Episode Report Card Niki: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT It's The End Of The World As We Know It...
By Niki | Season 2 | Episode 19 | Aired on 04.10.2001
When we return from commercials, Grace, Zoe, and Lily are in the kitchen of Manning Manor. Lily's stirring something on the stove while Grace tries to convince Zoe that Zoe "doesn't want to be a flower girl anyway," and she can't keep the contempt out of her voice as she does so. Grace tells Lily she's glad that Lily isn't making a disgusting "spectacle" out of the wedding. Zoe asks Lily to consider having two flower girls: her and Jessie. Grace rolls her eyes. Lily doesn't answer. "Mom?" Zoe prompts. Lily glances up from the pot and over at them, her eyes red and watery. The girls are at her side in a second, asking what's wrong. Now my eyes are red and watery. ["It is scary when your mommy cries, and not just because she's watching Touched by an Angel." -- Wing Chun] Lily insists that she's okay, but she clearly isn't. They ask again what's wrong. "Nothing," she says, trying to smile. "I'll tell you later." Zoe, full of concern, asks if she's okay. "No," Lily says, as her face collapses. She covers her mouth and then chokes out, "No, honey, I'm not. But I will be." They throw their arms around her, and Lily whispers, "I'm okay."
Karen drops by Dumanjiak's office with an armload of files. She pauses in his doorway, as if she's having last-minute second thoughts. He quickly bolts out of his chair and asks how she's doing. She looks at him and doesn't say anything, but continues into his office. He stammers that he appreciates her help. She flatly informs him that she isn't doing it for him; she's doing it for her clients. She can't quite meet his eyes as she says she needs something from him. He smiles and says, "I didn't know you engaged in consensual back-scratching." She doesn't smile. "Excuse me?" she says, her breath frosty. It freezes his smile, and he apologizes, telling her to go ahead. She says she wants to know his intentions. "Excuse me?" he says, teasing like she's asking about his intentions toward her. She clarifies that she means his intentions with Rick. He jokes that he likes him as a friend. "Are you capable of being serious?" she demands. Sometimes Karen just kicks ass, doesn't she? Ass-pole or not, you've got to respect a woman who can cut through the crap like that. He gets serious fast, reminding her that it's a sealed investigation and asking if she thinks he'd answer "a question like that." Karen says that they both know Rick had nothing to do with suborning perjury or bribing a judge. He asks if she "know[s Rick] that well." She avoids answering by saying that she wants to know he won't be indicted. He says that's up to the jury. "Whom you will influence," Karen says, almost as an order. "If I'm lucky, if half of them aren't asleep," he says. "Whom you will influence," Karen repeats, more slowly, because he obviously missed her meaning the first time. He starts to say something, but stops himself and just looks at her for a few moments. Finally, he says, "I don't want to say how much I actually...[Karen looks expectant in spite of herself] like you, so I won't, but..." He trails off as Karen looks slightly ashamed. He paces to the far side of his desk, shaking his head a little. His voice is very quiet when he continues, "I'm sorry, but I believe in what I do, just as you believe in what you do." Karen squirms and looks at the floor as he explains that he can't and won't compromise the case's integrity. He says he'd "completely understand" if she decided to walk out with her files. Karen wrestles with the idea for a few moments, looking torn, and then plops them on his desk and rushes out. He stares after her, sighing and wishing he'd just torn open her heaving bodice like he wanted to.