Last night was the season finale of Louie, one of summer TV's unexpected gems. The show came to a close as Louis faced his greatest alienation yet and realized where he truly belongs.

Throughout the first season, Louis has been in some awkward situations - a gig in the South that turned bizarre, a date at a diner that nearly resulted in physical violence, etc. But, things were never more awkward for him than in last night's finale, when he went with two young, hip comics to a loud club in an attempt to get laid. As usual, things go pretty poorly for Louis, but things were a little different this time.

In previous episodes and moments like this during the first season, a disastrous real-life experience would cut to Louis on stage, talking tangentially about what had occurred or re-contextualizing that moment into comedy. This time, the two fused directly into each other and the connection between the real-life elements of the show and the stand up comedy bits was made overtly clear.

[There was a video here]

Then, to show us that he wasn't joking, Louis ends the show eating breakfast with his daughters at dawn. It's a surprisingly sweet ending to a show that often traded in harsh truths and certain vulgaries of language and thought.

[There was a video here]

Here's hoping this isn't the last we see of Louie.