This is it…the last hour of The Starter Wife miniseries, and there are so many questions left unanswered. Will Molly and Sam’s drastic lifestyle differences continue to keep them apart, driving her back into the arms of Lou? Will she get any money in the divorce settlement? Can Cricket and Jorge save their relationship, and will Joan really stop drinking this time? Get ready for all the final details...

I’m a sucker for the opening dream sequences, were Molly places herself and the people in her life in scenes from classic movies. I particularly liked this one, the ending scene in Casablanca, where Ilsa (Molly) is torn between leaving Casablanca (Malibu) or staying with Rick (Sam). “We’ll always have Starbucks,” Sam says. “As Time Goes By” plays softly in the background. I have always thought Debra Messing looks remarkably like Ingrid Bergman, and here she is--trench coat, hat, the whole shebang! I always wondered what it would look like if she did that.

Molly meets with a hard-nosed divorce lawyer who informs her that the trial will be pretty nasty, and is instructed to sign nothing. Meanwhile, Rodney goes out to a successful little date with Aaron, who invites him for a weekend getaway to Santa Barbara. It seems like the romance is blossoming, though Rodney is a little timid.

Cricket can’t seem to shake the image of her husband screwing the nanny. To make herself feel better, she stops by an open house to see the sexy realtor that she met when Molly was house hunting, but before anything happens, she becomes embarrassed and leaves. It is clear that “settling the score” will not solve her problem--the marriage will never be the same.

Okay, so was I the only person in the world that didn’t realize Financial Troubles Man was Rodney? I swear, he looks different in every scene. I guess in my head I just assumed he was confined to the overdone, and underdeveloped, role of gay best friend/comic relief and figured it was someone else. Or they didn’t address him by name in those scenes and I didn’t catch on. Either way, the plot is way better like this!

So the story has been getting complicated. Molly confesses to Joan and Cricket that Sam, the beach-dwelling man of mystery, is not only homeless, but also a manslaughtering ex-con. But she still likes him. The fact that Sam’s a convicted killer does not help her case much. Can you imagine telling your friends this? Sure, we saw Lou walk into the ocean all by himself, but they didn’t!

Molly takes Joan and Cricket to Sam’s charming little woodland clearing for a combination meet-and-greet/questioning session... Sam is open about the facts and explains that he ”takes care of what the police and security cannot,” and got in a fight while stopping a robbery at Lou’s house. Cricket is friendly and receptive, but Joan ain’t buyin’ it for one second. Later, she even tries to set her up with a hot realtor, but Molly’s not interested.

We last left off with 50% of our protagonist’s love interests (Lou) standing her up for their first dinner date --apparently since he was too busy drowning himself into the ocean to attend -- and 50% (Sam the hot blond) strolling alone the beach in the dark. This was convenient for Molly, who ran out into the nighttime to find and make out with him.

The first scene opens with Molly deaming about kissing Sam on the sand as the waves wash in, From Here to Eternity-style. She ponders over the fact that she doesn’t know who this guy is, and trying to decide if it even matters, since she feels such a connection. So, of course, she goes for a chat with her new BFF, Lavender, the community’s security guard. Lavender begins to reveal some juicy details about him, but gets cut off when the police come by. When Molly finds out that they came to investigate Lou’s disappearance, she is shocked that there is more to the situation than a simple mix-up in dinner plans and goes to fill the detectives in on what she knows.

Debra Messing's newest endeavor gives us another chance to sneak behind the scenes of the shallow world of Hollywood, where spouses are as disposable as a bad agent and the only thing that matters is closing that next movie deal.

In this USA mini-series, Messing plays Molly Kragen, the typical "starter wife" -- the first spouse of a Hollywood big-shot, who gets all the perks of the good life, that is, until he sends her packing. Then, the party is over -- "when you're no longer the 'wife of'" someone important and your social status drops to zero. That's when you find out who your true friends are.

HOUR ONE

Hour one of the mini-series begins with stay-at-home mom Molly playing personal assistant to her her husband, movie mogul Kenny Kragen. She smoothly meets his every need, weilding her cell phone in one hand and agenda in the other. I was having some flashbacks from The Devil Wears Prada, but unlike Andy Sachs, Molly isn't guaranteed the job of a lifetime after one year. She's been married for 10.