Louis C.K. took a year off from his groundbreaking, innovative TV show to make a couple of movies. One of those films was the Oscar-nominated American Hustle, in which he played an FBI agent getting bullied by Bradley Cooper’s character. The other was Woody Allen’s Oscar-nominated Blue Jasmine, in which he played a scumbag.
He played both roles amazingly well.
It looks like some of those dramatic leanings have worn off on C.K. The shows of his fourth season now feel like something from the Woody Allen of old—down to the white letters on black background credits that start each episode. (There’s no more “Louie” song!).
While this year’s installments are perhaps a little less funny than in prior years, they are still mind-blowingly good. FX has chosen to air the shows in two-episode, one-hour blocks, and while this means the new episodes will end sooner on the calendar, it’s nice to get double blasts at a time.
This season has featured several multiple-episode story arcs, all dealing with the turmoil of raising his kids (still amazingly played by Hadley Delany and Ursula Parker) and his hapless stabs at romance. I’ve yet to see anything as frighteningly memorable as Melissa Leo cracking Louie’s head on a car window as she did in Season 3—but the season isn’t over yet.
Louie’s fourth season airs Mondays on FX, concluding on Monday, June 16. The episodes are also available for rental via online sources including iTunes and Amazon.com.