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Cliff puts Beth and Addy on a sexual harassment case defending a lingerie designer against a former employee. Things seem pretty clear-cut at first, since sexy talk seems like a pretty normal and expected part of such a business. The former employee admits no direct threats or advances were made against her, but when the client starts sending lacy nothings to Addy and Beth and making derogatory comments about working women, they suspect there's more to the case. They do a little digging and find out he's been discriminating against women in his company. Susan steps in to lay down the law and gets the guy to change things at his company. Elsewhere, Malcolm is having problems with the little brother he's raising after the kid is threatened with expulsion for bringing a Cub Scouts knife to school. Addy helps out without being asked, which ticks off Malcolm at first, but it all ends well and they end up having homemade lasagna together. It's very aww-inducing. Dylan's case involves helping the pregnant Chinese widow of a Marine who was killed in Afghanistan. She's about to be deported because she and her husband were married by proxy and weren't able to consummate the marriage. (The baby was conceived pre-wedding.) Dylan gets creative and finds a loophole that allows her to stay in the country, thanks to the widow's employer who discriminated against her for being pregnant. It's better than it sounds.
Liam is too busy looking for love to get involved in any of the legal plots. He keeps trying to start things up with Beth, but screws up by being the horndog that he is. This is a good thing, though, because the result is that he has to enlist Rowdy's help, which means plenty of fun Rowdy moments. The best of these moments involve Rowdy playing the ukulele while Liam recites poetry to Beth. It's exactly as corny as it sounds, but also cuter than expected.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!It's night and the young associates are still hard at work in Sterling's library, waiting for the firm's computer servers to be repaired so they can print out their various courtly things. Well, maybe not so much "hard at work" as "goofing off and playing games." They've been playing that party game where you have a sticky note on your forehead that everyone but you can see, and on that note is someone's name. You're supposed to ask questions of everyone around you in order to ferret out your identity. Dylan, wearing Beth's name on his adorable little noggin, asks, "Am I ambitious?" The others think that's a bad question, since they're all ambitious. "Am I confident?" Dylan asks. "You're stuck up," Liam says, which prompts Beth to blow the ruse by protesting she is not stuck up. Nor are you a good party game player, Beth. Liam quickly guesses that the name on his forehead is Dylan's, when he asks if he's sensitive and everyone immediately responds in the positive. They get a call from word processing to let them know that the servers won't be fixed that night, so they decide to all head home. Addy protests because she still has a sticky on her forehead and hasn't had a chance to play. Malcolm tells her: "You're black." Since all the other fish in the deep end are whiter than cod, this ends the game. Back in Dylan and Liam's office, Liam surreptitiously sticks Dylan with a sticky that reads "Girl" before hightailing it out of there. A moment later, Hart comes in with a pro bono case for Dylan and gets a laugh out of the sticker. "Gotta love that Priory," Hart chuckles. Eh, not so much.
The day, Dylan and Hart meet with their new clients. A very pregnant Mei Brundage is telling them about how she met her husband Christopher. Her in-laws, Mr. and Mrs. Brundage, chime in about how they were all planning the wedding when their son was sent to Afghanistan, where he was killed six months ago. Mei says she contacted the U.S. Government about her work visa after losing her job at SoCal Concrete and was told her proxy marriage to Christopher was invalid. Now she's going to be deported back to China, since she got pregnant before they were married and they didn't consummate the marriage legally. She wants to stay with the Brundages and have her baby here. Hart and Dylan gladly take the case. In Cliff's office, Beth and Addy are getting their new assignment: They're representing Robin Reynolds, the CEO of a lingerie company who's been accused of harassment by a former mid-level employee named Rhazia Khan. Cliff tells them go meet with Reynolds, then presses a button under his desk. His office doors whoosh open, prompting Beth to make a Star Trek joke. Aw, she's a geek! I'm starting to like her. Nobody laughs at the joke, leading her to try to explain the joke, which makes it even less funny, but also more endearing.
Addy and Beth pore over their files, reading from notes. "How would you respond if I said I wanted to snap your whiz strap?" Addy asks. It's one of the things the plaintiff alleges their client said to her. They go back and forth, repeating the phrase in mockingly sexy tones. I have no idea what a "whiz strap" is, but this is what it made me think of, and it's not sexy. Nonetheless, Liam's interest is piqued as the women approach his office. Addy scurries off to do something while Liam pulls Beth into the office. They flirt a bit and Liam lets her know he has the evening off. She invites him to dinner and a movie, but Liam blows it: "Or we could skip all that and straight to the part where I snap your whiz strap." Beth is not at all charmed and ditches him to go work on her new case. End of teaser.
Back to the show, where Susan is having breakfast with Kyle Secor. He's really getting around this week; I just saw him playing a scummy doctor on White Collar. He's a lawyer at a competing firm and wants Susan to leave Sterling and join him. Susan is flattered, but says, "Sterling is my home." Kyle tells her she deserves the chance to step out of Cliff's shadow. He gives her his card. At the office, Addy is on the phone with Malcolm. He's stuck at the courthouse and needs her to pick up his little brother. Addy's surprised he's never mentioned having a brother. When was he supposed to do that? He's had almost no screen time. He tells Addy she's the only one he can trust.
At the courthouse, Hart is bringing the deportation case before the judge. Clancy Brown really does have a magnificent head of hair. He looks a little bored, though. He's telling the judge that Christopher clearly intended to make a life with Mei but he was killed in action, plus the Marine Corps already recognizes the marriage. The judge says Immigration & Customs Enforcement doesn't recognize the marriage because it wasn't consummated. "Well, I'm sorry, but the law sees pre-marital sex as fornication, not marriage consummation." Hart and Dylan try to reason with the judge, but the judge rules that Mei has to go back to China. Commercials.
Addy's picking up Eric Bennett from the school principal's office. He sulks in a chair and snots while Addy signs him out. The principal explains that the kid was suspended for bringing a weapon to school. Eric proclaims his innocence. Addy hands the principal her card and introduces herself as Eric's lawyer. The kid smiles. Back at the office, Dylan and Hart are commiserating about the unfair laws. Dylan's all riled up like a chipmunk faced with an impenetrable bird feeder full of delicious seeds. Hart calms him down and promises to talk to a senate friend who can sponsor a private bill that will recognize Mei's marriage. "That'll take forever," Dylan grumps, growing ever more frustrated at the sunflower kernels that are just out of reach. Hart tells him to find a way to stall the deportation.
Addy and Beth show up at American Lingerie, where models are strutting around to show off the truly crappy lingerie. Not even the most destitute of hookers would be caught on the streets in this stuff. Addy and Beth are doing everything but clutching their pearls even though there's nothing shockingly skimpy in view. They're talking with Robin Reynolds about the ex-employee's complaint. He promises he prides himself on creating a work environment where everyone is happy. He turns to one model and says, "You make that look great! I totally want to unwrap the package!" But he says it in such a chipper way that it doesn't sound too scummy. Addy calls him out on that kind of comment. As Beth continues to question him, he cuts her off and says, "You're totally gorgeous; I could totally see you in this." He's actually talking to Addy and he wants to set her up with some lingerie. She declines. Good; that cheap fabric probably causes a rash.
Hart seeks Susan out in her office. He wants to talk to her about her breakfast with Kyle Secor. Word gets around fast, huh? He wants to know if Susan turned down the job offer. "I haven't... yet," she tells him. She's loyal to Hart, but says things are complicated with Cliff. Hart invites her to dinner and martinis to talk it out. Keep this up, and you won't have to pay for any of your meals, girl. Out in the hall, Liam is having a harder time making plans for the evening. He's on the phone, leaving a message for Beth and sounding dorkily hopeful. Rowdy walks up to him, having heard most of the message and eyes him curiously. (Apropos of nothing, I'm surprised they haven't had Liam naked yet; his pecs are practically bursting through the fabric of his tailored shirt.) Rowdy figures out that Liam is trying to date a girl. Liam can't understand why the girl in question gets upset every time he suggests they get together. Rowdy gets right to the nub of the matter: "These 'get-togethers' -- you pitching pants on or pants off?" "Pants off," Liam says confidently. Rowdy's take on relationships is that they "tend to revolve around a strategic lack of nudity." Hee. Liam looks like Rowdy is speaking Japanese all of a sudden. Rowdy pulls Liam into a nearby office and shuts the door for privacy. Rowdy starts sauntering and dancing toward Liam, looking every bit the strutting bantam rooster. "You're going to have to court her," Rowdy says. Rowdy says Liam's going to have to listen to this girl, care about the same things she cares about. Liam thinks this is all a bit old-fashioned. Rowdy thinks it's vastly superior and more mature than Liam's current strategy. "Touché," Liam says. "Merci," Rowdy replies. Hee! Rowdy and Liam need to have scenes all the time. Or at least until the show is canceled.
Malcolm returns to the office to find Eric passing the time on the computer. He wants to know what's up with the weapons charge. "It was my Cub Scout knife, fork and spoon set," Eric says. He also says Addy talked to the principal and said she was his lawyer. Eric is obviously over the moon about Addy, but Malcolm is less impressed. He excuses himself to go track her down. In Hart's office, he and Dylan talk about the most boring plot of the episode. Hart says it could take six months for the private bill to pass. Dylan's stall tactic is to argue for the citizenship rights of Mei's unborn baby. Hart thinks it's a stretch, but tells Dylan to go prep the clients. Cut to Malcolm finding Addy in the hall. At first, Addy isn't reading Malcolm's tone or body language at all, because she's all chipper in response to him asking her about Eric. But then he gets overtly upset about being able to handle Eric on his own and Addy (she of the new spine) stands up for herself. All she did was get the principal to agree to meet with Malcolm before suspending Eric, she says. "time, I won't bother," she says. Malcolm's left standing in the hall, alone. Cut to Dylan at the Customs and Immigration holding facility, where Mei is telling him she's being deported the day. Moving on.
Courthouse. Dylan tracks down a Judge Hernandez going up the escalator and makes a case for Mei's unborn child. Hernandez is reluctant because there's no precedent, but Dylan keeps at her, citing that Mei's eight months pregnant and the child is viable. "If, God forbid, Mei were murdered, her assailant would be tried for both the death of her and her baby." Judge Hernandez doesn't like it, but Dylan earnestly argues that deporting a baby to China would deprive it of due process, a violation of the 8th Amendment. Hernandez grants a temporary restraining order to keep Mei in the country until the baby is born.
Beth and Addy are in the office, going over their case. Liam sits between them, doing his best to look interested in everything Beth has to say. He interjects, "Fascinating!" and, later, "Did that upset you?" when Beth says Reynolds said questionable things in front of her. Both Addy and Beth are suspicious of this new, sensitive Liam. Beth asks what's wrong with him. Liam turns into a giant dork trying unsuccessfully to explain himself and finally seeks refuge in his bologna sandwich lunch. Before they can question him further, a secretary arrives to give Addy and Beth packages from Reynolds. Inside are examples of American Lingerie's craptacular offerings. Addy holds a pink corset up to her body while Beth holds up a sheer red babydoll. The ladies pose sexily/comically for each other. Liam practically throws down his lunch and leaps from the room, lest an impending boner betray him. He chases down Rowdy in the hall outside the elevator. The courting thing isn't working, he says. "I tried being interested in her, I tried asking her questions, then I spoke about my sandwich. I seemed impaired... possibly creepy." Heh. I like dorky Liam. Rowdy's game plan is for Liam to acquire flowers, truffles, and a gift from his country of origin. "Liam, you can do this," Rowdy says. He takes Liam by the shoulders. "Beneath this smoking hunk of horse thief beats the heart of a poet, I just know it." Oh, Rowdy. Don't ever change. At least for as long as this show lasts.
Susan's office. Cliff comes in at her request. She wanted to give him his dad's watch, which Cliff had left behind at the house. Cliff says what he wants is to come home, but Susan says she needs more time. Susan is very mature and even smiling up to this point, but Cliff blows it by reminding her of how patient he's been. She reminds him that he had an affair with their paralegal. He thanks her for the watch and leaves. Man, you're lucky she doesn't throw another vase at you. Cut to the Customs & Immigration facility where Dylan has just shown up deliver the good news to Mei and Mrs. Brundage. He notices that Mei is looking pretty bad. She tries to assure everyone that she's fine, but she lets out a scream and goes into labor. Everyone scrambles for an ambulance. Commercials.
Mei's two-minute labor now over, Dylan visits her and new baby Christopher in the hospital. Mei and the in-laws are all smiles. Unfortunately, the restraining order was just for the baby and now that he's been born, Mei can be deported without him. The Brundages are distraught, but Dylan vows to keep fighting. Also, that is one huge, huge baby. If he'd waited for the ninth month, he could have walked out.
Malcolm's at the junior high, talking to Eric's principal. She won't budge on the zero-tolerance weapons policy. Malcolm argues that it's just a Cub Scout prize, not a switch blade. The principal digs her heels in and won't make an exception, leaving Malcolm looking defeated.
Back at the office, Beth, Addy, and their client are meeting with the plaintiff and her lawyer. Rhazia, the former employee, talks about the lewd comments and the intensity of the harassment increasing the longer she worked there. Beth asks if there were any sexual overtures from Reynolds. Rhazia allows that there weren't any direct overtures. More questioning reveals she wasn't threatened with firing or demotion. "But he crossed a line," she insists. She goes on to say she's a professional woman and Reynolds was trying to undermine that. Beth presses on: "But you were never threatened or coerced." Rhazia admits she wasn't. Cut to Dylan returning to the hospital with bad news: Mei has to go. Tearing up, she asks Dylan to draw up adoption papers so that her gigantic baby can stay with her in-laws. Sad looks all around. Back at the office, Addy and Beth walk Reynolds to the elevator. He's not exactly a gracious winner, calling Rhazia a "loony tune" and bitches about her not being able to make it in the business world. He bitches some more about women in the workplace, earning disgusted looks from both Addy and Beth. Reynolds quickly adds, "Not like you ladies! You're smart... and sexy!" Cliff overhears this exchange and checks to see if everything is OK. Reynolds couldn't be happier or grosser.
Dylan tracks down Mei's doctor. He's looking for anything he can use to keep her in the country. He's looking for a medical reason, but he finds out from the doctor that Mei's former employer, SoCal Concrete, called the doctor regarding the pregnancy after the doctor suggested she take two weeks off from work due to a minor problem. She was fired about a month later. Dylan thinks the company thought the pregnancy was going to get expensive and may have let Mei go because of it. It's not legal to fire a woman for being pregnant, but Dylan thinks they manufactured another reason.
Beth and Addy return to their office to find flowers, chocolates, and a tiny stuffed kangaroo on Beth's desk. Addy thinks it's sweet, but Beth thinks it's clueless and lazy. She grabs the stuffed kangaroo and storms into Liam's office. She questions him about the kangaroo. He tells her it's actually a wallaby, then becomes hot to me for the first time by correctly calling it a macropod. What can I say? I like guys who know science words. "I'm courting you," he says archly. She gripes at him for not really wanting to know her or talk to her, but just wants to have sex with her. She throws the toy macropod at him. She slams the door. Liam says to the little wallaby, in consoling tones, "It's more about me than you." Aww. Commercials.
Dylan fills Mei and the Brundages in about his new theory, that the company fired her for being pregnant. Mei says they told her she was fired because her work had slipped. Dylan says there's nothing in her employee records don't support that. They can sue the employer, get Mei's job back, and her work visa will be reinstated long enough for the private bill to make its way through congress. Everyone looks hopeful.
At the office, Malcolm apologizes to Addy. He explains he's still figuring out how to take care of his baby brother. Addy is sympathetic. The suspension is the first big thing he's had to deal with since their parents died. Addy stepping in reminded him of how his folks would have handled things better than him. Addy hands him some papers with court precedent. Apparently, the Scouts meet at the school and anything that takes place at the school is considered approved by the school. The school sanctions their activities and thus approved the very contest where Eric won his knife set. Happy smiles all around.
Outside, Liam finds Rowdy playing a ukulele and enjoying a sunny Los Angeles day. Liam interrupts Rowdy's "mini-vacation" with more of his relationship woes. All the courtship tricks didn't work on Beth, Liam says. Rowdy, upon learning for the first time that the girl in question is Beth, says he could have suggested a different plan. They argue humorously about kangaroos vs. wallabies for a bit. Rowdy extols Beth's virtues and says Liam has to give her the real Liam. This scares Liam, but Rowdy is done talking about this relationship stuff and goes back to his imaginary vacation and his ukulele.
Beth and Addy fill Cliff in about the sexual harassment case that they're bound to win. It's all good news, except... When they hesitate to go on, Cliff prompts, "What?" in such a goofy way that it's hard to understand why anyone calls him the Prince of Darkness. So, the bad news is that there appears to be a climate of discrimination against women at American Lingerie. Every female V.P. ends up leaving the company and there are no women in senior positions. (At first I didn't get why this would be a problem for the law firm, since they surely must be used to defending scumbags, but they sort of explain it later.) On top of that, all the departing women said the "climate" of the company didn't suit them. Beth and Addy want to know what they're going to do. "You're not going to do anything," Cliff says. Instead, he takes the info over to Susan and asks for her help. Cliff says that the problem is systemic, widespread, and Reynolds has no idea how to fix it. She agrees to help -- for Beth and Addy, not him.
Dylan and Hart meet with Mei's former employer and his lawyer. Hart delivers the ultimatum: Mei gets her job back or SoCal will be hit with a class action lawsuit. The employer protests that there was no discrimination. Dylan points out that SoCal called Mei's doctor and nosed around about her pregnancy. The lawyer thinks Dylan is bluffing since he's not asking for a big payout. Hart says money isn't their motive; they just want to move quickly to avoid separating Mei from her baby. Dylan sweetly threatens to parade a bunch of other young mothers in front of a jury if they'd prefer, and sue them for millions. The lawyer and former employer trade troubled looks. Commercials.
American Lingerie. There are lots of camera closeups of women's body parts in cheap lingerie. A pair of boobs here, a stocking-clad thigh there. The show's losing brownie points here by railing against sexual discrimination and then turning around and treating women like objects, but whatever. We're in the home stretch now. Susan, Addy, and Beth are waiting for Reynolds, who gives a tacky nylon lace body stocking to Susan as a gift. She's not impressed. She tells Reynolds he's going to settle the harassment suit with Rhazia. He protests that Beth and Addy told him she didn't have a case. This is less about the case, though, and more about the culture of discrimination in the company. Susan explains that Reynolds needs Rhazia to "go away happy" so she doesn't figure out what he's been doing about it and make a public stink about it. Reynolds says he never intended to discriminate against anyone, but Susan thinks any court of law would see an obvious pattern. She gives him the business and throws the body stocking at him. As the three lawyers leave, Addy and Susan trade surreptitious low-fives.
Addy gets back to the firm and runs into Malcolm. He tells her Eric isn't going to be suspended, thanks to the digging that Addy did. They're both happy for a moment, then Malcolm looks pensive. Addy asks him what's wrong. He worries he's not up to being a guardian. Addy says he's doing a great job with everything except the cooking, according to Eric. This leads Malcolm to invite Addy over for dinner than night.
Susan and Hart celebrate their respective victories with drinks. The topic of Susan's job offer comes up. Hart knows it's hard for Susan because of Cliff. Susan doesn't just want to let it slide, but Hart suggests she talk it over with Cliff so she'll know whether she wants to leave him or stay by him. "Bottom line, if you don't confront it, it's not fair to him," Hart says. Susan narrows her eyes at him. Hart clarifies that it's not fair for the firm, either, or to her. They have such a nice rapport, I'd rather see them together than Susan and Cliff.
Denouements: Addy shows up at Malcolm and Eric's apartment with a lasagna. Malcolm thought he would be cooking dinner than night, but Addy teases him that his idea of cooking would be ordering in or heating up frozen food. Eric is thrilled by both Addy and her lasagna. Addy and Malcolm grin at each other cutely for a while before he invites her in. Hart and Dylan are at the hospital, delivering the good news to Mei and the Brundages: SoCal settled and Mei can stay in America. Everyone cries and smiles and cries some more. Dylan gets to hold the giant baby. Back at the firm, Liam makes his final play for Beth. She's working in her office when he comes in and admits that his love of sex sometimes gets in the way of everything else. But the truth is, he really does care for her. He stands before her and reads her a poem he wrote while Rowdy plays the ukulele outside. At first Beth is skeptical, but as Liam reads on, she's slowly won over. By the time he's done, Beth is smitten. She gets up and silently crosses the room to shut the door. Rowdy keeps playing and strolls off with a smile.
Tippi Blevins has never been serenaded by ukulele, although there was a close call with a kazoo once. You can reach her at b_tippi[at]yahoo.com or http://twitter.com/TippiB