Hidden Palms Turns Up The Heat
Whew! Last night's full-night Hidden Palms event moved the mystery along... as well as some sexy new developments. Why didn't the first few episodes have more hot scenes like the ones between Cliff and Nikki? Whatever; we're not complaining. We're loving how the show seems to have found its groove -- the ideal mix of mystery and soapy scandal.
Let's take the mystery first. Liza's looking crazier and crazier, even though there's a good chance she's right that Cliff and Greta had something to do with Eddie's death. IMing Johnny pretending to be Eddie, breaking into Cliff's house and snooping through his things -- she's making it hard for Johnny, or anyone, to trust her. And Cliff's on to her. How creepy was that scene when he got in her face and warned her to butt out? He has a way of making everything darkly hot, even threats! But we have to agree that Liza has a few good points. Why would Cliff have Greta's bloody Halloween costume buried in his floorboards? Something's not right there.
Meanwhile, Johnny and Greta made up after she told him that she slept with Cliff the night before Eddie killed himself. She thinks the suicide is her fault! Rather than question why she'd sleep with Cliff, Johnny just makes out with her and then asks a lot of questions about Eddie. Greta has a suicide note that she claims Eddie wrote, but when Johnny tells Liza, she says there's no way Eddie wrote that note, as it cites a poet he couldn't stand. And she says it very definitively, as if she's the authority on Eddie's likes and dislikes. Hmmm. Could there have been something going on between those two before Eddie's death? It almost seems that way...
We continue to enjoy Cliff in every scene. He's so deliciously creepy -- manipulative, but with a soft side (or should we say, a "soft and chewy center?"). When he was beating up on Travis's car, it was strangely attractive. Nikki apparently felt the same way, since she took that moment to finally give in to Cliff's advances and make out with him.
Doesn't it seem like Cliff's got an almost Oedipal thing going on with his mom, Tess? We get that Travis is a tool, but Cliff seemed to go out of his way to drive the man to the brink of insanity. When Travis saw that Cliff had ruined his ride and almost killed the kid, Tess came to the rescue with a gun (and a witty quip about being Texan to boot), kicking Trav out for good. She apologized to Cliff: "You must think your mama's a complete fool!", and they embraced... and call us crazy, but it seemed like the scene had romantic undertones. Or maybe that's just the beauty of Cliff's character -- he can muster up chemistry with just about everyone on this show, whether they're related to him, in cahoots with him, or his sworn enemy.
But just when we think he's evil to the core, he surprised us by wanting to cuddle post-sex with Nikki. And Nikki cracked us up: "Stop being a girl!" She seems to be calling all the shots in this new relationship. Do you like Nikki and Cliff together?
All this going on and we get some new characters thrown into the mix, too. We met Eddie's mom when Johnny clumsily pumped her for info about her son's death... and then we found out that she and Cliff are apparently sleeping together, and have been for some time! Whoa. Just when we felt sorry for Cliff when Nikki played it cool, this pops up! You really can't trust the guy... and that's exactly why we love him.
Then Greta's dad Skip shows up from out of nowhere while she and Johnny are going at it, so Skip's first impression of Johnny is of a naked guy holding a pillow over his privates. Talk about awkward. Skip seems to have a thing for Tess, since he can't stop grabbing her butt... but when they're supposed to rendezvous for drinks, he totally blows her off for some young golf course bimbo. For that, Tess sloshes his face with the last of her martini.
The adult drama's rounded out by the steadfast Bob, Johnny's stepdad. He's always trying to be Johnny's pal and never quite succeeding -- until now. Finally Johnny seems to have realized that being rude to Bob isn't getting him anywhere. Bob's the only character on this show (well, besides Jesse Jo), that we trust. He doesn't seem to have an ulterior motive or a manipulative bone in his body. Of course, we could be totally wrong and find out next week that he's secretly sleeping with Liza or something, but for now we choose to trust Bob. And it looks like Johnny does, too. Wasn't that sweet when he gave Bob a club and asked for another chance? We look forward to seeing those two spend time bonding instead of feuding.
So what'd you think of last night's double-episode evening? Are you a fan of the blossoming relationship between Cliff and Nikki? What's up with Cliff sleeping with Eddie's mom? Do you believe Liza's accusations? Who can we really believe in this town? Discuss in the comments!
Comments
I love that new mystery and
sexy soap series...i hope it
is not cancel.
Posted by: Ali Kan | June 28, 2007 8:36 PM
I LOVE this show...Johnny is cute but Cliff is HOTTT.....his whole good guy/bad guy thing is so SEXXXY and i can't wait until next week!!! Michael keep doing ur thing...i'm hooked!
Posted by: Carina | June 27, 2007 9:42 PM
Michael Cassidy is so hot! I love his voice it sounds so sincere......
Posted by: nancy | June 26, 2007 1:34 PM
Last Wednesday's episodes were amazing. The twists and cliff-hangers were great as usual, and the mulligan part at the end was nice as well.
If anybody reading this hasn't seen HP yet, I strongly urge you to do so.
Posted by: Andrew (HPR) | June 26, 2007 12:48 PM
O my god I LUV this show so much totally it is tha BOMB!!!!. the thing with Cliff and Nikki hookin up was HOTTTT and If Liza and Johnny hook up I think that would make her day cuz he's awesome and HOTTT and cool and yeah but I dont think that anyone else would think that that would be good because they love Greta and johnny to be together. o and I luv tha part where Cliff and Eddie's MOM get together totally HOTTT and I luvv it. So tha thing is that I think that Eddie found out about Cliff and his mom and he also found out that Greta knew and then he sought out to kill Cliff but it all went wrong when Cliff and him started fighting and then he shoot while the gun was pointed to him and he then died. so yeah!!!!!!! i still luvvvvvvvv the show it's kinda like a soap. We need way more shows like this to be obsessed about during tha summer so we can be more preoccupied with writting in the blogs.
Posted by: Candyce | June 25, 2007 12:46 PM
O my god I LUV this show so much totally it is tha BOMB!!!!. the thing with Cliff and Nikki hookin up was HOTTTT and If Liza and Johnny hook up I think that would make her day cuz he's awesome and HOTTT and cool and yeah but I dont think that anyone else would think that that would be good because they love Greta and johnny to be together. o and I luv tha part where Cliff and Eddie's MOM get together totally HOTTT and I luvv it. So tha thing is that I think that Eddie found out about Cliff and his mom and he also found out that Greta knew and then he sought out to kill Cliff but it all went wrong when Cliff and him started fighting and then he shoot while the gun was pointed to him and he then died. so yeah!!!!!!! i still luvvvvvvvv the show it's kinda like a soap.
Posted by: Candyce | June 25, 2007 12:44 PM
omg i love this show soo much!! its amazaing! i heard that if a lot of people dont watch it then they r gunna cancle the show? is that true?
Posted by: hannah | June 24, 2007 11:27 AM
Yeah, but OTHER than that, anon... :-)
I guess I don't need my summer soaps to be startlingly original, just fun. And yes, I agree, the pilot was lackluster, but things have really gotten SO MUCH BETTER since then. Of course, if they really wanted to make the show fantastic, they'd kill off Greta, give Johnny more of a personality and less of a standard "Hi, I speak for Kevin Williamson, aren't I precocious and wise?" attitude, and make the show all about Cliff. Oh well, maybe next time.
Sarah -- I don't know if the show has been canceled -- they're going to show all the episodes -- but they're burning those episodes off awfully quick, which doesn't bode well for HP returning. It's a shame, really -- it's a lot of fun.
Posted by: jerslix | June 22, 2007 8:14 PM
There was sex in the original pilot but that went to the wayward. Anywho I love love love Cliff too. And I have to say i don't get the stalker vibe from Liza just the brainiac who may have been in love with Eddie.
Also I have to agree that scene with Liza and Cliff or CLiza as I call them was really hot. I will take Michael Cassidy threatening me like that any day :) The boy is mountains away from his portrayl of Zach on the OC.
*Sigh* but hey the ratings went up when they turned up the heat! Here's hoping the CW notices and renews this show and for the love of Jesse-Jo put it at 9pm ya'll!
Posted by: Bacio83 | June 22, 2007 3:22 PM
Um, I just heard a rumor that HP got cancelled. Is that true?
Posted by: Sarah | June 22, 2007 1:22 PM
Jerslix: considering the pilot sucked, every turn in the plot is predictable and not to mention that the CW angered many of their current viewers (GG, VM, OTH fans) right before the pilot aired, could have something to do with the low ratings.
Posted by: Anonymous | June 22, 2007 12:35 PM
Arggggh! The show got pre-empted in Chicago by baseball, so I have to wait until Saturday to see the back-to-back episodes! I can't wait -- they sound awesome.
Even without seeing the episodes yet, i agree that they should have front-loaded the sex and such -- the pilot seems to have been the most boring episode of the lot. If they'd started with Cliff gettin' it on with Nikki, or, hell, with ANYBODY, you'd have a blockbuster on your hands.
Why is no one watching this show? It's fluffy and throwaway, but it's such delicious fun -- a perfect summer show!
Posted by: jerslix | June 22, 2007 12:16 PM