The song “Venice” by Jen Foster has played over the opening credits of Venice: The Series for three seasons, but it has vanished into the ether, where it’s currently eating Hostess pies with Owen’s ghost. Don’t get me wrong, the new theme song is quite lovely. Yet, something about the plaintive sound of Jen Foster’s voice calling out to an old lover just set the tone so beautifully for the series. It’s like if Dawson’s Creek all of a sudden replaced “I Don’t Wanna Wait” in it’s fourth season. Ok, enough of my complain’. You came here for a recap and you’re going to get one.
Ani gets out of her car in the harsh light of morning after spending the night comforting Gina. She slips her engagement ring back on before she heads inside her house. Not surprisingly, Lara is waiting for her. Jamie and Gina are bonding at Jamie’s new place, Malbec. He tries to get her to talk about her night with Ani. She tells him that exes can be friends, and that’s all they are. (Sure, after 14 months of therapy and an ill-advised decision to get bangs. But enough about me) Gina admits to being mad at Ani for not loving her the way she wanted (but she does Gina!) but now she doesn’t want to love anyone anyway. Jamie buys that line about as much as I do. That’s what friends do though. They smile knowingly and pour you another glass of wine while you lie to yourself into a stupor.
Ani tries explaining herself to Lara, and you can practically hear Lara’s teeth grinding as she stops herself from saying what she truly means. Instead she tells Ani that she’s a great friend. Ani tells Lara that her comforting Gina isn’t about them, and that she’s perfectly happy to be engaged to those big blue eyes. Lara wants to believe her, but her heart is heavy and she walks out the door. Gina is on the phone freaking out about an order that has been misplaced, when Alan invites himself in. He smarms all over the place in the best possible way. (I adore Michael Sabatino in this role).
Guya is tossing tarot cards around like a pit boss in Reno. She can’t see anything about Owen and Sammie, and questions why the universe is keeping her in the dark. Brandon just hugs her and all her crazy.
Not Peter Reckell” Richard finds The Colonel sitting alone on his porch, lamenting all the ways he let Owen and Gina down. Ways he can never erase, or make up to his children now. NPR Richard lights up, and tells him he’s got some news. Oh boy.
Lara now replaces Gina at Malbec, and Jamie cozies up to her like he wasn’t just talking to her rival about ruining her relationship. Turns out that Lara got her book deal back, and is three weeks sober. She talks about her and Ani’s engagement but says they haven’t told Gina yet on account of Gina’s life being a miserable mess right now. Jamie is like, uh, yeah, might wanna shelve that shit. Lara drinks her tea with an award winning FML look on her face. Ani is once again playing musical engagement rings, and slips hers off into her pocket before walking up to Gina’s place. How much do you want to bet she’s going to lose that rock? Ani interrupts Gina and Alan. Alan offers Gina an interim assistant since hers is in Tuscany, and Ani accepts on her behalf. Gina is just too frazzled and grief-stricken to argue.
The Colonel and NPR Richard are congratulating each other on their newly discovered offspring. It’s rare to see The Colonel in such high spirits, so hard to begrudge him of this joyous moment. NPR Richard mentions that Sara really wants to get to know Gina, but Gina’s reluctant. Actually, she’s more that reluctant. She’s shocked and bewildered and more than a little bit angry.
Guya is reading Katherine’s cards (after she gets a good aura sniff in) and Katherine just goes on and on about Alan. Guya’s bullshit detector is on code red, and the cards back her up. Secrets, bad choices and lies are in Katherine’s future, but she doesn’t want to buy what Guya’s selling. So Guya sniffs her again for good luck or something. Guya and her tarot deck are on the right track because the next thing we see is Alan and the cocaine guy Jake (Ani’s brother) are drinking and plotting at a bar. Alan’s robbing Katherine blind, and his next target is Gina. Hope you like your money downy soft Gina, because you are about to get laundered. Jake doesn’t realize that Gina is the next target, and refers to her as a crazy bitch. He’s got a chip on his shoulder about his sister’s former paramour and he’s ready to make her life difficult. Ani asks Gina if she can help her in anyway and Gina says yes. Ani and Brandon accompany Gina to Owen’s apartment. It’s just been released from crime scene status and there is still Owen’s blood on the floor.
Sara shows up at The Colonel’s house and he lights up like a birthday cake. She apologies for her bad timing, but The Colonel tells her that she came at just the right time. She needs to hit the road, but The Colonel asks her to please stay. Jake is walking down the street, being sketchtastic when he sees Lara (who he doesn’t know from Adam) sneakily toss something into the trash. After she runs off, he walks over and pulls an empty bottle of vodka from the trash.
Gina sits on Owen’s bed, trying to gather some of his things. She is overwhelmed with grief and lays on his pillow, crying. Ani crawls in next to Gina, and spoons her former love. What did you think of this week’s episode of Venice: The Series?
