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Lipstick Jungle—a glossy, entertaining albeit somewhat unbelievable take on Candace Bushnell’s best-selling novel that chronicles the lives of three high-powered New York City women: Nico Reilly, editor-in-chief of the slick fashion magazine Bonfire; Wendy Healy, president of Parador Pictures; and Victory Ford, fashion designer to the stars.

When Season 1 came to a close, all three ladies were struggling with some aspect of their lives. Wendy (Brooke Shields) was battling to balance her work and home life. Victory (Lindsay Price) was fighting to keep her business alive while remaining civil with new investor and ex-boyfriend, billionaire Joe Bennett (Andrew McCarthy). And Nico (Kim Raver) was dealing with the guilt of her affair with Kirby Atwood (Robert Buckley) and trying to mend her relationship with husband Charles (Christopher Cousins) after his heart attack.

Season 2 opens with the stark white interior of a church and black-clad mourners filing in. Nico, Victory and Wendy walk solemnly down the isle and sit in the front pew. But the serious mood is broken with the most bizarre outburst of laughter from the three of them. Evidently, the situation is anything but black and white.

Rewind to five days earlier. In a very June-and-Ward-Cleaver moment, Nico and Charles greet each other after a hard day’s work. Charles, the loving husband, has brought a present home for Nico: a beautiful black-and-white photo from a nearby gallery. The image is of a woman’s back, partially covered with a sheet, as she’s leaning on her elbows reading a magazine. The woman in the photo is Nico, and Kirby took the picture after one of their afternoon trysts. Does Charles know about the affair or is it just coincidence he selected this piece?

Nico continues trying to connect with Charles, suggesting a romantic, out-of-town weekend and coming to bed in sexy lingerie. She even resorts to a new procedure—injecting collagen into a delicate nether region—that promises to give life back to the libido. Yet Charles continually rebuffs her, to the point where she breaks down and confesses about the photo and the affair.

But Nico has also had her suspicions of Charles, and she questions him about being surrounded by beautiful students who lavish him with attention and gifts. He says he’s never crossed that line. But Nico was also one of his students a long time ago…

The next day, Charles gets his test results and the doctor schedules a double bypass that afternoon. When Nico and the girls are shopping for flowers at the hospital, they run into Megan Albright (Shannon McGinnis), one of Charles’ students. Nico confronts Megan, only to find out the co-ed is pregnant with Charles’ baby.

Shocked, Nico returns home to find clues for the demise of her marriage and finds surveillance photos of her with Kirby. Charles knew about the affair all along, and he was building a case for abandonment so he could collect alimony from Nico. Lucky for her, Charles won’t be able to collect. He conveniently dies post-op on the recovery table.

While this episode was mainly about Nico, we do learn more about Wendy’s past when her mother (guest star Mary Tyler Moore) comes to town for a meeting with a headhunter because she wants to reclaim her career. Also, Victory hires a new publicist, Dahlia Morales (guest star Rosie Perez), who helps her locate property for a new store—in a building Joe Bennett owns. Knowing the location is perfect and it will help her become profitable more quickly than any other storefronts they saw, Victory leases the property and also signs a contractual agreement with Joe confirming his promise to sell her company once it makes money.

Looks like Season 2 will be full of surprises, but they will be a departure from the original story in Bushnell’s novel. For those unfamiliar with the book, there are many differences between it and the television version, with the storyline of Nico, Kirby, Charles and Megan being one of them. Nico and Kirby did have a steamy romance in the novel, but the sizzle faded over time. She realized she wanted to work on her marriage, and subsequently broke it off with Kirby. There was no heart condition, no other woman, no plotting for alimony. (And Charles was really named Seymour in the book. Interesting the name Charles was chosen for this character, as this is Bushnell’s husband’s name.)

Why this drastic change in the story? Maybe the writers thought killing off Charles is a more interesting plot line. Or perhaps it is easier to write than a more realistic story of a woman trying to piece her marriage back together after the devastating guilt of an affair. Who knows. But I’m seeing Candace Bushnell speak this week, and I hope to have the opportunity to ask about this plot departure during the audience Q&A. Stay tuned.

The purist in me wants the story to unfold true to the book. However, I was somewhat let down when I read Nico was dumping Kirby to go back to her lack-luster husband who pays her little, if any, attention. Granted, Bushnell didn’t expound much on the character of Charles/Seymour, so there was no likeability factor there. And in the TV version, Charles was portrayed as even more of a louse.

So while I’m not really disappointed that Nico is free from her husband, I do think having the unexpected heart trouble lead to death is untrue to the nature of the story and just too convenient for anyone to really buy. Are the writers pandering to the audience in putting Nico and Kirby together? Probably. But what woman (and even some men) can’t appreciate any excuse for Kirby to be on screen without a shirt. Eye candy may be stereotypical, but it’s delicious.

If you’re looking for a realistic drama to fill 60 minutes of your evening, this isn’t it. But if you want some pure sexy entertainment based on the lives of three high-powered NYC girls at the top of their game, then tune into Lipstick Jungle.

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