DIRTY SEXY MONEY – The Verdict

Poor Gretchen and her kids were sick and she still managed to put together her take on last night’s DIRTY SEXY MONEY. All that work and I’m just getting around to posting it now. I’m the worst. Sorry, Gretchen!! Make you show her the love.

The Cat’s Out of the Bag

A number of secret alliances were revealed during this week’s episode, “The Verdict”. Nick pressured Jeremy to confess about his relationship with Nola. Jeremy eventually agreed (after Nick threatened to “kick his ass all over Park Avenue” and Nick took the information straight to the judge who, in turn, dismissed the case against Leticia due to prosecutorial misconduct. As much as Nick seemed happy to stick it to Nola, he was probably even happier to stick it to Jeremy since he had just learned that Jeremy was to blame for more of the ever-increasing problems in Nick and Lisa’s marriage.

At Lisa’s gallery opening, Nick is told that Jeremy is the true owner of the gallery, not Lisa. Although I was sure that Nick would find out about this eventually and that Lisa was completely delusional in thinking that she could keep it a secret, I was surprised that (a) he found out so soon and that (b) Joel Madden was (randomly) the person delivering the news.

Jeremy’s little secrets with Nola and Lisa were no secret to us, the viewers, but last night something previously undisclosed also came to light – Jeremy’s affair with Nola was part of a plan that Leticia had engineered!! Leticia is thrilled that their plan worked – Jeremy’s affair with Nola got the case thrown out – but saddened for Jeremy when he tells her that he has fallen in love with Nola. Wait a minute – I thought Nola was the one who was using Jeremy for ulterior motives…

And she was! Just as I suspected, Nola was the mystery person on the receiving end of Simon Elder’s cryptic phone calls. As the two have their first on-screen appearance together, it is made abundantly clear that Simon and Nola are involved in some kind of devious scheme against the Darlings. Simon is furious that Leticia’s case is thrown out because of Jeremy’s confession, but Nola appeases him by telling him of her revised strategy to infiltrate the Darlings – she blackmailed Patrick into offering her the position as his Chief of Staff.

Love Hurts

Looks like Jeremy and Nola are over. Even when your relationship is not based on deception and lies, it’s hard to come back from the kind of betrayal that gets you fired and effectively negates 20 years of hard work. I’m not sure that Nola cares anyway – Jeremy might have fallen in love with her, but I think Nola was mostly in it for her and Simon’s end game (whatever that may be) rather than for true romance.

Speaking of true romance, Lisa thought she had it with Nick but her marriage seems to be imploding. After learning the truth about Jeremy and Lisa’s partnership, Nick tells a devastated Lisa that he needs some time away from her. Isn’t it ironic how Lisa feared that the Darlings would come between them and ultimately they did, but mostly because of her own actions? I hate to see what was once a good marriage break up, but I can’t say that I blame Nick in this situation. Unfortunately for Lisa, it seems that Nick might be walking out of the door and straight into Karen’s semi-open arms.

Although Karen’s technically off the market, being engaged to Simon and all, things aren’t exactly picture perfect. Karen loves Simon enough to marry him at the expense of irreparable damage to her family relations and the loss of her entire inheritance, but not enough to turn down Nick if he only tells her that he wants her back for real. So she really does love Simon (oh, Karen, how you disappoint me) but she loves Nick more.

Also Worth Mentioning

The Brian/Andrea/Brian Jr. storyline continues to play out quietly in the background. It turns out that the real reason that Andrea took Brian Jr. to Brazil was to seek out some type of holistic cancer therapy. Now that she’s back in the States and her cancer is out of remission, Brian wants her to stay for proper treatment. Apparently, their mutual devotion to Brian Jr. is bringing these two closer together. It is great to see Brian making so much of an effort with his son and now for his former mistress, but I’m sad that he is not similarly inclined when it comes to his other family – his estranged wife and their two daughters — remember them?

Leticia is a free woman but she suddenly looks guiltier to me than ever. I don’t really think she is responsible for murder, but she is definitely up to a bit of no good. She and Tripp looked less than thrilled when Nick indicated that he would still be searching for the truth about Dutch’s death.

Tripp wisely decided to take Nick’s advice and strip Karen of her assets before Simon could get his hands on them. One would think that Simon expected this to happen and he seemed unsurprised when Karen received the news. It did, however, seem like his plan backfired a bit at the engagement party. Right after he delivered a creepy manipulative speech, directed at creating an “alliance” between Karen and her brothers, Tripp showed up to crash the party.. He told Karen that what he did to her was only about money (which she would have plenty of with Simon anyway), but that when it came to what really mattered, Tripp would never hurt her. A quick exit followed, with the three brothers following closely behind, each fearful of Daddy Darling’s wrath.

Parting Thoughts

Tripp’s engagement gift to Karen and Simon was the glass swan figurine that Karen had stolen from Simon earlier this season. What is up with that thing?

Brain is such a scene-stealer – every word that comes out of his mouth makes me laugh and his expressions and body language are even better. I’d like to see more of how he is adjusting to the world of big business.

What happens to Lisa now that Nick is temporarily out of the picture? Where is her place on the show? Will she and Jeremy console each other over their lost loves?

Who are you rooting for – Karen or Lisa? As much as I’m in favor of keeping marriages together, Lisa is getting on my last nerve and I pretty much adore all things Karen (except for her crazy Simon love) so sign me up for Team Karen.

Favorite Quotes:

“(The) ratio of fun family dinners to suspicious deaths runs pretty high in your family.”

“This reads like something out of Penthouse Forum…or how I would imagine that would read.”

“My presence is my presents.”

– Posted by Gretchen

Gretchen is a stay-at-home mom of two awesome little girls who has the good fortune of being married to a husband who is completely cool with her slightly out of control television addiction. During her precious few sleeping hours, Gretchen frequently finds herself ridding the world of pesky vampires and demons, as well as taking down fake secret branches of the CIA.