Louie has always managed to capture New York in a true-to-life way. The grime and the charm of the city comes through on the show, which makes a trip outside the city all the more interesting. Louie has traveled to the (fake) Middle East, (real) Las Vegas and with this week’s episode, “Miami”, we get a trip to the beach and an overall enjoyable travelogue episode.

Louie flies in to Miami to do some shows and we see all of the typical Travel Channel beachscapes with beautiful models CK made sure to feature prominently to highlight his own less-than-glorious physique. He paints it as a miserable experience. The people are as awful as they are beautiful and the allure of the beach is squashed by all the hang-ups that come with not being a 25-year-old muscle bound hottie.

After passing out after half a hamburger, Louie sees that the beach is deserted enough that he may actually have the chance to enjoy himself. When he goes out to into the water, he sees that a beach employee is picking up all the beach chairs, one of which has all of Louie’s belongings. As Louie flails trying to get his attention, Ramon, the lifeguard, goes out to save him because Louie looks like he drowning.

After “saving” him, Ramon invites Louie out to experience the city as a local would. It’s the dream of any right-thinking traveler. While the quest to have a true experience of a city is usually overrun by enjoyable, yet artificial, tourist junk, there’s always the chance of seeing what a destination truly has to offer. Thanks to his new friend, Louie shows us Miami the way he shows us New York each week – with all the blemishes and beauty tourists comfortably avoid.

Now we get treated to the talents of Louie CK: Director. The montage of the city is charming and vibrant, exciting and still laid back. The colors of the city and the people are captured in a rosy way that I wish was true (though not having been to Miami or being a local I have no way of knowing how accurate). Whether it was an accurate portrayal or not, I think it was a true depiction of CK’s vision of the city beyond the resort. Whether or not everyone can agree on this is beside the point. Because Louie photographs the city in such a way, it is true. Ramon comments on how people stay in their apartment buildings forever and never experience the city as it truly is -- an important message for anyone, no matter what the city. This is CK’s plea to get people to experience things in a new way, maybe a way that he has only recently started experiencing the world.

After enjoying the city, mingling at a local party and making a high-speed return to the resort to do a show, Louie decides he wants to stay a bit longer. He’s made new friends; he’s fallen in love with Miami. He gets the OK from his ex-wife and when he goes to see his buddy Ramon, there is a different sort of energy. When the two get a drink, Ramon asks why he decided to stay longer. It becomes immediately awkward and clear that Ramon seems to think Louie has fallen in love with him. It’s become clear that CK is focused on defending is sexuality or, as he clearly explains in the episode’s closing stand-up routine, how heterosexual men are the only group that need to worry about proving their sexuality. We saw this last week where Oscar winner Melissa Leo calls him gay for not going down on her. In “Miami” Louie non-verbally tries to convince Ramon that there isn't any attraction. But the awkwardness wins out, something CK has a knack for writing, directing and acting out in a real way I haven’t seen in many other places. We close with the stand-up set and realize that CK couldn’t enjoy his extra days in Miami, there was just too much to prove.

Next week seems to continue this kick of CK focusing on his heterosexuality, with an episode titled: "Daddy’s Girlfriend Part 1". We’ll see how Louie handles dating and how it relates to his kids. It sounds like an intensely personal subject and it’s something that CK always handles well. As for this week, I think it was a great effort as CK captured Miami’s beauty beyond its beaches and bodies. The awkwardness at the end hit well as there never needed to be an utterance of what the implication was. CK shows that no matter how homey New York is, there’s a great world out there that needs to be explored.