Episode Report Card Deborah: B- | 1 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Three's A Crowd
By Deborah | Season 2 | Episode 7 | Aired on 11.04.2004
Adam and Judith look at themselves in the fragments of mirror featured in Adam's sculpture. It's…it's…it's as difficult to describe as most of his stuff. I wish I could insert screencaps in the recaps. There's a central pole with all these arms hanging off it which revolve, and there are mirror shards all over the thing, as well as some of that orange Easter basket stuff. It's like the bastard child of a lazy Susan and a broken Las Vegas chandelier mated with the bastard child of an Easter basket and a scrap metal yard. It also looks incredibly dangerous, like it ought to come with a warning: "Not recommended for children under 43 years of age." It's something Hildi would use as a centerpiece for a kid's birthday party. Judith gives it a spin and tells Adam he's a "freaking genius." Joan passes by the classroom and stops just as Adam asks Judith if she really thinks it's good. Judith leans over and slaps him lightly on the upper arm, smiling warmly: "Shut up. You know it's great." Adam smiles and looks at it again. In some of the shards he sees Joan's reflection: "Jane! Hey, come here, take a look." Joan gulps and says she can't, she's late. She walks off and Adam calls out, puzzled, "Jane?" He looks at Judith, who doesn't know what to make of it either.
Walking down the hall in a daze, Joan's path crosses with Video Project God's. He asks her where the camera is. Holding back tears, Joan says, "I can't. I can't look at them anymore." He says, "There's always something more to see, Joan." Frink: "Shut up." Hmm. Testy. I think somebody's had just about enough of fasting day in and day out and getting up around the time nightclub owners are going to bed.
The camera sinks down on the bald head of one Chuck Kroner, played by Evan Handler. I'm all, "Hey! It's Shrug!" But since Frink had the good fortune to stop watching The West Wing in the third season, he doesn't know what I'm talking about. Guy's got a pretty swanky office. Kroner tells the Girardis he thinks they need to work on their story. Helen says it's all the statement. Kroner: "Forget the statement. It's too soft. Who did precisely what, when, to who… It's all a big 'who cares?' We need to paint a picture, hmm? The accident…was horrible…awful. Some drunken bastard turned you into a cripple…" Helen says they prefer the term "disabled." Kroner: "Absolutely. Me too. My point being, we have to show how this guy ruined your life." Kevin, arms crossed, looks uncomfortable. Helen's naturally defensive: "Kevin's made a good life for himself." Kroner: "Really? Is this what you expected? Be honest." Kevin doesn't respond. Not verbally, anyway. His eyes answer pretty clearly. Kroner: "Is this the life you'd hoped to live? You want to win this case? We have to show them the pain, show them the tears: your mother, having to wash you…" Helen looks anxious. Kroner carries on: "The family destroyed…and in the court, you will sit at the end of the table, where every minute the jury can look over and they can see how that drunken bastard turned you into a cripple." Helen's had enough and she says so, gathering her things: "How dare you talk to us like this?" Kroner's chuffed: "You're angry! This is good! I am gonna make them hate that kid as much as you hate me right now!" Helen announces, "This is over." Kevin: "Mom, it's spin. It's a way for us to win." Helen's quite emotional: "This isn't a game where somebody wins. Nobody's gonna win. Ever. Now, maybe that's the way it's supposed to be, because if this is somebody's fault, that means the accident could have been prevented…we coulda done something. And then…it wasn't just an act of God. And it was. It was an act of God." She leaves. The men all look around at each other in silence. Um, is there no one in Arcadia who's ever heard of a settlement? I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me that even when you're trucking along the moral high ground, it's often cheaper to settle than to prove it in court. Shouldn't one of these lawyers at least be introducing the possibility? Isn't it unprofessional for them not to? Maybe it's just me.