Season 2, Episode 06:
Everything Has Its Price
Having wormed her way into both Communique and Adam's apartment building as a tenant, Dianna hatches a scheme to take over Brock Communications and brings her son up to New York for a get-together. When he arrives, she convinces him to help her bid by talking to Adam and getting him to rekindle his romance with her.
At the police precinct, the police are questioning Linda and Carrie about their knowledge of Peter and why he jumped bail. When Linda goes in with the detectives, Carrie thanks Brock for being there for her mother. She also asks him to warn Jordan to stay away from Mark before she leaves. Soon after, Allan arrives and reveals that he was called in for questioning as well. He mocks Adam for putting up the bail money and insinuates that Linda is his property before being ushered in.
Tyler meets with Jordan, who is incredibly happy to see her brother after so many years. After catching up on old times, she tells him about Dianna's plan and he tells her he knows about it and is reluctantly helping her.
Afterwards, both of them have a lunch get-together with Gil and Rachel. She introduces them as associates of his father, and Tyler takes to drinking to forget about him. He also becomes smitten when he sees Rachel for the first time, and eventually gets completely drunk.
He storms into the Communique offices with everyone trailing behind and telling him to stop. He goes into Adam's office, who expresses happiness upon seeing him. The mood quickly turns sour when Tyler accuses him of being a lousy father, and they argue back and forth about the former's alcoholism and the latter's parenting skills. When Dianna and Jordan arrive, Tyler storms out in anger. They all accuse each other of trying to sabotage each other in various ways, and Adam calls Jordan out on spending time with Mark. She tells him that he promised to stay out of her business before storming off as well. Dianna accuses him of alienating his children again before leaving.
At a pet store, Mark is buying a small puppy. He picks it up in his arms and mentions that Carrie is going to love him.
When Carrie comes home that night, she discovers the puppy in a box and happily brings it inside.
Tyler is packing his bags and planning to get on the next plane home while Dianna tries to convince him to stay. Despite her overtures, he packs up and leaves the apartment, but notices Adam getting into his limousine and being helped by Gil outside the hotel. She arrives and suggests that Adam looks at Gil as a surrogate son, and that Tyler needs to take what Gil has and screw over his father in the process.
After Adam discusses an expansion plan with his board of directors, he arrives back at his office to find Tyler, who is looking to apologize. Afterwards, Tyler asks to get a job with his company, and the elder Brock reluctantly agrees.
Later, Adam goes for a business meeting for his expansion plan with the owner of an up-and-coming software company, and is surprised by Dianna, who followed him there and secures the deal by sweet-talking the owner. Afterwards, she asks him to have a drink with her, and he reluctantly accepts. When they go to his apartment, he surprises her by revealing that Linda followed them in and wants to talk to her. He steps out for a moment and Linda asks her to stop her foolish escapades, but Dianna rebuffs her and tells her she's not going to stop before storming out.
Carrie bluffs her way into Jordan's office when the latter isn't in and obtains the manuscript for Mark's novel, then realizes that it's a blueprint for her eventual murder. Despite going to the police and Jordan, they both refuse to believe her and say she's making everything up. That night, as Jordan invites Mark over and consummates their relationship, Carrie arrives back at her apartment and discovers that Mark microwaved her puppy in a casserole dish. She breaks down crying in response. The next morning, she calls the cops again and attempts to report a crime, but is shocked when Mark and Jordan arrive holding an identical puppy and say they found it wandering outside.
Tyler is starting his first day as a mail-delivery boy when he sees Rachel bending over to pick up files in her office. After flirting with her, he woos her by taking Gil out for a friendly boxing match at a training gym, and deliberately beats him. When Gil storms off in anger, Tyler tells her that she could have someone much better than Gil...
Tropes:
- The Alcoholic: Tyler takes to drinking once he arrives in New York, as a way to dull the pain of meeting his father again.
- Best Served Cold: On the advice of Dianna, Tyler goes to screw over his father by working his way into the company, taking everything Gil has and supporting her and Allan's takeover attempt]].
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: The Brocks, whose family squabbles come to the forefront once Tyler arrives in New York and sees his father again.
- Change the Uncomfortable Subject: Dianna tells Linda that she taught Adam every sex move and position she knows, clearly trying to get a rise out of her. Linda tells her that they're both grown-ups and should move past that.
- The Corrupter: It's made clear at the beginning of the episode that Dianna has been feeding Tyler lies about his father for years.
- It's All My Fault: Said verbatim by Dianna when talking about how her marriage impacted Tyler's life.
- Love at First Sight: Tyler is noticeably smitten when he first sees Rachel, and starts a secret affair with her behind Gil's back.
- Love Triangle:
- Dianna attempts to get back together with Adam, who soundly rejects her overtures and reaffirms his love for Linda.
- Tyler decides to go after Rachel when he becomes jealous that Gil is being treated as a surrogate son by Adam.
- Male Gaze: When Tyler sees Rachel bending over to pick up files in her office, the camera lingers on her as she does so.
- Nepotism: Inverted. Tyler asks for a job at his father's company, but Adam tells him that he'll have to work for it just like Dianna's father taught him. As such, Tyler is relegated to a mail-delivery boy.
- Oh, Crap!: Brock gets this when he realizes that Dianna is attempting to sabotage his friendly bid for the Starworks software company.
- Pair the Spares: Dianna and Allan decide to begin a relationship after their respective ex-spouses reject them once again.
- Pet the Dog: Mark is seen buying a puppy and gushing over it, and he tells it that Carrie will be so happy that he sent a gift over. But then...
- Property of Love: Inverted. Allan tells Dianna that he "bought" Linda and considers her just as much his property as the building he owns.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Linda gives Allan one when he once again tries to woo her away from Adam.
