Dirty Sexy Money: All In The Family (recap)

By: Jen Smith
Fancast.com

Last time on Dirty Sexy Money, Nick and Lisa decided to take a break in their relationship, which sent Nick running into the arms of his first love Karen. We also discovered that Simon and Nola are in cahoots, with Nola sneakily blackmailing Patrick into a chief of staff position. How these writers manage to cram so much drama into one 44-minute long show, I have no idea.

Two weeks have passed, and the Georges are still separated. For some reason, even though he propositioned Karen (Natalie Zea), he still wants to get back together with his wife. He tries using his daughter as leverage; that’s so cheap. Karen’s still having hot shower sex with Simon in the meantime. Letitia is doing some celebrating of her own. She’s off murderer’s row, and wants to rejoice with some morning booze and a drive through the city. Unfortunately, hitting a girl on a bike wasn’t part of the plan. Tripp brings the girl back to the mansion to recuperate rather than the hospital, which would have been too public. Letitia doesn’t think it’s a good idea. She’s paranoid that Wrenn is some kind of secret covert spy sent to destroy their family. Well, she very well might be. Nick (Peter Krause) seems to think she’s OK though, but wants her to stay a couple days to get better.

Patrick is still trying to prove his independence from Daddy. He’s got to pick which Senate committee he’ll be representing. Tripp wants him to choose the high-profile and high-stress position in foreign affairs, while Nola recommends he stay out of the limelight with a position in agriculture. While she’s surely got a hidden agenda, her point about keeping all of Patrick’s indiscretions out of the papers is a good one. Jeremy sees Nola at the mansion and discovers she’s the new chief of staff. What, do you not watch the news? Or talk to your family? Why did it take you two weeks to learn this?

Andrea’s cancer is worse than they imagined. It seems chemo wouldn’t give her much better chances of survival, not that Andrea wanted to do it to begin with. She’d rather spend her last days being with her son than lying in a hospital bed. Brian asks about a new medical trial that he read about, but the doctor brushes him off saying that the waiting list is too long. As we all know, Brian doesn’t like being told no. He sees a simple solution: put her on the trial or I’ll take away the new children’s cancer wing we promised to donate. Gets ‘em every time. Andrea’s now on the list.

Lisa has agreed to go to dinner with Nick so they can discuss their relationship. He wants her to move back in, but she gives him an ultimatum. It’s either her or Karen. He chooses her. For now. Lisa then shares about an interesting encounter she had with Simon Elder. He came to her gallery to purchase some fancy shmancy art, but ends up offering her a lot more. He had the security tape from when Nick begged Karen to leave Simon, but she refused to watch it. Nick is enraged and confronts Simon, telling him to stay away from his wife. Simon says that Nick started it by messing with his woman first. Then he pushed him off the see-saw and hid behind the school.

Tripp seems to have taken a liking to the mysterious new girl, Wrenn. He tells her how refreshing her presence in the house is. Does he have a crush on her or something? Anyway, she tells him how admirable he was to stay faithful to Letitia all these years, despite her infidelity. Perhaps Tripp is now reconsidering his anti-playboy status. Meanwhile, Karen has arrived at Nick’s office for a secret meeting. She lays the card out on the table: she’s willing to give up Simon if he’s willing to give up Lisa. Apparently he’s not. She’s not surprised, but is genuinely disappointed. I have to say, Natalie Zea’s performance during this scene was flawless. That girl has some acting chops. Unbeknownst to Nick, Lisa has called his office at that exact time. When Daisy won’t put her through, she figures out that Karen’s there. That’s when she changes her mind and goes ahead and watches the surveillance video. Oh, it’s so on.

That night is a Darling family dinner. They’ve apparently gathered together to toast to their family’s perseverance, but in actuality, it was the perfect set-up for drama to unfold. Tripp tells Karen he hopes her marriage won’t last, Jeremy rubs his two ho’s in Nola’s face, and Letitia accuses her husband of having a wondering eye. Letitia didn’t stop there; she also confronted Nola about her relationship with Jeremy, and boldly thanked Nola for her role in getting the charges dropped. Brian and Andrea are still at odds. She doesn’t want the medical trial, but he’s still insisting she do it. Their earlier roll in the hay wasn’t enough to convince her, though it was actually kind of sweet. In the end, she decides that she couldn’t possibly leave Brian Jr. with all the crazies in this house, and agrees to do to trial.

If you thought that was bad, the best is yet to come. Lisa arrives on a war path for both Nick and Karen. She saw the tape… and she’s pissed. One thing leads to another, and the two women are all-out cat fighting. Hiss! Scratch! Bite! Nick breaks up the fight; Barney Stinson would be sorely disappointed. Jeremy jumps in and defends Lisa’s honor. What a hero. Later, Jeremy confronts Nola about her work with Patrick. He’s under the impression she’s just trying to get closer to him because she’s in love with him. Nice ego, Jeremy. Nick also seeks some comfort from Wrenn, who tells him he should reconsider his choices in women. The thanks her for the advice by making out with her. Speaking of slutty behavior, Jeremy and Lisa are together at the art gallery when she decides it’s time to jump his bones. Can’t say I blame the girl, but I don’t think Jeremy’s ego can handle any more petting.

The big surprise happened when Nola met up with her secret boss, Simon. He’s proud of her for convincing Patrick to be on the Agriculture Committee, which will help him use his new bio-fuels to take over the world. Then we discover why she’s helping Simon. It’s not for money… he’s kidnapped her little brother and keeping him hostage until she’s done everything he wants. That’s odd. Now Nola has all of a sudden shifted to The Good Guy in this story. I don’t like it. It’s too contrived. Speaking of contrived, Juliette is back for next week’s Thanksgiving dinner! Oh how I’ve missed that train wreck. This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for friends, family, and primetime soap operas.