Louie Season 3

We're thus far about halfway through the third season of Louis C.K.'s highly popularly, critically acclaimed show Louie. This show just keeps getting better and better. I felt the first few episodes of the first season to be a little rocky, but once season 2 came around, I was entirely on board.

I have to say, this is a show unlike any other I've seen seen. And possibly, unlike any show anyone else has ever seen, but I won't presume to speak for them. And that's probably much of the appeal. This is, through and through, a Louis CK show. He created the show; he writes, he directs, he edits - he even operates the camera at times!

Part of the show's brilliance is its complete lack of any conventional or continuous narrative. You never know what to expect from episode to episode. Sure, many sitcoms are the same way - but not like this. Louis cares zilch about continuity; his sister may be played by one actress here, another there; he may be driving a motorcycle in one episode, and not in another. So what makes this show work so well? Because Louie, more than most any show on television, connects with audiences. The awkward social situations. Louie's own self-image of himself. Everything about this show comes back to relating to your audience. Give them something they can recognize in themselves, and it will resonate. And that's what he does here, to magnificent effect.

This season, thus far, has lived up to the reputation set by the first two. My favorite episode has to be #5, the second episode with Parker Posey (possibly the most interesting character in the history of the series, imo - I hope she returns). The episode ends with a magnificent rooftop scene (some shots in which you'd frankly expect out of something like Woody Allen's Manhattan). Here, Posey discusses why Louie is afraid to get near the edge of the rooftop, while she sits calmly on the ledge. My favorite line, one of the most resonant (for me) in the entire series is when Posey tells Louie: "The only way I'd fall is if I jumped. That's why you're afraid to come over here. Because a tiny part of you wants to jump. Because it would be so easy." I never used to be afraid of heights. These days, a small small part of me is. Maybe that's why.

Louie is a show of brilliance, of wit, of imagination, and one of the best examples of TV originality and "out of the box" thinking I've seen in a long, long time.

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