Mistresses - Charades - Review : "The Story So Far"

The second season of Mistresses has been such an interesting ride so far. This is my first time reviewing the show and I am very excited to do so for the final four episodes of the season. While I may have had some reservations about the show at the beginning of the season as I was unsure whether or not it was heading in the right direction, ABC's Mistresses sure as hell changed my mind pretty quickly. The first part of the season built several storylines up so they could explore them as the season progressed and I have been entertained the entire ride.


Season Guide

• 
  
  Season 2 Episode Guide
  2.01 - "Rebuild" (June 2, 2014)
  2.02 - "Boundaries" (June 9, 2014)
  2.03 - "Open House" (June 16, 2014)
  2.04 - "Friends With Benefits" (June 23, 2014)
  2.05 - "Playing With Fire" (June 30, 2014)
  2.06 - "What Do You Really Want" (July 7, 2014)
  2.07 - "Why Do Fools Fall In Love?" (July 14, 2014)
  2.08 - "An Affair to Surrender" (July 21, 2014)
  2.09 - "Coming Clean" (August 4, 2014)
  2.10 - "Charades" (August 11, 2014)
  2.11 - "Choices" (August 18, 2014)
  2.12 - "Surprise" (August 25, 2014)
  2.13 - "'Til Death Do Us Apart" (September 1, 2014)

• 
  
  Season 3 Episode Guide
  3.01 - "Gone Girl" (June 18, 2015)
  3.02 - "I'll Be Watching You" (June 18, 2015)
  3.03 - "Odd Couples" (June 25, 2015)
  3.04 - "Into the Woods" (July 2, 2015)
  3.05 - "Threesomes" (July 9, 2015)
  3.06 - "Love Is an Open Door" (July 16, 2015)
  3.07 - "The Best Laid Plans" (July 23, 2015)
  3.08 - "Murder She Wrote" (July 30, 2015)
  3.09 - "Unreliable Witness" (August 6, 2015)
  3.10 - "What Could Have Been" (August 13, 2015)
  3.11 - "Guilt By Association" (August 20, 2015)
  3.12 - "Reasonable Doubt" (August 27, 2015)
  3.13 - "Goodbye Girl" (September 3, 2015)

Character Guide

I thought, to help out with character names and who is who, I would make a little character graphic to help if you ever need remembering who the character is I talk about in the review. I know I get mixed up a lot when I read things and I forget the character's name and I struggle to put a face to the name. Hopefully this will help if you're as forgetful as me. And does anybody else think Jes Macallan (Joss Carver) looks just like Emma Bell (Dallas, The Walking Dead) in the photo I've used?

Click to expand

The Story So Far

Now this will just be a brief overview of the most important plot points of the season so far. I will start with Savannah, or as she is more frequently called, Savi. At the end of last season, Savi was involved in a car accident and, as it turned out, poor Savi lost the baby she was carrying and also chose Dominic over Harry, despite Harry telling Savi that he chooses her. There is a lot of tension between Savi and Harry as they file for divorce and also try to sell their house together, but Harry won't be in the same room as Savi. Savi's reasoning for declining Harry was actually very well done as she explained that Harry had treated her poorly and he couldn't just push her away to end up choosing her just because she was knocking at death's door. I was confused up until this point as to why Savi didn't choose Harry as I secretly wanted them to reunite, but after the confrontation, I completely sided with Savi's reasoning. Savi also returned to work with Dominic as her boss, but Savi had to compromise to share an office with Toni, a sexy lawyer who now works at the firm. They instantly don't get along as Toni tries to weasle her way into Dominic's heart. The driver of the other car that crashed into Savi, Zack (Jason Gerhardt), seeks her out in the hopes of sharing his feelings with someone who could relate to him. The unlikely friendship between the pair causes friction between Savi and Dominic, as well as her sister. When Zack reveals he has feelings for Savi, they end the friendship. But that wasn't the catalyst of the downfall of Savi's and Dominic's relationship - Savi had been keeping a secret about keeping the house she shared with Harry, revealed by Toni to Dominic. This would lead into Dominic and Toni sleeping together, unknown to Savi.

April seems to go through an identity crisis at the start of the season. She is encouraged to attend an art show where she meets Daniel Zamora (Ricky Whittle), a sexy artist who April immediately finds a connection with. She is completely smitten by his charm and romantic nature, but she still feels like things could go wrong. April has Savi and Karen meet him at a dinner but April sabotages it by telling her friends not to reveal too much about her, making the dinner awkward. Nevertheless, the pair are still in love and April has Daniel meet her daughter Lucy (Corinne Massiah) and is amazed by how much Lucy accepts him. They seem like a true family unit. Daniel reveals he has to go out of town on business, but when he is supposed to be away, Karen catches him in a bar, fuelling doubts in April's mind. A paranoid April tries to find out more about Daniel and visits his apartment, but it's empty. Putting suspicions aside, Daniel comes home and April is fine again. The mother of one of the kids that Lucy plays with reveals to April that when she went to Daniel's apartment about buying a painting, she noticed a woman there who looked cosy. April's suspicions return and Daniel reveals he is married. Even after trying the rekindle the passion again as a mistress, April calls it quits. Paul (Dondré T. Whitfield), April's ex-husband who faked his own death, calls April out of the blue to tell her to prepare to tell Lucy that he is still alive and April panics. It appears that she has gained a stalker and even though Paul later tells April that everything will be fine, April doesn't know what to do.

Out of the four main characters, Karen has most likely been the one through the most emotional turmoil. The aftermath of the hostage by Elizabeth Grey (Penelope Ann Millar) is revealed - Elizabeth accidentally shot and killed her son, Sam Grey (Erik Stocklin). Though Karen emerged from the hostage unscathed of any wounds, the effects of it were a lot more mental than physical. Having put her psychiatric job on hold and seeing a shrink herself, Karen puts on a good show about moving on, but it takes her longer to realise that she can't simply move on, especially when she is called to see Elizabeth Grey in a bedlam so she can testify whether Elizabeth is fit to leave. Karen sees her and notices the pain Elizabeth is going through, but still keeps her from leaving. Karen's luck in the dating game is also sour so she decides to spice things up after a patient, Anna, reveals to her that she used to be an escort. Karen begins to dress up to go to bars so she could meet new men but uses different personas each time. Karen tries to curb the addiction and even April is shocked to learn of Karen's new pasttime, but even when Karen meets an interesting guy through it she realises she must stop. Karen's old partner Jacob comes back into Karen's life and after initially turning Karen down, they decide to try things out together. In order to be with Karen, Jacob had to dump his girlfriend, who turns out to be Karen's patient Anna. Karen manages to curve the suspicion and makes Anna reveal her true story so she can finally be honest.

Savi's sister, Joss, shows some resentment to Savi choosing Dominic over Harry. Joss decides to sort her life out by becoming a party planner and offers Harry a job to work with her. The pair initially fail to work together coherently but they sort through their issues. At a charity event to acquire new clients, Joss meets Scott, a plastic surgeon for breasts and the pair have electric chemistry, so much so that Scott sends Joss a dog (though she's allergic). When Joss finds out about Savi spending time with Zack, she becomes mad at her sister and cannot understand why she would spend time with him, causing friction between the sisters. Scott and Joss become closer and before long they have sex, but the sex seems disappointing. Scott reveals his secret fantasy and shows Joss his wardrobe full of women's shoes - he likes it when women wear heels during intercourse. Joss is initially shocked but succumbs to the fantasy. When Joss finds out Harry is leaving to Australia, she is devastated and tries to persuade him to stay but with no success. Joss becomes jealous of Scott because his job requires him to make boobs for beautiful women which causes an uncomfortable encounter at the cinema with one of his clients. Joss plots to keep Harry in the United States, so she schemes to get him a job at a hot-shot restaurant they will be doing the grand opening ceremony for. Joss becomes surprised by her attraction to Harry and it shows when Scott questions how close she is to him.


'Charades' Recap

So the 'Story So Far' section was actually a little longer than I wanted, but I think I covered the most crucial parts of season two so far. If you need a catch up before this episode recap then it would be a good job to read it. Without further adieu, on to the recap of the tenth episode of season two.

Karen is home with Anna sleeping on the couch. Karen accidentally wakes Anna up and Anna thanks her for letting her crash. Jacob rings and Karen is unsure what to do, but Anna seems fine. Anna reveals she has work as a waitress in an hour at a diner. Anna wants to use the bathroom so Karen goes in first to move some things. At the law firm, Toni is called into Dominic's office to talk about sleeping together, but Toni thinks they were just drunk and she won't get attached. Dominic wants Toni to keep quiet about it and Toni reveals she will anyway as she doesn't want gossip following her out of the office as she is leaving to work at another law firm. Toni leaves as Savi arrives wanting to talk to Dominic in another place.

Joss shows Harry the final menu for the restaurant opening. Scott texts Joss with the package she had been waiting on as his grandmother is having a 97th birthday party and she had to get her something. Harry wonders if Joss isn't nervous to meet Scott's whole family for the first time as it's a big deal, but Joss isn't worried as she thinks she's likeable. Harry reveals his mom hated her to Joss's surprise, but Harry says she is a bit of a tornado with no protocol. It freaks Joss out so she panics to make things better before meeting Scott's family. Savi and Dominic take a walk together as Savi asks about him getting her message last night, but Dominic appears clueless about a message. Savi tells him she called him because she went to see her father because Dominic wanted her to think about why she was hanging out with Zack. Savi asked herself tough questions and thought paying a visit to her father would provide answers. She reveals it didn't feel like speaking to her dad, and says he left her when he left her mom and he never looked back. She feels disposable by him so Savi chose men that needed her, but Dominic doesn't really need her because he has it all already. Dominic asks about Zack and Savi thought she could fix Zack. Savi needs to learn to be with someone who just wants her and hopes it will be Dominic. Dominic agrees to Savi's joy.

April is running late to open the shop and is about to leave the house when the mystery man who had been stalking her appears. He turns out to be from the FBI and wants to talk about Paul. His name is Adam Thomas and asks April if she knows of a man called Domingo but April doesn't know who he is. He runs a huge drug operation and reveals Paul has been working for him for over a year. Adam reveals the FBI has been tapping his phone and overheard the conversations he had with April. April doesn't believe he is a gangster and Adam suggests she doesn't know everything her husband is involved in. Adam reveals Paul is the computer guy of the operation, such as hacking into bank accounts and establishing online companies for money laundering operations. Adam is building a case against Domingo and offered immunity to Paul if he helped out, but Paul backed out and took his other wife and kid away and hadn't been seen from since, until his call to April. Adam asks for April's help.

Joss tells Scott she is returning the package she received as it's an antique soap dish and Scott tells her bought her an iPad. Joss feels bad but Scott says his mother and grandmother are excited to meet her to reassure her. Joss says what's not to love about her and Scott agrees, and Joss replies to screw his family if they didn't like her. Scott says he cares if his mother doesn't like her so Joss think's he's "that guy" where if his mom doesn't like her, neither will he. Scott wonders why they're arguing and wants Joss to make an effort, but Joss says she doesn't even want to go and Scott replies that he doesn't want her to go if she's going to act in that way. Joss says she will go for Grandma June and keeps the soap dish for her gift. Dominic is at the office where it's late. Toni is there and walks out of the boss's office with a sinister look.

April has the girls around to tell them about Paul's latest endeavours. Savi wonders what they're doing with April and she tells her that they need Paul to get to the druglords and they need April to get to Paul. Paul knows where the money is but April doesn't know where Paul is. Joss tells April to screw the FBI as she doesn't owe them anything and April agrees, but Savi disagrees. Savi uses her legal expertise to reveal April committed fraud by knowing Paul was alive and keeping the insurance money and the social security benefits. Savi is worried they won't be "asking" for her help again as they have stuff on her. She reveals April doesn't really have a choice. At April's store, Karen visits her but is being secretive. Karen reveals that something about the story about Paul is bothering her, questioning how the FBI are tracking Paul's phone calls after he disappeared as they would have a trace on his phone, meaning they'd know where he is. They conclude that the trace came from April's end and bugged her phone, maybe her house and shop. Karen thinks they could have cameras that could be watching her and Lucy. Karen tells April of a Private Investigator to help her know if the FBI have bugged her.

At the office, Dominic exits the elevator to stares from all of his colleagues. He asks Chloe what is going on when his boss interupts to tell him they need to talk. Karen is on the phone with the PI but he's out of town so she asks if somebody else can help. Anna calls and is upset as she was supposed to leave for work but she can't leave her place. She can't breathe and her heart is beating abnormally fast. Karen leaves her place to go to Anna's. Joss and Scott arrive at his grandmother's house when Harry phones Joss. Joss declines and the doors open before Scott has a chance to knock. Joss is welcomed with open arms and is overwhelmed by Scott's family. Harry leaves a message for Joss, calling to apologise for being a jerk, telling Joss to be herself.

Back at the office, it is revealed Toni has made a claim against Dominic for sexual harassment. He is asked if he had a sexual relationship with Toni, but he laughs and tries to avoid the question, but is forced to answer yes and claims the situation is being misinterpreted. He tells them about Toni getting him drunk to celebrate her new job, but the boss didn't know about a new job. Dominic's previous sexual relationship with Savi is brought up but Dominic says he did it right with Savi, that he went to them to tell them, but the boss said he didn't initially. A pattern of Dominic having sexual relations with his inferiors is affirmed and the firm has to protect itself so Dominic has to take a seminar. Dominic leaves the office to see Savi has arrived and was talking with someone and she storms into her office. Dominic follows and Savi demands to know if he slept with her, which he replies yes but it was a mistake. Savi tells him to get out of her office and he angrily does.

Karen arrives at Anna's apartment. Anna says she felt the walls were closing in on her but feels better now, but still a little anxious. Karen checks Anna's pulse and wants to take Anna to hospital. Anna doesn't want to as she needs to go to work and doesn't want to get fired. Karen offers to call her boss but convinces Anna to go to hospital with her. Karen sees how horrible Anna's apartment is to live in. Savi is sitting at her desk to stares from outside of her office and decides to phone April. She tells April that Dominic slept with Toni but April tries to get Savi to not talk on the phone in case it is bugged, urging her to come to her house. Savi can't but arranges to have breakfast in the morning together. Savi hangs up and goes to leave the office just as Toni walks in. After a moment, they simply go their separate ways.

At Grandma June's birthday party, everyone is playing charades. They almost make Joss take the next turn but Scott's mother wants some time with Joss so she makes Scott go. His mother gives Joss fancy soap that smelled lovely and Joss thinks they're beautiful. Scott's mother has never seen Scott so happy. Dominic takes the elevator and Toni steps in. Toni reveals she never had another offer, she just played him after she warned him earlier in the season. Dominic says he is still partner with just a slap on the wrist as Toni got nothing from it and everyone will forget about it in a month's time. Toni says the groundwork has already been laid and all he needs to do is just accidentally touch her for it to look worse. Toni can then get compensation, and reveals she picked Dominic because he was the newest partner and so he was the easiest target. Dominic watches her in anger as she drives away.

In bed, Joss and Scott talk and apologise over arguments the previous couple of days. Joss reveals her mommy issues and says she is just different and changes her mind on "screwing" his family if they didn't like her. Scott asks what she thought of them and Joss says there are no words. April and Savi are talking about Dominic. April says they were technically not together because of her "emotional affair" with Zack. The man checking for cameras finds one in the ceiling, confirming the FBI bugged her house. April sides with Dominic as she doesn't want the relationship to end. The man checking for bugs finds another camera in Lucy's room, infuriating April. Karen takes Anna back to her apartment after the hospital and lets her stay, saying Anna's apartment is a health risk. It was all Anna could afford. Karen will be there for Anna when she figures out what to do next. The two bond, making Anna happy. Savi is home when Dominic comes over. Dominic apologises but Savi says she doesn't need to hear more about the Toni situation. Savi reveals they have bigger issues as they haven't been honest with each other. Dominic brings up about Savi keeping the house secret causing another argument. Dominic says he was angry when he slept with Toni - saying everything is always about Savi. Savi agrees that she wasn't fully about them but she never had that luxury as she always had another "us" to worry about. She couldn't be as care-free as Dominic. Dominic was her second chance but Dominic realises they never had a chance anyway. They have an emotional farewell.

Harry asks Joss how the party went and Joss says it was so nice, it was horrible. Joss is confused about how she got to the middle of Scott's life and she doubts if she can handle it. Joss thinks she'll screw it up and have to break up with the whole family. She admits Harry was right that she doesn't do serious. Harry tells her that she has found a good thing and she should just go with it but Joss is scared. Joss tries to come up with excuses but Harry says he might have just waited his whole life for her. Karen and Jacob are having coffee together and Karen tells Jacob about Anna staying at her place and about Anna's horrible apartment. She wonders what is wrong with her but Jacob tells her there is nothing wrong with taking care of Anna. They reminisce on past times when Karen has led with her heart despite the rules as it's who she is. Jacob says he loves her and Karen kisses him. Scott comes home early to surprise Joss. He gives Joss a pair of high heels and gets her to try them on. There's something in one of them - a ring. It's Grandma June's and Joss is the only woman she would give it to. Joss is speechless as he puts it on her finger. Scott asks Joss to marry her and Joss says "yes".

April arrives at the FBI Headquarters to ask why the FBI has bugged her daughter's bedroom. She is taken through the office to see Adam and surprisingly, Daniel.


'Charades' Review

Wow. I personally felt like this was one of season two's strongest episodes. It progressed the storylines extremely well and it actually felt like we were getting somewhere, as well as some answers to why Toni is, well, basically a bitch. Big thumbs up from me guys, and I apologise for how long that recap was. I promise I will work on only writing the necessary parts.

So I'll start with Savi's, Dominic's and Toni's story. This week was probably the best week for the trifecta. Following from Dom's romp with Toni, I wondered how long that would play out. I felt so sorry for Phoebe Halliwell, sorry, I mean Savi (I need to stop mixing characters up that were played by the same actress!) because she took this big leap last week to visit her father just to have the person she did it for cheat on her. Okay fine, they were "technically" on a break, but he still shouldn't have slept with Toni, of all people. I do admit, Toni played a really good game. She had me fooled with the whole fake job offer thing, but I could see how manipulative she was when she dumped Dominic with the information about Savi's decision to keep the house. That girl needs a good slap and I hope Savi will provide it. I was surprised she didn't when they bumped into each other, but that's good because they're not going the predictable route. After everything Savi and Dom have been through together, it feels a shame they have decided to end their relationship, but it's probably for the best. At least, for now.

April's story was really interesting this week too. We find out quickly that her "stalker" is an FBI agent and that Paul has been doing some naughty things. That wasn't what interested me, but when Karen told April about how her house could be bugged, that was when it got really interesting. I would be very pissed too if my personal space had been invaded. The question of how the FBI had tracked Paul's phone without knowing where he is actually did cross my mind when April told the girls about it, but only for a second. I didn't think much of it, just a blooper or something, but it was a good direction to go. Then when April stormed into the FBI office (you go girl!) and saw Daniel was part of the FBI, I was like...

Karen's storyline mainly consisted of Anna again this week. There's just something not right about Anna and I'm determined to know what it is. I loved Karen bonding with Anna and how happy Anna was at Karen's place... and that bothered me. That's when you know something isn't right, when people are being too happy. I am expecting a lot more to come regarding Karen. And Joss! I thought she was going to turn down Scott when he proposed. When her face was so shocked (even more so than the kitty above) I was sure she was going to say no, or say he's going too fast considering her insanely sweet talk with Harry. I honestly see a spark between Joss and Harry and I love it. I can see, now that Savi and Dom are broken up, that Savi will want Harry back, but by then Harry will be sleeping with Joss, who will be sleeping with Scott too, I'm sleeping with no one (story of my life) and things will explode by the season finale. Or maybe during the season finale. All I know is we are on a speeding train towards this finale and things can only get more dangerous for the mistresses.

What did you guys think of the episode? Are you happy Joss is engaged to Scott, or are you totally Team Jarry (or Hoss)? Let me know in the comments, and be sure to watch the next episode of Mistresses, airing Monday August 18th on ABC at 10.00PM!

About the Author - Gavin Hetherington

Award-winning author of 'Abyssal Sanctuary: Remnants of the Damned'. Gavin joined SpoilerTV on August 9, 2014 and will be reviewing 2 Broke Girls, Mistresses, Orange is the New Black and Salem in the 2014-15 season. Gavin's favourite shows include Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, The Walking Dead, Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Scandal and much more. You can contact Gavin at gavin@spoilertv.com.

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