karen for that matter, because no matter how forgiving and devoted she may be...there is no way she could be that stupid to fall for the same thing over and over again. By the same token are we Californication viewers stupid enough to fall for the same thing over and over again?

(Another thing that bothered me about that last episode was when the cooking lady and Hank first meet she tells him that she's heard all about his sad story, yet later on when they are having their heart to heart on the turnpike she asks him about what's bothering him, negating that she ever heard the 'whole sad story' already...ooops, that was a mistake).

What ever happened to the days when Hank Moody would have some torrid sexcapade while having the heartsick look of lonliness on his face? I miss that Hank Moody.