Californication, Season 6, Episode 4: Hell Bent for Leather, Review

In Californication, acting on an impulse has gotten just about every character in trouble at some point. In “Hell Bent for Leather,” we see that resisting an impulse also has its share of consequences.  

With the Hank Moody comeback tour in full swing, Charlie Runckle is busy fielding offers to get his favorite client back on the job.  Fresh out of rehab and ready to start writing, Hank wants to sit back and really focus on coming out with a great novel or even a short story, hell he’s just ready to churn out meaningful prose. This is really the first time we’ve seen Hank eager to write. Ever since A Crazy Little Thing Called Love sucked out his soul, Hank has been hesitant to take on writing jobs, stalled on crafting new novels and generally been more interested in banging out his problems than putting them down on paper. 

Hank isn’t the only one who is ready to rock. Charlie is the hottest Gay agent in Hollywood at the moment and he proves it by getting his star, hunk Robbie Mac and his best friend back in the game by signing them on for a remake of Cruising, the 1980 flick starring Al Pacino. The head of the studio set to produce the remake is Ali Andrews, who fired Hank from A Crazy Little Thing Called Love and hired the writers that turned it into a sappy chick flick. Hank passed on Ali’s advances, one of the few times he’s actually kept it in his pants and the gorgeous blonde punished him for it.   

This time Ali tries to coax Hank into bed by claiming Hank’s got the “voice,” and “attitude” but no action. But when has Hank Moody not been all about the action? He reluctantly accepts a “hate fuck” and even in the act he talks about his disdain for their previous collaboration. Despite how uncommitted it seems Hank is to writing consistently, it shows that he takes an extraordinary amount of pride in his work. Ali might be a stunner, but even Hank has his limits. 

In his down moments, Charlie has been the comic relief the series needs. So far this season he’s been a super agent, finally back on top after a few bumps (or office masturbation sessions) in the road. Acting on impulse has always hurt Charlie, but he finally got in the win column when he instinctively lied about being Gay to sign Robbie Mac. You can only pretend to be Gay for so long before having to prove it and Charlie learns that being a “gaygent” means he’ll have to go the extra mile to satisfy Robbie Mac.  

We know Charlie is a committed agent and friend. The guy took a bullet for Hank. But when Ali’s sexy assistant has the hots for Charlie, he gives up the Gay act immediately. Charlie knows his league well and takes what he can get but it eventually costs him a client and probably his job. With a chance at a huge payday on the line, Charlie resists the pressure by refusing to go down on Robbie Mac.

Charlie’s life is most likely in free-fall again and with Hank out of another writing job and burdened with costly rehab bills, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the duo shack up together to cut costs. The Marcy and Karen roommate subplot has brought nothing but dry feminist talk, so if Hank and Charlie go that route, expect to see plenty of poor decisions made.

A Marcy quote for the road:

“I’ve seen a lot of v-jay in my day but yours is simply stunning.”