PRIVILEGED Recap: All About Haves and Have-Nots

First things first: this may be blasphemy to some, but I covet clothes way more while watching this show than I ever did watching Sex and the City. Two items that I loved from tonight’s episode? Rose’s pink blouse with flower appliqués and Megan’s white sleeveless top that she wore with jeans in the last scenes. They were so great that they stole my focus for several moments and I actually had to rewind in order to hear the dialogue. Sad, but true. Okay, now that I’ve gotten that very important subject off of my chest, on to the story…

In order to help them round out their college applications, Megan has hooked the girls up with volunteer positions with Once Upon a Dress, which takes donated formal dresses and gives them to high school girls who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford them. Sage and Rose are charged with altering six horrific dresses to fit selected students at a public high school, and they actually take the whole thing really seriously. Doing their best to pull a Molly Ringwald from Pretty in Pink, they attempt to reconstruct the dresses in order to make something that the girls would actually want to wear (in the end, no amount of work could save them).

Megan is in do-gooding mode this week, as she also (finally!) extends an olive branch to her estranged but very near-by father. She sees him while out with the twins and he clearly sees her but chooses to pretend not to. After a heart to heart with my favourite chef/sounding board Marco, she decides to go visit him and finds that he’s been on the wagon for a year and a half. He seems really together and Megan is impressed so she invites him for dinner at the manse since Laurel is out of town again. What should have been a quiet dinner for two quickly evolves into a full on dinner party as Mr. Smith invites Lily as a buffer, causing Megan to beg Charlie to come. Sage, Rose and Will all showed up at the last minute as well. Did anyone else want to see the scene where Megan informed Marco that the party had nearly doubled in size almost instantaneously?? I would have loved to see his reaction to that, although he probably would have remained smooth, as always.

At the dinner table Lily once again fails to impress (both myself and those dining with her) and I’m wondering how they can get rid of her character in an abrupt and believable way (running away with the circus? Prison? Out-of-town acting classes?). Actually never mind believable, I’d just settle for abrupt. When she denied stealing Rose’s bracelet last week, becoming enraged at Megan’s accusations, we found out that she had in fact taken it. This week, she makes the unbelievably stupid move of wearing the bracelet to dinner (as Sage says “the scene of the crime”) and having the nerve to be offended when she gets caught. Of course this causes massive drama and leads Megan to realize that Rose had lied when she covered for Lily the week before. However, she only did it to try to preserve Megan and Lily’s relationship and she and Megan ended up having a really touching discussion about family and we’re reminded this week that the twins are really just two young girls who lost their parents much too soon.

The shockwaves of Bracelet-Gate take a toll on Will and Lily as well, when they decide to end things because she’s a thieving lying tool. He and Megan have a nice moment of reconciliation (and apologies on Will’s part, for taking Lily’s side initially) that implies there may be more moments to come. Megan and her dad have a bit of an awkward moment in the kitchen and he bails after dropping the bomb that he has known the whole time that Megan has been in town – looks like Charlie has not been keeping all of his secrets. Have no fear though – it’s not the last we’ve seen of Papa Smith yet.

Oh, is anyone wondering why haven’t mentioned Charlie’s antics during dinner? Yeah, that’s because he didn’t show up. His absence was most felt by Megan and the following day she heads over to his place to confront him. Charlie is clearly still working out his issues with her and is very standoffish, ultimately causing her to bust out the “D” word – she tells him that as long as he’s acting like a dick, she wants nothing to do with him. Charlie, we get it – you’re hurt and you’re in love but that doesn’t mean you have to become the anti-Charlie. Maybe Megan storming off will cause him to rethink his approach with her next week.

I’ve saved the best for last: I had a huge breakthrough with this show last night because I LOVED Sage! I laughed most enthusiastically three times and they were all thanks to Sage (her Prison Break comment, her impression of a friend’s father at the dinner table and her big speech to Pam which involved trying to read the name “Nzaktar”). I’ve come a long way with this character as she really irritated me at first, but I think that the writers have found a way to keep her edge while also allowing her to be likeable. However, the preview for next week’s episode indicates that things may change…hopefully not. I’ll reserve judgment until then. (FYI – I can pretty much guarantee that the Privileged review will be delayed next week as hello…it’s election night! Yes, I know I’m Canadian and all but I’m also a CNN addict and I will be watching election results with everyone else. I promise to get it done as soon as possible).

Did Charlie go overboard with his treatment of Megan? Are things going to heat up next for our favourite tutor and Will? Does anyone else want Lily to take an express train to anywhere that isn’t on this show? Next week it looks like Megan finds the muse she’s needed to start serious work on her book – unfortunately her muse is Laurel, and Laurel has no idea. This cannot end well. Can it? Stay tuned and find out!

P.S. – Privileged has yet to receive an order for the remaining 9 episodes of the season and us fans have to do all we can to help out! Make sure you watch the show and tell all of your friends to do the same. As TV Diva Kristin reports, Joanna Garcia recently emailed the head honcho to plead her case (“I’ve already emailed Les Moonves, and I’m not lying about that. I’m like, ‘Hey remember me? Come pick up our show!’ “) – the least we can do is tune in!

— posted by Nicole

Nicole is a lawyer by day and will be GMMR’s resident Supernatural and Privileged expert this year. She lives just outside of Toronto, and as such, you’ll have to forgive Canadian spellings and maybe the occasional “eh” when they pop up in her reviews. Nicole is still in mourning over the loss of Arrested Development and desperately hoping that the movie happens soon. While she’s a lover of music and movies, television is near and dear to her heart and she’s really excited to be a part of the GMMR team!