TV in Review: Louie, “Miami”
July 14, 2012 5 Comments
Louie goes to Miami, and it’s just as you (and he) might imagine. Going to the beach, he encounters enough fun-in-the-sun to make a middle-aged man gag…
…and so retreats to the comforts of hotel room hamburgers…
…only to wander back to the beach and encounter his alter ego…
…before getting rescued from not drowning — really, he wasn’t drowning! — by Ramon, a lifeguard with a pec tattoo.
RAMON: I heard there was a comedian in the lounge, man. I’m going to have to come check you out.
LOUIE: Okay.
RAMON: You know it’s good to laugh, you know. It’s like a gift you give people, you know. You’re funny. Are you funny?
LOUIE: Yeah.
RAMON: Then I did a good thing by saving you.
There’s a certain tension for me whenever I watch Louie. I know things are going to be bad, and there’s a satisfaction involved in feeling that others also retreat to their hotel rooms to eat hamburgers of shame, but there are also moments of levity.
There’s Louie telling the girl who takes one of his strawberries that she can’t have what she has already eaten…
There’s Louie and Ramon riding a bicycle built for one…
The montage of Louie and Ramon running about Miami having fun feels slightly off, in that Louie never has this much fun without remorse, and Ramon’s character lacks some depth, if only because we just met him. It’s like a dream, with magical Ramon giving Louie some advice about the real Miami, before Louie snaps to and realizes he has to rush off to give a show.
It’s also like a date, which Louie starts to realize when his ex-wife says she can tell he wants to stay a few extra days in Miami because he met a “new someone.” If the rhythm of the date montages feel familiar, remember that the new editor of Louie, Susan E. Morse, was an assistant editor on Annie Hall. The snippet of Louie and Ramon chasing after the roosters reminded me of Alvie and Annie grabbing at lobsters.
But oh, the deliciousness of the scene where Louie and Ramon dance around the question of whether or not Louie is romantically interested in the dashing young lifeguard. How much hemming and hawing is there before Louie comes up with this incoherence?
LOUIE: First of all, I have zero anything, okay?
RAMON: Okay.
What?
Louie is trying to explain that he’s not gay while also not being homophobic, and he starts to drown, only this time it’s metaphorical. And it’s poignant. I was touched by Louie’s inarticulateness. So much of our entertainment glosses over the real struggles we have to express ourselves and communicate with other humans. Not Louie, although on-stage he’s able to speak coherently.
LOUIE: Heterosexual men have a big burden that we put on ourselves, which is that we want to be identified as heterosexual men. We’re the only ones that care.
Straight talk, from Louis CK.
FX first aired Season 3, Episode 3 of Louie on July 12, 2012
SEE ALSO
Polentical: TV in Review: Louie, “Telling Jokes / Setup” (Season 3, Episode 2)
phdtv: Louie S3 E3 – Miami
About Matthew
That sounds like a really good episode. I stopped watching in season 1 after a particularly harsh round of child rape jokes. I was fine with him making those jokes, and more or less agreed with him about it, but I just didn’t want to watch it. The comedy of misery can be a little too much for me sometimes. I used to want to be a badass and embrace it all, but I am OK wussing out for now.
But I totally enjoy your recaps!
I realized i may sound a bit annoyingly holier than thou. I’m not! I think the show is awesome! Thanks for recapping it!
No, not at all! I totally get where you’re coming from, or at least I think I do. I definitely don’t watch it when I want to relax, as it can be rough going, and I’ve had to take a break from it at times (still have to go back and watch season 2 myself) because of how little varnish Louis puts on this product. For me, it’s like the same rawness that elicits admiration can also cause pain.
Oh, that’s interesting! Do you mean that the lower production value (like, the way the narrative arc completely abandons traditional sitcom storytelling principles) is as raw as the humor? and that this is hard to take? Because that sounds right on to me.
Yeah, I think it’s raw on multiple levels! Raw video, raw editing, raw narrative, and raw humor. With very little sugar to help it go down. It’s what makes it interesting and compelling, but also tough for me because he doesn’t cover up the pain (such as the recent date rape episode) or wrap it up with niceties at the end.