Episode Report Card Jacob Clifton: A+ | 14 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Half A Love Story
By Jacob Clifton | Season 4 | Episode 18 | Aired on 03.24.2013
Alicia's client Matthew Ashbaugh has been murdered: A dude just walked right up to him, shanked him in the neck, and got back in his car. She can't identify the car or the guy, in the grainy security video, but they're telling her he's maybe still out killing folks tonight, so she's gotta help. The detective in charge is a nice-looking, seemly open-handed fella named Doug; the precinct is gorgeous and almost completely full to the brim of drunk Irish stereotypes, which luckily it's St. Patrick's Day.
Detective Doug: "So can you tell us what cases you worked on with him?"
Alicia: "There were like eighteen."
Detective Doug: "What? Wow, and how many ongoing?"
Alicia: "Like eighteen?"
Detective Doug: "Can you write down anybody that would kill him?"
Alicia: "I'm just gonna write Everybody, okay?"
We flash back through their entire legal relationship, and it's so beautiful. In one interaction, he was suing because the neighbor's dog wouldn't stop barking, stuff like that. Her indulgent, sassy annoyance is closer to Brother Owen Cavanaugh than anybody else I can think of, but she feels safe enough with him to laugh in his face whenever he's acting crazy, which is all the time.
She can see, but doesn't think about, how much he likes it when she does that.
The way the memories are placed, throughout the first half of the episode, tell a certain story all their own -- a sequence that shows you they're adversarial first, and then why she liked him. Why this particular death matters. Why the lies the cops are telling her will, eventually, make themselves useless.
Alicia: "...Intent on making enemies! You can't sue the phone company."
Matthew: "This is America, you can sue anybody!"
Alicia: "But we're not done with your other two lawsuits!"
Matthew: "Right I'm talking to you, and simultaneously designing the architecture for new encryption software. Multitasking, man."
Alicia: "Yeah, well you're much smarter than me."
Matthew: "Well, maybe I should look for another lawyer..."
Alicia: "PLEASE!"
She puts her hands together, under her chin; like a saint. They can't stop smiling.
It was Will that introduced them, that handed over the head of BaughTech to a third-year associate. Maybe he knew.
Alicia: "Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Matthew: "Why?"