Louie Season 3 Episode 5 recap – ‘Daddy’s Girlfriend Part 2′

We continue our adventure with Louie in dating-land, in the second part of the Daddy’s Girlfriendepisode. What started off as an almost lunatic rolling ball of emotions, ended as simple, honest fun. But can Louie take more of it? My episode review follows…

Louie, Daddy’s Girlfriend – Tape Recorder meets Louie

What just happened (episode summary): Louie goes on a date that keeps getting weirder – but maybe this was exactly what he needed?

How it happened (the chatty TV critic): I wasn’t sure last week what to expect of the date with the bookstore woman Louie met on the first part of the episode. I thought maybe a dinner with Louie’s girls would be too early, but since the whole dating thing started because of the girls, this would make some sense.

Surly I wasn’t prepared for the date Louie ended up having. Yes, the man has had his share of weird dates (one of them we saw a few weeks back, in what I called the ‘date-rape’ episode (season 3 episode 2, Telling Jokes/ Set-up), and in the stand-up during the current episodes we heard Louie telling us about another unpleasant event from his dating history).

Last week Louie was talking about prejudice, and we saw what he meant this week. At the beginning he let himself do whatever Liz was leading him into – but still full of prejudice, feeling like he was doing something weird (trying on a shiny dress), different (helping a homeless guy) or just stupid (climbing the stairs to the top of a building almost without a breathe). At the end of it all, he felt like he was rewarded. Like this small effort of doing something he didn’t really want to do at first really changed him, or at least made him feel a little better.

And I only guess this was what he felt, because he didn’t talk much during the episode, and besides agreeing/disagreeing he didn’t do much either. Louie followed the strange woman, who shared with him her experiences as a teenager with cancer, and told him “you’re fat, and I have no tits. Let’s be honest. It’s the only way I continue this date with you”.

And for most of the time I enjoyed, like Louie, just follow the crazy woman and see where we end up next. But same as Louie, after climbing the building I was out of breath. I needed some Louie. Liz full of truth, and passion, and a lot of fun – but I wanted some Louie time. I didn’t think she wanted some Louie time – it was all around her, and so intense.

I loved the “5 minutes of humanism” on the show this week, with the homeless guy explains his situation – why he’s living on the street etc. Louie’s doing this from time to time, and this mix of styles and attention brings the show to a good balance between reality and fantasy.

What are we left with: Liz is a lot of good vibes, and maybe Louie had a good experience with her. I doubt if this could work, and anyway I hope that next week I’ll get some more of the “funny Louie” on the show.

Episode info: The episode premiered July 26 on FX. It was written and directed by Louis C.K.