Dirty Sexy Money: A Darling Addition to the Fall Lineup
TV’s Latest Primetime Soap Is Fabulous
After Chuck and Reaper, ABC’s Dirty Sexy Money is thus far my favorite new show of the fall. When I sat down to watch the premiere two weeks ago, I was doing so out of duty rather than genuine interest or anticipation. Within fifteen minutes, however, the loopy plot and even loopier characters managed to transform my initial indifference into surprise first and then pleasure. Dirty Sexy Money is that good, despite the fact that the majority of the central characters—namely, all of them, save Krause’s Nick George and his wife Lisa (Zoe McLellan) and young daughter Kiki (Elle Fanning)—seem to have no redeeming value whatsoever.
The gist of the series concerns idealistic poor man’s attorney Nick, who unwittingly and unwillingly inherits the role of family legal counsel for the joyfully decadent and stupefyingly rich Darling clan—patriarch Tripp (Donald Sutherland), matriarch Letitia (Jill Clayburgh), and their attorney-politician eldest son Patrick (William Baldwin), thrice-divorced eldest daughter Karen (Natalie Zea), filthy-mouthed middle son Brian (Glenn Fitzgerald), and pampered twin socialites Jeremy (Seth Gabel) and Juliet (Samaire Armstrong)—after their former longtime lawyer, his father, is killed in a suspicious plane crash.
Unsuccessful at heeding his deep misgivings over the unexpected direction his career is taking, possibly because of Tripp’s generous offer/bribe of ten million dollars for his charitable foundation of choice, Nick accepts the demanding job—attention whores doesn’t even come close to describing the perpetually needy Darlings—while keeping one foot out the door. Yet, the situation soon grows even shadier than Nick predicted it would be when he learns his father’s death might have resulted from the machinations of one of his new clients. His dislike of the ostentatiously wealthy Darlings intact, Nick’s motivation for remaining in a job he loathes becomes to find out who is responsible for his father’s murder.
Technically speaking, Dirty Sexy Money is a drama, soap opera, and comedy all wrapped up in one, and it works on every one of those levels, thanks to the proficient performance of each cast member. The drama stems from Nick’s newfound role continuously associating with a family that he has never warmed to, primarily because his father spent more time during his childhood with them handling their numerous problems than with him.
The soap-opera elements are evident in the entangled, sometimes clandestine, and often debauched relationships that traditionally drive the genre: if one major character’s not having an affair with another major character now (as were Nick’s father and his client Letitia until the lawyer’s recent death), then some have in the past (as did Nick himself and oldest daughter Karen). And let’s not forget married politician Patrick’s ongoing intimate relations with a sexy transvestite or the illegitimate son of profane egotist Brian, who’s a reverend, of all things.
Lacing everything together and making the show continuously gratifying is the comedy—for instance, of seeing a man so affluent and concerned with appearances that he not only considers it appropriate to hire a look-alike substitute for a daughter who refuses to attend a family photo session, but also orders a couple of huge, real, live lions for the occasion, too. The exaggerated looks on Sutherland’s face as he plays the part of trippy Tripp are just as ridiculously funny, ensuring that I’ll be sticking with Dirty Sexy Money for the long haul. And, as if that’s not enough, hunky Blair Underwood will arrive shortly for a recurring role. Like I said, primetime’s newest soap is absolutely fabulous.
The Verdict: A
Related News: Praising the Many Virtues of ‘Dirty Sexy Money’
Dirty Sexy Money currently airs Wednesdays on ABC at 10:02pm EST
Dirty Sexy Money photo courtesy of ABC
