Dirty Sexy Money: The Watch (1.9)

While the storylines started last week (Lisa's anger, Ellen's ultimatum) appear to have been immediately and annoyingly retconned, The Watch did feature a whole lot of greatness, the show finally striking that emotional chord that has so far been eluded. This was most clearly seen throughout the last thirty minutes, with the revelations about Brian's paternity and his subsequent goodbye to his son.

Re-watching this season, it's clear that Brian is the most dynamic and fully-realized character. He's also the perfect foil for Nick, rendering the fact that they're actually brothers so much more juicy. While it would have been soapy insanity for Karen to be Nick's sister, it wouldn't have exactly been moving in any way, which I'm guessing is what the writers were hoping for.

Leticia is slowly being exposed as a pretty reprehensible character, especially her giggly school-girl acting when Dutch got off the helicopter. She was clearly in awe of this man and hopelessly in love with him, completely different to what she felt for Tripp. Ugh. In a way, she's just like Karen. Only Karen is at least self-aware enough to realize her flaws, Leticia is in complete denial.

I liked the decision to pair up Jeremy and Lisa, even if it’s at the expense of Juliet. Lisa is very much on the periphery of the show, and despite her own dislike of the Darling family, she needs to interact with them to make her character a little more than simply one-note. The cast is so huge right now, though, that it's understandable that somebody had to be cut before season two started up.

The Watch was pretty great, and probably the most consistent in tone so far. It utilized almost all of its characters well, even if certain members of the Darling family (Karen, Patrick) are stuck in a rut plot-wise. Series-best performances from Glenn Fitzgerald and Peter Krause, too. B+

Credits
Guest stars Peter Strauss (Dutch George); Sofia Vergara (Sofia Montoya); Bellamy Young (Ellen Darling); Sheryl Lee (Andrea Smithson); Alan Blumenfeld (Judge); Candis Cayne (Carmelita Rainer)
Writers Yahlin Chang, Liz Tigelaar Director Andrew Bernstein