Previously on Dirty Sexy Money: Billionaire philanthropist Simon Elder made Nick an offer he might not be able to refuse, Reverend Brian and his son moved in with his parents after telling his wife about the bastard child, Juliet and Jeremy reconnected after discovering Natalie's pregnancy hoax, Tripp continued to steam about the possibility of one or more of his kids not being his, and Jeremy asked for a job.


Tonight's Dirty Sexy Money begins with Tripp (Donald Sutherland) talking about "The Game," a high stakes poker game.  Buy-in: $20 million.  Simon Elder (Blair Underwood) will be there, and Tripp continues to struggle in his battle with the fellow billionaire over Nick George's (Peter Krause) soul.  The only confusion is which is the angel and which is the devil.

Brian Jr. is telling his dad about the day he spent at the Magnolia Bakery with Juliet (Samaire Armstrong).  She kept talking about Natalie,  and Brian Jr. calls her a slut, and somehow it's adorable.  Tripp is telling some donor about how his son Patrick (William Baldwin) will restore dignity to the White House.  Cut to Patrick getting some mouth love from Carmelita in the limo.  She hates being kept hidden, so he takes her outside the limo and makes out with her on the sidewalk just as a paparazzo drives up snapping photos. 

Tripp shows up to Carmelita's place and shows her the photos he had taken to prove how dangerous this relationship is for Patrick's career.  He tries to get her to leave, but she refuses.  Later as Patrick worries about the photos in bed, she tells him about his dad.

The next morning, Nick gets a call fro the police who say his father's plane crash was officially ruled an accident.  Jeremy (Seth Gabel) shows up to get down to difficult task of finding employment.  We get a fantastic slide show of the Darlings' many assets.  Hotels are no good because of what goes on in the rooms.  Stadiums are no good because Jeremy can't be that close to the limelight.  Farms are no good because he's scared of cows, and pharmaceutical offices are out for obvious reasons.  Nick wonders what Jeremy is good at, and he says zoning out, then driving.  Nick takes him to a parking garage where he'll be working for his ex-doorman.

Nick gets a call from Simon, who wants to talk about the poker game.  The suave rich man wants Nick to convince Tripp to put Darling Plaza into the pot for unknown but ostensibly noble reasons.  Elder also says the police report about Nick's dad's crash was a fake.  Score one for good.  Or evil.

As Nick preps Tripp for the poker game, he tries to get Darling Plaza involved, but it's too close to Tripp's heart and he absolutely refuses to put it up because it's where he and his wife first lived and raised their children.  At the poker game, Simon and Tripp invariably get into a pot, and Nick talks Tripp into putting up Darling Plaza.  Simon shows a flush, and Tripp folds, then turns to Nick and says he doesn't want to see him for a couple days.  Nick tells Letitia about the game, and she's furious at him.

Nick and Tripp bond back at Darling Plaza.  They seem OK, and then the show flashes back to the scene of Nick arguing for Tripp to put the building in the game, and now we see the second half of that conversation.  Nick tells Tripp that Simon promised too get him the real police report if Darling Plaza was wagered, and that being in good with Simon would help his investigation, and that it would help if it appeared Tripp and Nick were in a feud.  Wow, so the whole poker game was a set-up.  What an ingenious twist!  When Nick goes to get the report, we get another twist: the dealer was in on the game with Simon to ensure the victory.  The report points Nick back to Mr, Norman Exley.  Nick leaves, and the cop investigating the crash walks into Simon's office.  The next morning, Nick meets with the cop and finds out Exley was murdered that morning.

Jeremy gets to park the car of a hot Latina while talking on the phone with Juliet.  She's worried, but he assures her he's a "vehicular ninja."  Crash sound effects ensue.  He frets over it, but Jeremy has a quick idea: he buys her a new car and switches the plates.  He goes home to play some racing video games with his brothers, and it's an awesome scene of the three Darling boys acting like kids.  After Jeremy beats Patrick, Reverend Brian (Glenn Fitzgerald) steps in and rocks the crap out of his baby brother.  What a perfect little scene that captures an authentic fraternal dynamic we hadn't seen yet on Dirty Sexy Money.

Juliet bought Brian Jr. an expensive watch, which upsets the reverend because he thinks she's spoiling him.  Actually, Brian Jr. just wanted it because it's the same watch his dad has, but Juliet says Rev. Brian is trying to shirk his fatherly duties.  At breakfast, Brian promises more quality father-son time, though it could be hard because Brian never had any when he was growing up.  It starts with Brian teaching his son about poking holes in his pancakes to allow for equal syrup distribution.  My heart melts.

At the parking garage, the sexy Latina returns, and when he tells her about the accident, she says it's OK.  He asks her on a date, but she refuses because he's not her type.  He gets a thrill out of not using his name just to get the date, and eyes show a determination to win that girl's heart without using his wealth and fame.

At city hall, Karen (Natalie Zea) and Freddy try to get their marriage license, but the man behind the counter informs her that technically she's still married to her last husband, Sebastian Pleat, because he never signed the papers.  When she asks for help from Nick, we learn that Sebastian is an anthropologist voted one of People's Sexiest Men Alive.  He's played by Eddie Cibrian, so...yeah.  She heads to his place, and he answers the door wearing only a towel.  She's quite flummoxed, as any woman would be.  He says he signed them and gave the papers to Nick's dad, but he'll sign them again.  He invites her in for some tea, and as he walks away, the towel "falls off."  She recalls how the tea always tastes better when he's naked, and after debating, she goes inside.  Post coitally, he signs the papers and talks about how Karen will never change and the cycle will begin again with Freddy.

Karen walks home and gets the third degree from her mother,  After Letitia (Jill Clayburgh) calls her out for it, Karen comes back saying that Nick;s dad didn't file the papers because he was probably too busy sleeping with Letitia.  Karen later decides that she has to move forward, so the wedding to Freddy will happen sooner, rather than later.  And by sooner, I mean on the next episode of Dirty Sexy Money in two weeks.


-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of ABC)