Dirty Sexy MoneyThe Organ Donor
Original Air Date: 10 Dec 2008
Liz - TwoCents Reviewer
liz@thetwocentscorp.com
If there is a word to describe this episode, it has to be "oversimplification." Simplifying in any of its forms is not the specialty of the Darlings, but if you think about it, it'll make sense. As such extreme personalities themselves, maybe the Darlings can only imagine things in the extreme. Black and white, right and wrong; even if they turn the world into absolutes, they are themselves some very complicated shades of grey.
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[photo: ABC.com]
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If there is a word to describe this episode, it has to be "oversimplification." Simplifying in any of its forms is not the specialty of the Darlings, but if you think about it, it'll make sense. As such extreme personalities themselves, maybe the Darlings can only imagine things in the extreme. Black and white, right and wrong; even if they turn the world into absolutes, they are themselves some very complicated shades of grey.
ReplyDeleteThe first part of the show is done in the style of a 20/20 type show, giving us the update on what happened at Patrick's inauguration when Chase decided impersonating a cop and shooting people would be okay. Jeremy got amnesia when Nick threw him down the stairs -- I mean, out of harm's way, a bullet grazed Nick's arm, and the delicious Carmelita herself died from a bullet wound. "Displeased" is simply not the word to describe my feelings on the matter. They made it up slightly to me by the Jackie O quote, but I am still unhappy with this turn of events.
Jeremy has the first oversimplification of the night. On his flash card to help him learn people in his life and his surroundings, Nick's card apparently says "he helps me do stuff." Understatement of the century, right? I have no idea what the Darlings would do with themselves if Nick decided he was going to teach kindergarten or something instead of being a lawyer. As the family lawyer, his current concern is allowing Chase Alexander's living will to stand and have his life support stopped -- although that becomes difficult when he appears to wake up and his wife and children cling to hope. Nick is felled in court by a kid when the defense puts Chase's oldest daughter on the stand, and she addresses him directly asking him to not take her dad away. That is what I call playing hardball.
Nick and Karen are having their own back and forth. Karen suggests they be just friends, but as Nick says, when have they ever been "just friends?" Their "just friends" status is, to say the least, shaky territory, although Karen seeks to cement it by baby-sitting Kiki for Nick. Nick is amusingly skeptic about the whole thing, but then Karen steals his taxi at the end of their discussion, so I suppose all's fair.
Nola and Jeremy's scene together is touching. She has been told in no uncertain terms by Simon that she is to pull the plug on Chase Alexander or he is going to pull the plug on her brother. She comes to tell Jeremy good bye, even though he won't remember why she's in an impossible position.
Later that night, at Brian's reception at the church, there is another oversimplification. Tripp, who runs the gamut from black to white and every grey in between, confronts Patrick in front of a statue dedicated to Carmelita in the church. Tripp sees things in very deep absolutes, saying there is a place for vengeance in the world. Obviously, Tripp goes for the eye for eye theory, while Patrick replies calmly that, "Anger doesn't make you a person." Tripp oversimplifies a very complicated issue by suggesting if they send one of yours to the hospital, you send one of theirs to the morgue. Or something like that.
Also at the church, Jeremy runs into Nick and tells him that Nola had been acting oddly. Nick manages to catch her in the nick of time to save Chase, but after they slip out, Patrick slips in. Fortunately, we can count on Patrick to be a human being, unlike Tripp.
Brian and Andrea, as always, had their ups and downs and ups and downs again in one episode. They're still my favorites, even if Brian is… well. He's Brian, and I think that's all that can be said. But at the same time, there's something sweet that Andrea and Brian Jr. bring out in him, and a better kind of honesty than he's accustomed to. I like that they are going to keep trying rather than calling it quits.
Now some things that I'm not so impressed with: The fact that Jeremy doesn't actually have amnesia. I actually find myself torn because I love Jeremy and I want it to be fabulous and it sort of is, but on the other hand, I just want to throw up my hands and quit. I'm really not really endeared by Lisa suddenly being a total heinous bitch, not because I don't think she doesn't have a reason to be, but because it wasn't really organic. It was like the writers decided we needed to start liking Nick/Karen, and obviously making Nick's wife (now ex) unlikeable is the way to do that. I've seen Harry Potter fanfics that handle the issue better. Also, this whole confusion with who paid off the organ and if Dutch George is dead or alive… I'm just wondering why. And yet, thinking it's kind of stupid doesn't keep me from wanting to know the answer. Curses.
I know this recap is late, readers, and I'm sorry. Maybe I'll tell you the story of why sometime, when we're all old enough to hear the story. I'm not sure I was old enough to relive it. Everyone have a good holiday (or non-holiday, if that is your wish), and I'll see you when Dirty Sexy Money and The Mentalist return.