I was wondering how it was going to work, this second season, given that the whole premise of the show is Hank trying to weigh up his hedonistic lifestyle with his desire to have a life wit the woman he loves, and all that guff. You take away, and you take away what made the show so effective (well, that and all the breasts).
They didn't find a very subtle solution to this problem, but it looks from the first two episodes like they found a good one.
Love the show. Just got the first season from Play.com for a steal. Watched the first two of the second season and it's still got it.
The way a described it to a mate was Bukowski-lite for the masses. Not a patch on ol' Charles and it does pull the punches, but as a television show it dances on the cusp of whats acceptable for the mainstream.
I was getting a little bored of season two, until episode 4, which suddenly turned in to Abigail's Party with cocaine. At that point boredom turned in to 'what the fuck am I watching?' incredulity.
But as ever with this programme, inanity is followed by pathos, and before you know it, you're left wondering what the fuck just happened.
I can't tell if the writing for this show is haphazard genius, or haphazard bollocks. It seems to swing between the two. It has moments of sixth form creative writing, throw as many rude words and situations at the page as you can, followed by bits of striking (near) genius.
So how did they sort it out? I thought by ending s1 the way they did they were saying 'that's all folks.' But I guess not. I cannot stand Natascha McElhone, ever, in anything, so I'm kind of hoping she got run over by a bus, leaving Hank free to exorcise his grief in the arms of many nubile young ladies.