Why am I writing about Louie? It is an almost universally acclaimed television program and comes from a man lauded as the king of stand up by a huge number of my heroes. I know that week on week, I will be impressed and entertained. The latest episode of Season 5 however, managed to surprise and shock me. You should all watch it now.
MINOR SPOILERS that will lessen the impact of a brilliant episode follow, but only after the image below.
My personal journey with Louis C.K. began with buying a special edition package of Lucky Louie and his episode of the HBO series One Night Stand. Now, probably eight years later, I can’t remember why I picked it up. I suppose I had heard of him through my comedy readings. Lucky Louie is worth seeking out as a curio, but it is a superlative writer stifled by a format (of his own choosing).
The latest episode of Louie, “Untitled”, is one of the best televisual representations of dreams I have ever seen. It is an episode of hilarious comedy that managed to terrify me. The images it portrayed will stay with me for a long time. The final seconds before the ad break pulled me screaming (not literally, though not far off) into an episode I was already intrigued by. The rest of the episode perfectly balanced the uncertainty of the world Louie and the audience were in and had a wonderful resolution. See, the spoilers weren’t too bad after all.
A man who can find completely new styles to hold mastery of, 58 episodes in, is worth writing about.
What did you think of this episode? Are there other examples of dreams in television I should know about?
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