Writer: Dave Flebotte
Director: Chris Long
Cast: Courteney Cox (Lucy Spiller), Ian Hart (Don Konkey), Ryan Eggold (Farber Kauffman), Jeffrey Nordling (Brent Barrow), Rick Fox (Prince Tyreese), Billy Brown (Tweety McDaniels), Julian Acosta (Adam Proteau), Larry Miller (Bill Hope), Evan Peters (Craig Hope) & Sharon Lawrence (Cassie Hope)
Director: Chris Long
Cast: Courteney Cox (Lucy Spiller), Ian Hart (Don Konkey), Ryan Eggold (Farber Kauffman), Jeffrey Nordling (Brent Barrow), Rick Fox (Prince Tyreese), Billy Brown (Tweety McDaniels), Julian Acosta (Adam Proteau), Larry Miller (Bill Hope), Evan Peters (Craig Hope) & Sharon Lawrence (Cassie Hope)
Brent decides it's time to prove he's the boss, Lucy tries to take down a music mogul's empire, and Don uncovers a politician's sex dungeon...An anomalous episode this week; God Bless The Child seems like a leftover season 1 script that's been dusted off, as it takes the show back to its crazier routes with a story that caps a big storyline from last year...
At a fundraiser, Lucy (Courteney Cox) bumps into former-client Prince Tyrese (Rick Fox), who was crippled in a revenge attack by music mogul/gangster Tweety McDaniels (Billy Brown) last year. Tyrese has a philosophical outlook on life now, which surprises and impresses Lucy – but also stirs a desire to take down Tweety's empire. Her investigations reveal evidence that Tweety's a rapist, has fathered illegitimate children, and regularly his artists lip-synch on their tracks (ooh, shocker). But is that enough dirt to destroy McDaniels' business?
Elsewhere, Don (Ian Hart) is tasked to snoop into politician Cassie Hope's (Sharon Lawrence) private life with her husband Bill (Larry Miller), so parks outside their house waiting for scurrilous activity. It's not long before he spots their rebellious teenage son Craig (Evan Peters) and introduces himself. Fortunately, Craig seems eager to spill the beans on his parents to embarrass them, and invites Don inside to show him a secret sex dungeon they use.
Don looks to have hit pay-dirt, but Craig shows his true colours and knocks Don unconscious. Our paparazzo wakes up to find himself half-naked in kinky restraints, unable to escape Craig's torture by cigarette burns. Even the arrival of Craig's parents fails to improve matters, as the Hopes are convinced the situation can't be rectified and will certainly damage their careers when it gets out. Their only way out is to kill Don...
Brent Barrow (Jeffrey Nordling) makes a welcome return after his blink-and-miss-it appearance in the premiere. Here, the seedy publisher aims to impose his superiority on Lucy by masterminding the sale of DirtNow magazine to playboy multi-millionaire Adam Proteau (Julian Acosta) – a man who insists on seeing Brent's penis before he'll talk business.
There's some degree of entertainment to be had here, mainly with the episode's more outrageous moments (Don's S&M capture, Brent's penis initiation, Tweety's fiery comeuppance), but it all sat a bit awkwardly. I don't think we needed to see Prince Tyrese again, while the consequent return of Tweety McDaniels was similarly backwards-looking. Billy Brown makes for a decent villain, but I still have a tough time taking anyone named after a Loony Tune character seriously!
Sharon Lawrence and Larry Miller did well with two underwritten roles, but it's a shame those talented actors weren't utilized better. Their storyline with Don slowly lost its spark, although Don's capture and the debate about killing him were undoubtedly the two moments that stick in the mind with this episode. Even if his survival was never in doubt..
God Bless The Child coasted on fumes and played like a reheated season 1 script, basically. While I hope it signals a return to last year's more ribald attitude, I suspect it's just a blip. Still, it was great to see Brent being a weasel behind Lucy's back again, and his alliance with a womanizing rich kid should provide some fireworks when Lucy realizes "her" magazine is now under new management.
Overall, I'm sensing a slump in season 2. The rude, crude and lewd anything-goes sensibility of season 1 has been watered down a tad too much. There were echoes here in a few scenes, but I miss the recurring storylines that grabbed your interest and kept you watching to see how things developed. The standalone plots haven't been particularly good so far, and Dirt could do with a decent hook to keep you coming back every week. 3 episodes into a 7-episode sophomore year, and still no sign of the season arc...
12 May 2008
Fiver, 9.00 pm
