Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

“Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder” is the sixth episode of the Showtime original series Californication. It was written by Tom Kapinos and Eric Weinberg, directed by Ken Whittingham and originally aired on Sunday September 17, 2007.

Plot

Hank meets sexy Surfer Girl (Michelle Lombardo) at the market. After a night getting high while listening to vintage rock LPs and having sex with her, Hank awakens to Mia, who needs more of Hank’s writing to pass off in her class. He also finds out the Surfer Girl has stolen his guitar (Les Paul) and LPs.

Charlie’s wife Marcy walks in on a strange situation between him and his secretary Dani, and she calls her his “little slave.” She then has sex with him on his desk chair, but he finishes too quickly.

Later at night Hank and Karen go to a concert of their daughter Becca’s band, but afterwards Mia calls him to rescue from her teacher, who is high on cocaine and wants to force her into a threesome with another girl, and she cannot leave. It turns out she was not on a situation as dire as she said. She exaggerated a bit to get him to come. At his home, Charlie tries to talk his wife on being his BDSM slave. Though she is not really enthusiastic about it, they give it a try but it does not go well.

At Karen’s, while Bill is away, she invites Hank to take a drink (absinthe) and they talk about their daughter, their relationship and Karen’s relationship with Bill, and they end up kissing. Hank ends up spending the night in a guest bedroom after he falls into the pool.

Later, Surfer Girl comes to Hank's place to return his guitar and LPs, and offers him another go, which he accepts.

Cultural references

• The line used by Hank in “Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder,” “I think ya jarred something loose there tiger,” is a direct quote from the movie Kingpin.
• A reference to the song “Californication” is made in Mia’s narration: “It’s the edge of the world and all of western civilization.”
• Hank tells the surfer girl he meets at the store “Life’ll kill ya,” which is the name of a Warren Zevon song and album.
• The title (Absinthe Makes The Heart Grow Fonder) is a reference to the quote “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

Music

• Madeleine Martin — “Don’t Let Us Get Sick”
• Gus Black — “Paranoid”
• Sea Wolf — “The Garden That You Planted”
• Pat Guadagno — “Don’t Let Us Get Sick”

Becca’s Band

• Guitar 1: Madeleine Martin (Becca)
• Guitar 2: Myles Trifon
• Bass: Robert Gilling
• Keyboard: Shira Kreitenberg
• Drums: Jory Glick

External links

"Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder" at the Internet Movie Database