'Lipstick Jungle': Life's a (fashion) show, and we all play our parts

Lipstick Jungle settled into its new time slot tonight as Victory settled into her new store, opening the space with a fashion show that's inception had more than its fair share of snags.

Victory starts the hour in a fashion week panic worthy of the most insecure Project Runway contestant, unsure about the finale dress for her fashion show-slash-store opening. Things only get worse when Joe breaks the news to Victory that Dahlia is going overboard with spending, doing things like hiring Aerosmith's lighting designer and paying $300 a head for caviar. Victory confronts her and puts the brakes on spending, and when Dahlia takes offense they finally have the big blowout that's been coming for weeks, ending with Victory firing Dahlia and Dahlia promising revenge. This revenge takes the form of guerrilla warfare, with all of Victory's important fashion show attendees bailing on her, her models quitting, her one sheets printing her name as "Victory Fork" and an incomplete set being delivered, to name a few snags. In dire straits, she calls Rodrigo for help with the set and Nico helps with the guest list. Things get even worse when Victory's finale dress is ruined by a leaky pipe, a storyline that comes full circle when a model (who I'm pretty sure was a contestant on America's Next Top Model at some point) asks to use the upstairs bathroom, which was the cause of the leak. At the last minute, Victory saves the stained finale dress by "painting" it with red wine and wearing it on the runway herself. Her show and her finale dress in particular are a rousing success, but honestly I covet the polka-dotted dress Victory is wearing more than anything she showed on the runway.

To make things even more complicated for Victory this week, Joe decides he might be ready to start things up with her again and goes to Nico for advice. Nico tells him to follow the instincts that made him rich and take a risk on love, to which he responds with a question about Victory's ring size. Jump the gun much, Joe? Joe brings the ring to the show intending to pop the question. At the end of the show Victory calls special thanks to "someone special" for always being there for her when she needed him most, and Joe thinks she was talking about him but she actually calls Rodrigo up to the stage as a thank you for saving her butt with the stage. Joe splits, making Nico and Wendy feel horrible for encouraging him, and while Victory and Rodrigo share a romantic moment they realize they still have the same issues between them and so it won't work out. Victory ends the episode alone but happy, staring at her store and what she's accomplished. Aw.

Wendy is busy on the career track this week, bringing a book adaptation idea to Sal at Parador as an idea for a new film, and is having anxiety about returning to the scene of her crime so soon. When she arrives for the meeting she learns that a pushy new VP of Development, Paige, will be joining them. Paige, incidentally, is the embodiment of every reason I left the entertainment business. Paige sucks. After hearing Wendy's pitch, Paige completely tries to Hollywood-ize the simple story, and Wendy leaves adamant that she will only make the film if they stay true to the book. Sal is sympathetic, but lays it on the line for Wendy: they have to listen to Paige because she has Griffin's ear and the project won't get approved if she isn't on board. Wendy decides to pitch it elsewhere, and while going to a local copy shop to get some copies made meets a copy girl/writer, who gives her a script. She reluctantly reads it and realizes the script is special and the girl has a voice, and decides to make it her next project. Go, Wendy! Also, go copy girl!

Nico gets a shock this week when she runs into mistress Megan and baby Charlie (that would be Charles, Jr. to be exact, but Megan calls him Charlie). Things are most definitely awkward at first, but Charlie is fussy so Nico offers to take him and he calms down immediately. Baby Charlie is pretty darn cute, by the way. Nico's gears then start turning and she decides to give Megan a baby gift, which Wendy thinks is crazy. Seriously. Wasn't the thousands and thousands of dollars gift enough? Still, in the end she and Wendy come to the agreement that the kid isn't to blame in this mess and is the one that's really hurt because he will never know his father. How mature of them. Nico brings the gift to Megan's apartment, along with a box of old photos of Charles so Charlie can get to know him someday. Aw, Nico! So thoughtful. Nico realizes from seeing little Charlie that she might want to have kids of her own someday. Will Kirby be ready for this? Will Nico be ready with Kirby? I suppose we'll find out.

Nico and Kirby are having their own issues this week, as they get in a fight because he is planning on working Victory's fashion show as a waiter, which Nico is uncomfortable with because they know so many people who will be attending. He tells her he needs the money and when she says he should be selling more photos, he admits that the photo he sold last episode was to a tabloid and wasn't actually his art. I knew that was going to come out! Kirby ends up attending the fashion show but not as a waiter, as he took another waiter job later in the night across town instead. They meet up again at the end of the night and make up, but things are looking like more trouble ahead when Kirby reveals that his mom is coming to town next week and he wants them to meet. And, according to the previews, his mom is Rosanna Arquette. Looks like we're in for some good times there!

What did you guys think? Are you happy about this new time slot? Is Joe wasting his time pining over Victory? Will Nico and Kirby ever be able to overcome all of the obstacles that stand between them? And will Wendy's cute husband ever get anything to do? What a waste of a fine (literally) actor!

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