Season Five opens a year later. Hank's book is a best-seller and he's been seeing Carrie (Natalie Zea), but has to break it off when she gets too serious. Charlie calls and invites Hank to California for a meeting. Anxious to get away from Carrie, Hank accepts. It seems that rapper Samurai Apocalypse (RZA) wants Hank to write the screenplay for "Santa Monica Cop". Hank is skeptical at first, but Samurai can be persuasive. It also doesn't hurt that Hank finds himself attracted to Samurai's girl, Kali (Meagan Good). Karen and Richard are doing fine, but they aren't happy with Becca's boyfriend, Tyler (Scott Michael Foster), and when Hank meets him, he doesn't like Tyler either. Charlie is wrestling with Marcy over the best way to raise the son which they had together, who is mute and is shuttled back and forth between them. As Hank tries to avoid doing too much work on his new project, he finds himself pulled between the weird world of Samurai and his family life which has a lot of ups and downs.

There's nothing wrong with settling into a groove, but Californication has become one of the most redundant shows ever. I honestly have to go back and read about each season because they all blur together. The issue lies with the characters and the situations. Despite the various life lessons which he should be learning each season, Hank Moody never changes. Now, to be fair, few of us ever really change over the course of our adults lives, but, then again, we aren't the subject of a TV show (or at least I hope not!). But, it seems that every season Hank does whatever he can to sabotage his career and family life. He's offered a writing job which he eventually reluctantly takes, but he doesn't put his heart into it. He attempts to devote himself to Karen and Becca, but he's led astray by other women, alcohol or drugs. Likewise, Charlie wants to make things work with Marcy, but always finds himself in humiliating situations.

It appears that the only difference between the seasons is what odd side of Hollywood the show decides to expose. In Season Five, Hank goes into the world of rap music (sort of) and see the excesses which lie there. He is also lured back into the world of screenwriting and not only does he do the script, but he asked to work on-set as well. This sub-plot examines scripts are always changing to appease the actors and how screenplays are built around ideas instead of growing organically.

There are also some minor differences with the characters. For the first time since Season One, Hank must deal with the fact that Karen is officially with another man. To make matters worse, Hank actually likes Richard and respects how he takes care of Karen. Becca is now in college and is no longer Hank's little girl, although he still does what he can to protect her, in his own, odd way.

One thing which certainly hasn't changed about the show is the adolescent male fantasy aspect. I swear, Californication should be listed in science fiction. While Hank actually has less casual sex in Season Five, he still gets in plenty of situations where women are throwing themselves at him. As if this weren't hard enough to swallow, we have to see Charlie get seduced as well. There's also the idea that a script can begin shooting overnight, which is a bit far-fetched.

So, is it time to give up on Californication? That's a tough question. Duchovny continues to do a great job of throwing himself into the role of this damaged man, and Hank still says some funny things. The unguarded moments between Hank and Karen still work. However, if the show is to continue, it must find a way to change and grow. As it is, Season Five feels like a warmed up version of past seasons, even with the inclusion of new characters and events. The cliffhanger ending is certainly interesting and I'll be checking out Season Six to see what happens, but if things don't change, I may not be staying around for the whole thing.

Californication: The Fifth Season drives a 911 onto DVD courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment. The two disc set contains all 12 episodes from the show's fifth season. The show has been letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The image is sharp and clear, although some mild grain is evident at times. There are no obvious defects from the source material. The show has a somewhat washed out look at times, but otherwise the colors look good and the image is never overly dark or bright. The level of detail is acceptable for a DVD, as is the depth. The DVD carries a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track which provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The stereo effects are good and they show nice separation. These are especially good at alerting us to sounds off-screen. The surround sound effects come into play with crowd scenes, especially on the film set. The rap music featured at times allows the subwoofer to get involved.

The only readily accessible extras on the Californication: The Fifth Season DVD set are text BIOGRAPHIES for the five main cast members and a PHOTO GALLERY of production stills. The DVD also holds the first two episodes from another Showtime series House of Lies.

Review by Mike Long. Copyright 2012.