Episode Report Card Mollie: D+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Highland Fling
By Mollie | Season 1 | Episode 6 | Aired on 03.12.2008
After the ads, we see Wendy and Nico heading home on the corporate jet. They're not speaking to each other, and they're sitting in separate parts of the plane -- as they always should have been, honestly. They have an entire jet to themselves. No need to decide who gets the window seat.
While Victory dresses for her night out with Joe, she shares her concerns about Diego the mysterious. What if he's laundering money through her business? Oh, no, this isn't going to turn out to be a "financial impropriety" plotline, is it? Those are totally the worst episodes of Law & Order. Joe advises Victory to drop the conspiracy theories. Then he distracts her by bringing her to the big, unused room she had admired the previous day. Now it has no furniture in it except a grand piano and a bunch of candles. "Ellen mentioned you saying something about a dance floor," says Joe. "I hope it's all right that it's just us." Oh, it's so much more romantic this way, just the two of them -- plus the pianist and lounge singer that Joe hired to perform "You're Getting To Be a Habit With Me." Remember when Victory complained about Joe's "greatest hits" approach to life? She got over that quick, didn't she?
Kirby is hanging around outside Nico's building when her car pulls up, and the way he steps out of the shadows makes the doorman ask Nico if everything's okay. Don't worry, doorman! He's not suing her anymore! As the doorman goes inside with Nico's bags, Kirby says he knows he shouldn't be there, but he wants to hear about her trip, because they're "friends." Nico's feeling all broody: "Is that what we are?" She tells him to go home, saying she's tired, but he insists on buying her dinner, saying he'll leave it with the doorman. Nico stands there as he walks away, looking pleased in spite of herself. I hope she tips that doorman extra on her way in.
When Wendy reaches her house, she finds Shane in a very chipper mood. He got another film-scoring job while she was away! I guess the smooth-jazz market is more lucrative than I thought. It was my understanding that we were still in the "bland orchestral swelling" era of film scores, with "quirky genre soundtrack" the standard indie alternative. But maybe I need to see more movies. Wendy congratulates him, and dodges his questions about her trip and her success with Nico.
At the art auction, bidding is just about to start for the painting Joe admired -- identified here as "Vincent Van Gogh's L'Arlesienne," although it's not even close. Of course. Joe doesn't seem to mind that this so-called Van Gogh is an obvious fake; he's willing to big millions just to make sure his rival, Allan, doesn't win. As Victory watches them bidding back and forth, she gasps and whispers that Allan must be behind Diego's money! "He's rich, and he found a way to mess with both of us at the same time! It makes total sense!" Without pausing in his quest to throw away lots of money, Joe whispers back that Allan didn't buy her business. "How do you know?" Victory hisses. "Because I did," Joe replies. The auctioneer announces Joe the top bidder, and Victory storms out of the room. So now Joe is down $50 mil and one live-in girlfriend. But he does have a phony Van Gogh to hang in her empty bedroom, and I bet it won't talk back!
After the commercials, we find Victory and Joe at Victory's place (in a room we haven't seen before!). He's still in his tux, but she's wrapped in a robe and sniffling into a drink. "I don't want the man that I'm dating owning me," she says. Now you tell him! Joe has a litany of reasons for going behind Victory's back. He knew she wouldn't allow it; he thought she was a good investment; he wanted to "protect her" from less scrupulous investors; he thought she'd be grateful when she found out; and finally, and most sentimentally: "Taking a small, struggling company and turning it into a thriving business is what I do. It's the best of me, Victory. That's what I was offering you." Victory is still disappointed that the best of him is a total liar. She asks him to sell the business, and he says he will, once it turns a profit. "We're done," she announces. As Joe leaves, she gets in a parting shot: "Enjoy your fifty-million-dollar painting." I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of Joe, because guess what? He still owns the business! And this is why you don't date your boss. Or boss your date.