Last night I watched the second episode of The L.A. Complex on The CW, and it was RIDICULOUS. Oh god, it was totally cray-cray, and from Canada, fine purveyors of one of the craziest dramas ever to air, Degrassi. Wait, what is that you say? The same people who made Degrassi made The L.A. Complex? The show stars MANNY MOTHERFUCKING SANTOS? I’m there!
And this episode ended with a DOOZY of a surprise that is going to guarantee my return next week (will discuss more later). L.A. Complex, don’t let me down in subsequent episodes like I’m thinking GCB has done.
So I have not yet had the time to sit down and watch the pilot, but after watching the second episode, I’ve gathered that it’s something like a dirtier Melrose Place – a group of young, struggling wannabes live in a filthy apartment building together, and sex, drama and catfighting ensue (well, they did bring Manny Motherfucking Santos in to star, so of course there’s catfighting). Speaking of the HBIC, Cassie Steele is here playing basically a version of her old character, only this time her name’s “Abby Vargas” ….Sure, okay. We’ll go with that. She’s an illegal Canadian immigrant and a struggling actress.
And the producers have wasted no time finding an excuse to get her in a hooker costume.
You might notice that Manny’s hooker compatriot in the photo about is none other than Jewel Staite, another Canuck gal famous for a beloved character she played – Kaylee Frye from Firefly and Serenity. Jewel plays a bitchy, brazen woman whose career (not personality, of course) might mirror her own – Raquel Westbrook had a hit TV show, but now she’s older, jobs have dried up and everyone only remembers her for that one part. In the episode, they both audition for the same guest part on a TV series – Hooker #1, apparently – and in the end, Manny MF’in Santos wins the role. Raquel is pissed… and little does she know that Manny has already hooked up with her favorite boytoy, too!! I sense a little All About Eve going on here, but Raquel should watch out – Manny’s a hair puller.
So, blah blah, there’s some other stuff involving two people working on a doctor drama show (including Radio Free Roscoe‘s Kate Todd, for all you fans of other classic The N shows), and somethin about this other dude that looks like the dopey version of James Franco from the first Spiderman wearing Peter Parker’s glasses (think this guy has a crush on Manny, but then again, we all do).
And we finally arrive at the storyline that made me go WHOA. This omgsupercute young guy from the complex named Tariq, who’s a little bit French Canadian and from Montreal (which should have given me a hint, honestly), finally gets his first big break as a producer – he’ll be making beats for this gangster rapper dude who a Wikipedia search tells me is named Kaldrick King. But we’ll just call him Gangsta Gangsta. They have this whole Training Day thing going, where they are driving around LA together and occasionally Gangsta Gangsta hollers at Montreal for no reason. And then, (and dear god if only this was the real ending to Training Day), Gangsta Gangsta puts on a smooth soul record and the two of them look like they are going to punch each other, but instead the just start DOING IT.
It's a Cinderella story - boy meets boy, only one's on the downlow and is really angry about it.
So far this is a show that has only made waves for breaking the record of the lowest-ever premiere for a network show. But my suggestion is that anyone who’s a sucker for Canada, DRAMAAAAH, or The N network alumni, to give this show a chance. Oh yeah! And they said “tits” on this show. It was edited out by CW. What’s not to love?
