Giant Blue Sponges, Inappropriate Kissing, and the Nutcracker on "Dirty Sexy Money"

I heart Gina Torres.

It doesn't matter what she's in or what role she's playing, whether it be kickass Russian superspy Anna Espinosa on Alias, the steely second-in-command Zoe on Firefly, or demon goddess Jasmine on Angel, I'll follow this woman just about anywhere (except maybe to her FOX series last season, Standoff).

So I was so happy to see Torres turn up this week on one of my favorite new series this season, Dirty Sexy Money ("The Nutcracker"), where she seems to be recurring as a graceful African princess who just happens to be the ex-wife of Darling nemesis Simon Elder. While I knew Torres would be turning up on the primetime soap, I had no idea it would be such a juicy role, given Elder's prominence in the plot at the moment.

While Torres only appeared in one scene--in which Simon introduces new paramour Karen Darling to his, er, darling ex-wife--it hinted at things to come. Why exactly did Simon need his ex-wife's blessing to begin dating Karen? Or did the impromptu interview have another point? And what was up with that story about Simon saving her in the ocean? Foreshadowing of things to come in which he'll attempt to "save" Karen from her family? Hmmm...

In other Dirty Sexy Money-related plot twists, I was stunned--yes, stunned--by the final act reveal that Tripp and Karen are plotting against Simon in tandem and that it appears that Tripp pushed Karen to get close to Simon as long as she doesn't get "emotionally involved." So did Papa Darling instruct his daughter to seduce his billionaire nemesis (because, uh, ew) or was that not part of the deal? And was Karen so shaken after her dinner with Simon and the Princess because she does have feelings for him, after all? Curious. Aside: how spectacularly awesome did Karen look in that dress though?

Though the promos had given away that lip-lock between Nick's wife Lisa and Jeremy Darling, it was far funnier and more touching than I had suspected, with Jeremy sitting on Lisa's lap as they kissed... unaware that the pot they were consuming had damaged a $150K art installation (a giant blue sponge), which promptly leads to Lisa's firing. The episode made Lisa a hell of a lot more interesting than she's been in a while though I don't want to see creator Craig Wright suddenly make her pregnant or have Lisa and Nick's attempt to have a second child become their sole storyline.

As for poor Brian, he's floundering since his attempt to pay off the arbitrator in his custody case and has now received more bad news: he's being suspended from the clergy for six months. With nowhere to turn, he goes to see Tripp for a heart-to-heart that was one of the series' most elegantly understated. End result: empire-maintainer Tripp has always envied Brian's ideas-based vocation but accepts Brian's decision to go work for him. Me, I can't wait to see Brian in the business world, but I was touched with how paternal and kind Tripp was to Brian, considering he recently learned that the meanie minister is not his biological son.

There are supposedly two more produced episodes of this fantastically addictive series, but it's more than likely that ABC will hold these two segments until February sweeps, making it a long, dark winter until we can catch up with the Darlings again...