The Riches (8.5): Its Okay, My Timing Is Off Too.

I feel as rusty as Dahlia and the kids, so please bear with me and do not try to beat the living snot out of me with a baseball bat. If you are watching this show, then you know what that refers to. If you are not watching this show, I beg you to do so. Season One is only thirteen episodes, which is so easy to burn through, and we are only two episodes into Season Two, both of which can be found on iTunes and Amazon for download. If you live in my metropolis (and are not either JP or Kathleen) I will loan you Season One (it was twenty bucks at Target last week, how could I pass that up?) and you will be able to see the wonder that is The Riches. And then you will understand what I am about to say about the first two episodes of Season Two.

Sam had the money all along? What? Sam is so quiet that it would be really easy to forget that he is a) a little con in training, b) listening to everything going on, and c) quiet by choice rather than by stupidity. When he busted out that 40 grand he reminded everyone, family and audience, that he is a necessary and active member of the clan. I am starting to think he might be the smartest one of the Malloys.

But on the not smart side of life there is Dale. I do not know which side of him makes me want to rip off my skin more: the desperate sniveling sycophant, or the overly sexualized amoral bully (and murderer). I cheered (as much as I could because I was in my office) when Wayne kicked him in the balls. I wanted to cry when he was trying to convince Wayne that they are the same type of person. Since all signs seem to indicate that Dale will not be going anywhere anytime soon, and I do not want any of the Malloys to become (intentional) murderers, I guess I am going to have to deal with nausea Dale induces in me. And I do really, really want to know with whom he is talking to in prison. I think it is someone involved in the scam that put Dahlia in jail. I think Dale has found an equally revenge minded person to team up with.

I will admit what a terrible person I am and tell you that I laughed out loud when Wayne hit Hugh with his car. It was just such a funny moment; Wayne getting to do by accident what he deep down wants to do all along.

In the second episode we got to see something that even if we intellectually understood, we have not been exposed to the full emotional reality; a scam can be based on charity as easily as greed. There is a thrill seeing the Malloys pull a fast one on people with more money than morals and that reaction could let the viewer slip into a sense of complacency about what they do. I in no way agree with rednecks wailing on Cael, but the strong reaction elicited by using another’s tragedy to raise flee-to-Mexico funds reminds viewers of the ethical complexity involved in The Riches. We are pulled in both directions: we want the family to be okay, but we see what that will cost others.

The one downside to watching The Riches on TV: suffering through commercials not only for Dirt (yuck!) but also It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (double yuck!). The horrifying irony of the situation is that Kaitlin Olson, who plays Hartley Underwood on The Riches, is also a cast member of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, so not matter what there is always the specter of a terrible show floating about a wonderful show, at least in my mind. Maybe Hartley will not return and that little problem will be solved.

The TV Girl