TVSquad

So I've been watching Hung (because I'm flattered that they'd base a show like that around me). It's proven to be a much more entertaining take on the premise than I expected. Thomas Jane and Jane Adams are simply perfect in their respective roles as the reluctant gigolo and his high-strung pimp. I was digging Anne Heche as his wife, and even getting his bizarre kids.

I didn't even know the show needed anything more, until Ray booked his most demanding and bizarre client yet and Natalie Zea (Dirty Sexy Money) sashayed into the room. Wow, did Hung need her. And I don't mean because she's gorgeous, though that certainly helps. What a new dynamic she's brought to everything.

Dirty Sexy Money was one of those guilty pleasures for me. I like the work of Donald Sutherland and Blair Underwood, and found myself enjoying the wacky saga of the Darling family. But Karen Darling (Zea) was kind of one-dimensional. In the beginning, she found herself in her underwear in virtually every episode, so I was able to forgive her.

Later, she became a much more interesting character, and Zea proved she had the chops to play a beautiful and complex character. Or so I thought.

Karen Darling is a paper doll compared to Jemma. It's so wonderful, that Ray has fallen completely head-over-heels in love "crush" with her. The Hung writers have really thought this through. Ray's no professional. He can't separate the job from the sex as well as he's supposed to, so of course if you give him a mysterious, vulnerable, sexy regular client he's going to develop feelings for her.

Jemma's so bizarre and mysterious, she hires Ray for these elaborate role-playing schemes and then walks out on him if he doesn't perform to her standards. But she still pays him. How does Jemma have all this money? Why, in the latest episode, did she even agree to go on a regular date with him if her intention was to stand him up. Is she teaching him something?

I expect Ray will come out of his non-relationship with Jemma a little more able to make that distinction he needs to as a male hooker. So it will be good for him. But that also means Zea will likely leave the show soon. Which isn't good for me. I'll still watch, but I'll miss her. A little mystery is good for the soul. And the show.