TV is the New Reading

Season Two of ‘The Riches’

starts off with a bang

The second season of “The Riches” starts off with a bang.

Two bangs, in fact.

When we left our “heroes” – the show after all centers around a family of grifters, con artists and charismatic identity thieves – an old friend of Doug Rich arrived on their doorstep.

Not a big problem except that Doug and Cherien Rich are in fact con artists Wayne and Di Di Malloy, played brilliantly by Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver. The real Riches were killed in a car accident and sunk in a lake on their way to a new life in Louisiana.

Assuming their identity, the Malloys – now the Riches – spent the first season trying to adjust to life as “buffers,” or mundanes – to put it in Harry Potter terminology, “muggles.” They enrolled their children in school, made friends and got jobs.

Hot water

With Doug’s credentials and his own silver tongue, Wayne Malloy took a post as legal counsel for a real estate firm, where he’s become partners with the hilariously unstable CEO Hugh Panetta, played to perfection by Gregg Henry.

Not only do they have to work very hard at being wealthy suburbanites, the nouveau Riches have to avoid their former life as members of a clan of Travelers – their extended family of grifters. They’d grabbed some cash to get out of Dodge and the leader, Dale, played as pure liquid evil by Todd Stashwick, pursued them to their new home and got enough dirt on them to be a serious problem.

The problem is that Dale’s not that bright, so Wayne is able to get just as much on him. But not until a flutter of late-night hijinks sends Di Di and the Malloy kids fleeing for their life – accompanied inexplicably by Cherien’s demented mother and Nina, their dissatisfied neighbor – and Wayne in a showdown with Hugh and Dale that brings the suburban rent-a-sentry investigating gunfire at 5 in the morning.

Bang, bang

Classic misdirection. That is, Dale was drunkenly brandishing Hugh’s pistol, but that’s not how he murdered Doug’s old friend, which is where we came in.

The second season premiere closes with Wayne on the verge of an uneasy truce with Dale and a multimillion-dollar deal with Hugh, and Di Di, Nina, Nana and the kids facing down the barrel of a firearm.

That’s right. In the grand tradition of this show, they are in fact carjacked by the rightful owner of the vehicle they were stealing.

For all this and more life-threatening frivolity, tune in to “The Riches,” Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on FX.

Features Editor Terry J. Aman compiles the Best Bets for The Minot Daily News.

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