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The Darlings, a wealthy and powerful family, provide the drama in ABC's show Dirty Sexy Money. Secrets between the family members and their personal lives drive the show's plot.

Tune in or tune out | Dirty Sexy Money's scandal, intrigue may lead show to become season's big hit

By: Ali Finney

Posted: 10/25/07

There are a lot of dirty, sexy secrets on Dirty Sexy Money, leaving me to believe that it might be one of the breakout shows of the year.

Using a who-done-it format, Craig Wright explores the lives of the Darlings, an affluent family consisting of the typical stern male father Tripp (Donald Sutherland); a mother, Leticia (Jill Clayburgh), whose past is littered with adultery; a son, Patrick IV, (William Baldwin) who is a politician; a daughter, Karen (Natalie Zea), a professional divorcee; a reverend, Brian (Glenn Fitzgerald); and twins Juliet (Samaire Armstrong) and Jeremy (Seth Gabel).

Along with the extravagant family is Nick George (Peter Krause), who took his father's old position as the Darling's attorney. His motivation is to figure out who killed his father.

In the episode titled "Pilot," Nick's father is killed in a plane crash and Nick takes over his position as the Darling's attorney. He is initiated right off the bat, learning all of the ins and outs that make the viewers love to hate Darling family.

In the second episode, more secrets are revealed that add an interesting twist in the plot. At this point, Nick believed that his father's death was Tripp's doing. Nick stole Tripp's journal from his desk and was forced to fess up when things got a little out of hand.

In doing so, he and Tripp had a discussion about his father's affair with Letitia, which ended in a solidification that the affair was real and not his imagination running wild. His father's combination to his briefcase was Letitia's birthday.

After several weeks, Tripp confronted Letitia with DNA results asking which of their children was not his. Though we don't know who the child is, we do know that there is an illegitimate Darling in the mix.

Though the main controversy of the show centers around this mystery, the Darling children know how to keep things spicy.

Struggling with the idea of committing his life to politics, Patrick IV spends his free time engaging in a major scandal. He has a relationship with a transgender person, which could ruin not only his chances in politics, but the family name as well.

Karen, who is an ex-lover of Nick, is struggling with wanting him back. She is, in a way, his source to the family secrets, although everyone has opened up so far. At the present, she is engaged to a man who wants her for her money. But because she's never fallen short of getting what she wants, watch out for a scandal involving Nick.

Reverend Brian Darling has an illegitimate son that he is hiding from his family. He is corruption in the church personified.

The twins bring some serious comedy as Jeremy, who has both a drug and gambling problem, has started dating Juliet's ex-best friend who turned enemy. The feud happened when Carmelita (Candis Cayne) stole Juliet's bangs. Now Jeremy and Carmelita are expecting - something that is sure to rip the dynamic duo apart.

Dirty Sexy Money is one of the best shows of the season. Make sure to tune in to ABC on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. and see why the all-star cast has more than just secrets to share.