The Birthday Present
Updated 2008-10-02 09:32:32
Welcome back, show. I loved you last season. Let's see if we can maintain that, at least. We open without any previouslies; apparently they want to reinvent the show (as Peter Krause discussed ) so badly that they don't even want us to remember what happened last season. Unfortunately for them, we'll always have the recaps .
But we have a limo pulling up, surrounded by paparazzi, as the strains of Under Pressure begin. Nick gets out of the limo, and is asked exactly three questions amid the chatter: "Mr. George, How did you do it?" (this one is not answered or explained); and "Will Mr. Darling be putting his power behind Patrick's Senate campaign?" Nick answers: "Yes, but to what extent remains questionable." Then someone asks him how he was able to broker "this historic reconciliation" between father and son. Nick says it was quite an adventure.
Nick enters a huge party on a fancy yacht and Letitia greets him with, "Here's the birthday boy." He tells her she looks beautiful, only he also calls her "Letitia Darling," which seems very odd. Maybe the show did this in lieu of previouslies to catch up new or forgetful viewers. Letitia apologizes that she didn't have time to plan anything "too fancy," and he says he's sure this will be just fine. That Nick sure is humble, accepting this ritzy yacht party as an appropriate birthday fete.
Patrick greets Nick with a very awkward, "Happy birthday," and Nick's thank you is equally awkward. Then they look at each other oddly, and Nick asks, "Have you seen my wife?" Letitia is surprised Lisa's not with Nick. Nick leaves to look for her, which gives Letitia the opportunity to ask Patrick where his wife is. Only, these are the Darlings, so instead she says, "Ellen's not alcoholically indisposed again, is she?" Patrick assures her that Ellen's probably just running late.
We pan out and to the top deck of the yacht (did I mention it's big and fancy?), where Tripp is talking to Matthew Perry's dad as Brian stands there uncomfortably. Tripp says, "Brian used to be a minister. He was one for ten years. But he's working for me now." But Mr. Perry is focused on Brian's severe sunburn, asking him if he got a little too much sun. Brian says that happened when he and Patrick went sailing off their house in the Hamptons. We get it; the Darlings are rich.
Nick, still looking for Lisa, comes to the upper deck. Tripp calls him over to introduce him to Mr. Perry, who's an old friend of his named Hal Matheson. Hal shakes Nick's hand and says his father was a hell of a guy and would be so proud of Nick if he were still "with us." Um, okay, so Hal likes Dutch, but he only just met Nick. How exactly would he know that Dutch would be proud? Just because the Darlings are throwing this rockin' yacht party? If he's such an old friend, he should know the Darlings throw a party for everything -- practically as often as those people on The O.C. used to. Nick agrees with me, and gives him a very wary thank you.
Nick asks Brian if he's seen Lisa. Brian says no and then hands Nick his glass and says, "If you see a waiter." It's nice to see that knowing they're brothers hasn't made Brian any kinder toward Nick. Some things never change. Nick shakes his head and walks away with the glass. He sets it on a tray passionately as Karen approaches. Oh, and she has bangs! It's different, and noticeable, and I haven't yet decided how I feel about it. Give me time. They gaze longingly (or menacingly? With these two, it's hard to tell) at each other, but she goes straight to Tripp, who asks if she has something for him. She says a kiss, "and this" as she gives him something we can't see. Nick turns in time to see it too. It's hard to tell exactly what his look means, but I'm thinking he knows something's up (that she's spying on Elder for Tripp). But Nick can't wonder for long. He's got to find Lisa!
And, soon enough, he sees her. He greets her with a "Hey. You made it?" that seems to imply there was disagreement about whether she would come. She smiles, "I did," and they both look relieved and happy. (She also got a stylish new 'do, and this one I know I love.) She asks if they're okay, and he says they are. We'll just see about that. We're only two minutes in, after all.
Tripp clinks his glass and calls "the birthday boy" for a toast. Nick puts his arm around Lisa, asking "You good?" She says, "Mmm-hmm" as they walk toward Tripp and Letitia. Everyone applauds (I'm guessing people just applaud on Tripp's cue, because why would all these people applaud Nick the Lawyer?). Tripp tells Nick that only one other man did this much to hold the family together, and that was Nick's father. Then he gives Nick the key to the boat. His birthday boat. Awww, what a sweet gift. Thanks, Tripp.
Cue helicopters shining their lights on the party, saying, "This is NYPD. Prepare to be boarded." Patrick looks at Nick and says, "What did you do, Nick? What the hell did you do?" William Baldwin is hilarious here, because he gets that arrogant, ridiculous faux disgust just perfect. Because of course we all know Nick didn't do anything. This boat has been his for all of about ten seconds
.Sirens, and fade to white, and "48 hours earlier": Nick's telling Lisa that Tripp and Letitia want to throw him a birthday party. They say it will be small and simple, but Lisa insists the Darlings don't do that. He says she's right, but they still have to do it. She tells him she was hoping it would just be the two of them for his birthday this year. He hatches a plan: Tonight they'll get a sitter and it will just be the two of them, and tomorrow they'll do semi-formal yachting with the Darlings. She's looking "semi-forward to it." He has to leave because his six months of mending fences between Patrick and Tripp (are we to believe, then, that this is six months after last season ended) is about to pay off. Lisa says it must be some fence. Nick: "You said it yourself. The Darlings don't do small and simple." I get that the show was hoping for more viewers this season, but do we really have to have so much exposition about these characters?
Tripp, Patrick, and Nick are meeting to discuss whether Tripp should be involved in Patrick's Senate campaign. Tripp is all, "Fine! If you don't want me involved I won't be," and Patrick's like, "I want you involved, but you're such a judgmental meddler." Nick is upset that the headway they've made is slipping away. Tripp thinks Patrick gets these ideas from Simon Elder. Patrick says he gets his ideas from himself, and says he severed ties with Simon a long time ago. Tripp says Patrick's life is spinning out of control. Patrick says it's just out of Tripp's control. Nick interrupts to try to make peace, by telling them this is a passionate family, so naturally there will be conflict, but they're still family. Tripp says that Patrick's drunk wife is ruining the campaign. Patrick blames the rigors of public life, but Tripp plays the Carmelita card. Patrick can't take anymore, and says he's done. Nick tries to stop him, saying, "I have worked -- we all have worked" six months to make this moment happen. I love how Nick tries to pretend it's about family, blah, blah, blah, but really it's about him: My time is important, dammit! And I don't want the last six months to be a waste. Now kiss and make up already, would you?
Patrick doesn't care. He's leaving anyway. Tripp says Patrick's a fool, and starts a threat, "When you come back asking for my assistance, for my acceptance..." but Patrick interrupts and says he'll never ask for anything from Tripp again. And I think we'll also see about that. After all, still only six minutes in.
Lisa walks out her front door in a sexy blue dress, which she's apparently wearing to look for a new gallery job. Jeremy drives up on his bright! red! scooter! and talks to her in Italian. She says, "Jeremy Darling: Stalker." Again, show, we get it. We know who he is. Not everyone has to say everyone else's first and last name. She tells him this whole showing up thing was cute the first 17 times, but it's gotten weird. He asks her to cut him some "slacks" [sic] because he can't stop thinking about her ever since they kissed. She says that was six months ago and they didn't kiss. He kissed her. He says she kissed back a little. Not like Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams or anything, but he felt some kissing.
To bring us up to speed again, Lisa says that marriages go through phases and when they kissed hers was in a bad one. He asks her to dinner. She says she's having dinner with her husband and also tells him WHERE they've having dinner. This is the crucial mistake that people always make: telling the person who they don't want to see exactly where they'll be. She walks off with a cute (in a motherly way, though, which makes this all sort of icky) "Get a helmet." Get it? Because she cares if he dies. Awww. It must be love.
New York skyline shots and then Karen and Elder post-sex. She says "That was amazing," which is fine, but then throws in "I'm all discombobulated," which feels like overkill to me. If I were Simon, I would not be buying it. But then, he's probably so in love with himself that he can't tell when someone else isn't. Karen then asks for some orange juice with a little gin in it, and then asks him to hold the orange juice. It's all very contrived, and I hate it. HATE.
As Simon gets her gin, he tells Karen about a fundraiser tonight at the botanical gardens that he'd like her to come to. She says, "Sure," but what she's really paying attention to is his Blackberry, on which she's thumbing through his emails. She has to "make an appearance" at home first, which helps sell her story that Tripp is clueless his daughter is sleeping with the enemy. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that yes, they actually did lay all of this out. Simon Elder: Enemy. Karen: Daughter who is being a spy. Check. And check.
He walks over and she sets down the Blackberry and picks up a crystal swan next to it. He is sort of suspicious of her, because he asks "What are you doing?" in a sort of hostile and accusatory way. She says she's just going through his stuff and smiles sweetly while showing him the crystal swan. She asks what the story is with it, and he tells a "I was a poor little boy" story about when he first came to New York and didn't know if he'd amount to anything. He saw the swan and it reminded him of the ugly duckling. He says it's not worth much but is a reminder of a simpler time. She says that's sweet, and he tells her he loves her. She replies, "Thank you. I think you're really neat too." And laughs. No man is stupid enough to buy that a woman acting this way actually likes him. I'm not buying it.
Nick walks into the office and tells Daisy his morning sucked. Daisy almost gets out "Oh, Karen Darling's here to see you" before he opens his door and sees Karen, but not in time for him to turn and run away. Karen asks him to close the door, and then she drops her dress and tells him "Happy birthday." I think this might be an even less practical gift than the yacht.
He tells her to get dressed and she calls him a "grumpy Gus." She says she had a bad day because Simon told her he loved her. He doesn't know she's still seeing Simon, but she says, "Oh, yeah, I'm snooping on him for Daddy." Nick: "Thanks for keeping me in the loop." And I have to agree. Because if Nick and all of the other characters were in the loop, maybe you all wouldn't have to tell us so many things we already know. Karen insists that she's always there for Nick when he has a problem, and he should return the favor. Her problem: Simon's falling for her and she feels bad. He tells her to remove herself. She said that's what she was trying with the whole stripping as birthday gift thing. Because he's her exit ramp. He doesn't take kindly to being called an exit ramp, and explains to her (read: us) that he's just her old boyfriend who she runs to whenever she has feelings for someone else. Karen says dumbly, "That's kinda what I mean by exit ramp, Nick." He tells her to get herself out of this mess she got herself into, because he's not going to kiss her out of it. Karen says she was hoping for a little more than a kiss. Duh, Nick. This is Karen Darling. Kissing will not satisfy. He sort of screams at her that she can get herself out, because she has choices. She acts hurt that he yelled and says, "Wow. Thanks for understanding, Nick." She starts to walk out, but turns back to tell him happy birthday again. I couldn't tell if she was supposed to be sincere there, or sarcastic, or what.
And that's my problem with this season so far: Karen. I liked her so much last season, but it's like she represented what was most soapy about this show, so they went crazy soaping her up. She's acting loopy and drunk all the time, even though I don't think she's supposed to be drunk. It's hard to take. I liked her better last year, when she was sort of fearless, but not a ditzy bimbo, which is what I think they've turned her into now.
Brian and Brian Jr. are building a boat. Brian Jr. is sad because it's almost done, but Brian suggests they tear it apart and start over. In walks Andrea, speaking Portuguese to someone on the phone. Her tone is perfectly casual and nice, but when she hangs up, Brian says, "What's your problem, Cruella?" It's awesome and very Brian, so I love it, but, dude, not in front of the kid. At least try to be nice to his mother in his presence or something. She says it was the Brazilian consulate and there's still a strangely unspecified hold-up with their visas. Brian: "Shrimp doesn't mind. Go rub a crystal." Okay, I love Brian, and oh my god I have missed him. She accuses him of having something to do with turning their one-week vacation into four. He gets angry and asks why she's even in Brazil at all.
Tripp walks in and asks if her stay is pleasant. She says it's more long than pleasant. Tripp doesn't actually care, though, so he just asks if he can steal Brian away. In the hall, he asks Brian to counsel Ellen, because even though Patrick doesn't want help, Ellen's alcoholic behavior is a public embarrassment to the family. Brian's defiant because he left the church and took this job so he wouldn't have to smile and nod and pretend he cares about other people's problems. Nice selective memory, Brian; could someone remind him he was fired ? I'm sure someone will, since they have been telling us everything else that happened last season. Brian would like more jobs like the time Tripp sent him to Munich to close down that factory (hmmm ... a factory; a clue into where the fortune comes from?) and fire all those people. That was fun. Tripp is surprised Brian's saying no, but thanks him for his frankness, because he counts on it.
Patrick is being told by a private investigator that looking into Carmelita is the deadest dead-end in the world. She doesn't want to be found. Patrick can't stand the not knowing. The PI tells Patrick to go home to his pretty wife. Patrick: "My pretty wife is a belligerent drunk who calls me names in front of my children, takes swings at me in public and orders bourbon online by the case." He tells him not to give up.
Then Patrick does arrive home to his pretty wife, who greets him (while pouring herself a drink) with "where the hell have you been?" Patrick: "Evening Foster Brooks ." Heh. Nice. Ellen doesn't agree, and continues to grill him about looking for Carmelita. He says he's been out campaigning. She says he disgusts her and is a pervert and could forbid their children to be alone with him. Then she leans in and tries to be sexy, asking what's the matter with her and what she ever did to him. He says, "Well, you shot me in the leg, Ellen. Ring a bell?" I'm actually glad the show reminded us of that, because that was awesome. He says she smells like a still, and he's going to take a shower and wash whatever's left of this marriage off his body. That might be a little harsh, Patrick. After all, you are the one who strayed. All she did was shoot you in the leg and take to the liquor. He adds, "Try not to fall down." Ooh, foreshadowing.
Meanwhile, Jeremy's drinking his blues away. But Lucy Liu is there looking hot, and she tells him she's been coming around for two weeks waiting for him to show up. He asks if he knows her, and she says, "Does anybody really know anyone?" She knows he's upset about a girl, and he admits he overextended himself ... "heart-wise." She tells him not to take no for an answer because sometimes a girl just wants a guy to push. She drinks his drink and adds, "It makes her feel pretty." Then she leaves, blowing Jeremy's mind.
Patrick's in the shower as ominous music begins. Ellen grabs his briefcase and finds the Carmelita folder. She's disgusted and throws it across the room. Then she goes into the bathroom and starts thrashing around with a golf club (it's a good thing that was so close by or she'd have nothing to flail about wildly in anger). She breaks the shower door, getting glass and water all over the floor. She says he's making her do this, because she's a perfectly good (albeit crazy) woman, but he'd rather be with "that shapeshifter." He looks truly panicked and asks if she's crazy. Um, Patrick? The answer is a thousand times yes. She says he will never ever find Carmelita. He asks what she did and she says she had her taken care of. She tries to swing again but flies backward and hits her head on the counter. Patrick is sort of crying and asking "What have you done?" and "Why did you do this?" He also calls her "Sweetheart," but the way Baldwin plays this it's hard to tell if he's upset because of the problems this will cause his campaign or because he genuinely loved her. He thinks fast and calls someone for help. Tripp, of course, replies that he will of course help.
Nick promises Lisa he'll be there. She says that she's fine if he says he can't. He says he can as soon as he deals with whatever dilemma Patrick's in now, but he'll be out of there in 15 minutes. I'm thinking he might want to rethink promising her he'll be there; this one might actually take awhile. She says she just wants to see him, and he says he'll be there.
Clark lets him in, where he sees Ellen's body. He asks what the hell happened and says someone should start talking.
In the 30 seconds that took, apparently Lisa got dressed and went to dinner and has waited too long for Nick, apparently, as she checks her watch and grabs her purse. I have to wonder why he couldn't call or text and tell her he wasn't going to make it, like, as soon as he saw the body to save her this embarrassment. But Jeremy walks up and sits down. He says he was just sending going to send them a bottle of wine, but he was told she was alone so he came to keep her company.
Nick says they have to call the police. Tripp says if Patrick could have told him what happened when he'd called, he would have told him right then, but that now it might be too late. It will take such a toll on the family after all -- he's thinking about the children, of course. Not the election at all. Nick asks what Tripp's asking of him, and says he would not make this look like an accident. Patrick says Dutch would have, and Nick's points out that Dutch ended up murdered so he doesn't exactly want to follow in those footsteps. He says, "This is a woman's life." Tripp says, "And a man's. And a family's." Nick advises them to call the police, and said when it becomes a legal matter, they should call him, but this is a moral matter so it's their matter right now, not his. He leaves. Patrick asks Tripp what they're going to do, and Tripp says they must follow Nick's sage advice. Yeah, let's see how he can manipulate what Nick said into meaning something else entirely.
Karen walks in to see Simon, dressed in jeans and a cotton top. He can't believe she's wearing that to the benefit. She says she's not going. He knows it's about him saying I love you, but says it's okay if she doesn't. He says he could have any woman in New York, but he chose her, so he said it, but she doesn't have to say it back. He knows she's seeing him for one reason only, and that's to gather dirt for daddy. She starts stuttering, and says it started out that way, but... He asks her to please cut to the chase. He made his first fortune (it's really not fair that he has more than one fortune when some of us have none, now is it?) on "a prism, a computer processor that can read information on waves of light." Can we keep the tech geek stuff on Chuck please? Otherwise I'll end up even more confused than usual.
Simon goes to his safe and pulls out a vial of liquid. He says he's going to roll it out in six months. She asks what it is, and he says it's fuel that's clean-burning and non-toxic and will change everything. He gives it to her and tells her to take it to her father and let him hand it over his chemists. His father will make more money than he could imagine. Simon will lose millions, but at least she'll keep her daddy happy, which is what this is all about anyway, right? And then he leaves. And she feels bad.
Lisa and Jeremy are drunk on the streets of New York. She said they didn't need that second bottle, but he doesn't agree because he thinks a high-end buzz suits her well. She says that he saved her from a night full of self-pity. She adds that this is where it ends, though, and Jeremy should not try and kiss her. He says he wasn't going to, but then he does. She hits him with her purse and asks why he has to do that. He said he thinks she's beautiful, and she got stood up, and she's the most beautiful woman in New York and that she wants him to kiss her. She says, "I really don't." And I believe her for about a half-second, until they start making out and lean up against the building. Right then, Nick gets out of a cab across the street, sees it, and she obviously stops, yells, "Nick! Nick! Wait!" and runs after him. But he's angry, so he gets back in the cab and leaves. Okay, here's my issue with this whole thing: According to the way the episode is structured, Nick left Patrick's long, long before this and should have arrived at the restaurant way before there was opportunity to drink two bottles of wine, let alone to then walk out front and start making out. But I'm surely not supposed to notice that, so I guess I'll move on.
Nick's ignoring a call from Lisa, while drinking and talking to Karen. He suggests their families might be a bad combination. She says that's crossed her mind. He starts pointing out the pairings to get us all up to speed: Dutch and Letitia; Lisa and Jeremy; and themselves, Nick and Karen. He says there are good people all over the world whose interactions are simple and clean. She toasts to those good people. He apologizes for being mean to her after she showed up there naked, and told her they have choices. He said maybe no one does have choices after all, mentioning Lisa, Jeremy, himself, her, and Patrick. Maybe it's all just chemistry: "You want what you want and you can't stop wanting it." Yeah, this is such a soap opera idea of how it all works. He leans in to kiss her, and she says he's drunk. He says she's beautiful, and leans further in. But he stops because he knows she's thinking about Simon. She admits that she is.
His office phone rings, and he says, "I can't talk right now, Lisa!" Which is always how you answer a phone when someone other than the person you're yelling at is calling. And, sure enough, it's Tripp, summoning him at 8 AMm. the next morning. Karen tells Nick that the two of them are actually not a bad combination, but that this is bad timing. She leans in and kisses him on the cheek and walks out, while he gazes at her.
Brian walks in to the Darlings and asks Letitia where the hell Brian Jr. is. He has a big wrapped gift. Letitia says he and Andrea left, despite Letitia begging Andrea to stay and say goodbye. He's surprised their visas came through. She said that Andrea told her the consulate came through out of the blue and they were gone. Brian asks where Tripp is. Letitia asks if Brian wants Tripp to intervene, and Brian says that he already did. I didn't see that coming, nor do I really see the point of Tripp taking time from the Patrick situation to make sure Andrea can leave the country. It seems low on the priority list, I'd think.
Speaking of, Clark parks the car, walks to the back and we see what are presumably Ellen's feet sticking out of the throw rug she's wrapped in. He opens his lighter and flicks it on. Then Tripp's on the phone saying, "Excellent, Clark. Well done." So we really have no idea what happened.
Nick and Tripp's 8 o'clock. Tripp tells Nick that 27 people died building the Brooklyn bridge, which millions of people use every day. Nick wants to know if that's his way of saying Ellen was expendable. Tripp won't admit that straight out, of course, but says there are costs for every venture. Nick says, "People aren't costs, Tripp. They're people." Which, in context, I guess sort of works, but if you read just those two sentences, it is sort of hilarious in its obtuse obviousness. You could substitute almost anything for the word "costs" and it would be right. Try it: "People aren't dogs, Tripp. They're people." "People aren't palm trees, Tripp. They're people." Thanks for the sage words, Nick (and show). Tripp says Ellen didn't have the strength to play her role in her venture. She resorted to drink and violence. He sticks a knife into Nick's wound with, "She had none of the patience and grace that make your marriage to Lisa such a blessing." Nick says, yeah, yeah, he's a lucky man.
Tripp goes on to say that all he wanted was Nick's help protecting Patrick and the kids from a big misunderstanding. This is what we are calling people's deaths now: misunderstandings. Nick wants to know what Tripp's asking him to do. Tripp said he just wants him to allow himself to be part of the family. He pleads, "You are a son to me. Let us love you." I want to believe Tripp, but it's hard not to see some ulterior motives when this comes right after all of the "I wanted you to help hide my son's dead wife's body" talk.
Jeremy comes in telling Tripp he's sorry but he'll have to bail on Nick's party (gee, I wonder why), and is surprised to come face to face with Nick himself. Jeremy, clearly terrified, says, "Uh, hey Nick." Nick simply says, "Hi, Jeremy," and not even in an angry or passive-aggressive way. There seems to be a "You're forgiven" wrapped up in there, right? But Jeremy flees anyway. And he read the room better than I did, because Nick asks Jeremy to wait and then punches him in the face. Nick tells Tripp he'll be at his office if he needs anything else taken care of. Which seems like his way of saying he's not part of the family, and doesn't want to be. Maybe he's disgusted with the Darlings, or maybe he just doesn't want to be attracted to his "sister."
Now Nick's getting ready for the yacht party. Lisa asks if he's ready to talk, and he says he's ready to listen. She starts making excuses: "I was drunk." "You left me there." He interrupts and asks if she's seriously going to defend kissing Jeremy. She asks if he's seriously not going to forgive her when he's done the same with Karen. Touché. But he doesn't like the "Oh, so we're even now" outlook, although he seemed to think it was pretty perfect when he went to Karen last night after seeing Lisa kissing Jeremy. He's acting like sort of a hypocrite here, if you ask me.
Lisa asks him if he thinks he might be headed down the same path his dad went down, being pulled in by the Darlings. She says she's losing him. Or, more accurately, "we're losing us." She said someday he's going to have to make a choice between the Darlings' values and theirs and the Darling family and theirs. She hopes he chooses her.
Brian's yelling at Tripp, saying that he knows Tripp let them leave because he wouldn't counsel Ellen. Tripp says that had nothing to do with it, and he would have jumped at the chance to help with their visa at any point if he'd known there was a problem. He says that Brian should have talked to him, because that's what family does. Brian then tersely apologizes for not talking to Ellen. It's the best apology ever, because not only does he rush through it, he also turns his head to the side and speaks more quietly than he has been. Do you think Brian likes apologizing?
Tripp says that if Ellen had had a chance to air her grievances, things might have gone differently. Since Brian hasn't been clued in yet, he's lost. Tripp asks him to agree to say he spent the last two days sailing with Patrick out at the Hamptons. Brian wants to know why, but Tripp just asks if he'll do it. Brian says, "Sure. Why the hell not?" Tripp tells Brian to spend ten minutes in the tanning bad before the party. Yes, folks, Brian gets burnt to a crisp in ten minutes, apparently (but not burnt up, the way certain other people will be in this episode). That is not fun, especially if your family has a place in the Hamptons.
Karen walks in to see Simon, who asks why she isn't at Nick's party. She says she's running late. He asks what her dad thought of his concoction. She said she didn't give it to him and she doesn't plan to. She gives it back to Simon. She sits down and tells him Nick's the only man who's ever made her feel like she's living, but now Simon's making her feel grown-up things that she didn't know she could feel. It scares her a little, and she doesn't want to let him go. They kiss. She leaves for the party, but promises to come back after. After she leaves, Simon calls someone and says, "We've got her." Ooh, the tables have certainly turned. And quickly.
Jeremy's back at the bar, even more depressed. We know this by the sunglasses and black sweatshirt he's wearing. Lucy asks him what's wrong and he says it's a long story, but he'll shorten it up: "I'm a mistake. I'm always a mistake." He shows her his black eye. She asks if it's a mistake he came back there, and he says it probably is. She asks if it would be a mistake to take her to his limo and do dirty things (or so we presume, since this is actually whispered). He says there's only one way to find out, and the next scene puts the dirty and sexy in the show, because they're getting hot and heavy in the car, lit by orange light. Jeremy breaks to say, "This is definitely not a mistake!"
The housekeepers see the country house burning up on the news, and call Clark in. They ask him if they should call Mr. Darling. He says, "Naaah. Let's not ruin the party." And ... Under Pressure begins again. We've come full circle, timeline-wise. Almost. Nick's sitting in his limo (was he wearing this gigantic bowtie before?). And then he pull up to the same paparazzi, and gets out; answers one of the same questions.
He greets Letitia and Patrick again, but this time the very awkward looks they're giving each other make sense. And Letitia asks about Ellen again. And Hal mentions Brian's sunburn, and tells Nick how proud Dutch would be. The hot gaze between Nick and Karen makes more sense. Karen gives Daddy a kiss again, and also the crystal swan. And Lisa and Nick are still okay, despite everything that just transpired. Dutch thanks Nick for holding the family together, and gives him the boat key. Helicopters. And Patrick asking Nick what the hell he did.
This time, he goes on to say, "You ratted me out?" And Nick says he didn't do anything. The cops walk up and apologize to Attorney General Patrick for having to do this. Nick asks what they're doing, and the Detective says they have an arrest warrant for murder in the first degree. Then they walk up and arrest Letitia for the murder of Dutch George. And even though Peter Krause said it would happen , I did not see it coming. Not even a little bit.
Next week: Lisa's still annoyed that Nick practically belongs to the Darlings (like that's a new storyline for this show). People have sex (Karen and Simon; Lucy Liu and Jeremy). And there's a trial at which Nick has to decide which one of the "spoiled brats" (he actually calls them that, which I love) gets to inherit something. I'm guessing it's who gets to fill in for Letitia in some capacity. And Brian tells Nick, "We both know who killed our dad." Okay, if that's true, what was the point of Nick taking this job to figure that out?
Read our Q&A with star Peter Krause for more juicy details on the upcoming season.