Episode Report Card Tippi Blevins: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Judge Judy and Executioner
By Tippi Blevins | Season 1 | Episode 5 | Aired on 02.18.2010
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.In the episode's major plot, Rowdy assigns Dylan and Liam to defend a young man on murder charges. The young man's father, a long-standing client of the firm, is estranged from his son, who he believes to be guilty because of a history of drug use and petty crimes. Dylan and Liam work out a reduced sentence for manslaughter, but then find evidence of their client's innocence. The judge assigned to the case, however, is such a hardass she makes Judge Judy look like a cream puff. She won't vacate the guilty plea until Rowdy, a friend of hers from back in the day, appeals to her sense of justice. The judge finds a "technicality" that lets her save face and let the young man off the hook all at the same time. His father, having been burned so many times by his son's screw-ups, eventually goes from wanting him to see jail time to tearfully embracing him.
On other legal fronts, Hart asks Cliff and Susan to work on a corporate case for two brothers who want to amicably divvy up the family candy business. Naturally, they make it all about themselves and their marital problems until Beth and Malcolm, who are working with them, sneakily set them up on a romantic dinner. Expensive wine makes everything better and the two decide to seek counseling. Meanwhile, Addy's long-distance boyfriend from Ohio shows up to move in with her. Without asking. This has Addy unsettled, even though the boyfriend is super-cute and thoughtful, and she makes up her mind to tell him she's not sure she's ready for the "next step" in their relationship. But then he proposes and she accepts, and all this leaves Malcolm feeling a little ambivalent. Hope he figures out what he wants with Addy, soon because I don't think this show has much life left in it.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Peppy music plays as the show opens. Dylan, Liam, and Addy are legging it to work and talking some kind of nonsense about how many first-graders Liam thinks he could take on in a karate fight. In case you were wondering, it's fifty. He was just walking by a dojo the night before and the hypothetical situation occurred to him. Listen, I'm not crazy about kids, either, but I don't fantasize about fighting them. Usually. Malcolm pops up behind them to give Liam a hard time. Liam says his mind never stops searching for the "ultimate hypothetical" and he's utterly serious. Everyone thinks he's nuts, as they should. Inside the office, Cliff is walking around with his sleeves ridiculously rolled up to his elbows. Susan catches up to him and bitches him out for not paying her gym membership on time. He says he left his checkbook at home, from whence he's been banished. Who writes checks anymore? More bickering. A bit later, Rowdy has gotten Dylan and Liam together to meet with their client, Mr. Mather. His son Kevin was picked up by police after getting into a fight outside a club. The other man died and now Kevin has been charged with second-degree murder. Due to Kevin's history of substance abuse, he and his father are "estranged," as Rowdy delicately puts it. Mr. Mather didn't even speak with his son after the arrest. Rowdy presses the fact that Mr. Mather is an "important client" of the firm who wants his son to do as little jail time as possible. Liam is surprised. "So you want to negotiate a plea?" Mather wants his son to take some responsibility. Rowdy tells them: "Get the kid out before he goes gray and call it a day." Liam and Dylan give each other "WTF?" looks.
Addy is in Beth's office and is availing herself of Beth's deodorant; since they're "so close" she figured Beth wouldn't mind. Beth snits that if they're supposed to be close, why didn't Addy tell her about Jason, her boyfriend from Ohio who is waiting for her in the lobby. Oh, wait, no -- he's tracked them down before Addy can finish explaining to Beth about the long-distance complicated thing. Jason and Addy smooch before introductions are made. (Jason, by the way, is being played by David Giuntoli, who had a particularly gut-wrenching turn as a gay soldier in an episode of Grey's Anatomy. I hope he gets a big gig soon because he's fantastic.) He says he's flown in to celebrate Addy's birthday and invites himself to stay at Addy's apartment. "Oh, sure!" Addy says, smiling like she's biting her tongue.
Liam and Dylan meet with Kevin at the big house. The victim was beating up a smaller guy and Kevin stepped in to stop him. As some people from the bar were pulling them apart, Kevin got "riled up" and threatened to kick the guy's ass. Liam offers as to how Kevin may have had a few drinks, but Kevin insists he's been sober for five years. He invites them to call his sponsor and boss if they don't believe him. He and the other guy walked away from the fight, he says. He's turned his life around and thought his father knew that; that's why he sent lawyers. Does Kevin have an alibi? No, but he's innocent! He pleads at them with his bushy eyebrows. Title card.
Walking out of the jail, Dylan and Liam talk over the case. Idealistic Dylan has already been swayed by Kevin's proclamation of innocence, but Liam is more cynical. "Addicts are notorious liars." Dylan is one sad little chipmunk.
Cliff's office, where hideously bad ideas are born. Cliff has called in Susan and Cliff (who walk through the door bickering) to meet with the Cook brothers, of Cook's Candies. They all laugh over some unfunny candy-related dental jokes. One brother wants to branch off with a "healthy sweets" company of his own. Which brother is which is entirely unimportant. The two have agreed to waive conflict so the firm can represent them both. Susan and Cliff are supposed to handle the negotiations. The moment the Wonka brothers are out of the office, Cliff and Susan start pestering Hart with protestations. Hart calms them down. "All you have to do is divide the assets fairly between the two companies." Beth and Malcolm will draft the contracts. Hart thinks it'll be the easiest fee Susan and Cliff have ever made. Think again, big guy.
At the courthouse, Liam and Dylan are tag-teaming the ADA about Kevin's case. He has a rap sheet, but not for anything violent and not for anything at all in the last five years. His Narcotics Anonymous sponsor says he's been going to meetings and his boss has nothing but good things to say about him. After some persuasion, the ADA says she'll take the info to her boss and see if she can get Kevin five years. Dylan is appalled. "Five years for a crime he says he didn't commit?" They can take the five years, or... She leads them into Judge Joan Anderson's courtroom. She has a sentencing history 35% higher than average, the ADA says. She's in the middle of hearing a case about a man who stole cold cuts to feed his starving family. Judge Joan is unsympathetic and sentences him to nine months in prison. Dylan and Liam look like they just peed themselves a little.
Susan and Cliff have taken up residency in the library with Beth and Malcolm. They legal-babble about the candy job and pat themselves on the back for how well things are going. Which means it's all about to go to hell. Cliff wants his brother to have a stake in Susan's brother's company. Susan doesn't budge. They bicker about the brothers while Beth and Malcolm look on in confusion. Susan takes it personally because she sees Cliff as wanting the bigger party to screw over the smaller. She calls him vindictive. Cliff, knowing full well he's purposely pushed Susan's buttons, says she's letting her personal feelings get in the way. She storms out of the room. Cliff follows soon after. The negotiations a bust, Beth and Malcolm head out and catch up with Addy in the hall. They liken the negotiations to the Thunderdome. Heh. I would enjoy seeing Susan get her Tina Turner on. They try to get Addy to spill about any trouble in Cliff and Susan's relationship, since she worked with Cliff a few weeks ago. Addy denies everything in a way that completely confirms Beth and Malcolm's suspicions. Addy turns on them. Her boyfriend's in town and she's all off-balance and she doesn't appreciate them coming after her. She stomps into her office, shutting the door behind her. Malcolm stares at her through the door. "What boyfriend?"