'Dirty Sexy Money': Justice and revenge

Trouble finds the Darling family like a moth finds a flame -- and on this week's Dirty Sexy Money, the main source of trouble is hell-bent on revenge. And nothing short of that will do.

I swear to uphold the spoilers ahead...

The main source of tension for the Darlings -- at least for Tripp, Patrick, and Nick -- is Ellen's brother, Chase. His wife left him, taking the kids, and he's spreading his story that Patrick murdered Ellen. Now, with this family, often the most outlandish explanation is the correct one, but as we know in this case, Patrick really is innocent. Chase surfaces just as Patrick's "inauguration" is about to take place at Federal Hall in New York. (Pssst. Senators take an oath of office, but only presidents get "inaugurated." Civics 101.) Nick is dispatched to try to talk with Chase, and swears that everything he did on behalf of the Darlings was out of compassion, not guilt.

Chase isn't buying, and over the course of the episode his manner becomes more intense and his behavior becomes more erratic. He goes to see Carmelita at the beauty salon where she works upstate, and tells her that he's going public with the story that Patrick killed his sister. As usual, Carmelita is the only one with any real judgment or integrity. She tries to talk Chase down, and goes to Patrick to tell him of the impending problem of Chase. Patrick's so thrilled to see her that he hatches a plan for her to be at his ceremony, and the two have a private lunch to talk. He wants to go public with their relationship, he tells her. It's not just going to be the start of his first term in office, but the start of a new life for them, he tells her.

And no one can leave the Chase situation well enough alone. Ever the one to jack things up disproportionately, Nola suggests a psychiatric hold, even threatening to commit Chase if he doesn't pipe down. Nick fights to give him another chance and to handle the situation on his own. And he's making progress in another meeting with Chase, talking about how he knows first-hand the kind of destructive influence the Darlings can be. Then, of course, the cops show up and haul Chase off for psychiatric observation. Yeah, always good to make the unbalanced guy even more mad.

Separately, Nola's serving another cause: Simon Elder. He gets her to steal a confidential file from Patrick for information about why the approval for Simon's clean, non-toxic biofuel has been held up. Jeremy walks in as she's snagging the file, and gets suspicious above and beyond his need to press the issue that he and Nola are still crazy about each other. Later, in a hilariously bad incognito disguise, he follows Nola and sees her with Simon. He confronts Nola, who after convincing Jeremy that she and Simon aren't being, ah, intimate, tells him that Simon's essentially blackmailing her -- he's got her brother and she doesn't know where he is. Gallantly, Jeremy takes on Nola's cause, determined to take care of things for her. Later on Simon, with breathtaking cruelty, dangles contact with her brother in front of Nola, only to snatch it away.

Meanwhile, puppetmaster Tripp has a hand in everything, even though he denies it, and he and Simon finalize their partnership agreement -- which upsets Brian a great deal. This foray into Darling Enterprises hasn't given him what he wants, he says. Between Tripp's half of the company, Simon's half, and "Saint Nick" waiting in the wings, there's really nothing for him. So he goes to Tripp and quits.

Brian's got much more on his mind anyway. He's at Andrea's bedside, refusing to admit that she's dying, and that the experimental drugs she's on aren't working. There's a beautifully played scene between Glenn Fitzgerald (love getting to see more of him) and Sheryl Lee in which she demands that he acknowledge out loud what's happening to her. She needs him to focus and face the facts, so that she'll know he's strong and capable enough to take care of their son when he dies.

Outside her room, Brian runs into the bishop he used to work for. His six-month penitential retreat is up, and he's going to need to make a decision about whether or not he's going back to the church. Of course, Brian can never handle a bad situation without turning on someone, and he tells the bishop to tell God that what he puts people through, first dragging them through time and space and then making them suffer, really sucks.

But his resentment notwithstanding, Brian goes to church to talk to God. "She's dying. She thinks she's ready," he says. "But here's the thing: I'm not, and neither is our kid. You want me to pray, I'll pray. Please don't take her." She has too much life ahead of her to go now, Brian says. And if God wants him back, Brian needs a sign. And when he goes back to the hospital, we find out that Andrea's gotten a little bit better. For the first time, the drug seems to be working, and there's reason to hope. Of course it's too easy, but I like Brian and I like this storyline, so I'm in. He goes back to church. "OK, OK, you friggin' win," he tells God. Then he tells the bishop, who's curious about his decision to come back, that he wants his job. Nice to see that Brian hasn't stopped being Brian.

Brian and Chase aren't the only ones tossing resentment around like Molotov cocktails. Karen opens the episode by going through her closet, getting rid of everything Simon gave her or liked. "I do it after every marriage," she tells Nick. But since this one didn't happen -- thanks to Nick -- it's not really a marriage. "Your medal of heroism is on its way," she sneers. And the fact that she's getting her Darling Enterprises stock back isn't even cold comfort.

After a conversation with Letitia and Jeremy, Karen comes to realize that Nick was acting in her best interests, and she goes to his apartment to talk to him. And finds the door ajar. Here's a lesson for you, kids: If you go to an apartment -- yours or someone else's -- and the door is ajar and you weren't expecting it to be, don't go in. Karen does, and of course Chase, who overpowered his police guards, took the van and the cop uniform and went to confront Nick, is there. Wild-eyed, he takes Karen hostage by pointing a gun in her face. He tells her that Ellen hated her, and that she used to make fun of her. He tells her that the Darlings stand for something that could never make normal people happy, and they'll be sorry.

When Chase's phone rings, Karen sees an opportunity and makes a run for it -- only to be cold-cocked in the temple by Chase's gun when he catches up with her. As Patrick is telling Tripp and Nick about his plans to go public with Carmelita at the swearing-in ceremony, he gets a call from home. It's a dazed Karen, who has blood running from her temple and sounds disturbingly injured. Nick puts two and two together, gets police to his house after Karen passes out and cancels the ceremony when he learns Chase is there and is a threat.

But by that point it's too late. Patrick's gone out onto the stage in front of the crowd, with Carmelita taking a seat as part of the invited guests. Nick spots Chase dressed in a police uniform, moving through the crowd, and tackles him just as Chase fires a shot. On the ground, he and Nick struggle to reach the gun, and the screen goes black as three more shots are fired.

What did you think? What do you think happened? Were you expecting the fed-up brother to go crazy quite so quickly? Do you think it strains every expectation of credibility that Patrick so stubbornly clings to his desire to have Carmelita be a public part of his life? Do you think we'll ever get a clear picture of what Simon's game really is?

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