It's fitting that the fifth season of "Louie" opens with the comedian on stage at a New York City club talking about aliens. At its core, the series has received mostly universal praise because of how C.K. positions himself to be alienated, depressed and embarrassed by virtually everyone he comes in contact with. Just look at the whole sad, yet very funny, plot line of when he almost became a late night television show host before getting trolled by David Letterman. Season five is no different.
Right off of the bat it's noticeable that C.K.'s obsession with trying to be Woody Allen has been toned down, for the better. In season four, the titular character spent episodes trying to fall in love with a girl who didn't even speak English, whom he couldn't communicate with. It really sounds like a story arch Allen could've written himself or a film you'd see at an art house theater.
The newer episodes stray from that and are much more in-your-face, laugh-out-loud funny. The humor still echoes the brutally honest stand-up that has made C.K. the current king of comedy. However, the comedian goes back to his absurd, loudmouth roots in the new season — his deadpan deliveries on stage are replaced by screaming and yelling more than once.
Off stage, Louie is back with jaw-droppingly ludicrous moments. Scenes that are so ridiculous you don't know whether or not to laugh. The car crash-like scenarios, when you want to look away but can't, are a hilarious trademark on the show five seasons in.
The best cringe-worthy funny scenes involve C.K.'s (in his opinion at least) best friend with benefits, Pamela, played by Pamela Adlon. Both characters continue to be polar opposites, but Louie insists on trying to make things worth between them. Their relationship reaches a turning point in classic crazy "Louie" fashion — while he is wearing eyeliner, lipstick and pretending to be a woman.
Of course, Louie needed makeup in the first place because he got jumped on the streets of New York City.
Manhattan is becoming a character of its own now, like Albuquerque was to "Breaking Bad." "Louie" perfectly captures the trends of the city's dwellers, like two women getting angry because C.K. messed up their surrogate's plans to have the child at a classy hospital, but also hits the nail on the head of the complete brashness of New Yorkers when a cop blatantly calls him a freak.
Louie's communication problems are far from solved, but it's still a treat watching him hopelessly attempt to fix them.
