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The common theme this week is fire. Addy is so excited when she signs new clients that she forgets to ask exactly what business they're in. Turns out they're one of those L.A. medical marijuana dispensaries. When the legality of their business is investigated, Addy spends most of her plot trying to put out the figurative fire she started. Things are complicated when the clients send several pounds of pot to the firm and Hart, good guy that he is, pretends it's his. With Malcolm's help, Addy finds the clients' patients, who tell the judge the pot is theirs, so that's one fire smothered. Beth's fire is more literal: she works with Cliff on a class action suit alleging a company's furnaces burned and/or killed 160 people. When her father turns out to be the lawyer on the other side, Beth becomes so rattled that she almost smokes the case. Luckily, she fixes things just in time to win a widow a very fair settlement and pull her own ass out of the fire. Unfortunately, in the process she learns her dad isn't just a scummy father but a scummy lawyer.
In the "flaming loins" category, we have Dylan and Katie's newly flickering romance, which is quickly snuffed when Cliff confesses to his wife Susan that Katie was his mistress. Susan, seemingly more pissed at the embarrassment than the infidelity, has Katie shipped off to work in some Montana office. In the week's silly subplot, Addy accidentally kisses Liam, which somehow leads to him confessing his first kiss didn't happen till he was 18. He's been comparing every kiss with a woman to that first magical kiss ever since. Addy thinks this is romantic and blabs to the whole firm about it, which leads to every woman going up to Liam and planting one on him, trying to see if they can measure up to his first love. Lucky for Liam, every woman at the firm is gorgeous, even if they don't light his fire quite like his first. The last woman to give it a shot is Beth, and although Liam tells her she didn't quite set his heart ablaze, his private expression says otherwise.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!This show isn't canceled yet, so welcome to another week of cute lawyers and no meaningful central character with whom the audience can identify or follow along. We pick up where we left off last week, with Dylan and Katie in a post-coital snuggle in front of the fire, and Cliff Huddle ringing the doorbell. Matt Long and his slightly fuzzy chest are adorable. He's like what would happen if humans and chipmunks were to crossbreed. Cliff, ignored by the lovers inside, starts knocking on the door and calling for Katie. Dylan recognizes his boss's voice and freaks. He's all, "Your ex-boyfriend is our boss, who's married to our other boss?!" He hides while Katie tells Cliff and his bouquet of stargazer lilies to hit the road. Katie's apartment and furnishings are really fabulous. What the hell kind of money do paralegals make? Probably not as much as paralegal mistresses make. Dylan is upset that she didn't tell him, so Katie sends him on his way, too. So much for the afterglow.
The morning, Cliff and Susan ride up in the elevator, all sly smiles. He's apparently given her the bouquet of stargazers meant for Katie. At least he recycles. They think they're alone on the elevator aside from an oblivious guy with headphones, so they talk suggestively about all the sex they had the night before. Naturally, Dylan is cowering behind the headphones guy, trying to become invisible. He fails, and Susan and Cliff notice him. He nervously promises he didn't hear anything. Cliff presses about him why he seems so nervous. Dude, because he overheard your sex talk! We're meant to be scared for Dylan and think maybe Cliff knows he was at Katie's the night before, but Cliff just wants Dylan to tell Beth to meet him in his office. Dylan is so jumpy that when he gets to his floor, he spills his coffee all over Beth's blouse the instant he darts out of the elevator. Hope her bra was insulated.
In his office, Cliff is meeting with a woman named Anne about a potential class action suit regarding a faulty furnace that's killed or injured 160 people. Beth walks into the meeting covered in coffee. Cliff catches her up on the case: Anne's husband was killed when the furnace malfunctioned and set their house on fire. Beth is going to be second chair with just two hours to prepare for the first suit hearing. Beth has the good grace to wait until she's away from Anne to express her excitement over the case, but Cliff is less than enthused about her "dish rag" of a shirt and tells her to change.
Kiddie Pool. Beth wants to borrow Addy's maroon blouse, which somehow miraculously fits her because they belong to the sisterhood of the traveling blouses, I guess. Addy, in turn, takes Beth's boring backup blouse. There's no reason for any of this sartorial complication except to have the two ladies strip down to their bras in time for horndog Liam to walk in and start composing the opening lines of an imaginary Penthouse letter. Beth chastises him for staring at her boobs even though they're right there. Now fully clothed, she goes off to do her case prep. Liam, regarding Addy like a sister, compliments her on the blouse change and gives her a pep talk before she goes off to meet her new potential clients in one of the office's meeting rooms.
They're a middle-aged couple, Bruce and Gwen Nathan, there to seek help for some legal restructuring of their business and indemnify themselves against personal liability. They're in the business of providing "alternative" therapies to patients who haven't been helped by traditional medicine. Addy is just aglow at how wonderful and gratifying their work must be. The Nathans are a little skittish about possibly exposing the source of their "products" to competitors, but Addy reassures them that anything they disclose to her is covered by attorney-client privilege. She's so thrilled when the Nathans sign over the retainer fee that she entirely forgets to ask just what products they're selling. Back at the library, Beth, Liam, and Katie are doing research and babbling about legal things that entirely fly over my head. Beth is giddy over the prospect of making tons of money on the product liability suit and being possibly fast-tracked by the partners. Don't think too hard about all the dead people, or anything.
Katie goes off to make copies and runs into Dylan in the hall. He pulls her aside and asks her if she told Cliff about the two of them. She confesses she told Cliff she's seeing someone new, but didn't mention him by name. Dylan is still nervous and jokes about seeing her/not seeing her around the office, depending on how close Cliff is. Katie chuckles, but it's really not funny.
Addy runs into the Kiddie Pool, waving her retainer check and squeaking with excitement. Liam's there and he's carting around boxes of legal documents. Addy hops around and thanks him for believing in her, then jumps right up and kisses him before she realizes what she's done. She apologizes. He looks stunned and not at all horny, like usual. Addy is slightly offended, but Liam eventually confesses he was just thinking about the first woman he kissed, because he always compares new kisses to that first one. If I did that, I'd bust up laughing every time I kissed someone. Addy tells Liam her first kiss was in third grade. Liam says his was dreamy and perfect and everything he wanted it to be. He was also a late-bloomin' onion, because it didn't happen till he was 18. [Wait, he's a horndog, but he didn't get kissed until 18? That seems like a bizarre character backstory. -- Angel] He's just waiting for the kiss that can beat that one. Addy is charmed and determined to help him on his romantic quest. She hops out of the office, hatching her little scheme, much to Liam's chagrin.
Courthouse, certification motion. Cliff and Beth legal-babble as they walk into the courtroom. Beth stops in her tracks when she sees the reason she was put on the case: Her father is the attorney for the other side. He gives his daughter a smile that's equal parts haughty and snotty. It's downright snaughty. Beth looks like she might lose her lunch. Commercials.
The commercial for Lost wakes me up a bit, so let's press on, shall we? Returning to the courtroom, Bad Daddy is arguing that the complaints are unrelated. Cliff's points out that all 160 people purchased the same furnace less than six months before their houses burned down. Bad Daddy is incredulous. The widow Anne, sitting with Beth, is clearly disgusted. The judge schedules a pre-trial conference for his chambers the morning and pounds his gavel to make it all legal. I guess. I don't know anything about laws beyond what I need to pass a driver's license test.
Addy is skittering around the hallways at Sterling like a mouse in a maze. She's in search of someone who knows about California corporate law and eventually Dylan sends her to Malcolm, who I reckon isn't going to get a formal introduction like the other first-years did. They legal-chat about her new clients. The upshot is that she needs more information about them to fill out some paperwork, but she's already tried calling them three times to no avail. Malcolm offers her a ride to the Nathans' store after Abby ridiculously asks how to get there by subway. When they pull up sometime later at the address in Venice Beach, Abby sees the big ol' neon marijuana leaf on the sign. She hopefully prays it's not what she thinks it is, but Malcolm confirms for her that it is, indeed, a medical marijuana dispensary.
Returning to the firm, Addy and Malcolm are explaining what's the what to Hart and Rowdy. The Nathans' shop is a registered legal dispensary with the state, but California's laws conflict with federal law. Hart and Rowdy think it's interesting legal territory. Hart also thinks it's not a problem as long as they're selling to people with valid prescriptions. Rowdy wonders if they lied about their business and Addy confesses she never asked them. Rowdy and Hart exchange exasperated glances and tell her draft their charter and then refer them to other counsel. She and Malcolm skulk out of the office, leaving Rowdy and Hart to their barely-concealed laughter. Meanwhile, Liam gets kissed by some random woman in the break room. She thinks the "quest" is romantic. I think it's a good way to come down with a raging cold sore or mono. She wants to know if it was as good as his first. No dice.
Beth interviews Professor Chin in a meeting room about the faulty furnaces that have "roasted people alive." She's even more thorough than she needs to be at this stage of the proceedings, as her expert witness points out to her. Elsewhere, Liam is complaining to Addy about all the woman she's sicced on him. Their argument is cut short by the sudden olfactory assault of a peculiar odor that Addy compares to "cat pee on a pine tree." Heh. They notice a medium-sized box sitting on a desk, addressed to Addy from the Nathans. She excitedly opens the box only to discover many, many baggies of weed. Commercials!
Addy storms into the ladies' room, bitching on the phone at Mr. Nathan to come pick up his marijuana. She doesn't care of the DEA was planning a raid on his shop. On the other end of the phone, he's apparently reminding her of their attorney-client privilege, but Addy isn't swayed and threatens to flush the box of Mary Jane down the toilet. He hangs up on her. At this point, the bathroom stall behind Addy opens and out walks Susan, having heard the whole thing. Susan calmly washes her hands, then tells Addy to come with her to talk to Cliff. I totally think Cliff could do with some puff. That's probably not that Susan's suggesting, though.
Speaking of Cliff, he's on his way to a meeting with the partners when Katie pulls him aside for a boring talk about their non-relationship. She wants to know if he's plans to make good on his promise about her working there when she passes the bar exam. He doesn't think that's a good idea, so she essentially threatens to tell Susan about the affair. Dumb.
At a coffee cart outside the office, Dylan is asking Liam for relationship advice: "Say, buddy, do you ever get that not-so-fresh feeling?" Actually, Liam doesn't even let him finish the question and just tells him to walk - or even run - away from whatever the problem is. Upstairs, Rowdy and Hart are dealing with the problem of what to do with that ten pounds of marijuana. Rowdy asks if he should make it disappear and Hart tells him, "You're the magician!" For a split second I thought he was going to say, "You're the midget!" and was ready to feel bad for little Rowdy. Malcolm shows up to tell them DEA agents are downstairs with a warrant, which sends all the partners as well as Addy and Malcolm into a meeting in Hart's office. Cliff wants to fire the clients but Hart says they have no legal grounds. Hart tells Rowdy to leave the dope somewhere public. Addy and Malcolm scurry off to find the Nathans.
Judge's chambers. Beth and Bad Daddy square off. Beth hands over her affidavits of testimony. Much to her surprise, Bad Daddy is willing to stipulate to the facts of the expert's testimony. Beth wants to call someone at the office for advice, but Bad Daddy passive-aggressively pressures her into making a decision on her own. She signs off on the stipulation because she thinks letting the testimony in uncontested is a good thing. Bad Daddy gives everyone an oily smile.
Back at Sterling, the DEA has arrived with a lawyer named Benjamin Faraz and a drug-sniffing dog who sniffs out the weed in about two seconds because it's right there by the elevator. The smarmy Faraz orders the place on lock-down pending an investigation, but Hart steps forward and claims the marijuana is his. He's cuffed while everyone looks on in worry. Commercials.
Cliff's office. Beth fills Cliff in on the meeting she had with the judge. As she talks, she starts to lose confidence. She falters under Cliff's glare, who points out what a huge mistake she's made by turning the expert's testimony into a list of facts on a piece of paper. They've lost the emotional high ground. Cliff is actually quietly scary for the first time and somewhat deserving of his "Prince of Darkness" nickname. Beth is near tears. He dismisses her with a calm remark about his disappointment in her.
Montage of Liam being kissed by several women to the strains of "No You Girls" by Franz Ferdinand. I thought a guy was going to kiss him there for a second, but nope.
Kiddie Pool. Beth is complaining to Liam about how her dad tricked her and she fell for it because she wanted his approval. She's worried that the widow won't get the money she deserves because the expert witness won't get to testify now. She spitballs some ideas with Liam. Product liability, blah blah, tort, blah. Can she reintroduce a witness if she finds a new cause of action? Liam thinks so, as long as his expertise relates to it. All fired up, Beth runs off to do her lawyerly thing.
Venice Beach. Addy and Malcolm are waiting outside Stoner's Pot Palace for some sign of the Nathans. They come to the conclusion that Addy is a very nice, very naïve patsy. A frail-looking young man tries to get into the shop, but it's closed. He says he has chemo the day and needs his medicine. Addy volunteers to call the Nathans for him... if he knows where they are. As they chat, it comes out that the young man has already paid for his marijuana and is there to just pick it up, because that's how the shop works. This gives the very nice patsy an idea.
Kiddie Pool. Liam and Beth are pouring through files and reading all the past affidavits from the furnace manufacturer's engineers. One of the affidavits stands out because the engineer is the only one who doesn't say straight out that the furnaces weren't at fault. Plus, the engineer, one Frank Mason, quit the company just two weeks after signing the affidavit. Liam notes she's all charged up about the case; Beth wants to help the victims after screwing up so badly. She tracks Frank down to a watch repair shop. He's reluctant to talk because of a confidentiality agreement but she knows he wants to talk. He refused to outright lie in his testimony. She shows him the picture of the widow and tells him about how she couldn't even touch her husband as he lay dying, because of his severe burns. Frank admits he didn't want to sign so Beth gives him a chance to do the right thing.
Courtroom. Susan is arguing on behalf of Hart. It wasn't his pot, he was just trying to protect his employees, it was delivered by messenger, and so on. Faraz is incredulous. At this point, Addy walks in and interrupts because she's gathered up a dozen or so of the Nathans' clientele, who've already paid for the pot in three to four ounce batches. Which means it's theirs, not the firm's. Susan is so thrilled by this that she high-fives a pleased (but surprised) Addy. Susan argues this before the judge, who calls a recess and lets Faraz and Susan work things out to their satisfaction.
Later at Susan's office, Cliff goes to tell his wife that the person he had an affair with was Katie. Susan is incensed, not so much at the infidelity itself, but the fact that it was with Katie, a paralegal who works in the office, where Susan could be humiliated. She smashes the vase of stargazer lilies and tells him to get out before she loses her temper. He doesn't have the decency to look scared or sad, which probably just pisses her off even more. Speaking of pissed, Bad Daddy is walking through a parking garage somewhere and finds a clock perched atop his very nice silver Maserati. Beth greets him as she walks up behind him. She mentions the engineer Frank Mason and basically accuses her father of bribing him for his testimony with a nice retirement package. She hands Bad Daddy with a subpoena for his records. She's going to comb through all his documents and emails to find where he discusses his knowledge of the furnace's problems. She knows he destroyed evidence. Unless he settles the case by morning, he'll lose his license. She stomps off, in tears.
Alone, Cliff arranges a bunch of flowers in Susan's office in a new, non-smashed vase. Katie walks in and he tells her that he's told Susan. She looks like an addled calf and says nothing as she walks back out again. At the Kiddie Pool, Addy is meeting with the Nathans. She very politely hands them all the work she's done and then fires them. When they sit there dumbfounded, she points them to the door and tells them she has to meet with clients who didn't hire her under false pretenses. She's almost unbearably chipper through the whole exchange.
Hart returns to the firm and is greeted by Rowdy with a blueberry bran muffin that has a little leftover marijuana baked into it. It'll clear out your colon and expand your mind, man. Hart seems quite pleased. Less pleased is Susan, who is confronting Katie in one of the meeting rooms. Katie is filled with dread but Susan coolly gives her a promotion... in Montana. Katie says she would rather stay in L.A. Susan: "I'd rather you hadn't slept with my husband." Girl, take the offer and go before she freezes you with her eyes. She sits there looking wide-eyed and sad but I can't say I'm sympathetic. I do envy her hair, though.
Denouements: Cliff is sitting with the widow in his office. Beth walks in and the widow embraces her, much to Beth's surprise. Cliff tells her they got a "very fair settlement" from the furnace manufacturer. After the widow leaves, Cliff quizzes Beth on what happened. "I pulled my own ass out of the fire," she says. Cliff acts like it was all a part of his plan all along. Elsewhere, Addy visits Malcolm to thank him for his help. There's a little flirtation and joking, so look for them to become a couple if the show lasts long enough. Katie and Dylan say their goodbyes at the elevator. Sad, girly music plays but I really don't care enough about these two and their one romp in the sheets. Katie wonders why she didn't meet Dylan first as the elevator doors close between them. Cliff walks by Susan's office and finds the new vase of flowers on the floor outside. He cautiously opens the door. Susan looks like she's been crying. He asks if she wants a ride home and she tells him he should find someplace else to stay for a while.
Kiddie Pool. Beth is telling Liam about her daddy issues. She'd known he was a bad father, but she's sad to find out he's a bad lawyer. Liam tries to give her hope, but she's not buying it. Moving on to another subject, she asks Liam about the kissing quest. She asks him for a try, since when they were "intimate" in the past, she wasn't really trying her best. She goes in for a slow kiss. "Sorry," he tells her, not too impressed. She shrugs it off with good humor and leaves. Only once he's alone, does Liam let his facade drop. "Wow," he whispers. I wouldn't call it a "wow" of an episode, but it was a little better than last week, at least.
Tippi Blevins is a writer living in Houston, Texas. She's not in the habit of randomly kissing guys unless she's been eating "special" blueberry bran muffins. You can reach her at b_tippi@yahoo.com.
Our vlogger has to wonder if these kids know that their boss killed the Highlander.