For starters, Lew is dead-set on having Hank pen his biography, something that could jumpstart Hank's career again since Mia (Madeline Zima) stole his latest novel and is basking in her success. Hank eventually agrees and the two become really good friends, which comes in handy as Karen and Hank break up and make up in their crazy relationship and Hank needs a place to crash.
Marcie (Pamela Adlon) and Charlie Runkle (Evan Handler) have their share of ups and downs and Charlie finds himself jobless when his assistant-turned-agent (for Mia's book, no less!) brings his sexual antics to light to their boss. Meanwhile, he finds himself playing hero to one of Marcie's clients when a porn star named Daisy (Carla Gallo) gets mistreated by a sleazy director and Charlie steps in to defend her. Much to Marcie's surprise, things quickly get out of hand and Charlie ends up spending their nest egg on funding a porno version of Chinatown to help Daisy get the part. To complicate matters further, Marcie embarks on a downward spiral into nose-candy land and snorts through their emergency fund. When Marcie, or "Cokey Smurf" as Hank calls her, checks herself into a rehab center, Charlie finds himself drawn to Daisy, but when Marcie returns, the claws come out. It could spell the end for the Runkles.
Becca gets a boyfriend named Damien (Ezra Miller) this season and he's a pretty cool guy. Sadly, his mom (Justine Bateman) is a teacher at Becca's school and Hank has more than a parent-teacher conference with her, not knowing who her son is. Let's just say that "awkward" doesn't quite cut it when Hank goes to the kitchen in just a sheet and bumps into Damien.
Oh, remember Sonja (Paula Marshall) from last season? She and Hank had a wild night at Bill's house and she threw up on that expensive painting? Well, it turns out she is preggers and Hank could be the father. Sadly, she is dating a self-help guru jerk named Julian (Angus MacFadyen), but he seems more interested in helping himself to all of the ladies, including Karen! Let's just say that there's a dinner party scene where everyone is there including Hank, Karen, the Runkles, Sonja and Julian, Mia, Lew and his young chickie, and Becca and her boyfriend and inappropriate just doesn't do it justice. Hilarious stuff.
The most shocking twist of all is when Karen gets a job offer and decides to pick up roots and return to New York, without Hank, even though this is exactly what Hank has been trying to get her to do for months (with him included, of course). The two manage to work out their differences and the family makes plans to go, but what will they call the show if Hank leaves Cali? Quite conveniently, a little too conveniently, everything works out and we don't have to find out.
The bonus features are nice and include interviews with the cast and a funny featurette on Marcie's Waxing Salon, Hot Lips. If you pop the DVD into your computer, you can access two eppies of The United States of Tara: Season 1 and The Tudors: Season 3, however I wish they'd just put these on the disc so you could watch them from the comfort of your couch instead of the computer. Californication: The Second Season is still solid, but just not quite as good as the First Season. The laughs, however awkward they may be, are still there, along with the incredible excess that these people seem to revel in. Does anyone really drink, snort and screw around that much? Eh, I still like this show a lot and am interested to see where it goes from here.
