Episode Report Card Potes: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Odor In The Court
By Potes | Season 2 | Episode 12 | Aired on 01.16.2008
On a break, Betty apologizes to Claire, Daniel, and Alexis. Daniel says it didn't hurt them, and Claire thanks her for trying. She wants to go on the stand and tell her side of the story.
Meanwhile, Marc tells Amanda he's leaving, because he can't stand any more wickedness today. Awww, he's finally getting the full effect of the goodness that Cliff gives him night after night. Amanda wants to know what's wrong with him, and says they can go to the West Side and dump it in the river, after which they'll cruise the bars. He wonders why he has to go with her, and Amanda says that he's a part of this now -- he burned Fey's diary pages. Marc notes that he does a lot of morally questionable things for Wilhelmina, but none of it is technically criminal, and it's all in service of his career. They have a short argument about whether Amanda was ever his boss before she tells him to get rid of it, because Claire Meade has to pay. Marc asks why Claire has to pay -- she didn't do anything wrong except use some perfume that her husband gave her. He can't do it. And, he says, he couldn't burn the diary pages. He pulls them out, and says that Amanda needs him to do the evil deeds with her because deep down, she knows that Fey was responsible for her own murder. Claire Meade is innocent. Amanda belts him, then hugs him, saying that he's right.
Cut to Claire on the stand. She says her state of mind wasn't too peachy at the time of Fey's murder, and she was on several medications to boot. She was having an extremely difficult and emotional time, given that her husband was having an affair with one of his employees. In the midst of it all, Betty gets a text saying, "Meet me in the hallway, cheese fingers." Amanda comes through! Amanda hands over the perfume to Betty along with the diary pages, saying nothing they do to Claire Meade is going to bring her mother back. Betty notes that she's doing the right thing, and that it must feel good. Amanda nonchalantly says it'll pass before walking away with a big smile on her face. Betty marches in the courtroom during Claire's heated testimony. She says Claire was crazy, and holds up the perfume and diary pages as the proof.
Cut to the verdict: not guilt by reason of temporary insanity. Yaaaaaaaaaaaay! There is celebration all around, and Claire gives Daniel and Alexis the biggest hug ever. Betty, of course, gets a big special hug, too. Suzuki St. Pierre tells us that Claire is a free woman. She may be innocent, but he sentences her to the beautician's chair, because her roots are looking raggedy. Claire switches off the TV and proposes a toast to her friends in the Mode office, and her family who helped save her, and to the future of Mode. She tells her kids that they'll always be together. Daniel doesn't know how to thank Betty, and gives her a huge hug, noting that it wasn't a boss/assistant thing because of sexual harassment laws. But it was friend to friend. Awwwww. Gio walks up to Betty and says that everyone's calling her a hero. She offers to pay for his window, and he tells her to buy a few extra sandwiches. After reviewing the embarrassing note she wrote him while she was all hopped up on perfume, they hug. Betty is awkward about it, but Gio obviously doesn't want to let go. He gazes after her as she goes to talk to Claire and breaks into a tiny, wry smile. How many star-crossed lovers can one girl have?