Louis CK’s bizarre, critically-acclaimed FX show, Louie, is now in its fifth season. At this point, most series begin to either repeat themselves or rest on their laurels. The time for self-discovery has passed, the audience has certain expectations, and the writers are playing to what has worked previously.
In a way, this seems to describe the start of Louie’s new season. However, given that the unpredictable nature of CK’s series, what qualifies as a status quo is far from the norm. In fact, last season’s “experimental” structure, which consisted of a six-part episode, a three-part episode, an hour long episode, and three stand-alones, ultimately congealed into what felt like a regular serialized arc. Thursday’s episode, with its strange cult-y potluck and bizarre throwaway lines (such as the pot luck host describing her sperm donor as “my friend from work who is gay and who died”) is more singular and unique than a lot of what occurred in last year’s outlier of a season.
