“Dirty Sexy Money” Review: Ummm…Part Two
As “Dirty Sexy Money” opened Wednesday night, I waited for the recap that would remind me where we left off last season…
But it never came. All we got were brief explanations of where the story went in the six months between this episode and the last as the current story unfolded.
Usually when a show doesn’t do a recap, it’s because they have changed a few things. And that’s absolutely the case with “DSM.” The question is whether those changes are for the better.
And the answer is?
Ummm…
Maybe it was just me, but everyone seemed a little off. You would expect some story problems since the Writers’ Strike pretty much forced a relaunch of the show. But I didn’t expect acting problems. William Baldwin, who was so solid as Patrick last season, seemed to forget how to act, and Peter Krause (Nick) seemed to be in a fog.
But worst of all was Donald Sutherland (Tripp). I don’t have to tell you guys what a fan I am of him, but he seemed completely off his game last night. In his defense, Tripp himself was completely off his game as the show has apparently decided to change him from a misunderstood, compassionate mogul to an ultra-devious, manipulative one. But at times Sutherland seemed to be trying to give Tripp some kind of accent. It was just a little bizarre.
Before the show aired, I was concerned about the addition of Lucy Liu to the cast, but she was actually rather intriguing. However, did we really need to see Seth Gabel (Jeremy) pull down her panties?
We get it, okay? The show is getting dirtier this season. Let’s move on…
Speaking of Jeremy, why did the show decide to revisit his and Lisa’s (Zoe McClellan) kiss? That happened ages ago with no fallout at all and then suddenly Jeremy starts stalking her for six months? I have to say, however, that it was pretty cool seeing Nick punch Jeremy out. He had that one coming…
Although in all honesty, I think Nick might need a good punching too. Or maybe that’s the writers. The Darlings are starting to corrupt Nick. We get it, okay? Let’s move on…
Brian (Glenn Fitzgerald) as his father’s hatchet man was interesting and seeing Karen (Natalie Zea) sink in deeper with Simon (Blair Underwood) for her dad (or is she?) is an intriguing—if somewhat confusing—story.
But the entire story with Patrick and his wife? Ridiculous. The Patrick-Carmelita coupling was the show’s strongest storyline as Patrick struggled between who he was (Carmelita was a transsexual.) and who his father wanted him to be. But turning his wife into a raging alcoholic who ended up killing herself while trying to kill him was crazy. And then having Tripp decide to dispose of the body by setting their country house on fire? If we had seen Tripp do that kind of thing before, I would’ve got it. But since he never showed that much deception last season it came off a little…well…bizarre.
I have no problem with Tripp being diabolical (Sutherland’s great at that, after all.), but I could have used a little more build-up. Sutherland has always played Tripp a little ambiguous, leaving the audience wondering whether he’s really good or bad. But this was just knock you over the head, twirl your mustache dastardly. And it just didn’t quite work as well as it should have.
So just as I was starting to believe that I had outgrown one more of my favorite shows, “DSM” threw in a huge twist…
As the NYPD boarded the yacht where everyone was celebrating Nick’s birthday, it appeared that Nick had done the right thing and called the police about Patrick’s wife. But instead, the police showed up to arrest Leticia (Jill Clayburgh) for the murder of Nick’s father and her lover, Dutch.
It came completely out of nowhere—just how I like my twists to happen. And in those 30 seconds, my faith in “DSM” was restored.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I was still disappointed with the show overall. But after that twist, I am willing to give it the benefit of the doubt that the show will get things worked out.
I would really hate to cross another one off my list…
“Dirty Sexy Money” airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on ABC…
