‘Louie’ Review: “Dad”

‘Louie,’ that loveable Emmy-nominated miscreant returns once more, this time to make your question your relationship with your parents!  ‘Louie’ season 3 wildly flees from its eighth episode of the year, as Louie finds the prospect of seeing his father makes him physically ill, and reluctantly agrees to pay a visit at his uncle's behest.

Last week’s ‘Louie’ episode “IKEA / Piano Lesson” saw Louie coming face to face with a previous sexual encounter, getting roped in for an uncomfortable trip to IKEA, and later finding an embarrassing incident leading him to connect with old friend Marc Maron.   So how does “Dad” keep things moving forward?

Read on for your in-depth recap of everything you need to know about ‘Louie’ season 3 episode 8, “Dad!”

Louie’s daughter Lilly practices her violin at home (beautifully, we might add), but rather than appreciate the magnificent performance, Louie only scolds Jane for not doing her homework first as he asked.  Later, Louie visits an electronics store looking to buy a Blu-ray / DVD player, but the salesmen only mock him for acting rudely and breaking up their conversation.

While being “helped,” Louie takes a call from his mysterious Uncle Excelsior (or Ex), who explains that he’ll be in town and the two should have lunch together.  After getting off the call, Louie trips over a printer placed there by the salesman as a prank, and promptly goes to see the store manager.  The manager accompanies Louie into the security office, where they review the footage of the salesman’s misdeed, but when the employees can barely contain their laughter at the fall, Louie leaves indignantly.

Over at an emptied Russian Tea Room, Louie meets his Uncle Ex (F. Murray Abraham, of course a different character than last season).  Ex quickly dispenses with the pleasantries to explain that he recently visited Louie’s father in Boston, who seemed weak.  It matters not that Louie and he have not spoken in years, and don’t get along, as Ex doesn’t value his brother either, but as family, Louie simply must go to visit his father.  After all, family isn’t a whore you use a condom on to avoid her wretchedness.  Yes, that was part of the explanation.

Later, at a poker game with fellow comedians, Louie jokes with Sarah Silverman, and the group laughs at Jim Norton for his pathetically drawn pornography notes, a habit he developed from never being allowed to look at real porn in his youth.  Out of nowhere, Louie pukes onto the table, ending the game.  The following day he takes the illness, complete with spreading rash to his doctor, but nothing seems to explain the conflicting symptoms.  The doctor theorizes that the illness could be psychological, Louie so stressed by the idea of seeing his father, and advises getting a visit over with to relieve the symptoms.

Louie hops a plane to Boston, stressing at every turn and imagining that everyone from the rental car agents to his own GPS are criticizing him for his fear of seeing his father.  Louie’s distraction nearly sends him into the back of a truck, after which he gets into a confrontation with the Bostonian motorist behind him. The hot-headed man relents when he sees Louie’s nose bleeding, and the two settle their differences, as the man’s own father died years earlier.

When he finally arrives at the door, he works himself up toward ringing the bell, and a figure approaches from inside.  Rather than face his father however, Louie bolts from the porch, down the street and around the corner, throwing away his sweater before hopping on a nearby three-wheeler motorcycle.  Louie rides all throughout Boston with no signs of stopping, finally sprinting down a nearby marina, and stealing an empty boat from a dock.

Louie boats out into the middle of nowhere at top speed, before finally shutting off the engine.  He sits, and cracks up to himself, offering a solitary “woo” before realizing what he’s done and becoming sullen once more.

"Dad" certainly ranks as one of the odder stories of 'Louie' history, if only for how many different vignettes the narrative seems to move through.  By the time "Dad" left the ultimate confrontation for the final minutes, it was apparent that we wouldn't be treated to a satisfying resolution, but the journey there was entertaining enough to forgive any attention deficit.  It's surreal, intriguing, and vaguely unsatisfying, but nonetheless everything we've come to expect from a unique episode of 'Louie.'

Did you get your fill of awkward ‘Louie’ laughs?  What did you think about the episode? Let us know in the comments and check back next week for another all-new ‘Louie’ episode recap of “Looking for Liz / Lilly Changes” on FX!