Californication Season 1: Episode 1 -

 I was messaging with a friend on Telegram while watching the first episode, the Pilot for the Showtime series starring Duchovny as a novelist in Hollywood suffering writer's block after somewhat recent breakup with his ex, Karen (Natascha McElhone). She was cheating on him with her current fiance while the two share a daughter, Becca (Madeleine Martin). Becca is aware and a bit insecure as a teen with attention from boys says her school counselor while Hank and Karen are given this new information.

Hank and Karen just have this palpable chemistry together, an electric sexual energy that is clear. And yet Karen has to be the realist that they could never function as a legit couple. Hank's having fantasies about nun blowjobs, for crissakes, so he's got a lot of existential, Freudian mental unrest to work out.

Hank's sex life certainly has no issues. I think I counted three naked women he fucks during the 25 minute running time of the first episode, including Karen's fiance's daughter, Mia (Madeline Zima; I can't unsee that little girl on The Nanny, so it has me all kinds of uncomfortable). As I messaged my friend, who is currently involved with a married man and is trapped in that relationship with him, often opining to me about how to break it off while describing how great the sex is. I just couldn't help but be amused at the irony of Hank's own sexual relationship while still seemingly emotionally tethered to Karen, who represents everything he adores including intellect, sense of humor, wit, and charm. All the women he fucks seem to remain little more than base desires to satisfy his fleeting bouts of lust that quickly dissipate once he wakes up the next morning.

Hank's writer block is so severe, all he can put on his laptop at the end is: Fuck.

He has an agent that is a regular on the show, trying to snap him out of his block and their restaurant visit leads Hank to cut a monologue on a woman invited to eat with them, along with friend, Marcy (Pamela Adlon), unable to discourage Hank's guesswork regarding the Plus One's life history. I guess he was close because she splits not particularly happy.

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At the opening of the episode, he pops out of bed after the nun blowjob dream with another woman, one of many I'm sure he met at a bar or something. She's, of course, involved romantically with another man and he comes home. Hank never gets his pants, but is able to slide into his convertible and speed off in the nick of time before the enraged boyfriend took a bat to his car.

Hank's life would appear to get complicated by his exploits.

As I wrote to my friend on Telegram when he meets Zima:

Hank meets this young woman in a book store. She's gorgeous, of course. Witty, well spoken.

Lots of brown hair all over the place. Lots of jewelry off her neck.

She likes his book. Thinks the movie adaptation sucks.

Before you know it, she's riding him, buck naked. Come to find out later...she's the daughter of his ex's fiance.

My friend responds: Interesting.

And I finish up: Oh, he finds out she's 16.