All’s Fair, starring Kim Kardashian, is number one on Hulu despite a landslide of negative reviews. When it debuted on November 4, viewers couldn’t wait to watch it to answer that burning question: can Kardashian act? Sorta. Let’s face it, this campy series is not Shakespeare. And truly, wasn’t Kim acting all those years while starring in a reality show about her life?
My guess is that those who tuned in for the first one or two episodes won’t make it through all ten, whether from boredom with the cliche dialogue or embarrassment for the supporting actors who landed in this morass. What does hold interest, however, are the lavish settings, an eye-popping wardrobe (all that cleavage!), and jewels galore. And the overall theme is certainly timely – revenge and retribution against co-workers, friends, and lovers.
Glenn Close (Disney/Ser Baffo)
Then first episode opens with a flash back. Kardashian (Allura Grant- you gotta love the names in this series) and Naomi Watts (Liberty Ronson), are attorneys in a Los Angeles divorce firm dominated by misogynistic men. Fed up, they approach the firm’s only female partner, Dina Standish (Glenn Close), and announce they are starting their own firm.
Nicey Nash-Betts (Disney/Ser Baffo)
Dina is tough, ruthless. (Close is in her element playing such women, remember she once boiled alive a pet rabbit and also played JD Vance’s maternal grandmother, Mamaw.) After running down her own fight to make partner at the firm, she gives the two women her blessing, and tells them they can take one more person with them. Rather than another lawyer, they choose investigator Emerald Greene (Nicey Nash). Attorney Carrington Lane (Sarah Paulson) is furious she’s being left behind (one reason being she often steals their lunch from the firm’s refrigerator), and vows revenge.
Sarah Paulson, Kim Kardashian, Nicey Nash-Betts (Disney/Ser Baffo)
Flash forward ten years. Allura and Liberty are now killing it, representing women divorcing very wealthy men and getting them massive settlements. Driving a Bentley, Allura arrives at her L.A. mansion, marching through massive rooms, each populated by a servant ready to do her bidding. She strolls into her walk-in closet, selecting a barely-there white dress. Later that night, she’s sitting at the dinner table, candles all around, to greet her much younger husband, gridiron star Chase Munroe (Matthew Noszka), to ask whether he knows what day it is. Initially he plays dumb. Then presents her with a huge diamond ring for their anniversary.
How far will this group go to help a damsel in distress? Very far. When Sheila Baskin (Judith Light) barricades herself in her townhouse to escape her husband, angry because she cheated on him, Liberty gets on the firm’s plane and jets to the rescue. Despite a very angry guard at the townhouse’s door, Liberty talks herself past him and the husband and meets with her new client. They leave with Sheila’s very valuable jewelry collection (in California, community property rules dominate), and Liberty has just made another windfall for the firm.
Grace Gummer (Disney/Ser Baffo)
Another client, Grace Henry (Grace Gummer – did mom, Meryl, approve this career move?) wants out of her marriage to Lionel Lee (Steve Pasquale), and fears she will walk away with nothing. Emerald manages to unearth Lionel’s fetish for S&M, including technicolor photos of the equipment he uses. While his attorney, Arch Strickland (Michael Nouri), tries to protect his client, the risk of having that evidence turn up in the courtroom or, worse yet, on social media, is too great. Lionel writes the check for $200 million and change. Cha-ching.
Kim Kardashian (Disney/Ser Baffo)
What goes up, however, must come down. Chase comes home to announce he wants a divorce. Even though he’s a star on the football field, he can’t seem to outshine his older wife. Allura tries to dissuade him with no success. He leaves to meet up with his much younger girlfriend, and Allura calls in Liberty and Emerald for support. Will the trio be able to win what could be one of their most important cases? Do you want to stick around to find out?
Top photo: Kim Kardashian and Naomi Watts (Disney/Ser Baffo)
