Venice the Series: Season Four, Episode 1

Oh hell yes, Ladies and (presumed) gentlemen! Venice the Series is back with the first episode of its fourth season. Let's do this.

We open with scissors, very important scissors. Everything is in slow motion, the sound faded out. Sami is coming up behind Owen, and, well, we all know what's about to happen. Owen gets stabbed. The Colonel comes in, calls 9-1-1. The news is all bad. Owen is in mortal peril. We've seen this. What we don't know is what's coming next.

But what's old is new again because Gina is making out with Stella. (Shout out to Zoe Bell as Nu!Stella!) I've been a little out of touch lately and didn't realize about the casting change. I just assumed Gina was making out with a random again. My bad. But no, Stella.

They kiss as the sound of Owen flat-lining fades away. It's a sweet kiss, but as soon as they pull away Stella is calling Gina on her shit. (Ani, Ani, Ani. It's always about Ani.) It makes for a refreshing change of pace and a great way to start the new season. I did have hopes that Stella would remind Gina that Lara's not exactly an uninterested party when it comes to Ani's romantic interest and therefore can't be considered a reliable witness. Unfortunately, Gina and I were both out of luck. Nice recap of the events of last season, however.

Next up - the aftermath of Lara's proposal to Ani. For something that is, at it's most basic, a proposal to another person, about another person, Lara succeeds in making it all about her. She follows up by putting words in Ani's mouth and making it almost impossible for Ani to say no.

Sometimes the Guiding Light, Olivia/Natalia comparisons - and possibly shoutouts - are impossible not to notice. Here for example. Ani and Natalia have nothing - NOTHING - in common, but they do have that same lovely dear-in-the-headlight-I-don't-know-what-the-fuck-to-say-to-you-why-the-hell-did-you-propose look. And I guess as it goes, Lara at least has a little more business proposing than Frank did. More than two dates and some really bad, traumatizing sex anyway. Just um, a short relationship, some good sex and a little accidental beating. No, I'm not letting that one go. Sorry, Lara/Ani shippers.

"Yes? Really, yes?" Lara needs to be reassured and I can't blame her. It does sound too good to be true. I admit, I'm not a Lara/Ani shipper. They are incredibly cute when they're together and they make a gorgeous couple but Lara's unwillingness to address her issues and Ani's refusal to set boundaries makes me uncomfortable with them as a couple. Lara's proposal and Ani's acceptance of it leaves me sad. Fixing a relationship with a proposal is never the answer and that seems to be what Lara's trying to accomplish here. She doesn't want to lose Ani's so she's going all in.

I can't say I thought Ani wouldn't accept, but damn. I wished she hadn't. It is very like Ani though to get caught up in the romance of it all though. It seems very similar to what she did in her relationship with Gina. She was just in it and ignoring the bad parts - until she couldn't any more. At least with Gina, Gina was willing to bail on their relationship at a certain point. Lara is just going to stay, no matter how toxic it gets because she can't admit to failure. Yay, Ani.

Ani and Lara are happy and make out. It still seems sad, like they're just going through the motions.

Or maybe it's just the feel of the episode, a holdover from Owen. We're back to the scissors again. This time they are being bagged by the police. The body - Owen - is still on the ground. This was the first moment that I realized Owen was dead. I had thought he was going to be just fine, an echo of The Colonel's stroke in the first season, a nifty way to tie his arc in with The Colonel's and give them a chance to grow closer together. This is a soap. I should have known better. The only upside is the potential of a season of ghostly Owen hanging around and snarking on Gina and getting to play off Guya. God knows the sister act of Guya and Katie has been amazing and one of the most humorous parts of this show

The Colonel is reeling, dealing with something no parent should have to. Brandon and Patti question him about what he saw as Owen is eased into a body bag. He calls Stella first looking for Gina only to realize Gina's coming there. Gina walks in as Owen's being zipped into the body bag. She crumples to the floor. It's just the first of several scenes that Crystal Chappell knocks out of the park and it's a horrible way for Gina to find out that her brother's dead. Owen is a huge part of Gina and who she is. He is hers, the one person who understands her and where she came from. He knows what what it was like growing up with The Colonel and his expectations - and he knows what it was like to not measure up to those expectations. They share in jokes that no one else will ever get. She doesn't have anyone else to argue about lemon pie and the Colonel's cheapness with. Or wear combat boots to dinner to take heat off her for being gay.

People start to find out Owen's dead, first Ani and Lara, celebrating their engagement by making out on the couch. Ani bales out of there like her ass is on fire. She doesn't even stop to give Lara an explanation. It makes for a tiny silver lining. We get a montage of Jamie, Adrienne and Richard all finding out. Worst of all is Guya. She catches a chill on a warm day, while doing a reading for Katherine. Katherine's face falls as she sees Brandon and The Colonel bringing Gina to Guya. Gina staggers and sways, looking disconnected from her body as Brandon guides her forward. She's already had to deal losing someone very important in her life and now this... Just seeing them, Guya knows it's bad. They don't even have to say anything to Guya, her face just crumples.  

Ani pounds on Gina's door, proclaiming who she is and demanding to be let in. Isn't this what Ani always does? She's special. Open up. But Ani's thinking ahead. She takes her engagement ring off and slips it into her pocket without a second thought. On one hand it's considerate, the other disrespectful. What are the odds Gina's going to be noticing her hands?

Gina opens the door for her, tears visible on her face and Ani takes Gina in her arms. Gina doesn't hold her back, elbows tucked against her sides, hands held open. She pulls away from Ani, pushes her out the door and tells her to go away. She can't see Ani right now. Damn. I mean, I get it. It makes complete sense that Gina wouldn't want her there. She's hurting enough already at losing Owen and Ani rejected her. She doesn't have time to deal with this anymore. Everything else just has to seem so small and petty. Love love love the shot of Gina's face distorted through the glass of the door. THE PAIN.

Can I admit that I kind of (like isn't the right word) but maybe appreciate the schadenfreude of Ani feeling like she got gut-punched and having no clue why the hell Gina wouldn't want her around? I mean, liked, not so much. But this is kind of how Gina's been feeling for two seasons now. It's Ani's turn. Maybe she'll actually starting thinking about why Gina's acting this way now. Damn letter. This time it's Ani left on the outside, looking in at Gina.

Owen's memorial - Gina's pissed off. Pay attention. This is a theme. Sami split and Gina's pissed - at everyone and everything really, but Sami in particular.

Van's back and it looks like Brandon has his eye on him. Guya is happy to see him, her boy, when she's already lost her Owen. I'm happy to see Wes Ramsey! I loved Eric Martsolf's skeevy Van, but what can I say I'm a Ramsey fangirl.

Lara and Ani show at the memorial. "What the hell am I doing here" is written all over Lara's face, which makes it even more fun and extra special awesome when after some excruciating and awkward silence, Gina chooses to speak to Lara. Only Lara. Gina's still pissed, but after everyone leaves she tries for a minute with Ani to be herself without all the anger. "I'm angry with the world right now, Ani." It's the tenderness and pain in Gina's voice that gets me every time.

Logan approaches Lara as she loiters for drinks. The cattiness comes out immediately. Ani isn't worthy of a name. She's just the photographer. Then just for giggles Logan manages to imply Ani looks more like she's with Gina than Lara. The snark is flying thick but Lara holds her own. It's a breath of fresh air among the sadness. Can they hook up and have some fantastic hate!Gina!sex? I do love me some Lara when she's not interacting with Gina or Ani.

Sigh. The lemon pie scene. It was a scene that had already come to mind for me earlier, when I thought about Owen's death and what Gina was losing. I think that means they made a good choice using it for the flashback here. It's only your siblings that you can argue with over petty shit like half of a five for a dollar lemon pie for twenty-five years, hold a bitter grudge and still have every word of that argument come out sounding like, I love you. It was a damn good scene and made me even sadder that we wouldn't be getting as much time with Owen.

Guya just wants Owen back. Gina doesn't even know what she wants. The anger is there to fill up all that space she doesn't know what to do with. Guya seems to be the only one Gina can let herself feel around.

Jamie is always rocking a fan, but that veil was extra fabulous. He captures the perfect note of curiosity as he wonders who Richard's bringing with him. Ani's "Oh, no" is spot on and I think she spoke for the rest of us with that "Ho-ly shit." Because, yeah.

But um, Richard? Richard. What the hell possessed you to bring Gina's kid to the funeral? I know you're all gung ho about this kid but you also know Gina isn't. And Gina does not take things well. Ever. At all. You should know this. So put Gina in a bad, horrible, no-good mood and then add to that the kid? Oh bad. Bad, bad things.

But the man still manages to be charming as hell just with the way he says hi. I love me some Robert Newman.

Actors and actresses are supposed to be able to say a thousand things with just one glance or a gesture. And many can, but I don't know of many actors or actresses who can so clearly get their messages across as clearly as Crystal Chappell. Because that look said, "I cannot believe you brought our kid here. Are you insane?" very clearly. No translation required.

Honestly, I can't say that I blame Gina for her reaction here. It's pouring napalm on top of a grenade. And for Gina she really is fairly polite. She doesn't say anything to the girl's face before she dragged Richard off to set him straight (heh, straight). It could have been waaaaaaaay worse. It did make me wonder about what's going on with Sarah though. Sounds like she has some trauma of her own.

Van skeeves his way over to Adrienne to threaten her a little to make sure she doesn't talk to the cops. Only it seems like Brandon and his friends have already gotten there. It's nice to see Van taken by surprise and worried. It happens so rarely. I do feel bad for Adrienne though. She might be too good for these people.

Ani goes out to make sure Gina's okay. The conversation immediately goes south. They're having two separate conversations. Gina's pissed off enough to confide in Ani, but Ani's all caught up in the wonder of Gina having a daughter and that's so not where Gina's head is at right then. That wonder makes perfect sense for Ani. It's how she sees the world, but with that "Oh, no" and "Ho-ly shit!" it seems like she would have already had a better sense of where Gina is coming from. She should have known that Gina doesn't have any room for wonder behind all that anger, and she was never going to take this well anyway.

It's the cherry on top of Gina's fucked up day of rotten and horrible. She chases it away with a drink, because, of course, and Ani chooses this moment to comment on drinking.

"I'm sorry. I think you have me confused with your girlfriend." Cold. Fucking cold, and on multiple levels. Gina's not happy and she today of all days she can't take Ani's sympathy and love and puppy dog eyes and wanting to act like everything is wonderful between them, because it isn't. So she takes her shot and walks away. The salute is a thing of pissed off beauty. Pissed off Gina is so much more fun than the whimpering, pained, regretful variety.

What. The. Fuck. What. The. Fucking. Fuck. Okay, after the hooker funeral song, I kind of should have expected that we'd get to see Owen in heaven. Ghost I was expecting, this not so much. I did love the brochure and Owen's look of disdain though. Owen's expression when dude suggested that he should go on soaps was priceless! I don't suppose any of Galen's characters have died by being shot while robbing a church cause that would have been an awesome meta shoutout. The Steve Jobs thing made me laugh so hard! Maybe their focus on their old school image is why the tv was so ancient.  

Okay, yes, this is totally a little ridiculous. But well, hasn't it always been? I love that it's carrying on with style. And that Owen ate the damn pie. ::snicker:: While watching it on tv. I wonder what he thinks of how Gina's behaving. I...kinda think he'd approve actually, except for the whole in incredible pain thing.

"You had a death-death experience." Truer words, and all that. Damn scissors! Also, "the reception area." Everything has a reception area. I'm glad we're going to get to spend more time with Owen, even if it is as a ghost. The implication is that he'll come back in another body and this being Venice, I can't wait to see who he comes back as.

Oh god. Oh god. Alan and Katherine are making out and wearing sweaters. At least there's no more naked massaging. Oooh, come up stairs. Wince. $10 says he's on the phone with Sami. Um, what the fuck. No, no, it would be Ani's brother. Okay, I didn't see that coming. Do Jake and Alan wear giant sparkly boots together? Or just do lots of coke? Does Catherine know about Alan's shoe habit? I feel like that might be the least of her worries with these two conspiring. Um, okay, Jake rubbing the coke off his little sister's picture on his iPad was a little creepy. Wtf, man. It makes me wonder how bad Ani's relationship with Jake was and what exactly he did to her. I have a bad feeling about this.

Um, no shit, Gina's reaction was your fault, Richard. Of course that was your fault. Gina does not do well with emotions and you took her long lost given up for adoption daughter for a first meeting at her brother's funeral. In what world would that have gone well? Jesus. Dude has a valid point about the not wanting to cause trouble statement. Still it seems a rude and cutting thing to say to someone that he just met at the most two weeks ago.  On the other hand, I'm not so sure when he said that he and Gina would never bail on something this important that he isn't full of shit. That may be true for himself, but Gina's feelings about this have been pretty clear. I don't see her disposition getting any rosier in the near future.

Gina hangs out on a balcony. Jamie comes over to ask her why she isn't with the only family she has left - Guya. And, okay, The Colonel, but their relationship isn't there yet. I do love Jamie and Gina's relationship so much. It feels very real and she lets him tell her the things that she doesn't want to hear. Which is a good thing. Or he just doesn't ask. I'm not sure, but he's almost always able to get through to her and she needs that. It's one thing she won't let Ani do for her. Maybe because she doesn't have to defend herself to him.

In heaven, Dude's face says, "wow he [Owen] just so does not get this". It's awesome. Loved the newbies line. I predict there will be shenanigans.  

Ani contemplates her ring, playing with it on her finger as Lara sleeps beside her. I wonder if it's a "in wonder" kind of thing or a "can't believe I took her up on this" thing. Lara is certainly sleeping like an oblivious baby. I do wonder if Ani was sort of expecting that call though. She is very good at predicting Gina's behavior sometime - and then completely misreading her the rest of the time. Also? Busted! It seems Lara might not have been sleeping so peacefully, but then Ani is nothing if not predictable when it comes to Gina. She's run to Gina's side time and time again and I can't blame Lara for being jealous of that.  

Aw, poor Guya. She's calling out to all her spirits, her lost loved ones, and the only person there for is Brandon. Which, really, not a bad deal, but it doesn't make up for the people she's lost. I started to say, I guess this is the ultimate win for Van. His rival is finally gone, but then I mentally backtracked. I think it's the opposite. If it's hard to compete with Owen and his issues in life, then it's gonna be exponentially harder to compete with his memory now. So I guess that round goes to Owen? Yay, Owen. Brandon remains awesome.

It goes without saying that both CC and HBS should get all the awards for their performances here. They're both killing me. in this episode.

Should we start calling these the Hoodies of Confession and Consolation? I kid but it did give me a flashback to their scene on the beach in Season 1. This is what they wear when they want to talk, really talk. Of course this episode ends with Gina and Ani together. Doesn't it always. But...maybe I'm just quibbling, it doesn't seem like the way Gina has just melted into Ani before. She's letting Ani hold her but she doesn't look ready to break down yet. Or maybe this one is just beyond's Ani's power to be a balm for? I don't know. I am glad that they're together and after - finally! - seeing the promo, it's obvious that there's still a lot in store for these two ladies this season.

I can't wait! Could we pretty, pretty please get a pick up where this left off next time? That'd be awesome.

See everyone next week! (And please pardon any typos or errors, I'm flying solo. Feel free to point them out in the comments!)