Dirty Sexy Money: The Silence (Episode 204)

Nick and Lisa are in couples counseling. It is not going well, since they can’t agree on anything, and Nick’s phone keeps ringing. The therapist is halfway to saying that their disagreements are healthy because they’re honest, but even she’s getting jumpy from the constant ringing. Nick takes the last call, from Brian Junior. Turns out Junior’s got two weeks off from school, and he wants to spend it with both his parents. Andrea doesn’t think Nick can be a fair arbitrator because he’s Brian’s brother; Nick says he’s not partial to Brian, earning him a lovely “back at you, boss” from Brian. Nick’s partial to Junior, because he’s been between parents and their crap and it sucks. Nick leaves, and Andrea and Brian keep shouting at each other over their son’s head. He can’t leave without at least one Darling asking him for something else, since Letitia wants to go to an election party for Patrick and wants Nick to get her excused from house arrest. Nick: basically, no.

Simon’s having a meeting about his clean energy, which Karen busts in on. He’s called her there because he wants an answer to his proposal. Karen: “Really, right here?” Simon says that if she doesn’t respect him enough to give him a direct answer to a direct question, they’re done. Karen thinks they can talk about this later, but Simon says there is no later. He goes on with his meeting. Run, Karen. Ruuuun.

Jeremy and Nola trade favors—mainly oral sex—as Jeremy tries to negotiate a lift on the house arrest so Letitia can go to her son’s party.

So Patrick and Carmelita are honeymooning, and Patrick’s made up his mind to take their relationship public, much to his father’s extreme disapproval. Nick thinks it will impede his ability to govern, as well, but Patrick says, whatever, I want to do this, and you two can’t stop me. Their meeting is interrupted by Chase, Ellen’s brother, who’s railing that Patrick will pay for killing his sister. Patrick tells Nick to do something, since Chase is nuts. Nick thinks he’s also right. Tripp is like, oh, can it, it was an accident, just talk to him and find out what he wants.

Lisa, in trying to buy her own gallery, has a Pretty Woman moment where it turns out her money’s no good in a place more high class than she is. Later, she runs into Jeremy and bemoans her lack of celebrity connections. He’s like, hellloooo, Darling? He tells her to go back and say he’s her partner. She was born to tell people what art to buy, so she should just grease the wheels with a little Darling oil. She thinks Nick will flip, but Jeremy tells her that it’s just business, besides, his heart belongs to another. When she brings it up, Nick flatly says no. He won’t allow it. Lisa just wants to do something with her life. Nick tells her to do something that isn’t a ginormous (I think he actually uses this word) insult to them, their marriage, their daughter, and what they’re working on in counseling. Lisa thinks that having her own thing will help. He tells her that if she wants to do it on her own, she should, but the answer re: Jeremy? Is no. But Jeremy’s already signed the lease and put it through, and Lisa’s ready to walk away when she finds out because she knows it will cost her marriage. He tells her, though, that Nick doesn’t have to know he’s involved, and what’s more, she deserves this opportunity. She decides that since Nick doesn’t deny anything for his career, as long as he doesn’t find out, she’s in.

In addition to chasing down, uh, Chase, Nick has to deal with the Crown Regent pulling out of Patrick’s party for political reasons. Plus, Karen’s waiting for him in his office. She tells him about the proposal and says that she’s been thinking about it. “I’ve been married four times, even I have shame!” she says. She says she’s been dumped, and he won’t return her calls or see her. She feels this is her fault—she has a history of marrying guys she doesn’t love and letting the ones she does, like Nick and Simon, get away. Nick thinks she dodged a bullet, since he doesn’t think Simon loves her the way she thinks he does. She wants him to go talk to Simon, since he loves nothing more than being right, so if he is, he’ll have tons of fun telling her so. He gets his call from Chase, who meets him at a park. Nick asks what Chase thinks happened. He thinks Ellen was a casualty of Patrick’s relationship with Carmelita—Ellen was going to leave him and take the kids, so he killed her or had someone do it, and the fire at Valhalla was a cover up. He threatens to take this to the press or DA with what he knows. He leaves with faux menace.

Nick’s balancing Darlings like plates, Patrick on the phone, wanting to know about Chase, Tish at the Imperial, thanking him for moving the party to the house. She says Jeremy got her permission to go out through a friend of a friend, but she seems already toasted, so it doesn’t much matter where she is. Patrick tries to keep Carmelita out of the situation with Chase, telling her to trust him that it’s nothing, though she doesn’t seem convinced.

Nick quizzes Simon about his relationship with Karen. He wants to know his game. Simon says Karen only wants what she can’t have, and right now, she must be missing him a lot. If he keeps ignoring her, she’ll be begging him to take her back sooner or later. When she does, he’s going to marry her, take her shares of Darling Enterprises, which, with the shares he’s been steadily and stealthily acquiring, will allow him to take over Tripp’s company. Nick asks why he’s telling him this, and Simon grandly says Nick will do the right thing with the information.

Tripp and Nick caucus about the meeting with Chase. Nick thinks Chase is desperate: without the monthly checks Ellen sent, he’s lost his house and things are getting worse. Tripp calls him a man with nothing to lose, and he thinks they should offer him a way out. Nick says he won’t offer to pay him off; by not going to the police, he’s deep in a cover up he wants no part of. Tripp says, basically, you and me both. He tells Nick to offer Chase financial assistance for the long run, which Nick thinks is a pay off and Tripp thinks an “invitation in,” since he’s family. Nick asks about Carmelita, and Tripp says he’s going to talk to her himself.

Andrea has misplaced Junior. Brian decides to call the police. Andrea shrieks. A lot.

Tripp tells Carmelita that her standing up with Patrick at the election party might make people start asking questions about Ellen’s death. She tweaks to the fact that Ellen didn’t die in a fire and asks what did happen.

Chase is sickened by the neat little package Nick’s just offered him, which includes college trusts for his kids, a job, and other various cash prizes. He understands if Chase feels he has to take this to the press, but he doesn’t think he’ll a) get the same kind of cash from someone willing to buy his story and b) get any kind of justice for his sister or his peace of mind. Chase is grossed out that the truth doesn’t seem to matter. He tells Nick to stop—they’ve won, and he’s kidding himself trying to do the right thing. He says they can have his silence. As a parting shot, he tells Nick he sounds just like Tripp.

At the Imperial, Patrick waits for results on the election, and Carmelita. He asks Nick if Tripp intervened, but Nick doesn’t answer except to say that Tripp’s there. Nick follows Jeremy around the house, trying to crack him on who would have secured the furlough for Tish. Jeremy dodges the conversation by throwing a nutty over the toxic domestic limoncello being served. Brian and Andrea arrive in his wake, police in tow.

Karen asks Nick about his talk with Simon. He tells her the bald truth about what Simon said, but Karen thinks Nick is playing games with her to string her along. She asks what happened to him.

Carmelita arrives at the Imperial. She tells Patrick she can’t stay. She knows everything about Ellen’s death, she says. Patrick whispers that he didn’t kill her. Carmelita recites the facts: Ellen attacked, fell, died, got moved, got burned, and got buried. What’s more, she can’t be with someone who would take part in such a huge lie. She came back to be with the man she loved, but she doesn’t know him anymore, she says. Patrick begs to know who told her. Tripp schmoozes about Patrick’s wonderfulness until Patrick pulls him aside and gets in his face about what he told Carmelita, driving her away. Nick intervenes, or tries to, but Patrick tells him this is a family matter and to get the hell out. Nick’s eyes go black at that. Tripp tries to tell Patrick that it wasn’t going to work with Carmelita; it wouldn’t have been safe for her to be with Patrick during his political career. Patrick yells for Tripp to admit the election’s all about him, not Patrick. Tripp asks Nick to explain to Patrick how he did the right thing. Nick says he knows Tripp thinks that, and Patrick explodes that even Nick can’t deal with this, even though Tripp pays him to buy all his crap. Nick’s had enough, but apparently so has Tripp’s heart. “Oh, no!” he cries. And then he falls over. Excellent timing that dude has.

The family’s gathered at the hospital, where Tripp’s doctor says there won’t be any lasting damage. He tells the family to go home, since Tripp will be out a while. Karen calls the family into the lobby, where Patrick’s victory is being announced on the news. “Will wonders never cease,” Brian muses. At that, Jeremy arrives, Brian Junior in tow. The police delivered him to election headquarters when they found him. He’d gone to Coney Island on the subway to escape the parental fighting, but on the way back, he got lost. Brian’s calm for the kid, telling him not to do it ever again. Andrea tells Brian, carrying a sleeping Junior home, that she thinks they need to work this out.

Patrick and Nick stand vigil over Tripp. Patrick thinks he’s like Freddy Krueger, waiting for a chance to kill again. He says he’s not angry; now he just understands how his dad works, lives, makes ruthless deals. He thinks he should take a lesson from that to Washington with him. Nick thinks it will make Tripp happy, but Patrick doesn’t.

Nick cons Jeremy out of his cell phone.

Karen talks to her unconscious dad about how she doesn’t know what to do about Simon, now that she’s emotionally involved (which she shouldn’t be) and he wants to take over the company. Tish steps in and tells her she has to learn to make decisions for herself, since her parents are mortal. Karen leaves, and Tish is ready to stay with her husband until Nick tells her she’s about to turn into an illegally outside the house pumpkin. Nick takes her seat, and she observes that he’s the last one at Tripp’s side.

Karen goes to see Simon, who keeps playing her like a violin. She tearfully apologizes and says she wants to say yes if the offer still stands. It does, because Simon is an emotionally abusive freakshow.

Nick calls Nola with Jeremy’s phone. She answers, “Hey, sweetcheeks.” After a moment of silence, she hangs up. Tripp wakes and asks about the election.

The next day in therapy, Lisa tells Nick she got the gallery all on her own without Jeremy’s help. Her cell rings, and it’s Jeremy. She turns the ringer off and says she’s there. The therapist tells them that they can overcome anything with honesty. They stare at each other, knowing they are both big fat liars.