Man, breakups suck. No matter how amiable the parting, when that man or woman leaves, a part of you leaves with them. “Elevator Part 6” is a satisfying, appropriately melancholy conlucsion to Louie‘s “Elevator” arc.
Hurricane Jasmine Forsythe is intensifying, with people in the Bronx dying in fires (“The fire was too hot for their bodies,” a newscaster helpfully explains) and almost everyone in West Brooklyn dead as well. The rain falls, and Louie chases Amia into a church, where he apologizes, but for what, he’s unsure. Their miscommunication comes to a head as Louie admits he can’t understand a damn thing she’s saying. This leads to the two of them back at Ivanka’s apartment (who squeals with delight when Louie tells her that he and Amia had sex); Amia breaks plates out of frustration, and Louie yells at Ivanka to tell Amia that he’s in love with her.
But alas, real life intrudes once again, and Louie leaves to go get Janet and his daughters (taking with him essential hurricane supplies, like a banana, a light bulb, and two joints). His passage to Janet’s apartment is downright Stygian, but honestly it’s great to see something work out for Louie. This is the guy who had a girl bail on a date via helicopter escape (Chelsea Peretti in the pilot), so it’s impressive – and impressively selfless – that he drops everything to rescue his family, and it totally works.
The next day, the rain has stopped, and Louie and Amia are at a restaurant, where a waiter translates what is essentially a breakup letter. Obvisouly Louie is disappointed, but he – and we – knew that this couldn’t last. How wonderful it is, then, that the last words of “Elevator Part 6” are Louie saying “I’m so happy.” We should all be so lucky to have, as Amia put it in her letter, a beautiful, unexpected adventure.
“Pamela Part 1” finds Louie in the aftermath of Amia’s departure. He seeks the advice of Charles Grodin’s Dr. Bigelow, who sums up relationships nicely: “You took a chance on being happy, knowing that you might end up sad.” He then tells Louie “I’m not sure what your name is” and “You might be the most boring person I’ve ever met.” Grodin is a goddamn treasure.
Anyway, Louie gets perked up by a text from Pamela – her flipping him off, naturally – and they meet for coffee. Louie is terrible at being on the rebound, and admits to Pamela that he’s more or less trying to take her up on her offer from “Elevator Part 3,” only to find that, in her words, the ship has sailed. And rightfully so, because what Louie is attempting is kind of an asshole move.
Nevertheless, she agrees to babysit Louie’s kids, and when Louie returns he finds her asleep on the couch. This conjurs up uncomfortable feelings for Louie, as that’s how he and Amia first met, but if those feelings are uncomfortable for him, they’re twice as uncomfortable for the audience, because Louie’s next move is to try to “take control,” which worked with Amia, but not so much with Pamela. It comes off as a rape attempt, and Pamela thankfully defuses some of the tension by shouting “This would be rape if you weren’t so stupid!” Louie relents, and Pamela allows him to give her the most awkward kiss ever.
It might be too soon for Louie to move on from “Elevator” to “Pamela,” but, being the apologist for the show that I am, I think the transition is supposed to be jarring and rushed, because that’s exactly how the title character is behaving.
“Elevator Part 6:” 4 1/2 Stars
“Pamela Part 1:” 4 Stars
Total Episode Score: 4 1/2 Stars
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