Miami (Louie)

In June 2012, FX confirmed that the third episode of the season would be titled "Miami", and that it would be written and directed by series creator and lead actor Louis C.K. This was C.K.'s 29th writing and directing credit.[1]

In its original American broadcast, "Miami" was seen by an estimated 1.06 million household viewers with a 0.5 in the 18-49 demographics. This means that 0.5 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode.[2] This was a slight decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 1.08 million viewers with a 0.6 in the 18-49 demographics.[3]

"Miami" received positive reviews from critics. Eric Goldman of IGN gave the episode a "great" 8 out of 10 and wrote, "Like a lot of the less outwardly 'funny' Louie episodes, this was still quite engaging. And Louie's standup act at the end, about the fear heterosexual men have of being perceived as gay, gave us some more specifically focused jokes that ended this little pseudo love-story for Louie on a typically strong note."[4]

Emily St. James of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A–" grade and wrote, "There's not a lot of plot to 'Miami' — even by Louie standards — but that's okay. Just watching Louie out of his natural environment acts as almost a vacation for the viewer as well. C.K. captures the rhythms of Louie's trip well, and the early sections of the episode lay out the sort of comedian's routine Louie could have easily fallen into if not for meeting Ramon."[5]

Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "They're both trying so hard to not be judgmental, and to get out of what has turned into a very uncomfortable conversation with as little pain as possible, that their conversation becomes almost excruciatingly funny, and the right capper to an excellent, bittersweet episode."[6] Zach Dionne of Vulture wrote, "The first five minutes of this episode are nearly entirely sans dialogue. But even with this strong visual focus, C.K.'s dialogue writing is concise and sneakily hilarious."[7]

Paste gave the episode a 7.8 out of 10 and wrote, "'Miami' was an almost great episode of Louie that was also one of the sweeter episodes the show's done. It didn't even require the appearance of the adorable girls who play his daughters in the show. However, it really did have a big problem, one that did a good job at showing just how big of an effect small decisions have in making the show work: it's one of the few episodes of Louie that trips right at the finish line."[8] Neal Lynch of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.1 star out of 5 rating and wrote, "In watching this comedy born from real-life drama, the laughs are more genuine, they don't come cheap. Louie makes us earn each and every chuckle, but despite the fact our enjoyment comes from something artificial (a fictional show), it's still fulfilling and enriching."[9]