Hidden Palms: "Sober" is the New Drunk

Wednesday night's Hidden Palms took us further into the mystery and intrigue that is "hidden" behind the "palms" in Palm Springs, if you get what Kevin Williamson, Master of Subtlety, is saying. Johnny discovers, thanks to Cliff, that Eddie killed himself in Johnny's room (spoooooky). And Johnny's got his very own cyberstalker sending him ominous warnings, and finally a video of the doomed Eddie (extra-spoooooky).

On the bright side, he's also got his very own teenage lust triangle! Veronica Mars alum Tessa Thompson is on the scene playing Nikki, Johnny's friend from rehab. Nikki and Johnny seem to be one of those potential couples who were just never in the same place at the same time, so Nikki's pretty pleased that now she's in a halfway house in a nearby town, she and Johnny can finally make sweet sober love. Not so much, it turns out, on both counts. Johnny's still obsessed with Greta, who seems to return his affections. And Nikki's still obsessed with alcohol, which doesn't return her affections so much as cause her to make an ass out of herself at a country club party before puking and passing out at Johnny's house. And as a side note, Tessa Thompson playing drunk is like Elizabeth Berkley playing high (on No-Doze) on Saved by the Bell. ("I'm so excited! I'm so...scared?") She's so over the top she can't even see the top.

Jessie Jo, the little drag queen that could, continues to be my favorite thing on this show as Johnny's new AA sponsor. Liza, my potential other favorite, has nothing to do in this episode except dress up in a stupid costume and look longingly at Johnny. Cliff continues to be smarmy, secretive, and potentially evil. I continue to wonder why anyone would think Johnny is hot.