“Californication” Season 3 Episode 6 Recap

This week’s episode of Californication was my favorite so far this season.  Karen returned with Becca from New York and she insists on having Hank take her with him to his classroom.  Of course, this is awkward since the class was also attended by the student, Jackie, and assistant teacher, Jill, that he’s having sex with.  Having those three women in the same room was interesting and Karen correctly guessed that he was having sex with Jackie (even though he didn’t admit to it).

While in the classroom, Karen meets Felicia Koons, the wife of the dean and, more importantly, the mother of Becca’s best friend, Chelsea.  Neither Hank nor Karen is particularly fond of Chelsea’s influence (or importance) in Becca’s life and it’s very clear that Karen dislikes Felicia from the moment she sets eyes on her.

Meanwhile, Runkel runs into trouble when he brings Rick Springfield (yes, the Rick Springfield) home and Marcy makes a play for the singer.  She’s still mad at Runkel for putting her at risk for an STD (she’s got the antibiotics to prove it).

Hank and Karen visit the Koons home where Karen meets Chelsea’s father, Stacy.  Things were already unpleasant since Becca had become infuriated by the suggestion that she return to New York with Karen to make a fresh start (and get away from this new friend).  Clearly, Becca shared this news with Chelsea who then proceeded to tell Hank and Karen that they robbing Becca of a privileged life since they are poor and would expect her to live in a tiny apartment in NYC (can you believe that b*tch?).  So, by the time they got to Chelsea’s house, they were more than annoyed.  The Koons invited them to stay for dinner but they explained that they already had plans with friends but Becca balked and said she didn’t want to go with them.  After some tense discussion, Hank and Karen agree to leave Becca behind.

At dinner with Marcy and Runkel, it becomes obvious that she’s trying to get into Rick Springfield’s pants and he’s more than willing to oblige.  Kathleen Turner was grosser than ever as Sue Collini but this was her best performance yet.  After Hank and Karen are summoned back to the Koons’ house for an emergency, Marcy and Rick head to her bedroom and her pleasure becomes more than obvious.  Runkel is devastated from listening to his wife in the throes of passion with another man and Collini tells him that the best way to get her back is to remind her of how amazing he can be.  As a favor, she fakes a massage orgasm and, all of a sudden, the sound in the other bedroom stops.  She leaves and Runkel looks hopeful for the first time in a long while.

At the Koons house, Hank and Karen learn that the girls have been drinking (they opened $3000 worth of wine) and they are stunned to see that Felicia has been partaking in the libations as well.  When the Koons try to smooth over the incident, things get ugly and Karen gets downright confrontational.  This upsets Becca but they don’t care.  Hank and Karen take charge of the situation and it almost looks like a make-up session could be in the works.

How complicated would it be if Karen picked up and moved back to Los Angeles?  I hope the writers give us a chance to find out!