shannon woodward-related stories
Posted Apr 23rd 2008 8:43AM by Brett Love
Filed under: The Riches, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S02E06) Here we are, with the next to last episode of the season, and I found it just a little strange. Perhaps I was reading too much into the fact that there is only one more episode to go. Or, perhaps the strike just did more damage to the flow of the season than I am giving credit for. But this didn't feel like an episode setting us up for a big conclusion/cliff hanger. I'm left thinking there are a whole lot of irons in that fire that need to be dealt with next week. While it wasn't what I expected, there were some very interesting developments in Eden Falls this week.
Continue reading The Riches: Dead Caelm
Posted Apr 16th 2008 8:39AM by Brett Love
Filed under: OpEd, The Riches, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S02E05) Right about now, some of the Malloys should probably be having some second thoughts about returning to Eden Falls. The lure of big money is hard to resist, but it's certainly not going to be easy money. The dark turn to their adventure continues in episode five as we find Dahlia continuing to struggle with her new triple life, Pete causing more trouble for Wayne, and young Cael striking out and getting some story all his own.
Continue reading The Riches: Trust Never Sleeps
Posted Apr 8th 2008 11:03PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, The Riches, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S02E04) Use any cliché you want: this is the episode where the chickens come home to roost, the shit hits the fan, the bill comes due, the Malloys have to pay the piper, etc. etc. What we do know at the end of this episode is that Wayne is starting to get in over his head, and even he knows that his conning skills are only going to get him so far. He's been able to dig himself and his family out of the messes they've created to this point, but this one is a doozy. Not only is he going up against a guy that's probably an even bigger con artist than he is, but also this guy doesn't have any semblance of a conscience. Talk about a deadly combination.
Continue reading The Riches: Slums of Bayou Hills
Posted Mar 25th 2008 11:03PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, The Riches, Episode Reviews
(S02E02) For the second week in a row, Wayne spends most of the episode separated from the rest of his family, cleaning up the messes he got in at the end of the first season. In fact, we're pretty much where we left off in last week's
season premiere, with Wayne trying to figure out what to do with Hugh and Dale while also trying to figure out how to dispose of poor Pete. Meanwhile, Dahlia, Nina, and the kids try to steal a van but are caught by a stressed out man with a big gun and an itchy trigger finger.
What this sets up is, in a lot of ways, a "scam of the week" episode, something we saw a lot of last season. But I get the feeling this might be the last one we see for a while, mainly because the "big scam," which is Hugh's massive development deal, is going to swallow up not only the Malloys, but everyone around them.
Continue reading The Riches: Friday Night Lights
Posted Mar 18th 2008 11:03PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, The Riches, Episode Reviews
(S02E01) As much as I liked the first season of
The Riches, I thought the show had a couple of basic flaws. First, it seemed like too many episodes were about the con of the week rather than the "big con," which was the Malloys trying to pass for the Riches. But the most fundamental flaw of the entire first season was that, well... we just didn't find enough of a reason to like the Malloys. As despicable as the characters around them in Eden Falls were, we still felt that they were the victims of this family of Irish Travelers stealing the American Dream.
I think Dimitry Lipkin realized this, as the abbreviated second season of
The Riches brings us a number of seedy characters that are so heinous that it makes the Malloys look like heroes. The season premiere just sets the table for what's to come.
Continue reading The Riches: The Last Temptation of Wayne (season premiere)
Posted May 22nd 2007 12:45AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, The Riches, Episode Reviews
(S01E11) Remember when
Third Rock From the Sun had been on for a few seasons, and the Solomons had assimilated so fully into earth society that the show became no longer interesting to watch? I sometimes wonder if that's what's going to happen to
The Riches; The Malloys become so ingrained in the fabric of Eden Falls that they become too "normal" for viewers to care about.
You can see evidence of that happening in this episode. DiDi is really becoming more buffer-like every day; she's studying, she has a boyfriend, and she wants to break away from the Traveler lifestyle she's known her whole life. Dahlia alternately wants to do whatever is necessary to stay in Eden Falls and whatever she can to separate herself from it. And Wayne has to play the game, even though he hates himself for it. But what might prevent this show from sliding into the abyss of boredom is that all of it is built on a lie, and how long the Malloys can maintain that lie is the engine that keeps this show going.
Continue reading The Riches: Anything Hugh Can Do I Can Do Better
Posted May 15th 2007 10:22AM by Brett Love
Filed under: The Riches, Episode Reviews
(S01E10) The fallout from the dinner party in "Cinderella" hit this week, and it made for one crazy ride. This is also the episode that switched my thinking from "Eddie Izzard, the comic, is doing a great job as Wayne" to, "Eddie Izzard is an actor." The writers heaped a heavy load on his back this week and he answered with what was an amazing performance.
Things got off to a great start with Wayne and Dahlia's fight over the drugs that Chunky left behind. It's interesting that he walked in on her before she could decide which way she was going. I think that she would have flushed the stuff eventually, but we'll never know for sure. The chaotic argument after Wayne snorted a handful of the crank was fantastic. Dahlia's reaction, "Of all the assholic things you have done, this is the most assholic." summed it up nicely. That was such a crazy thing to do that it warranted brand new words to describe it.
Continue reading The Riches: This Is Your Brain On Drugs
Posted Apr 17th 2007 12:32AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, The Riches, Episode Reviews
(S01E06) Last week, we found out two things about the Malloys and their life as the Riches: 1) Wayne is going to have to do more than BS if he's going to survive as a Panco lawyer, and 2) life as a buffer is more trouble than anyone expected it to be. This week, we see the noose starting to tighten around the Malloys, as more and more pieces of the Traveller life are seeping in to their Eden Falls existence. And, unfortunately for Di Di, those pieces are flying around and smacking her square in the face.
Di Di is certainly becoming the most level-headed of the family, isn't she? At first, I thought it would be Cael, because I thought he had the smarts to protect his family from getting caught. But, of course, a girl got in the way. But it seems pretty unfair that because Cael managed to get tailed by Ginny that Di Di has to pay for it by being "engaged" to Ken the dipweed.
Continue reading The Riches: Reckless Gardening
Posted Mar 27th 2007 1:01AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, FX, The Riches
(S01E03) Things are starting to settle in for the Malloys, and their new lives as the Riches, and this is where the fun starts. As I watched the first two episodes, I was waiting for the series to get into a routine and show the Malloys faking and conning their way through life at Eden Falls. I just felt during these cons we'd see the lighter touches that the show's casting and premise indicated would be there.
And this third episode doesn't disappoint.
Continue reading The Riches: Operation Education
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