Wednesday, January 18, 2012

House of Lies: Episode 2 Review

Another Sunday, another great episode of House of Lies.  I was a little skeptical after the series premiere, wondering if all the fourth wall, consulting jargon, lavishly over-the-top antics of the show would hold water, but here we are at episode two and I am hooked.  Marty and his team of associates are truly what holds this show together; they're relentless back and forth banter is hysterical and natural.  My two favorites are Doug (Josh Lawson) and Clyde (Ben Schwartz); Doug is painfully but hilariously awkward while Clyde is surprisingly suave and sharp.  Schwartz brings mannerisms to his character that could definitely draw comparisons to Andrew Garfield's portrayal of Eduardo Saverin in The Social Network.


The episode brought us Marty's team heading down to Phoenix, consulting with the divided (and married) owners of a basketball team.  While it was fun to watch them go to work with bringing the organization and its money back together, by far the best scene was Doug's interaction with Cat Deeley, of So You Think You Can Dance fame.  The whole segment culminated with his missed opportunity to get her number, while simultaneously filling his underpants with some not-so-lovely juice.  Women: 1, Doug: 0.

While the show primarily covers humor, the final scene brought in some serious drama with Marty's son, who's more than a little confused about his gender, asking him what a fudge-packer is.  Being bullied is a common issue in today's schools, it was interesting to see the show bring in some real world elements to its standard fiction.  How, as a parent, do you handle that question?  It will be intriguing to see how Marty deals with it, as he clearly loves his son unconditionally, but the same cannot be said for his devilish ex-wife, Monica.



All in all, this show is really shaping up to be another Showtime powerhouse, right in place with Homeland.  Next week's episode is sure to please, catch it Sunday at 10 after Shameless.

Score: 9 out of 10

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