Advertisement

Filthy Rich Saves Its Sickest Revelation for Last in Fiery Series Finale — Grade It

Andy Swift
·4 min read

Eugene Monreaux finally returned home in Monday’s series finale of Fox’s Filthy Rich, and one line of dialogue made it all worth the wait: “Being rich makes you filthy, Margaret — and I was very rich.”

OK, now that we’ve had our fun, let’s break down this truly bonkers hour of television. The short-lived drama’s fiery finish actually made us sad that Fox canceled it, if only because we need to see how one particularly insane development plays out.

Eugene’s homecoming was met with mixed emotions from the family. Rose, for example, quickly pivoted from joyful sobbing to self-righteous fury when she learned that Ginger already knew Eugene was alive. “He was my father, he was just your sperm donor!” Rose yelled — a line that immediately took us back to last season’s short-lived incest drama Almost Family. (Fox sure has a type, doesn’t it?)

But it was Margaret who offered her husband the chilliest reception. “You should be crawling to me like a two-legged dog in a ditch,” she sneered from across an empty dinner table, to which he replied with the instantly iconic line we referenced earlier. It was a long-overdue confrontation, especially for Gerald McRaney, who told TVLine that the prospect of acting opposite Kim Cattrall was one of the reasons he signed on to play Eugene in the first place.

“I got the role, we filmed the pilot… and for the rest of the season, I didn’t see her!” McRaney said. “I have a couple of scenes with her [towards the end], but one of the reasons I accepted the role was to work with her, and I didn’t do it the entire damn season.”

Then came the show’s biggest bombshell yet: After handing his ownership stake in Monreaux, Ltd. to Ginger, Eugene declared, “God saved me so that I may do right by all six of my children.” And before the viewers at home could even begin to do the math in their head, it was revealed that Eugene is also the father of Becky and Eric’s child. For those of you keeping score at home, yes, that means Becky has hooked up with Eric, his sister and his father. (Does that means she wins? Is that how this works?)

While Eugene’s grown children struggled to hold back their collective vomit, Margaret said what everyone was thinking: “You are a monster,” to which he smugly replied, “No, I am just a humble sinner — born again.” When she told him never to set foot in their house again, Eugene made one thing very clear: “You can have the business, but this house is mine,” calling it the “precious cornerstone” of his child’s future. Gross!

Which brings us back to the pilot. With Franklin’s assistance, Margaret set fire to Monreaux Manor, watching it burn with her new family standing beside her. “You let the Old South burn so something new could rise,” Ginger said — a line made all the more bittersweet by the fact that, you know, we won’t actually get to see that rise happen.

Other twists worth discussing…

* Rose called off her wedding after learning that Mark was the one who put her brother in a coma. “You want the simple truth? Me and your brother sold weed on the street,” he told her. “We lived crazy and things happened, and the crash was one of those things.” (Um, does this guy really want to play a game of Whose Life Is Crazier? with Rose? We’re pretty sure she’d win.)

* Despite initially refusing to wear a wire, Eric had a change of heart following his father’s memorable return. “I’m your guy,” he told the FBI agent he thought he killed. “Wire me up!” (That’s another reason we’re bummed we aren’t getting a second season: Eric was finally getting interesting!)

* Well-timed flashbacks to the night of the infamous debutante ball strongly suggested that there’s still hope for Margaret and Franklin, whose potential relationship was among the many things Eugene has destroyed.

Your thoughts on Filthy Rich‘s premature conclusion? Which of those huge twists surprised you the most? And how disappointed are you that we aren’t getting a second season? Grade the finale below, then drop a comment with your full review.

More from TVLine

Best of TVLine

Get more from TVLine.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter