Right, right, all of the attention is on “Mad Men” right now, but let us not forget the scrappy underdog of the Showtime channel, “Californication.” When the show premiered in 2007, it was a refreshing reminder that sometimes the world truly needs an archaic stereotype, such as the tried-and-true lothario writer, to balance out the current socio-political preoccupation with political correctness.

Five seasons in, the show is starting to show some wear. Hank is no longer invincible and spent much of season five unable to tell his ex-wife how he really feels about her while stifling his ex, Carrie. Carrie, played by Natalie Zea, is seen early on in the season for just two episodes before vanishing… until last night’s season finale.

SPOILER ALERT: You have been warned.

So, Carrie shows up with eight minutes to go in the episode, as Hank is on his way to meet his ex-wife Karen, for whom he has apparently decided to stay in Los Angeles. After Hank tells Carrie he never truly loved her, she charms him into having “one last drink” (a shot, as she seems to be drinking it, of whiskey, served in a tumbler glass?). Hank takes the bait and is soon dizzy. There is then a small dream sequence of him and Karen in a garden with a white picket fence, yada yada yada, and the closing shot is of a hallucinatory vision of Karen on top of Hank saying “I love you.”

There seems to be a season six in the works, and I’ll bet a dollar that Hank survives, but the question has to be asked: is this the end of the line for Hank Moody?