Louie Recap: "Elevator Part 6" and "Pamela"

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he latest Louie episodes, "Elevator Part 6" and Pamela aired Monday, June 2nd and 10 P.M. on FX.

Louie tends to be hit-or-miss for me, and to be honest, my favorite part of the entire episode was the throwaway joke in the cold open that set the tone for the rest of the show.

Female Reporter: Ten people died in the Bronx last night, due to a fire that killed ten peole in the Bronx last night during a fire.

Male Reporter: Fire officials say all ten people died due to the fire, which was too hot for their bodies.

The gravitas with which they speak, combined with the absurdity of their sentences actually had me cracking up.

This episode was marked by an absolute inability to communicate, sometimes literally, sometimes figuratively.

Amia and Louie have been in a steadily building relationship, but, unfortunately for them, neither of them speak a common language.

We could look at this as a metaphor for the different languages men and women speak socially - women trained to keep things to themselves until it is too much of a problem to ignore anymore, and men trained to let everything out when they feel like it - or we could simply enjoy the comedy of errors it seems to be.

After far too much Hurricane Jasmine Forsythe-related hysteria (and did you know that hurricanes named after women result in more deaths in the U.S. because they are less respected? People are crazy), dish-smashing fights where they both scream past each other and a poignant conversation in church where they both say what they're feeling, but neither can make themselves understood, it comes down to a simple letter. Amia takes Louie to a (presumably Hungarian) restaurant where she finds a waiter who will translate for her.

Although Louie tried to have Amia's aunt translate for him previously, Amia wouldn't cooperate because she didn't want her aunt to be a part of her and Louie's relationship.

With a stranger reading her words to Louie, they can finally talk to each other. The episode ends with Louie and Amia's first real conversation being their break-up scene, pretty much guaranteed to choke you up.

Beginning with episode 10 of season 4, "Pamela," Louie's relationship with Amia has ended, and we know this because as he walks by her apartment and makes a spur-of-the-moment decision to say hello, he is confronted by an empty space. It's an over-the-top metaphor for his relationship with her -- where there once was a vibrant, cluttered, clumsily-decorated home there is now nothing but an single red couch, which, I suppose, is supposed to represent his heart.

Or whatever. Way to hit us over the head, show.

Louie peers out the window, spies an elderly man walking his three-legged dog out the window.

Cut to Louie walking the dog with the old man, and then begins this absolutely fabulous exchange between the two of them. I've included the best parts below:

Old Man: So you took a chance on being happy, knowing later on you would be sad.

Louie: Yeah.

Old Man: And now you're sad. Old Man pauses. So what's the problem?

Louie: I'm too sad.

Old Man: Misery is wasted on the miserable.

Louie: What?

Old Man:You know, I'm not entirely sure what your name is, but you are a classic idiot. You think spending time with her, kissing her, having fun with her, that's what it was all about? That was love?

Louie:Yeah

Old Man: This is love. Missing her because she's gone, wanting to die.

You're like a walking poem. Would you rather be...a Disney ride? [You have] sweet, sad love and you want to throw it all away. You've got it all wrong.

Louie: I thought this was the bad part.

Old Man: No. The bad part is when you forget her. The bad part is coming, so enjoy the heartbreak while you can. Would you pick up the dog poop, please?...

Louie picks up the dog poop.

Old Man: You know, I'm not really sure what your name is, but you are the single most boring person I have ever met. Give me my dog. Don't fall down.

Louie is just about to contemplate Old Man's words about his ridiculous self-indulgence when he receives a text from Pamela, who we saw a few episodes ago.

It's a photo of her flipping him off. I think that says it all.

Damn, I like her.

This episode is bookended by Louie listening in on other peoples' conversations, conversations that are very heavy. In the first, it appears that the two men are plotting a third man's murder, and in the second, Louie is listening to a man who seems to be on the edge.

He talks about being pushed "too far", and is working himself up to a sort of action. It's enough to make a gal nervous.

In between is Louie's stand-up routine, which is far longer than any of the one-liners that start Seinfeld.

Louie begins his stand-up by asking the crowd who among them thinks they will go to Heaven, and the implication is that no one in the room is a shoe-in for the land beyond the Pearly Gates.

Louie immediately casts himself in doubt as he makes some excellent points about sexism today, and one scene later proves while he might talk the talk, he doesn't walk the walk.

He preaches about respecting women, then goes home and forcibly kisses Pamela, who had offered to babysit his daughters while he went to his stand-up shows that night.

Louie has a lot of opportunities to learn a lesson in this episode, but never does. His only defense at the end of this episode is pointing to someone else's bad behavior in an attempt to cover his own.

This, as it always does, backfires, and Louie is left seething in silence in front of his daughters. Thankfully, in this episode, the "nice guy" (who isn't really a nice guy when it comes down to the line) finished last.