This episode had Clark house sitting for the Darling’s while they are away on vacation. A gossip columnist comes over and is threatening to run a story about the family and the many escapades that have been going on in the Darling household. Clark decides to set the record straight and give her an in detailed interview on what’s really been happening with the Darling household. I have to say all these stories weren’t very entertaining. The only one that was even amusing was the story about Juliet meeting someone and ending up having to go to an island to help restore power. It was just cool to see Samaire Armstrong back and even though the story ended up being somewhat lame, Samaire proved that she can still play the character very well. The gossip columnist was played by Rena Sofer, who most of us know as Nathan Petrelli’s ex-wife who hasn’t been seen since season one. While she was decent in heroes, I found her overacting most of the time this episode. I also hated the way the show kept going to commercial on what is supposed to be shocking news, but it didn’t come off as shocking, but came off as more of a cheesy soap opera.

In the end, the whole episode ended up being a complete lie fabricated by Clark to throw the reporter off the trail. This brings up a lot of questions with the most important being what really happened to Juliet, and if Clark came up with a lie, does that mean that everything the columnist had was actually the truth. So Juliet really is in a mental institution.

I can’t recommend this episode at all, it’s actually kind of horrible. The only redeeming quality is that we get to see more of how loyal Clark is, but really after all the things he’s done, we really didn’t need further proof. I’m looking forward to forgetting this episode and skipping on to the next which hopefully will put us back on the regular story and start building up towards an ending. Hopefully all of this comes to fruition with the next episode.

Score: 3.5

Since everyone on this show has some kind of ulterior motive at all time, my suspicions were high that the young lady that Leticia hit was actually up to something. It turns out I was wrong and that the only person by the end that she really wants is Nick.

The Dirty Sexy Money Cast

Speaking of Nick, that little cliff-hanger that we got last week didn’t amount to much. It was kind of lame that the episode didn’t take place right after where it was left. Instead it’s been a whole two weeks since the last episode, so while everybody’s life hasn’t changed dramatically, it was a long enough time to get us out of the whole Karen and Nick situation. It looked like Nick and Lisa were headed for reconciliation until Simon Elder steps in giving Lisa the disc with Nick and Karen’s conversation.

Simon Elder is a weird character – we’re never really sure why he does the things that he does. We’re at least notified that he has Nola on Patrick’s team, so he can be in a position to produce that ethanol-free gas massively. The plot seems a bit lame. I guess I was thinking with so much secrecy that he was trying to take over the world.

The good thing about Simon Elder is that his disc finally broke up Lisa and Nick. I’ve never been a fan of Lisa from the beginning, I always though Nick would be a much better character if he was unattached and somewhat free to reign. The whole Lisa and Karen confrontation wasn’t too great either, which had Lisa acting like a maniac and attacking Karen when she wasn’t even the one who initiated the meeting between her and Nick. Lisa finally left Nick, but this time she looked like the maniac.

The new guest at the house made a bit of an impact, gaining the attention of Tripp and possibly Nick. Tripp’s obsession with this girl seems a bit weird and now after so many years Tripp could be veering his head to a younger girl? It sounds a bit weird and it looks like this girl is going to pit Tripp and Nick against one another possibly.

The best part of the episode had to be the end when Nick confronts Simon about giving his wife the disc. This is a Nick that we’ve been waiting to see for a while and it’s going to be great to see him unhinged with nothing weighing him down.

This episode was flawed, but there was a lot of good in it also. I’m happy in the new direction the show took with Nick’s character and it also seemed liked the writers added a little more humor then usual compared with this season’s episodes. It’s sad that this show won’t be on the air (especially compared to the quality of some other ABC shows!), but hopefully the writers can let it go out on top.

Rating: 7.5

Letitia’s case finally comes to an end in a rather unimpressive manner. It’s a bit disappointing that the case never even went to trial or if it did, we didn’t even get to see how Nick was in court, because we haven’t really seen how good he is in court. When Letitia was first arrested it was interesting, but afterwards it never felt like there was never any danger of Letitia going to jail. So Jeremy rats out his affair with Nola to Nick, but he’s been working for his mother the whole time. I guess by Letitia needing Jeremy, we’re supposed to assume she’s the real killer and that’s the way it’s looking now. Nick seems to think he knows who killed his father, so for now Letitia is out of the way. I’m actually hoping that we find out who killed Nick’s dad soon because it’s been a lingering plot for too long and I’m also hoping that it wasn’t any of the Darlings who did it.

The Dirty Sexy Money Cast

Speaking of Nick, it’s weird how he seems to be changing into his father. We’ve seen him get mad a lot and when he busted Nola for her affair with Jeremy, it was scary how much he enjoyed her downfall. We shouldn’t feel bad for Nola though, because it turns out that Simon has had her under her thumb the whole time. Jeremy admitted that he fell in love with Nola, but does Nola still have feelings for Jeremy? Is it me or is anyone else confused about Simon’s plans? His initial plan seemed to be to acquire Karen’s shares, so Tripp cuts Karen off, which was a brilliant move. Simon still continues on with the marriage though and having Nola in his pocket was a surprise, but what was he expecting to gain by Letitia going off to jail? Simon would be so much more interesting if the writers didn’t make him so secretive. Sure the Darlings don’t have to know his secrets, but it would be nice if the audience could be let in a little because at this point, we don’t know what Simon’s goal is, so it’s hard to figure out whether Simon’s plan are going well or not.

Nick and Lisa are finally over. I have to say I am glad, even though the reason is a bit lame, I never thought Lisa and Nick would survive; in fact, I didn’t think Nick should have been married in the first place. The Nick and Lisa relationship was bound to end anyway, but I feel bad for their daughter Kiki, who we’ve only seen once this season. Now what’s not cool is moving the Karen and Nick relationship along so fast. Nick going to Karen right after he ended things with his wife seemed slightly thoughtless. So now we have this whole will Nick kiss Karen thing left to us as the cliffhanger and who wants to bet that nothing will happen until the wedding?

Other things that happened had Brian Jr’s mom having cancer, which is actually a good plot device if they want to get rid of her because I think the show will work better with Brian being a single father anyway. Then we had the kids uniting to show their support to Karen, but deciding not to tell Tripp. It really is quite amazing how Tripp has his kids under his thumb. Patrick’s anger at his dad about Carmelita seems to have cooled down a bit and he doesn’t seem to be his own man quite yet, but hiring Nola, might be his first move.

Some of the plots and new stories happened too fast, but I actually liked it. This episode more then any other shows you how soap-opera like this show is, because secrets and new stuff was being unraveled so fast. I really wish they’d bring back some of the comedy and maybe Juliet too, who’s supposed to be having an orgasm fest on the islands. There was good acting all around and I’m looking forward to what happens next. It wasn’t a great episode, but one that holds our interest for the next episode.

Rating: 7.4

Nick and Lisa’s marriage has been obviously in trouble. Nick was really only supposed to work for the Darlings long enough to find out who killed his father. The writers have done a lot to stretch finding Dutch’s killer, which is fine, but often times it doesn’t even feel as if Nick is trying to find his father’s killer anymore. So now Nick and Lisa find themselves in marriage counseling and while Nick tries to argue that he supports Lisa and that the Darlings don’t affect their marriage as much as Lisa thinks, but receiving three phone calls within a minute of each other during your counseling session probably doesn’t make you look too good.

Lisa thinks that by getting something of her own like an art gallery will help the marriage, which a lot like avoiding the real problems. Not to mention that Lisa definitely invited another problem by having Jeremy be her new partner in starting the gallery. This isn’t one of those decisions like Nick’s where she made it unconsciously either, she deliberately chose to partner with Jeremy and there’s even a moment where she seriously thinks about it. Lisa making a wrong choice does knock her off the pedestal she’s been on since the beginning of the series, but with Nick working so much, Lisa really does need something to invest her time in, but who knows what will happen when Nick finds out.

Peter Krause as Nick George

Patrick’s campaign hit another bump when Ellen’s brother came to town, accusing the Darlings of murdering her. Having Ellen’s brother come into this episode out of nowhere when we haven’t seen him before, felt like just a reason to bring Ellen’s death back into the episode and just how would any normal person come to the conclusion that a family put her in their house and burned it. The arrival of Ellen’s brother was somewhat of a wasted storyline that doesn’t really amount to anything. Tripp pays him off and Ellen’s brother retreats; apparently, money is much more important then finding out if your sister was killed.

I don’t really know what to say about Simon and Karen sometimes. In the beginning, Karen was working Simon, then we found out that Simon was working Karen, and in this episode based off what Karen said, she’s still working Simon, but has fallen for him at the same time. Karen hasn’t given Simon an answer to his proposal for a week, so Simon breaks up with her. Karen is distraught, either because she’s disappointing daddy or because she actually loves Simon? We don’t know. Karen sends Nick to talk to Simon where Simon divulges his real plans, which is to marry Karen and take over Tripp’s company. We knew that once he told Nick that it was all part of his plan for Nick to tell Karen only for her to do the complete opposite of what Nick wanted her to do. This all seemed rather stupid. Now that Simon has told Nick of his plans, even if he was to marry Karen, now Nick and Tripp know what Simon is planning, which means that they have a lot more time to prepare. Also, Karen is the one who asked Nick to talk to Simon, so it seems dumb for him to come back and lie to her. Plus, Nick’s never lied to her about anything before, so why wouldn’t she believe him now?

Tripp was manipulating again this episode. He payed off Ellen’s brother and stopped Carmelita from appearing with Patrick when he makes his acceptance speech. Tripp telling Carmelita about what Patrick did to Ellen was a good move and now Patrick has lost Carmelita all over again. I hope that Carmelita isn’t gone for good because it would otherwise make her return sort of pointless. When Patrick goes to confront Tripp about this surprise Tripp has a heart attack. It was good to see that even with the heart attack Patrick was still pissed at him and his comment about being a little bit more Tripp and how Tripp wasn’t going to like that was a bit scary.

In the end, Nick’s problems with his wife didn’t really get resolved, but both played it off as if something had changed. Nick is still overworking for the Darlings and now Lisa has started an art gallery with the one Darling that Nick doesn’t like. Nick finding out that Jeremy is with Nola though at the end is an interesting discovery, because it’ll definitely help his case.

This episode was better, but not much better. Dirty Sexy Money still feels like a soap opera. There were some interesting things about this episode, but it doesn’t feel like any of the characters are growing or learning from their mistakes. We’ll have to see what Dirty Sexy Money decides to do next episode. Hopefully, it gets better though.

Rating: 6.2

Nola delivers the witness list to Nick, where she alerts Nick that his mother is on it. Nick’s mother has never been a factor in this show; actually I don’t even think they’ve mentioned her before this episode. I guess I just made the assumption that she was dead, but she’s very much alive and has apparently been living in France the whole time. Nick’s mom was the last person to talk to his dad before he died, which is why she’s an important witness. Nick makes the trip out there to find out what she knows and what she plans on saying when it’s time for her to testify. Nick also went to find out why she left in the first place.

When Nick asked Letitia why his mother left, he didn’t believe her. The writers like to try to trick us that way by making it seem like everything Letitia says is a lie. When Nick goes to visit her, she’s not very happy to see him. It was interesting seeing Nick take such an aggressive approach with his mother. He was really angry that his mother just totally abandoned him and usually Nick is so calm, but we actually saw him raise his voice and be rude. Nick’s mom didn’t know that much that hadn’t been revealed before, she seemed to be under the impression that when Letitia said she was going to take care of everything that it meant killing Dutch. After hearing what his mom had to say, it almost seemed like Nick had some sort of revelation; like he just immediately felt that she was guilty.

Caroline Lagerfelt as Clare George, Peter Krause as Nick George

Brian went off to go see his son after a hilarious talk with his son alerted him to the fact that his son’s mother was leaving him at home by himself. Brian heads off to Brazil, where he finds out that his son’s mom is working and hasn’t been using the checks that he’s been sending him. This was confusing. We get that the mom wanted to be independent, but it seems quite irresponsible to risk leaving your child at home when you don’t have to. Having pride is understandable, but the mother couldn’t even stick to her guns, because she decides to start using the checks. It just seemed too easy and it just didn’t make sense why she wasn’t using the checks in the first place. Brian’s relationship with Brian Jr. isn’t really normal, but it’s fun to watch and it might make the show interesting again having Brian Jr. with back with his dad.

Tripp was at it again, manipulating Patrick as always. Patrick is feeling guilty about the fact that they covered up Ellen’s death and wants to come clean to the media about what really happened. Patrick decides to reveal everything at the next presidential debate, but when debate time comes, Tripp makes an appearance with Carmelita. Tripp uses Carmelita as a bribing tool and Patrick agrees not to come clean. Tripp’s manipulation tactics don’t seem to get old, but the way that Patrick reacts to them is. It’ll be nice when Patrick finally gets the guts to stand up for his father, because watching him be a lapdog to Tripp is starting to get frustrating. Carmelita is back and while she was very effective first season, it should be interesting to see if the character brings anything interesting to this season.

Karen and Simon’s weird relationship is continuing, with Karen still having no idea that Simon is just playing her. Karen is over Nick for the time after visiting Lisa and hearing how miserable she is and how Nick isn’t really the same person anymore. Who are we kidding though; we all know that somehow, someway Karen and Nick will get entangled again. Lisa and Nick’s relationship is really on the rocks and it does look like they’re headed towards a divorce. Jeremy and Nola’s relationship is cute, but it was pretty obvious what Jeremy was going to do in the end.

Dirty Sexy Money is still missing the comedy and all the storylines are suffering because of it. Dirty Sexy Money has been called a soap opera, but the sad thing is that it’s starting to feel like one. With the plots that are advancing slowly and the way characters keep making the same decisions over and over again expecting them to be different. Dirty Sexy Money is still a good show; just not as good as it used to be.

Rating: 7.0

The Darlings are all over the news with Letitia getting arrested for Tripp’s death and Ellen burning in one of the Darling’s mansions. Due to the nature of Letitia’s case, of course Nick is going to want to steer clear of it, but for some reason, he decides to continue with being the family lawyer and continuing with his duties. The lawyer that Nick hired was a good one, but Tripp wants Nick to take the case because it would get a better verdict from the jury if the victim’s son defends the person standing trial. It’s a good tactic to use, but it’s a weird situation to put anyone in.

When it’s found out that the lawyer’s papers didn’t go through, I think we all knew that it was either Tripp or Brian, on behalf of Tripp, who stopped the papers from coming in. Tripp’s manipulation techniques are always sharp and sometimes he seems like such the nice guy, but in reality he has almost everyone, but his wife under his control and sometimes it doesn’t even seem like he knows it.

With Letitia gone, the board of directors also wants Tripp to select a new successor and of course Tripp leaves it up to Nick to make the decision. Karen and Brian were really the only two people who we could see Nick picking, because Jeremy would never want or could run a whole company and Patrick is too busy being senator to really care much for running the company. Both of the other children wanted it too, while at first thought Karen running the company is scary, with her credentials it seemed like she could actually handle it, if the job was given to her. Brian wants it too and he seems like the best candidate due to the loyalty he has shown.

Zoe McLellan stars as Lisa George

Karen and Simon’s relationship is still there and it seems that things have turned and Simon is up to something, but we’re not sure exactly why he sabotaged Karen’s chance of getting the company. However, I’m sure it’ll come up sooner or later.

Patrick has to come up with a eulogy for Ellen’s funeral and he can’t find the right words to say. One can’t blame him considering his wife shot him and almost tried to kill him. Nick gives him the best advice by telling him to talk about Carmelita. The eulogy that Patrick gives is a good one and it was funny listening to him talk, knowing that he was thinking of Carmelita the whole time.

The addition of Lucy Liu has been interesting as we find out Nola’s the one who’s going to be prosecuting Letitia. Mix that in with the fact that she slept with Jeremy who doesn’t want to let her go; things are a bit mixed up. Nola is a pitbull who hasn’t lost a case and thinks that by having Jeremy around it’s going to ruin things. It doesn’t really make sense about why she would sleep with Jeremy knowing she’s prosecuting his mother and her explanation about wanting to challenge herself seems really stupid.

Nick and Brian end up in jail after causing a scene at the funeral which involved some policemen and in one of their few heart-to-heart talks, Nick tells Brian that he thinks he should be the successor for the company and Brian convinces Nick to take Letitia’s case, because they both know that it was Tripp who did it.

When it comes time to name the successor, Tripp names Nick instead. We’re not sure what Tripp’s deal is. He keeps dropping bombshell after bombshell on Nick. We’re not sure if he loves Nick and wants him to become like himself or if he’s feeling guilty for possibly murdering his dad, we don’t know what Tripp is planning or how he’s able to manipulate everyone so badly and it’s a bit frustrating not knowing what Tripp’s ultimate goal is.

Nick has become frustrating also, because he seems to be letting himself slide more and more into the Darling family. His marriage is coming apart and he accepts being the successor so easily. He told Lisa to trust him which makes me think that maybe this is some kind of plan, but if it’s not then Tripp is just manipulating every part of his life. For now though it’s just odd that Nick is letting himself slip so far down. Lets hope that this is part of a plan.

Also, I have to say that I miss Juliet. Her storylines weren’t very serious, but they added a bit of humor to the show. Jeremy was the same way, but for some reason nothing about him lately has been humorous. That’s what this season and this episode is missing: the laughter that we had in the first season. There were tons of things to laugh about last season and it just seems like the writers have replaced that with serious storylines. What set Dirty Sexy Money apart from other soap opera’s was the jokes and how outlandish the Darling family was; that seems to be lost here.

This episode continued all the storylines and seems like every episode there’s some big thing happening. The acting is still superb and while the stories are convoluted, they still hold an interest. I have to say that the lack of comedy on the show is making the show a bit more dull and if the writers don’t inject more of that comedy we loved so much in the first season, Dirty Sexy Money could fade into the abyss, like every other soap opera out there.

Rating: 7.0

The Darlings are back and nothing has changed, there’s still just as much drama as we’re used too. “The Birthday Present” starts us off six months after last season’s finale on the night of Nick’s birthday party. It’s obvious based off looks of some of the characters that something isn’t right though, After Nick receives his gift, the police show up in a helicopter…

We then jump 48 hours earlier, so I guess this is technically the beginning of the episode, things really haven’t changed much since the finale though, the darling family are still exactly in the same positions that they were when last season ended. Karen is still dating with Simon; spying on him for Tripp, but when Simon tells her that he loves her, Karen actually feels bad about what she’s doing. Karen shows up Nick’s to give him her birthday present which comes with food and her naked. Karen’s outlandish behavior could be deemed insane had she done it in front of anyone else, but Nick knows her so well, that it doesn’t seem to bother him as much.

The Karen and Simon relationship continues to be of interest, because by the end of the episode, it’s fairly obvious that both are playing each other, it’s just a matter of which one will win in the end.

The Dirty Sexy Money Cast

Jeremy still hasn’t gotten over Lisa and is still showing more aggressive behavior towards her. You would think that Lisa being married to the family lawyer he’d know that she was off limits, but apparently this isn’t the case. It doesn’t help that Nick and Lisa’s marriage is still on the rocks and things are just made worse when Nick stands her up again for his birthday dinner. Jeremy comes in and saves the day. They drink, they kiss, and Nick sees them.

The Jeremy and Lisa storyline was started last season and really seemed to come from nowhere. Nick is usually the calm one so it was great to see he and Jeremy in the same room and when it looked like Jeremy would get away without as much of a yell, Nick just turns around and punches him as Tripp watches. Hopefully this is the end of this storyline, because it just doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. The Jeremy and Lisa storyline was probably the biggest mistake last season and it’s good to see the writers patch it up as best they can. Plus Jeremy is already in a new “relationship” if you want to call it that with the unnamed lady at the bar played by the beautiful Lucy Liu. Lucy Liu’s character so far is a mystery, but there has to be some purpose to her other then Jeremy Darling’s girl toy.

Speaking of Tripp, he’s still running things as usual and Donald Sutherland is still doing a great job. Tripp is perhaps the most devious of all in the family members, when it sounds like he’s telling the truth, he could be lying or vice-versa. Tripp had a hand in almost everything this episode. Was it really him who let Brian’s son and the mother gets the tickets to fly off? We don’t know. Tripp says it wasn’t him, but something says that he had a hand in it.

Tripp and Patrick are still at odds after Patrick nearly ruined his campaign last season. Patrick seems to be doing okay in the polls, but Ellen, his wife (in name only) is now an alcoholic and is causing a scene in public. Patrick’s lover Carmelita has gone missing and Patrick can’t seem to find her. Things take another turn when in a violent rage, Ellen slips, hits her head, and dies. It’s even insinuated that she did something to Carmelita. Patrick panics and instead of calling the police like a normal person, he calls Tripp and the two concoct a scheme to cover up the accident. Tripp tried to get Nick in on it, but with no luck. Nick has definitely been drawn into the problems of the Darling family, but it’s still good to see that he’s not so drawn in where he’d be stupid enough to cover up a murder.

We then get back to the night of Nick’s party, where it’s replayed again, but there’s a lot more uncovered and the looks and everything now makes sense. The cops arrive and it looked like they were coming to arrest Patrick, but instead they arrest Letitia for the murder of Dutch. This was somewhat of a surprise only, because Dutch’s murder hadn’t been mentioned the whole episode. In fact, if anyone was tuning in for the first time this episode, you wouldn’t know that Nick started this whole thing looking for his father’s killer.

The show seems to want to make us forget that there’s another daughter Juliet played by Samaire Armstrong who’s been cut out of the show this season and possibly forever, but let’s hope not. While she’s not missed due to how diverse and how many cast members there are in this show, Juliet was still a bright spot last season. It should be interesting to see how the writers address this problem or if we’ll just have to pretend that Juliet doesn’t exist.

It’s great to have Dirty Sexy Money back. While not the strongest episode for this series, it was a good episode that showed us a lot of the drama that will be taking place this season. It looks like things will still be dirty and sexy this season and we can’t wait to see how it all unfolds this season.

Rating: 7.5