Season Review: Louie - Season 4

In many ways, Louie Season 4 seemed more like a collection of short films than a season of television. After the standalone first few episodes, the episode consisted of a six-part romance story, a 90 minute leap back to Louie's childhood, and a three-part arc with Pamela to cap it all out. Louie has always felt like something very different for television - previous seasons of the show were marked by how each story seemed to stand on its own and occupied only as much time and space as Louis CK needed them to. So it's nice to see that, even four seasons in, Louie can continue to push television to new and surprising limits.

But what made this season such a compelling television season, despite its short film limits, was the way it played with consistent ideas through-out each episode. The season seemed intent on fleshing out the women in Louie's life and analyzing how he communicates with them. "Model" and "So Did the Fat Lady" showcased two fairly random women that take an interest in Louie and traced the unique ways why each relationship is, more or less, doomed to fail. "Into the Woods" takes us back to Louie's childhood to see Louie's relationship with the first important woman in his life - his mother. The "Pamela" episodes take everything we learn about Louie through the season and turns it into a satisfying finish. And at the center of all of this is the gigantic "Elevator" arc, which takes the deepest look at Louie's life by putting a budding new relationship up against his relationship with his ex-wife as well as his daughters.

All of this gave Louie some of its most powerful material yet, whether it be the twisted dreamlike reality of "Model" to Vanessa's painfully perfect monologue about the unfair treatment of overweight women or the great flashback scene with Louie and his wife. And having an overarching narrative gave all of these scenes an extra sense of purpose that really elevated (NO PUT INTENDED) the season as a whole. And if some parts of the season didn't quite work - I thought the Pamela arc was a little shaggy and muddled on the whole - it still all came together to create one of the most thoughtful seasons of television of the year. I'm really interested to see where Louis CK takes it next, whenever and however it might return.

Final Grade: A-