Dirty and Dangerous
Dirty and Dangerous by Roxanne McDonald
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And so ends the first compelling season of “Dirt”—not with a whimper or a bang but with a surprising stalker outcome and some dynamic possibilities for the future, and so, with a low sizzle…. |
Big runway show, model passing out, and Willa suggesting that liver problems from illicit drug abuse are the cause. Lucy’s not having it, and suggests that until Willa can show her a doctorate, she needs to stay off the theorizing and get some hard proof.
Willa, in another respect, is becoming the next Lucy Spiller. When Brent offers indecent proposals to extend their playful relationship, Willa says, “I’m 23. You’re not,” and tells him to go search among the many women his age….
Julia is going off the wacky end of the pool, having been exposed for the fake she is, and as Holt confronts her, she goes into this damsel in distress mode, asking him, “Have you ever been so scared you lose yourself…don’t know
yourself?” Then she tries to get Holt to know her, but he shoves her away: “Listen, stay the hell away from me. Do you understand me? Stay the hell away from me. You need someone to talk to, why don’t you call Johnny Gage?”
Of course, Julia is still a few critical thoughts away from knowing Holt’s secret and concedes to his jealous and angry fit with a slumping on the bed or to the floor….
Fellow PR persons share with Lucy how America is “shitting itself,” and Lucy wants pictures; the Killer Spiller blog is a thorn in Lucy’s self-serving side; and an ex college associate/friend, Tina (played by Jennifer Anniston, ironically, if you will) shows up to deny rumors she wants Lucy’s job, to feign support, and to do what else only the writers for next season know.
I have My Suspect and More
I have My Suspect and More–Cause I Want the Background and I Would Love that Car! by Roxanne McDonald
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Generic Image Table - Insert 3 or more sentences here so it looks nice like my postsWhile the FX Dirt site is less than user-friendly, the Dirt in the Trunk contest gives evidence/clues…as well as an easier-to-follow Dirt guide of characters and concerns and all. |
It may be my computer is not up to speed, but I can’t seem to access the FX Dirt website all that successfully. On the other hand, when I was sure I knew who put the photos in Lucy’s trunk (for blackmail, stalking, or some other threatening purpose), I went to Dirt in the Trunk and found not only “clues” but the cast of characters I have previously sought out.
The clickable clues are in the prescription pill bottles, the booze bottle, and the books—Kama Sutra, Coping with Your Parents, and Haiku.
They are in the CDs and tapes (scandalous, archived, and other); in objects like envelopes full of cash; and in or on the cell/mobile phone—where you can hear clips of dialogue:
You had your own brother stalked by the paparazzi, so don’t be all indignant. Leo
I love you. I don’t wanna be alone again. Don
She looks sweet…sad…. She reminds me of you when you were younger. Don
I can’t stop thinking about you; it’s like you’re in my head all the time. I need…to..be with…you. Holt
Always about you, huh? Maybe I have something to celebrate. Brent
Remember that day we met? Well, I wasn’t really there to audition. Holt (or maybe Cal)
More Dirty Dialogue
More Dirty Dialogue by Roxanne McDonald
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Can’t get enough of the stellar performances with the stunning dialogue, thanks to the spectacular writing of Matthew Carnahan. |
The dirty deeds of “Dirt”, the criminal elements, the salacious and sleazy characters all bring what might be a familiar type or genre of show together…but less than familiar, more than fresh, are the words put in the characters’ often filthy mouths by Carnahan (writer, also, of “The Edge,” Fast Lane,” “Thieves”, “Trinity”, “Black Circle Boys,” “The Adventures of Rug Raymond,” and his debut novel, Copping Free).
I know this is not writing on my part, is nothing more than pitiful piggyback transcribing, but I can’t help but replicate some of the spoken script so you can appreciate what I get to re-visit by writing it down:
[As security galvanizes her place against some stalker threat, and asks why she can’t just camp out in a nice hotel for awhile]:…Because we don’t want him to think he’s had an impact on your life. Security Chief
Right, like he hasn’t had an impact on my life. I always hang out with former Israeli commandos. Lucy
If I find out you had anything to do with [leaking Julia’s sex tape]….Holt
It’s all over the Internet…. It’s not as if I’m scooping someone. Far as I know, you were the last one with the tape; maybe you had something to do with it. Lucy
You’re sick. Holt
[returning] I’m sorry…I needed to cool down. Leo
You think I’m still the devil. Lucy
I know you’re not the devil. Leo
The video you’re watching—it’s not a sex tape; it’s a rape tape. Julia
Is this an actual assignment, or am I still in the doghouse? Willa
Get the story, and it’s an actual assignment. Screw it up, and it doesn’t really matter where you are. Lucy
Dirt Brings on the Look-alikes and Keeps the Sound-alikes Fresh
Dirt Brings on the Look-alikes and Keeps the Sound-alikes Fresh by Roxanne McDonald
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Paris and Nicole are recognizable in one scene. Music from Celldweller intrigues in the next. And dialogue continues to stir and stun. |
And maybe Holt and Julia are K-Fed and Brit? Whatever the implications or allusions, the recap of the “Pap Smeared” episode of “Dirt” is best done by recapturing some of the stunning dialogue that continues to drive the show as hard as the characters move it:
We all Struggle to Stay Sane. I’m schizophrenic, so for me, it’s a little harder. Don Konkey
[Paris and Nicole] celebutantes…Tuesday Nelson and Lulu Hegel…famous for being famous. Lucy Spiller
[Lucy wants old reality TV show footage from MTV archives.]
I’ll have one of the interns go through the DVDs. Willa
No, I want you to do it. Lucy
It’s busywork. Willa
Then get busy. Lucy
You want me to squeeze the charities…. Dirt colleague
I know; how will I ever sleep? Lucy
I have a brother. He’s in jail. Marquis, Don’s new helper
Jason’s in Oregon. Like jail but with trees. Don
Depraved and Dirty Dialogue
Depraved and Dirty Dialogue by Roxanne McDonald
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Another fine element in Dirt is the dialogue, created by Matthew Carnahan. |
Although Lucy gets most of the sharpest of lines, other characters balance out the bastardly with sensitive, insightful, or even silly speaking:
Do you have any idea what it’s like to lose your compass…? Sammy Winter to Lucy Spiller
Does it bother you that every time I look at you I think of Anthrax? Lucy Spiller to J. Spotwood somebody
[Dirt brainstorming session] Celebrity cameltoes. Manginas. Great movie orgasms. Goddammit, yes.
No, I am not going to be the new host of “Deal or No Deal.” Julia Mallory
Funny name: Amanda Peeeet. Jeff Stagliano
You guys are high. Julia
It helps the work. Jeff
You look hot, Jules. Jeff Stagliano’s partner, so-and-so
You raped me, you piece of shit. Julia
Stupid is the new black. Brent Barrow
Oh, I’m sorry man. I gotta chub up for the part. porn actor
I only love you when I’m high. Julia
Okay, You Got Me: So I’m into Dirt
Okay, You Got Me: So I’m into Dirt by Roxanne McDonald
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I guess I was acting spoiled after losing “Nip/Tuck,” so I barely gave “Dirt” a chance, thinking it would never draw me in the same way. But after the third, fourth, or maybe it was the fifth episode, I found myself craving the next installment. |
Lucy is wicked–in every sense of the term…even the New England idiomatic sense. She is having an affair with the borderline scumbag Holt. They don’t even like each other. And Holt has relinquished the upper hand to the one who takes control in all parts of her life: when he calls to
stammer how he wants to suhseee her, she makes him state it definitively. After making him practically beg, she then says, “Not tonight. I have too much work to do.” [paraphrased]And while I was thinking how much like Vincent Gallo the actor who plays Holt McClaren (Josh Stewart) looked, the next week after I so insightfully mused that, Vincent Gallo showed up as the every nasty, ever slimy disgruntled ex-child star, Sammy Winter returned to get his fair share of magazine exposure—this time by holding the Dirt staff hostage and forcing them at gunpoint to do a whole cover spread of him with gun, of course.
And Lucy, sitting at her desk just hours after the debacle, looks down at the fresh-off-the-presses edition…and just smiles that greedy-this-is-gonna-sell-bigtime smile.
I am digging in with as much fascination for the tabloid topics and storyline as for the slick acting and smarmy characterization.
And I am not alone, evidently, for “Dirt” is for many the latest and greatest of “guilty pleasures.” Miami Herald’s Glenn Garvin calls “Dirt” “delirious, dizzy, decadent, and altogether delicious….” Tom Shales of The Washington Post and Jonathan Storm of The Philadelphia Inquirer both add the adjective “wicked,” Storm calling the show often “wickedly humorous” and Shales agreeing with his assertion that “Dirt” is “wickedly entertaining….”
Even Doug Elfman, renowned critic at Chicago Sun-Times, though he says the show is not addicting (which is exactly what I said the first couple of episodes), does add that “Dirt” “holds loads of promise….” His instincts were right. “Dirt” is delivering…. It just took awhile.
If You Throw Dirt, You Lose Ground…but not Necessarily in Cox, et. al.’s Case
If You Throw Dirt, You Lose Ground…but not Necessarily in Cox, et. al.’s Case
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FX’s much hyped “Dirt” has premiered, the critiques are in, and Cox and company do not lose any ground to start. |
FX has promoted and previewed for weeks…even months. Finally, “Dirt” premiered on Tuesday night, January 2, 2007. The clothing and language is as colorful and vivid as promised in the promos. The premise is specific, pointed at tabloid terrorism and paparazzi perpetration. And the acting is intriguing.
As critic Doug Elfman notes, for instance, Cox works her role as Lucy with more motivation than just payback for the paparazzi who hound her in “real” life: she instead portrays Lucy Spiller, writes Elfman, “as a two-dimensional sleaze, but with appealing, empathetic verve.”
While as Elfman also contends the verisimilitude is not the primary intention of “Dirt,” the realistic portrayals of the diabolic and those who sell out to the devil in the red dress keep the viewer engaged. Not only does Cox reach far beyond her “Friends”’ character (performing more in character with her Scream reporter persona, Gale
Weathers), but actors who play the minor roles, such as the guy who is Lucy’s first business/pleasure prey—Bret Roberts—bring added dimensions to the greed vs. need premise. Roberts, that is, brings a grungy, understandably needful (and therefore malleable) character, who is yet sensitive (to ethics) and who therefore contributes to the dramatic tension.
“Dirt” needs a few more runs before we can judge the shelf life of yet another celebrity-focused drama (which is catalogued as a “comedy” at IMDB). But if Courtney Cox sustains her play and if she and hubby Arquette keep bringing in great marginals, “Dirt” should continue to fly…without putting too much of a dent in the mountain that is quality TV entertainment under it.
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