I thought this was very enjoyable. Every scene "meant something"--that is, everything was relevant to what was going on, story-wise.
Fallon had this image of her community service (said to be at an inner-city rec center) being teaching some kids to play tennis. Instead, the head of the rec center showed her a pile of trash, dirt, etc. and said it was her job to turn it into a garden. After some initial static (the opening title card cutting off her expletive), Fallon actually threw herself into the project. I was actually kind of proud of how she worked off some frustration via physical labor. Adam had been doing his usual needling at home, and of course she had been blocked from seeing Liam. But the gist of the scene was that she genuinely felt this project was her way of working out the guilt she felt over what happened with Trixie.
In contrast, we have Blake still in jail, but plotting to change that. Cristal arrives for a conjugal visit, but instead of foreplay she was complaining about Adam and the shenanigans around the winery. Adam's....drama makes him the wrong person to run the winery, she argues, so she wants Blake to name her as co-CEO. She also brought Blake a couple of "presents"--a burner phone and a knife of some sort. Then, they got down to the
conjugal business.
Fallon, trying to see Annie Tate again, instead runs into Evan, Trixie's brother. He's understandably chilly to her, but luckily he doesn't collapse into a panic attack like his mother or throw stuff at her like most of Fallon's enemies. Still, I sense he's being bit too understanding. He's a corporate lawyer, so he's accustomed to lying.
Sam is not too pleased to see Melissa Daniels is the head of the Atlanta Historical Association (or whatever). She is no fan of the hotel developer's homophobic reputation either, but seems determined to have the hotel designated a city landmark regardless. She has a plaque hung in the lobby, but Sam is so determined to cancel the ceremony that he paints over it. In response, Melissa has all of his construction permits pulled and the renovations grind to a halt. After a lot of crispy back-and-forth ("Perhaps we could e-mail the insults later...") Sam points out that Melissa's life is pretty empty, that this board is all she has left of her once-impressive life as a Senator's wife. If she were to lose re-election to the board (hint), then where would she be? They decide on a compromise, though it looks to me that Sam was on the losing end: construction resumes, but they will be having the plaque and the dedication ceremony. But I bet Sam has something else up his tailored sleeve.
At Casa Colby, Monica has been talking to the investigators about Jeff's disappearance. Why are all the cops saying no cuff-link was found at the scene? She mentions having one last cop to talk to, and Dominique tries to convince her that someone must have made the evidence disappear from the police station. Dominique has been quietly trying to get into a large trust fund that Jeff left behind, using a lawyer who announces she can't do anything (that is, transfer that money to Dom) without pass-codes to the accounts. To buy some time, Dominique actually slips a mickey into a drink she gives Monica. Dominique then heads to Jeff's office at the Atlantix (remember them?) to try to get into his computer.
Fallon, on her "atonement tour," also hands over her (what was Blake's) stake in the Atlantix to Michael. She's basically making him majority partner in the team, for what that's worth now. He's cautiously pleased, and when he heads to the offices guess who he runs into? Dominique, who claims she was looking for anything that might help in the investigation of Jeff's disappearance. She also purrs over him like a cat over a bowl of milk. After she leaves, he checks Jeff's computer and figures out she was trying to get into his personal files, which he then tells to Monica after she wakes up from her "nap".
Fallon discovers her garden work has been wrecked. The supervisor tells her she has to fix it in time for her paperwork to be signed, or else she'll have to answer to the judge. She suspects Adam's handiwork, so she enlists Tony D. Gardener to do the clean-up for her because she has a Halloween party to host at the mansion.
Blake uses his secret phone to forward a wad of cash into a cellmate's prison account, then has the cellmate stab him in the shoulder. He screams his head off and gets patched up in the infirmary...all according to plan. Cristal has spoken to someone who gets Blake released on house (manor) arrest due to being "endangered" by the inmates.
The Halloween party has Anders dressed as Captain Picard, Sam as Elvis, and Fallon as Marie Antoinette. Of course Adam has to show as Louis XVI to needle her, and it works. (Aside: Adam looked the best in his costume) He tells her that Laura has moved Liam to her own home (in Boston?) so the restraining order is still in effect. After some more needling from Adam about the community service, Fallon actually pushes Adam into a giant cake in the center of the room and they fight. So "Marie Antoinette" makes "Louis XVI" eat cake the hard way. Guests, including the Chinese wine distributors, are shocked--they must not know the C's very well. Luckily, Blake shows up at that point to break up his toddlers...I mean, adult children. Later, Blake agrees that he needs to do something to keep those two apart, and I'd cautiously say his tone was that
Adam was more to blame than Fallon. This would be a shift in Blake's attitude from season two, when Adam could do no wrong. I wonder how Adam will feel (much less react) when he discovers he's no longer the new, shiny thing around there?
Elsewhere, Monica has convinced Dominique to attend the party. Shortly after arrival, Monica (lookin' great in a cat costume) lowers the boom on her mother by revealing Jeff is there (in a mask). She filled him in on what Dom's been up to, and he banishes her from his and Monica's life. No word on where he's been or why he seems perfectly healthy (yet), but it is very satisfying to see him by Monica's side and standing up with her against their scheming mother.
Fallon, still on the atonement tour, realizes that having Tony D. Gardener clean up the garden mess was NOT honoring her community service. She wipes the icing off her dress and heads to the rec center (yes,
alone--in the inner-city park in Atlanta on Halloween night
) to finish the clean-up by herself. She then spots Evan, who was there to wreck the place, and obviously had done it the first time (not Adam). She is genuinely trying to do the right thing by her friend, and again, Evan appears to be understanding. They even have a moment where they might
kiss. She draws back from that (she's engaged), but it's staged in a way that makes the viewer wonder if he's genuinely attracted to her...or if he's setting her up for a huge payback. I lean toward the latter. Fallon scores points with me just for doing her gardening work in a Marie Antoinette dress.