Louie, both the man at the forefront of FX’s Louie and the show itself for that matter, is never without vices. It’s never clear where the differences between Louie, the character, and Louie C.K., the stand-up comedian and writer/director/editor/star, stand. But it seems like there’s one key distinction found in season five’s premiere “Pot Luck”: the character seems deeply sensitive and prone to do right even and especially if he doesn't know how, but the real personality could care less about those concerns.
That said, however, Louie is never afraid to mix things up, or go back and try stuff over again. Of late, C.K.’s forewent a lot of its spontaneous comedy origins in favor of semi-serialized, often serious meditations in his place in the world and where he stands, socially and psychologically. But as his opening segment shows, as he prattles about his endless insecurities to his soon-napping therapist, he’s come to a stark conclusion. In his words, “I’m a boring asshole now.”
And so our new season of Louie begins. Laced this week with a banjo-enthusiastic score, Louie roams yet again on the streets of New York. He tries his best to do right but of course, always making an ass of himself in some way or another. His kids are not in the picture this week, nor is Pamela, oddly enough. In fact, his new lover from last season is not even mentioned this week, and a sensual moment later in the episode with a pregnant woman suggests their on-off relationship has taken a right turn.
Instead, the centerpiece of “Pot Luck” is—you guessed it—a pot luck. He missed out on the weekly activity parents in his daughter’s school host before, and this week he attempts to amend this, with home-cooked fried chicken in hand and good intentions on the mind. Sure enough, things take a sour turn soon than later, with the titular character attending the wrong pot luck in the same building and making more enemies at the real pot luck he attends. Along the way, he befriends a pregnant surrogate mother (Celia Keenan-Bolger), who he follows to her apartment and later starts to have sex with, only to have the night take a slippery turn.
C.K. said in multiple interviews how season five attempts to bring back readily available laughs, and based on "Pot Luck" it looks like he’s succeeded thus far. His observations are still astute, with long takes galore and no fears to go weird or surreal, and his stand-up and title card sequence are back in their full glory. The performer/filmmaker does an odd task: he finds a way to keep the looseness of the show alive, but still stick to his conventions. And also to make the whole thing still laugh-out-loud funny, something which hasn't really been in the cards for a little while.
He knows what he wants to do, and has the acclaimed and creative freedom to create what he wants. But there’s a delightful spirit to this premiere, and one should hope this stays as this eight-episode season continues. Past seasons suggest there’s more darkness and misery as the block of episodes progress, and it’s hard to image this’ll be different this season. But as long as C.K. keeps him game and willing, season five will be some of liveliest episodes in Louie history.
As confident and readily audacious as ever, C.K.’s still got his tricks up his sleeve, and with more support and criticisms in mind he produces something still wholeheartedly his own but also free to experience change. It’s a weird balancing act, but Louie is always a weird and brash show. That's meant in the best way possible.
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