Nothing Scares Me Anymore: Mistresses “All In” Review

In Mistresses seventh episode, the ladies had to deal with some real fears including baby bombs, the death of sisterly love, stalkers, and zombies (sort of). In soap typical fashion, the series delivered, but has brought itself one step closer to the true “soap death.”

Sam Grey was once cute and a serious potential love interest for Karen. After “All In,” however, he’s looking to be more of a serious threat. Karen isn’t one to ask for help unless she absolutely has to though, so instead she stews in her own paranoia about being followed and watched. She’s turning into our new (but tired) Savi. The only difference being that Karen could wind up dead at the hands of a jealous college kid.

When Karen bumps into the insurance investigator at the store he winds up helping her install some “safety” equipment for those pesky neighborhood burglars (a.k.a. Sam). And when locked in the house all by herself with a camera down and creaky noises everywhere, she calls on him instead of her friends. This meeting ends up pushing out Karen’s third love interest in seven episodes. You almost have to feel bad for Karen as she constantly teeters on keeping men at a professional distance and having a heartache over her lies. We aren’t the only ones concerned about Karen’s love life though as Sam is staking out her place and was bound to see the older gentleman leave.

April and Richard are spending more alone time together, and even manage to treat themselves to a dinner date – something they haven’t been able to make work since they first met. Over their food and drinks Richard proposes they go to Santa Barbara for a vacation. Seemingly only two days have passed between this episode and the last, so doesn’t a weekend getaway sound a little… premature? April is wary too, but her caution comes from whether or not she’s ready to tell her daughter she’s dating. They seem to agree on sitting on it for a few days and the dating bliss returns back to normal… until April sees a familiar face standing outside the restaurant window.

He disappears after a bus passes, but this makes it a literal strike out for average, trouble free dinner dates for the two. After April gets home, she  and Joss have some of their first prolonged screen time together. In it we learn Joss is also a part of the sisterhood of doling out advice. Her words of wisdom calm April, however, and remind her that she has to let go of Paul – good or bad. April does eventually do this by leaving her ring on his grave. Too bad he isn’t ready to let go. That familiar face she saw outside the restaurant has shown up on her doorstep, very much alive.

Joss is missing the pep in her step very much like Karen, only everyone sees it. Joss doesn’t want to work it out though as it means talking to her sister after she said some pretty close-minded and hurtful things. She makes every effort to get her fight off her mind,  and to do that she and Alex decide to go out after work. When Joss gets drunk it forces her to acknowledge the issue as Alex leaves her at the bar with nothing but cab fare. Joss does stumble her way over to Alex’s where she apologizes and they share in a heartfelt conversation about who the real Joss is. Despite their love trist, these two characters work just as well – perhaps even better – as friends.

Meanwhile, Harry declares that things aren’t over between him and Savi. This is exciting news for her, which he follows up with semi-asking to attend a work function of Savi’s. Savi is hesitant, but gives in not wanting to alienate Harry or jeopardize the progress they’ve made. The couple make their first appearance together since Savi spilled the beans, and when they take hands as they get out of the elevator, it seems like a good sign. Their relationship might seriously be on the mend. But what we thought was Harry coming to support his wife ended up just being Harry scoping out the guy who slept with her.

Pictured: Jason George as Dominic, Brett Tucker as Harry — Photo by: ABC/Richard Foreman

He gets his wish when Dominic walks up beside him at the bar. When Dominic drops some baby congratulations line, Henry doesn’t take too kindly to it, bumping his fist into Dominic’s jawline.  When Savi goes to apologize (was that even an apology?) Dominic points out that everything she has done to mend things has selfishly been for herself. In this little spat, the baby bomb (that it might be Dominic’s) gets dropped, and he expectedly walks out. This leaves Savi to go home and throw the lines at Harry that Dominic through at her. She needs to be able to take his word at face value. But what did she expect to happen when her husband and her mistress met?

Drama is important, but believable drama is key. Paul returning, Karen being stalked and Dominic’s feelings suddenly being hurt were a bit too much for one episode. High tension is important, but we could be spared the ridiculousness. With that said, we were able to see how the various women would react when their worlds were literally turned upside down.