Dirty Sexy Money – The Family Lawyer

ABC

(Season 2, Episode 2)

Despite the absence of Juliet, and the absence of an explanation as to her whereabouts, with only the briefest explanation, I slid right into the Darling drama as if we’d never been apart. I think that’s a wonderful testament to the quality of the cast, direction and writing that the series, that despite an absence as long as Pushing Daisies, it didn’t miss a beat in keeping things rolling right along. Dare I say it, but I think the Walkers and the Darlings are two equally mesmerizing family soaps.

That said, I don’t really get yet the role of Lucy Liu on this show, other than to tempt Jeremy. Nor am I too thrilled with the Darling craziness infecting Nick’s marriage and home life. While I knew it would be a struggle for Nick and Lisa to maintain their marital happiness while Nick is so ensnared by the Darlings, I was hopeful that the strength of it would always be there to pull them through. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like the relationship is on the ropes, but the writers have thrown it into play. Tonight, though, the focus will be on the Darllng fire and reports of a Darling death.

It was kind of funny, yet appropriate, that it was only by speaking about the missing Carmelita that Patrick was able to properly eulogize his wife. Nevertheless, it did show how real his emotions are for his missing love. Maybe with his pesky wife out of the equation, he’ll be able to focus better on being the strong confident candidate his father wants him to be. Certainly he’ll no longer be cheating. There’s just that one pesky detail about Carmelita remaining.

There you go! That’s how you introduce a new character. The writers left us wondering about Lucy Liu’s role in the series after last week’s tryst with Jeremy, but then *BAM!* there she is! In one episode they managed to add so many layers to her character, from her ruthless attacks on Letitia to her insecurities about the case revealed to Jeremy at the end. Just like that she’s a compelling character and a great addition to the cast.

Simon Elder showed even more of a duplicitous side in his handling of Karen’s ambitions to be successor of Darling Enterprises. While I like the bizarre relationship Karen and Simon have developed, I enjoyed more seeing him interact with Nick. The character is too rich and Blair Underwood is too amazing an actor to be little more than eye candy dancing around with a half-naked chick.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that every episode manages to find a way to get Karen down to her underwear. After all, the title of the show is Dirty Sexy Money and we’ve seen plenty of all three. So let’s see. We had Tripp doing his puppetmaster thing with Brian to get Nick to defend Letitia. I’m still not sure if any judge on the face of the planet would allow the son of the victim to defend the accused in that situation. But the Darlings have shit-tons of money, as they paraded into the courtroom to pay Letitia’s bail with tonight.

It was nice to see Nick and Lisa appearing to be cozy again as they are the bastions of sanity in this oppulent world. But with Tripp’s latest manipulation, which I saw coming a mile away, regarding his successor, I wonder how long they can remain free from the “Darling Curse.”

Clacked by Jason Hughes
on Oct 08, 2008 @ 21:41 EST5EDT