WARNING: SPOILERS EVERYWHERE. DON’T SAY WE DIDN’T WARN YOU.

House of Lies is back, and it’s exactly what we’ve been waiting for.

Marty has always been a man about his business and his money, and he reminds us about that within the first 15 seconds. Everything is Marty’s, and he makes that clear by yelling “MINE” over and over in reference to everything he touches or sees. It’s the perfect reminder of not only how outrageous of a human being he is, but how infectious he’s been for the past four seasons.


Jeannie is fully bossed up in her new role as CFO of Davis Dexter, a pharmaceutical company with product offerings equally as uninspiring as their name. She is also fully overwhelmed by becoming a parent (with Marty) to a beautiful baby girl, Phoebe-Kaan-Vanderhooven. Her newfound power allows her to ruthlessly flex all over Marty, Doug and Clyde, who she has hired to engineer a revenue turnaround. She also has a new boyfriend who is the complete antithesis of Marty; a mild-mannered, tall, thoughtful, attentive, white scientist named Mark.

 

Michael Desmond/SHOWTIME
Michael Desmond/SHOWTIME

In the office daycare, she picks up the wrong black baby and attempts to breastfeed her. Although really, really uncomfortable, this is probably something that happens with more frequency than anyone wants to admit. Thankfully, Marty reminds her that this particular bundle of black joy is not Phoebe.


In order to motivate her employees to sell their newest drug, Climaxicor (yes, it does exactly what you’re thinking), Jeannie and other company leadership perform the most uncomfortable rap/dance performance ever. It couldn’t have been less lit, much to the glee of Marty, who films the entire thing.

Marty’s relationship with Roscoe appears to be less strained than last season, but there is still obvious tension. Roscoe is still dressing better than all of us, and fully committed to living ‘straight-edge’ — a full commitment to no sex, drugs, and to Marty’s displeasure, an aggressively vegan lifestyle. He relishes the idea of being a big brother though, which should be exciting to see play out.

Michael Desmond/SHOWTIME

The episode ends with Marty meeting Skip Galweather, his former boss and bane of his existence. Skip wants to buy Kaan & Associates, to which Marty reminds him that he “doesn’t have the scrilla” to do it. This is less about a merger though, as the offer is for Marty to leave the game altogether. Marty can never leave the game (can he!?) but the offer is a lucrative one, so I expect to see him mulling it over in future episodes.

LINES WE WEREN’T READY FOR:

“I’ve seen the soul of white people, and they should put it back” – Marty

“C’mon Jeannie, female friendship is the new black” – Claire

MOMENTS OF REALNESS:

Michael Desmond/SHOWTIME
Michael Desmond/SHOWTIME

Co-parenting Strugglefest

Marty and Jeannie aren’t great at this parenting thing. Neither of them were really ready for Phoebe, and they barely know how to manage their own lives. Marty is still a single parent, learning how to engage with a gender non-conforming son and a new baby girl, all at the same damn time. Jeannie is a brand new mom with a boyfriend she doesn’t quite know what to do with and the father of her daughter whom she will be seeing every day for the foreseeable future.

Racial Office Politicking


Marty drops a MAJOR key on one of Kaan & Associates’ newest hires, JR, when he told him to “drop a beat” after they two of them were left alone in an office. JR actually did it, (which was both hilarious and terrifying), prompting Marty to remind him to “never take the black bait.” We’ve all been there; a moment of cultural exchange that if you actually engage with it, has lasting ramifications on how someone actually thinks about you or anyone who might share your same culture. Respectability politics is tricky, and the exchange between Marty and JR gives light to how difficult they can be to navigate, no matter where position you play in the corporate game.

Working with Bae


Marty’s got Claire, and Jeannie has Mark, but neither of them are close to happy. Her boyfriend provides her with not a single ounce of the excitement (or absurdity) that Marty did, but he seems to have the simple things, such as consistency, honesty, affection and kindness. Most of us need a break from our exes, but Marty and Jeannie don’t believe in breaks or moderation. Their lives are tied up at home and work, which complicates every aspect of how they see each other and the outside world.

If this is any indication of how things are going to play out,  Season 5 looks like it’s going to be full of fireworks. I’m ready.


*This content is sponsored by Showtime*

What did you think of episode 1? Let us know in the comments below!

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