Devious Maids - A Time to Spill - Review

Devious Maids – "A Time to Spill"

Marisol and Evelyn:

Marisol and Evelyn’s work relationship is put to the test when Peter invites Marisol to a swanky Hollywood event that she is scheduled to staff. The only way she can attend is to convince Evelyn to work the party for her. Marisol’s first instinct is to puff Evelyn up, complimenting her and playing the gig off as a promotion, but Evelyn does not buy it- or, more likely, she just doesn’t want to do the work. Marisol is forced to call in the chit, using all the literally thankless favors she’s done for Evelyn as leverage, and leaves her in control of the gala.

You idiot, that's Carla from Scrubs.

I love everything going on at the gala. The Evelyn/Adrian drama was hilarious, and rooted in surprisingly relatable divorced people problems, if you take Evelyn’s embarrassment at being seen working simply as embarrassment that her situation has changed. Things escalated steadily; from the moment Evelyn tried to keep Adrian away from the gala by claiming she was bringing a date named “Bartholomew” he could smell the lie and immediately planned to show up with a date of his own. Evelyn begrudgingly changed from her ball gown into a catering uniform and tried desperately to avoid Adrian, but she ended up winning the exchange when Adrian showed up with Zoila, whom Evelyn immediately recognized as Genevieve’s maid. Check and mate.

Perfectly appropriate work attire

I personally do not see any problem with Evelyn working the event in eveningwear, by the way. In fact, I think it’s more strange that she should wear the same uniform as the servers if she’s the one running the event, right? Maybe I misunderstood, but I suppose it doesn’t matter because the visual joke of Evelyn in a catering jacket and bowtie was certainly worth it.

On the other side of the buffet table, Marisol is hobnobbing with Peter’s Hollywood buddies. They have a charming enough exchange before she is quickly relegated to the girlfriend table, finding Candy, Kirsten, and Kiersten sipping low-cal cocktails over mindless chit chat about yoga and diets. Marisol’s eyes nearly roll out of her face, but she settles in and lets her irritation fester.

She's right behind me, isn't she?

It doesn’t take long for her to lose her cool, trying to jolt the women out of their trophy wife rut, or at least out of their insipid conversation, but she unsurprisingly has been talking to Peter’s boss the whole time (Candy, or Candace, rather) and insulted her in the process. Ultimately the events at the gala result in Peter securing a deal for Marisol’s film to go back into production, and an offer for her to write the script as well. This is a plot that was only really introduced in the first episode of this season, but it’s nice to see it going somewhere.

Carmen and Danni:

Apparently Danni has been missing since she ran off after finding out Carmen is her birth mother. Josefina is frantic with worry, and though Carmen is less concerned, more afraid of Danni’s disappointment, she still wants to know Danny is okay. In reality, Danni is just passed out at Jesse’s place, working through this revelation in her own party girl way. Danni and Jesse’s relationship seems to be cautiously moving forward- he really seems to have her best interests at heart. When she forbids him from telling her moms where she’s at he goes straight to Marisol, knowing she’ll take care of it. I so enjoyed their scene together- have they even seen each other since last season?

Well, she seems fine.

Marisol goes to Carmen with this information, discreetly at first, but soon all the cards end up on the table when the girls think she’s talking about Zoila’s secret, not Carmen’s. Marisol finds out Zoila’s been masquerading as her boss, a job Marisol got her, and everyone else finds out Carmen has a teenaged daughter. Well at least they’re all on the same page now.

Once Carmen and Josefina storm Jesse’s apartment and confront Danni, they level with each other. Danni and Josefina’s relationship is flawed at best, and Danni isn’t mad at Carmen at all; she’s fascinated by the mother she always wished she had. Carmen rejects this idea outright, adamant that she is not maternal at all. I can’t help but empathize with Josefina on this. Undermining their relationship is a little insulting to adoptive parents everywhere who love their children completely and do not need validation from TV shows, though they very infrequently get it. Of course, Danni’s main issue is that Josefina lied to her about her true parentage, which is an understandable point of view, but that doesn’t take away all the diapers Josefina changed, tears she wiped away, and the countless other acts of motherhood that defined their relationship for Danni’s entire life. Danni’s issues sound pretty bratty when she complains about Josefina being simply being strict, versus the massive sacrifice Josefina made to raise a baby another woman didn’t want.

I can absolutely understand Danni’s desperation to connect to her real parents, though, and she declares her intent to find her real father as well. This is a certainly a defining moment in her young life, but more importantly, for this soap it will undoubtedly lead to scandalous drama for Carmen, so I’m game.

Zoila:

I may or may not be the creepiest guy you're
dating, but I do have the best abs.

Attention world: Zoila and Adrian Powell are technically dating. This sums up how uncomfortable I am with everything happening in Zoila’s universe right now. First thing’s first, Hot Creepy Kyle is back, creeping his way back into Zoila’s dating life. He seems to spend most of his life low-key stalking Zoila from his living room, Rear Window-style, only instead of Grace Kelly it’s his weird mother whispering in his ear.

Zoila quickly figures out he can see her from his home and accidentally agrees to accompany Adrian Powell to the gala, the date he was so desperate to find to embarrass Evelyn. After the fallout at the party, Adrian gets Zoila to confess that she’s been pretending to be rich this whole time. The realize they have a lot in common at the moment, both trying to make their exes jealous. I’m not sure how far that will go though, since Kyle shows up to get Zoila back and it seems to work. They agree to keep things a secret from creepy mum Frances, for now, anyway. Their relationship is so shady; it’s even on less honest terms than Zoila’s relationship with Adrian, and that’s saying something.

Genevieve:

Husband number five?

Genevieve had an interesting little conundrum to deal with in this episode. Her newest BFF, the fabulously flambouyant hair magician Fabian came on to her suddenly, and strong. She was pretty jarred by this development, as was I, and she turned to Rosie with her confusion, asking if it were possible she’s “so beautiful she turned him straight”. Rosie is skeptical at best, convincing Genevieve that it doesn’t really matter what she thinks his sexuality may be, it’s more important to figure out if she thinks he’s attractive or not and go from there. On another date Fabian claims his sexuality is fluid, and if she’d read the cult book he’d given her she would understand. Obviously Genevieve is not interested and is forced to dump her fleeting BFF.

Men, amirite? Always styling your hair, letting you paint their toenails, then coming on too strong in their sexual advances, *sigh*. Okay, literally no woman has ever had this problem before outside a stray Will and Grace runner probably, and the throwaway lines about Fabian’s fluid sexuality seem tone deaf at best, but the real purpose of this strange little arc is that it leads Genevieve to The Circle, and then Rosie to Genevieve to The Circle. Finally she has a decent lead to follow that can’t be snuffed out by Ben or his cronies.

Rosie and Spence:

Just give him a beej!

It turns out Spence’s collapse last week was due to withdrawal from whatever Ben’s been drugging him with since he woke up from a coma in Peri’s care. He and Rosie figure this out, and she’s quick to set up a sting to catch Ben in the act. Spence is not gung ho over this, since it could put Rosie in real danger with the people who may have murdered his ex. He’d rather just enjoy his time in the hospital, eating delicious, better-than-prison-food food and hoping for a brain tumor or anything that will keep him there long-term. Spence is really a sweet little doph.

We're coming here for my birthday dinner.

Rosie sets up the sting anyway, bating Ben who shows up immediately with a terrifying grande coffee cup at hand. Spence is reluctant, but drinks it anyway, as Rosie eggs him on from the doorway. The coffee doesn’t have any effect beyond a slight caffeine buzz though, and it seems Ben was one step ahead of them.

Of course, Ben wasn’t ahead of them, The Circle was. Ben actually did drug Spence’s coffee as usual, but the drugs he’d been given were placebos, so someone else was ahead of the game and Ben didn’t even know it. It’s revealed in the final scene that HOT CREEPY KYLE is the one providing Ben with the drugs he’s used to control Spence, and more than that, his mother is at the heart of The Circle! It is not surprising at all that the two characters I’ve most consistently called “creepy” this season are at the head of the sinister cult that framed Spence for murder, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s actually really satisfying to yell “HAAA!! I KNEW IT!!!” at your TV screen, and I like that this reveal pulls Zoila closer to the center of this season’s mystery, so it isn’t only Rosie and Spence right now with stakes in the season-long arc.

What did you think of "A Time to Spill"? Spill your thoughts in the comments below!

About the Author - Lindsey

Midwest native, Los Angeles transplant. Reader, writer, bartender, and film/TV nerd. Salad bar enthusiast. Watch this space!

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