(S03E11) "Ladies, start your egos." - Richard Bates to Hank and Stacy Koontz

Hank Moody is the very definition of a man who deserves a serious ass-kicking.

He may not mean to act like the world's biggest douchebag. In fact, out of the entire world lineup of douchebags, he's certainly towards the end of life's long line. That still doesn't mean he doesn't deserve one less than the guy at the very front of the line, whoever that poor bastard may be. My money is on the mutant offspring of Attila the Hun and Spencer the Pratt.

But why does that guy who gets to deliver said ass-kicking have to be the world's dorkiest jilted man? A man who when confronting the man who gave his way a ride down the Pleasure Expressway challenges said man to a duel with blanks? And before you even think of asking, yes, copious amounts of alcohol were involved. Just another Sunday for Californication.

It was just one moment of pain for Hank's actions in the luncheon from Hell. Felicia has not only invited Hank and his blushing bride Karen but also the women he slept with while Karen was being the bread winner back in New York. It's hard to know if Felicia is doing this because she cares about Hank and wants to help him grow past his boyish ways (the long talk she and Hank had at the end of the ninth episode was so boring, I really don't remember what they talked about) or still has fangs from the situation and needs to sink them in some meat.

Richard Bates, the gruff author who Hank helped kick back in rehab from the first episode of the season, returns after completing his tour of detox duty to enjoy watching the two try to take each other out. Bateman Bates, played by Jason Beghe, made for an interesting character and the fact that he didn't get as much screen time as some of the other characters is a shame. Not that I'd want to see the "Pee Pee Dance" more than once in my lifetime.

Charlie and Marcy are very close to selling the house they've been trying to unload since the beginning of the season. And just as it seems that these two are finally about to separate each other from their lives, that old spark starts another flame and inspires them to make love in the one room in the house that have yet to christen with the screams of their ecstasy: the bathroom. In doing so, they rip a sink out of the wall and Charlie goes from super-stud to pathetic-prick and Marcy finds a reason to fall in love with him all over again because she can take care of him. But does she dare get herself into a relationship that already seemed doomed from the start?

Other observations:
- Bateman's Bates' professor/student fling with Karen when she was an undergrad made for some interesting squirming for Hank, but felt way out of left field. Maybe it was done as a way to show Hank how it feels when a loved one sleeps around, but if it was, it wasn't explored nearly enough, if at all.
- Felicia described the whole luncheon as a "fabulous disaster." I couldn't put it better myself.