'Big Shots': Sex Night, Lies & Audiotape

The second episode of Big Shots pleasantly surprised me. While unfortunately still suffering from some fairly predictable moments, the show took a few big steps forward thanks to some much more original situations, a new character that I actually enjoyed, and continued solid acting from its talented cast. I'm optimistic, my friends. Hopefully, my optimism won't get crushed beneath the heavy heels of ever-threatening mediocrity.

Spoilers below.

While all their company names sound cheesy, they're actually keywords to the predicaments these Desperate Businessmen face: Duncan's company is called Reveal, which would be a bad thing considering his whole solicitation arrest; Brody's company is Alpha, ironic considering he's so whipped; Karl's the CEO of Devotion, but only in name because he's a philander; and James is now in charge of Amerimart, a name that conjures images of a happy family eating apple pie. Too bad his wife is a old-dude lovin', cheating skank and his perfectly happy life is on the verge of falling apart. Good times.

I knew the show had room for improvement but I had no idea it'd give me such a treat. Oh my, it's Paul Blackthorne! And he's being British! Oh, Paul...how I wish The Dresden Files was better for so many reasons, one of them being you. He plays Terrence Hill, a vicious corporate raider who hates Duncan because he nailed Hill's sister. Behold, Duncan's foil. Who happens to be dating the ex-wife. And paying the reporter to do the story on Duncan. In exchange for killing the story (by means of surrendering the audio tape of Duncan paying off Dontrell to keep quiet) and staying away from Elizabeth, Terrence gets the company they were both attempting to acquisition. It's an especially good deal for Duncan since his daughter Cam tipped him off that the company (called "Jail Bait" - that's not inappropriate much) isn't actually popular with her college demographic and will be losing money. Dylan got the best overall work this episode, which I expect to be a trend. He got to play a lot of different emotions and the look in his eyes during the stare down with Paul had was a little bit of brilliant.

Karl's mistress Marla is feeling guilty about the affair now that she's befriended Wendy the Wife. Unfortunately, when she breaks up with him during counseling and he doesn't put up a fight, she gets ticked and goes crying to Wendy. Since he and Marla are now fighting over Wendy's attention, Wendy decides to bring them both into couple's counseling which is super awkward for the counselor since she's been seeing Karl with both women. In a change of power position, Karl threatens to blow the whistle on the affair so Wendy never speaks to Marla again. As a compromise, they split up days of the week so they can both see her. So, I was totally expecting this little turn. Again, not entirely imaginative in terms of events but the actors are really good so it keeps me from want to poke my eyes out with something sharp when they get screen time.

You know what I hate? When my cheating wife pops up in my office unannounced. Mental note: if I ever have an affair, don't justify it by saying I did it because I was afraid my husband would divorce me. That's what they call "faulty logic." She, of course, plays the "the kids miss you" card and James, that sucker, falls for it. He's going to try and work it out. Luckily, someone was poisoning the old goat and while the cop is questioning his wife, James overhears Stacey talking about how she loved OG and hadn't decided if she was leaving James. This lady's a real piece of work. Fortunately, this means they're getting a divorce and James and Nia Long have a chance of hooking up.

The guy with the least substantial storyline, yet the most important person on the show, is Brody. His anemic plot revolved around "Sex Night" and the wife wanting him to wax his berries. Where Brody really is excelling is as the go-to guy to help the rest of this motley crew with they're disturbingly complicated problems. Christopher Titus plays the stale jokes the best he can, but it's the unconventional jokes that he excels at. Fortunately, the hackneyed marriage joke are in far less quantity this episode and are replaced by some legitimately funny reactions (I'll guess women find the waxing scene far more high-larious then men do). Next week looks to be a break-out for him as Dontrell the Prostitute gets arrested at the end of the episode and it looks like Duncan gave her Brody's name...which is in the black book the cops confiscate as she's being taken away.

Other Tidbits

• Shirtless, boxer-short sporting, disheveled Dylan McDermott. Thank you, Desperate Businessmen.
• Is Laurie the Reporter Dancer/Actress Mayte Garcia? Why yes...yes it is. She's doing a great job. I'm hoping that even though the story is supposedly going away, she pops up again later.
• The other "her" that is great is Dontrell the Prostitute played by Jazzmon. Kudos, my friend, kudos. She's consistently funny and her make-up is great.
• I really do like Cameron, Duncan's daughter. She's understandably petulant, but not all the time - it's a very fine  line and most take flying leaps 500 miles across it. Usually I hate this type of character (I stopped watching Eureka first season for that very reason), but Peyton List (Windfall, As the World Turns) acts it well.

Did I miss any highlights? What were your favorite parts? I am the only one who's really happy to see Paul Blackthorne?

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