Review: 'Louie' - 'Looking for Liz/Lilly Changes': Man seeking women
Louie searches for a former date and his older daughter
Louis C.K. and Chloe Sevigny in "Louie."
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A quick review of tonight's "Louie" coming up just as soon as I speak Slovenian...
"She changed how I feel about everything, in one night." -Louie
"Louie" has always taken an agnostic approach to continuity. The show doesn't completely ignore it — Louie's daughters are always hid daughters, and every Pamela appearance plays in some way off of what we've seen in the previous ones — but is willing to ignore continuity whenever it proves inconvenient.
This has been a surprisingly continuity-heavy season, however, with tonight providing a sequel of sorts to Louie's long, strange, memorable date with Liz. But where I thought the date episode was one of the show's best ever, "Looking for Liz" was this season's first major disappointment.
Where "Daddy's Girlfriend Part 2" managed to transcend all the familiar "women be crazy" tropes, "Looking for Liz" fell right into them. Liz was unstable, but in a way that episode, and Louie, found sympathetic — and also very specific — rather than something to generate cheap laughs. The Chloe Sevigny(*) character, on the other hand, was just a kook. Louie goes looking for one erratic bookstore clerk he was charmed by, and instead winds up with a walking punchline.
(*) Now I'm trying to imagine an alternate version of this season where Sevigny played Liz and Parker Posey played her replacement.
"Lilly Changes," while continuing the theme of the female gender being an absolute mystery to Louie, at least fit with what we know about his relationship with Lilly, with his ex-wife, with Jane, etc. It was slight, but funny in spots (particularly in the cops' disgusted reaction to Louie), and the laughs felt earned.
What did everybody else think?
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August 23, 2012 at 11:01PM EST Reply to CommentThat was Mario from "A Bronx Tale" playing the doorman in Liz's building.
I'd recognize that nose anywhere!
Martin
August 24, 2012 at 12:13AM EST Reply to CommentZzzzzzz
theholyavenger
August 24, 2012 at 12:20AM EST Reply to CommentAm I the only one that feels like Wilfred has been the much better show this year?
Sir Yes.
August 24, 2012 at 1:30AM ESTBob Loblaw No - I feel that way too. Last season of Louie was a triumph, but this season has been so-so, while Wilfred has been terrific. It's not for everyone, but that's ok too.
August 24, 2012 at 9:08AM ESTrugman11 I have to say, I don't watch Wilfred, but my DVR caught the final scene last night (with the cats and the dobermans) and it had me in stitches.
August 24, 2012 at 10:25AM ESTDryden No. I really like them both, but Wilfred is having a great season and it's the show I'm most looking forward to right now.
August 24, 2012 at 11:00AM ESTTom Yes. Wilfred is kind of like NBC's The Single Guy from over a decade ago. Watchable, but it's the show you have on while you wait for Seinfeld (Louie) to start.
August 24, 2012 at 12:41PM ESTBrubarian I'm continually surprised that people either like one or the other. I thoroughly enjoy both, but yeah, the dog show has been far superior this season (and I hate dogs).
August 24, 2012 at 3:47PM ESTKobraCola No way. I actually like Wilfred, but this has been a sub-par season. They keep yanking us around with this mythology thing of "Is Ryan crazy or not??? Is the basement real or not?? Is Wilfred a dog or some crazy alien/ghost/whatever???" Just tell us already, stop giving us red herrings and bullshit false leads. And the "Wilfred the sociopath teaches Ryan a life lesson" every week is quickly getting very old. Louie will always be better, even in an only OK episode like this one.
August 24, 2012 at 4:27PM ESTalisonbrie Nope. Even if we ignore the unrealistic expectations we had on Louie reaching the heights of his masterpiece last season, it's generally been off in a lot of ways.
August 24, 2012 at 4:56PM ESTWilfred on the other hand, has taken everything that was wrong with the show, has improved it, and just been better. I think the problem is, Louie's show never had an exact voice/plot. It's a skit show, where every episode kind of just does its own thing.
But then he kind of reached new heights when he started delivering really art-house comedy/drama, something we have never seen before. This season kind of sees him trying to touch on this, but it fails to connect. And without him hitting that out of the park, again it just feels without a voice.
Wilfred on the other hand, has a much more defined voice/plot.
Col Bat Guano I/m voting for Wilfred.
August 25, 2012 at 8:08PM ESTMahmoud Fayed Wilfred HAS been generally better this season, but the difference isn't as big as Brubarian says it is, in my opinion.
August 25, 2012 at 11:00PM ESTMan, I just hate that Alison Mack is gone, she was one of the few things I loved about Smallville. She's fucking adorable. Maybe she'll make a return when Ryan 'recovers.'
srpad
August 24, 2012 at 12:57AM EST Reply to CommentWhy did I find the flashes of Parker Posey in the beginning creepy as hell?
KobraCola Because that's the exact technique horror movies use to try to unsettle us. It's definitely unsettling and I've watched enough horror movies that I started to feel uneasy.
August 24, 2012 at 4:28PM ESTprimoz
August 24, 2012 at 1:16AM EST Reply to CommentJane said "Where are you, what are you doing, please" in Slovenian. In case anyone was worried.
The Bored Redundancy
August 24, 2012 at 1:29AM EST Reply to CommentI liked Chloe hijacking Louie to get off on her own romantic fantasy. I'm new to the show, so I can't tell if this is better or worse than the past two seasons (and don't care, particulairly) but I am curious whether the format has changed: Has the series always been, in effect, Louis CK showing rather than telling a string of absurd jokes?
Jim I loved this episode. His concern and puzzlement over his daughter's problem was funny and moving. I loved the vague dreams of Liz. I think that her interest in her is realistic and interesting. Chloe S., is always an interesting actress. Her odd obsecion with his romantic interest in Liz, was nerotic and interesting.
August 24, 2012 at 4:57AM ESTScott Rosenberg The show has never been about Louie telling jokes, except when you see him actually doing stand-up, but the first part was a particularly awful example of what the show can be. The show at it's best comedically punishes Louie for his twisted approach to morality, like someone asks a highly inappropriate favor of him, he can't find a logical excuse not to do it, so he agrees, and we see the awkward situation bite him in the ass. Coupled with a tendency towards hyperbole to show how the resulting situations feel rather than what they are, it is very funny. This season, there's been a pattern of side-stepping these and just having Louie associating with people far to far off the reservation to have any semblance of reality. Without that set-up and perspective in place, it's just dumb.
August 26, 2012 at 11:24AM ESTMary
August 24, 2012 at 4:45AM EST Reply to CommentWow. That was the most amazing, brilliant 20 minutes of television I've ever seen!!
Mary Yeah. I'm being sarcastic.
August 24, 2012 at 10:46PM ESTsiebentausend arschgeigen aw, you sure fooled me ya li'll rascal :-)
August 25, 2012 at 9:44AM ESTbmfc1
August 24, 2012 at 8:07AM EST Reply to CommentWas an embarrassed Louie trying to give the last cop a tip?
sepinwall I think so, yes.
August 24, 2012 at 8:41AM ESTErika Herzog that made me laugh.
August 25, 2012 at 8:25AM ESTit's very new york to try and tip everyone.... you just sort of get used to it.
what were there, six cops in his apartment. that sort of freaked me out.
SPOILER ALERT:
i loved that she was in the closet. i used to sit in this cubbyhole i made between some shelves and a huge armoire and read, with headphones on. i was totally oblivious to the world then, like lilly.
natx
August 24, 2012 at 8:24AM EST Reply to CommentI think ive realized for me that i describe the louis segments that dont work for me as "interesting". Thats the word i used for the chloe sevigny segment. I didnt necessarily love it but it was still interesting...which isnt bad for a show where the worst thing you can say about it is "interesting".
On the other hand, the scene where his youngest daughter just starts yelling out slovenian and the "what the???" look he gives her was such a priceless hilarious moment. I love the actress that plays that girl...she is great.
Actually i think i like most of the shorts involving his daughters.
Patrick I agree, the scenes involving louie interacting with his daughters are always great. He always keeps his cool outwardly while you can tell how frustrated he is with parenting challenges. He plays it perfectly and the kids seem to have an stage presence beyond their years.
August 25, 2012 at 11:23AM ESTAbout the Chloe Sevigny segment, I have found the trend of high-profile guest actors to be distracting. I feel like the show is falling into the same trap that Curb Your Enthusiasm has in recent seasons. It's easy to undersand how talented actors/actresses would be drawn to the unique formats of each show. And you can't blame Louie for wanting actors with these credentials to be on his show. But I think it comes at the expense of good stories. Instead of just writing good episodes, the focus becomes how can we work in the actor.
Patrick I meant to type that you can't blame Louis CK for wanting actors with these credentials
August 25, 2012 at 11:31AM ESTChris Kw.
August 24, 2012 at 8:58AM EST Reply to CommentI completely agree with your feeling toward this episode.
Chris Kw. I meant "feelings." I have to admit I haven't laughed at this show as much this year. And I know the number of laughs isn't the only thing that make a comedy good. But the stories have been that great as well. A couple thoughts of the episode can be found at http://criticalsquare.blogspot.com/
August 24, 2012 at 12:48PM ESTM
August 24, 2012 at 9:09AM EST Reply to CommentFunny. I've found most of this season a letdown, but this was the first episode I wholeheartedly enjoyed. Different strokes, I guess.
Pat M
August 24, 2012 at 9:15AM EST Reply to CommentI mentioned something after the 2nd Park Posey episode where in the credits the footage of her silently going through emotions reminded me of Don watching Megan’s reel in this past season’s Mad Men. Did anyone else think this again after seeing Posey reappear and this time mouthing “I love you” just as Megan did?
Pat M
August 24, 2012 at 9:15AM EST Reply to CommentI mentioned something after the 2nd Park Posey episode where in the credits the footage of her silently going through emotions reminded me of Don watching Megan’s reel in this past season’s Mad Men. Did anyone else think this again after seeing Posey reappear and this time mouthing “I love you” just as Megan did?
studioplant
August 24, 2012 at 9:30AM EST Reply to CommentI so get this show. I was raised one of four boys and no girls and I so do not understand women. Now I am a happily married man raising a daughter, but I feel so bad for my wife and daughter, because I know they need me to see their point of view and I totally don't. I also really get the whole "Sevigny" story. While that specific situation has never happened to me, I remember dating and not having a clue what just happened. I also really love that the episode warns you there will be nudity and you know it won't be the 'good' kind. That is so funny.
Erika Herzog i'm chuckling here.
August 25, 2012 at 8:28AM ESTwhat would that nudity be called. side ass?
trust Louis CK to do something so workaday / normal -- and just twist it a bit like this and give us a moment....
.
Bryan-a
August 24, 2012 at 10:46AM EST Reply to CommentAh, this one was just so so for me. Louie seems to have a real oral fixation going on lately. First the date with Melissa Leo then the Ikea bj offer and Chloe from Brown Bunny.
Also, I've found the music lately to be very distracting, instead of complementing I find it overpowering. I wonder if that's the new editor's doing.
Dan Chloe from Brown Bunny? I wonder if her coffee shop scene was 'unsimulated'.
August 24, 2012 at 1:52PM ESTNic
August 24, 2012 at 1:18PM EST Reply to CommentFirst let me say that I love Louie CK and this series. I think it's the best comedy on television. However, all the female characters (excluding Pamela and Louie's ex-wife) have definitely fallen into the "women be crazy" trope, as well as the "women over 30 are scarred and damaged" trope. I'm genuinely surprised that Louie is repeating this characterization to such extremes. I would enjoy seeing a woman over 30 on the show who is quirky, complex, intelligent and grounded without being emotionally or sexually disturbing or perceptively "off". Gaby Hoffman's character came close. But I'm starting to feel like Aaron Sorkin and Louie CK are working from the same "women be crazy" but "gosh do I love 'em!" place. (And, yes, I feel quite ashamed for even making the comparison--but there is a clear pattern shared between the two shows. No one send a lightening bolt my way!)
Manton I'd counter that Pamela's character fit that to a T, but she's out of the picture for an indeterminate amount of time. His wife seemed balanced in this season as well. Think the spate of women as dates is more of a pressing of his own anxiety on the dating world than the somen themselves.
August 24, 2012 at 3:13PM ESTNo one loves women more than Louis CK (raised by a single mother, growing up with sisters) so I'd hold back on comparing him to Sorkin, as of now.
Nic @Manton I specifically mention at the beginning of my comment that Pamela & Louie's ex-wife are the exception to the pattern. We agree. :)
August 24, 2012 at 4:19PM ESTI also mention at the end of my post that I think both Sorkin and CK love women despite the crazy behavior they've recently imbued into their female characters.
And I, too, share the opinion that the recent female characterization on the show is representative of Louie's own anxiety more than an opinion on women as a whole. I actually believe the same applies to Sorkin. My hope is that each of these talented men throw in some more Pamela / CJ Cregg type of characters (or even a few who fit somewhere in the middle at least) in the near future. Again, one can only hope. ;)
alisonbrie Or some Women are just crazy/over emotional. Before you get all up in arms, please read what I have to say.
August 24, 2012 at 4:52PM ESTI think as a society we are a lot more conscious to things such as sexism, and we go to great lengths to criticize, so that people are portrayed "the right way". But we also go over board sometimes, and get upset when something is portrayed a certain way that isn't ideal to how we think people should be viewed.
Fact is, there ARE extreme kinds of people. There ARE females out there that are overly hormonal/emotional. It shouldn't be taboo to show these kind of people. Where I agree it's unfair, is that they don't portray the same kind of extremes in Males that is also present in the gender (overly-masculine males, that have anger issues and are just as over-emotional).
The point I'm making is, there are extremes to both genders. They do exist. We've all met these kind of people (over-emotional wrecks). So why is it so Taboo to portray these kind of people? Fact is, real life is not interesting. So when you are writing a TV show or Movie, you are more than often going to portray the extremes of people.
I find it interesting that you say "I wouldn't mind seeing a woman over 30 on the show who is quirky, complex, intelligent and grounded without being emotionally or sexually disturbing or perceptively "off" - but those are extremes as well, just the other way. You have an ideal version of how you think Women should be portrayed, but it's also no different than portraying the extreme end of another side. Somewhere there is a balance to be made in the middle, and often that middle doesn't provide enough interest in stories, so we go one way or the other.
I don't know about you, but I tend to think the overly negative extreme is more interesting than the overly-positive. Flawed characters are the best. The women you described seems like a mary sue character, or a robot. She's GOT EVERYTHING. She's the every women. But come on, this is Louie. And that seems out of step with the maudlin style of the show.
alisonbrie I also wanted to point out, I really disliked Chloe's character on this episode. I thought it was poorly done. I get she was supposed to be crazy, but the delivery and everything about it was really bad. So please know my post above was not trying to defend her character in this episode.
August 24, 2012 at 5:08PM ESTMaggie Q I think the big difference is that on "Louie" all of the male characters over 30 are also screwed up. Have we met any male character - other than maybe the lifeguard in Miami - who wasn't just as messed up as the women?
August 26, 2012 at 10:38AM ESTI would contrast this to "The Newsroom" where the women are all a mess and the men seem to be always fixing or helping them. It strikes a very different tone.
guest jones If you want to see crazy/overly-emotional men you should check out EASTBOUND AND DOWN and SQUIDBILLIES.
August 26, 2012 at 6:01PM ESTRay The problem with emotionally grounded, sane, rational women isn't that there aren't any, it is that they do not make good television.
August 27, 2012 at 8:35AM ESThpy I don't see this as Louis CK thinking all women "be crazy" I see this as Louis, the character on the show, attracting crazy women at this point in his life.
August 30, 2012 at 10:07PM ESTmcspinelli
August 24, 2012 at 3:02PM EST Reply to CommentThis is my fix now that Curb is gone. It isn't the same show by any means, but I just love the goofy situations Louie gets into, the weird people he meets and his facial expressions. The one thing I miss about Curb that I wish Louie had: A really funny group of supporting characters (Susie Essman was my favorite). I know that it would change the dynamic of the show and cost too much. Chloe Sevigny's character was fun. I agreed that the character and her actions seemed a bit forced, but he was trying to make a point that people at NYC little book stores are crazy people. The look on Louie's face after she finishes and says "I'm married, don't come the book store anymore" was priceless.
Kay
August 24, 2012 at 3:31PM EST Reply to CommentLouie, what about that piano teacher? Musicians can be quirky, and she seemed nice, and she' s sane. I guess not much story potential...
KobraCola
August 24, 2012 at 4:32PM EST Reply to CommentAlright, I re-watched this scene like 5 times, I still can't tell, is this what happened: Louie and the Chloe Sevigny character are talking in that little diner, and then did she grab his hand get herself off with it? And then tell him she was married and not to come by the bookstore anymore? What the absolute f*ck? I didn't really understand that scene, but, as someone else said, at least it was interesting like almost every Louie vignette. I'll take weird originality I don't get over redundancy any day.
Ben
August 25, 2012 at 2:31PM EST Reply to CommentA few notes on this episode:
• I LOVED the subversion of the “Sexual Situations” and warning about nudity in the “Viewer Discretion Advised” scene. Of course the former is going to be a weird, unsexy, somewhat scary bit that couldn’t be less erotic if it had featured the ex-wrestler Chyna, and of course the nudity involves Louis CK sitting on a side-viewed toilet. I read an AV Club article once on “Lucky Louie” that talked about how the HBO execs bothered Louie to have Pamela Adlon get naked on his show, so CK promptly wrote a script where there was a sex scene—and HE did the Full Monty while Adlon remained clothed! This reminded me a little of that, though it doesn’t seem like FX is bothering him with such demands much, so it was more of a dig at what audiences sometimes expect from TV-MA shows.
• The grim ha-ha kicker to the entire abortive search for Liz is that, for all Louie or we know, that’s not even her real name! Yes, it did seem like a big point at the end of their date that she told him “My name is Liz” and not Tape Recorder, but she felt like someone who could have a million pseudonyms at the ready, and all that the jerk guy at the store would know is that she told him the same thing at some point during her time there. My guess is that if Louie is ever going to see Liz or whatever again, it’ll be because she takes action to find HIM, which would also fit her character more than even this half-hearted, failed quest with Sevigny fit his.
• One thing I really did like in the first story was the role of the doorman at Liz’s building. Yeah, part of me wanted to have Louie get to see Liz again, but a larger part was happy this guy immediately figured out Sevigny was full of shit and didn’t even try to hide his contempt for her. For every Louie who would do something like this (or go along with it) because he really wants to see Liz again, there’s a lot of folks who would take the information to a very bad place, don’t you think?
• Every story where Louie is dragooned into being a de facto volunteer school worker on this show is going to pivot back to the pilot episode and that doomed field trip, and I don’t know that this is a good thing. The climax of that story where Louie rents a fleet of limos to get the kids out of Harlem and back home isn’t as goofy as Chelsea Peretti’s flight from her and Louie’s awful blind date in a helicopter, but it does have a surreal insane quality that CK has seriously tempered (or made work on a human level) ever since then. It feels like a different series and not something we need to really return to.
• Susan Morse’s name was back in the credits this week, which I half didn’t expect as A) she wasn’t listed last week and B) this is the kind of show where CK could very easily have returned to doing all the editing himself since we’re so close to the end of Season 3.
• I’m not complaining, but isn’t it interesting that almost every divorced father on TV shows or in movies is either buying his kid(s) junk food or suspected of doing so, and every mother is a health nut who doesn’t want the dad to do that or is angry at the idea that he might? The toxic Ethan Hawke-Amy Ryan relationship in BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOUR DEAD kind of reminded me of Lily saying Louie’s ex wouldn’t want them eating ice cream.
• No sign of Never this week, but I have to say, any school where a nice and normal-seeming girl like Lily is getting that much shit from bullies can’t be a great place for him to go to. I just can’t see a scenario where Never isn’t constantly getting his sorry ass kicked, nor do I feel bad if that’s happening in some corner of Louie’s universe.
• Next week: Louie gets a possible career break via a late-night talk show, and I think (NOT SURE) that this is the Jerry Seinfeld appearance (or one of them if it’s a multi-ep story).
THeonewhoknocks
August 26, 2012 at 2:03AM EST Reply to CommentThis season has been really weak. I love Louis CK, seen him live several times and purchase all his content and the first couple seasons were amazing but this season has left me really disappointed.
Justin
August 30, 2012 at 6:26AM EST Reply to CommentI regularly read your reviews on Breaking Bad, almost always straight after i've watched the episode. However this is the first time i've read your review on Louie, and I came looking for it mainly because I was so disappointed with the ep. I agree it's the weakest this season, possibly ever. Here's hoping for improvement next week.