Dirty Sexy Money: The Birthday Present (2.1)

A lot of the promotional materials for the second season of Dirty Sexy Money made it clear that the show had retooled over the summer hiatus, the abandoning of several shot and completed season one episodes and the re-writing of future storylines all improving the show as a whole. In general, it had become more the melodramatic night-time soap opera it was intended to be. The season premiere showcases the series has a clear, better focused drive to each of the character's stories. If I remember correctly, this is quickly derailed as the season progresses, but we actually seem to understand everybody's motives right now, which is more than could be said for season one.

I can't help but feel, however, that certain characters have been lost in the shuffle. Lisa's kiss with Jeremy felt a lot like the writers bringing her morals down so Nick would have an excuse to end up with Karen. Lisa, in the first season, was too nice a character. She was a little shrewish, sure, but Nick running off with Karen couldn't be defended in any way. Now, the show wants to make her obnoxious, so Nick and Karen together wouldn't look so icky.

At the same time, I'm not sure if I liked Tripp's covering up of Ellen's death. Is it really in character for him? He's ruthless, yes, but these are people's lives. Speaking of Ellen, she was always a little nutty, but her breakdown and subsequent demise was a little out of left field. Like something out of Melrose Place. Which isn't a bad thing, necessarily, but a little jarring for this show right now.

All the characters have things to do this year. The show has successfully picked up the Brian/Brian Jr. story once again (it was one of the better elements from last season), while I loved Karen being conflicted over her allegiance to her family, or to Simon. Of course, Simon isn't trustworthy either. She's caught between a rock and a hard place. And then there's a noir-ish Lucy Liu lounging around bars and picking up younger men for backseat limo-sex. Heh. It's all pretty fun.

Some of the character development is a little contrived, but in general the show is heading in a direction that I like. Great cliffhanger, too. B

Credits
Guest stars Shawn Michael Patrick (Clark); Will Shadley (Brian Darling Jr.); Laura Margolis (Daisy); Bellamy Young (Ellen Darling); Joseph Siravo (Detective Larabee); John Bennett Perry (Hal Matheson); John Kapelos (Cameron); Sheryl Lee (Andrea Smithson); Roxana Brusso (Maria)
Teleplay Craig Wright Story Craig Wright, Jon Harmon Feldman Director Jeff Melman