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| by Bridget Petrella with additional writing by John Mundazio | ||
| ABC's ‘Dirty Sexy Money Season 1’— Guilty Pleasure, Personified. | ||
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Bridget
Petrella is the Publisher and Editor in Chief of UPBEAT Entertainment
News Online. At this point in her life, she's seriously contemplating a
complete and unbridled abandonment of typical network television...
opting instead for Silver Surfer comic books, novels with wordy titles,
Retro TV Land, HBO and Showtime's Original Programming schedule and
of course... Nick at Night. |
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Dirty,
Sexy and Money. These three words are really all you need to know to
prepare yourself for this show. Each word exists in total harmony with
the others throughout the first season's ten wild episodes. Dirty
secrets, sexy situations (not to mention the cast members), and money.
Lots and lots of it. The family at the center of the show, the Darlings,
are said to be worth $35 billion and that can bring with it a lot of
dirt... good dirt, depending on what side of the checking account you
fall. The show is packed with secrets and lies, betrayals (both real and
imagined), lust, greed... well, all the deadly sins now that I think of
it. Dirty Sexy Money is a show about many things. At its core it is
about a family, not your run of the mill family, but an extremely rich
family with a multitude of secrets. It is a trashy nighttime soap of
course, but you can't help but find yourself involved with the
characters' lives. At times you want to hate them— the spoiled rotten
twins, the seemingly mean-spirited reverend, the drunk divorcee. At
other times, you can't help but empathize with them. You like them
against your better judgment. That's pretty much how I felt about the
show. Against my better judgment, I found myself liking it. A lot. Of
course, I was a HUGE Dynasty fan and I lived for those Joan
Collins/Linda Evans moments when they fought like two Ultimate Fighting
Champions with a side dish of MEEE-OUCH! 
The
really cool thing about Dirty Sexy Money is that much like Dynasty
and perhaps even Desperate Housewives, the show is purely a "guilty
pleasure"... and it revels in that fact. It's "camp" on a stick with a
lightly seasoned feeling of sexual tension. We have heard that ABC has
no immediate plans to "sex up" the show so enjoy this DVD and do what we
have done... pretend you're watching Showtime and use the ol'
imagination... Anyway, while the Darlings [God knows you HAVE to give
the writers their props for the name] are the focal point, the show
really revolves around Nick George, the new attorney for the family. He
has known the Darlings all his life. His father previously held his job
but died under suspicious circumstances. It's now Nick who
apprehensively takes the job, not only because of the opportunities
(money for himself and for charity) but also so that he can find out
what really happened to his father. It falls upon Nick's shoulders to
carry the burdens of the Darlings, while trying rather desperately to
remain unchanged by them. Let's get something straight. It's probably
not going to be winning any Emmys any time soon but Dirty Sexy Money is
a purely an enjoyable show to watch. It's addicting and much like
Desperate Housewives, even touching at times. I always enjoy it when a
show takes characters you should probably detest and makes you feel a
sense of compassion for them. It's brilliant and it always keeps you
guessing.
The
entire cast is perfection. Not only do the characters turn on a dime
but the acting is spectacular, especially given the unbelievable
circumstances. Donald Sutherland plays patriarch Tripp Darling superbly.
He has a complicated role here and each nuance of his character is
displayed perfectly. If anyone on the show does get recognized by the
Emmy folks, it will probably be him. Another cast member that really
stands out is transgendered actress Candis Cayne. I hesitate to give
details on her character for fear of spoiling it. I will say that her
plotline is handled with realism and care that makes the storyline
extremely believable and important. Providing the greatest and most
reliable comic relief is Zea’s Karen, who harbors a flagrant crush on
Nick with an undying passion to get back together with the married
lawyer no matter what the cost. Whether it’s hitch-hiking a ride on the
private family jet to crash an Italian trip with Nick and his wife or
considering canceling her latest wedding, the discord between Karen and
his wife Lisa strengthens throughout the season until at last Lisa must
confront Karen. The only thing is, Darlings don’t play by the rules and
they don’t take threats kindly. Trust us, even Alexis Carrington would
blush at the lusty passions and twisted trysts.
While
the sexually secure Karen flaunts her sexy bad stuff, her
younger sister and Jeremy’s sweet but Paris Hilton-like childish twin
Juliet (Samaire Armstrong) battles insecurity over her latest acting
performance to a rivalry with her old best friend Natalie Kimpton
(Tamara Feldman) who actually had the audacity to heist her signature
bangs. However, the rest of the Darlings have far greater matters at
stake. And indeed, it’s the other Darling son, the Reverend Brian
Darling (Glenn Fitzgerald) who is hiding an even greater secret that’s
quickly revealed in the season’s earliest episodes. One of the sharpest
written characters on the show and played to enviable perfection by
Fitzgerald as arguably the most unlikable character (who must hide true
emotion below bitterness at all times), I was fascinated to learn that
Minnesota native Craig Wright, who holds a Master’s in Divinity, may be
culling from his own background. Although he claims that all characters
contain a bit of himself and on the DVD featurette shares that Nick’s
relationship with the Darlings reminds him of his own relationship as a
playwright with Hollywood, it’s Brian who other crew members say reflect
the show’s creator the most. 
Yet
this being a soap opera, of course, he’s far more prone to deceit
than anyone could be in reality. While one would assume that is all the
drama one show could handle, more mysteries are revealed concerning the
main premise of the pilot episode— namely, just what exactly happened to
Nick’s father, Dutch. After learning about a large check written to an
airplane mechanic who worked on the plane that killed his father,
finding a briefcase filled with a huge file on the mysterious
“techno-philanthropist” Simon Elder (Blair Underwood), and inevitably
discovering that the Darling matriarch, Letitia (Jill Clayburgh) had had
an affair with his father for more than forty years, Nick realizes that
while he finds clues on a daily basis, what he really needs is answers.
Will he get them? That's "the hook" and it will keep you watching no
matter how hard you try to resist.
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