House of Lies is working for me. It's just as sleazy as every other Showtime series, but there's a believable, delicately-handled humanity underneath all the bawdiness that keeps me interested in these people. So far, anyway.
Actions Have Consequences
Marty (Don Cheadle) is slick and sharp-witted and played by Don Cheadle, so we root for him, even though he is kind of a jerk. We want him to give into his better nature, as he does with his son, Roscoe (Donis Leonard, Jr.), but we also kinda like it when he lords it over his underlings, and teaches his foes a lesson. The return of Greg (Greg Germann) serves this dynamic nicely. Marty bested Greg in the pilot, destroying Greg's marriage in the process, and now Greg's threatening to take over Marty's firm. This gives Marty a chance to reflect on his destructive behavior, while it also allows him to vanquish (eventually, I think) an enemy who's an even bigger jerk than he is.
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Tranny Schtick
There was a little too much dialogue centered around Doug's (Josh Lawson) alleged dalliance with a transvestite he met at a bar. That joke isn't funny anymore. It just feels tired, like something I'd expect to see on Entourage. Come to think of it, Clyde (Ben Schwartz) could almost be a member of Vincent Chase's posse, and that's not a good thing. They should try to make him more than just a rich little hipster jerk. The "A" storyline, involving Marty and Jeannie (Kristin Bell) indulging the sexual peccadilloes of Spalding (John Ross Bowie), a bottling company CFO and his wife, Janelle (Amy Landecker), was also a bit smarmy, but at least it had something to do with what these characters do for a living.
Mad Marty
Skip Galweather (Richard Schiff) lets Marty know that while Marty's good at bringing in cash, he's a failure at the "people business," leaving chaos and destruction in his wake. Marty's response? A night out partying with Clyde, followed by a dangerous joyride in a stolen car. I think there are OSHA regulations against treating your employees that way. I don't expect Marty to turn over a new leaf anytime soon, but it's clear he's on the verge of something. Hey, it's nice not to be able to predict where a show is going sometimes.
Overall, the episode was a good balance between kooky hijinks and more serious character moments (Marty dancing with his son, and later, losing his mind). It's not great TV, not yet, but it is an engaging show, and I get the sense that it could be heading in an interesting direction.
Best Lines
"Hey, Dad, what do you do if you like a girl, and you like a boy?"
-Roscoe stymies Marty with an early morning birds and bees question.
"Hey, Greg? How's your beautiful wife? I heard she tastes like Pinkberry."
-Marty responds to Greg's threats with mockery.
"It's very cute the way you're all sort of learning at your own pace, but none of this s__t matters. Okay? The only thing we need to figure out is what makes them think they can't live without us for the next three years, while we infect the host and bleed them dry."
-Marty chastises his team for not seeing the big picture.
"I would let a homeless schizophrenic rub my feet."
-Jeannie lets Spalding indulge his foot fetish.
"Other people do what you do without leaving a swath of destruction behind them."
-Skip lets Marty know that he might not protect Marty if the company gets taken over.
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