Louie season 4 continued with episode 4, the second episode of the night, titled “Elevator Part 1.” Our recap breaks down the events of the episode.
This recap will be filled with spoilers, so don’t read on unless you’ve seen the episode.
Episodes of Louie have, in the past, typically been self contained stories. Something that has come up in one episode usually has no effect on any episode in the future. However, episode 4 is the first part of a series of six connected episodes, by far the longest stretch of connected episodes in the entire series run of Louie. Because of that, we won’t really be able to understand exactly what Louis C.K. is up to quite yet. “Elevator Part 1” seems to be setting the pieces.
The episode contains two seemingly unrelated stories, though it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them intertwined eventually. The first story surrounds Louie’s daughter Jane, who, after a bad dream, claims that she is still dreaming. This is all fun and games until she steps out of the subway just before it leaves, sending Louie and his other daughter Lilly off without her. Realizing the danger of the situation, Louie is obviously freaking out even though Jane does know their “subway rules” and stays in that spot until they return. Louie is very upset and yells at her, saying she can never do it again, but all she says is, “This is a horrible dream.” Only when she is faced by her mother does she admit she wasn’t dreaming and knows she’s in trouble.
When Louie gets back to his apartment, his attempt to use the elevator is thwarted because it’s stuck. Unfortunately, it is stuck with an elderly woman played by Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn. Louie talks to her while she is forced to wait for the fire department to arrive. She asks him to go get an important medication from her apartment. Louie does this for her, and before he leaves (but after using her restroom) he notices a woman sleeping on her couch. The elderly woman says that the couch dweller is her niece and asks Louie to go get her. Louie tries, but the woman attacks him. It makes sense that a woman would attack a strange man hovering over her as she wakes, but Louie is startled nonetheless and goes back to his apartment. The woman played by Eszter Balint later brings Louie a desert, and even though she doesn’t speak much English, it’s clear they’ve formed a slight bond. In a stand up bit Louie asks, “How do you know you love somebody?” Has Louie fallen in love with this woman? We’ll have to wait for next week to find out.