Previously on The Practice: Joanne Oz is trying to take her husband (legendary legal eagle Raymond Oz) to court in order to be named his conservator; Raymond tells Joanne he doesn't need her to control him; Bobby shows up at the Oz estate to find that Raymond has murdered Joanne, claiming she tried to kill him; Helen tells Bobby she'll back him on an insanity plea; Bobby tells Raymond his only effective defense is to plead insanity; Raymond insists on going with the self-defense defense, and further insists that he will represent himself; Judge Kittleson tells him that he's going to have to accept Bobby and Lindsay as co-counsel.
There's a large media scrum outside the courtroom where the Oz murder trial is beginning; Helen, Bobby, Lindsay, and Raymond are besieged by pushy reporters as they enter the courtroom. Inside, Richard the Runt is doing his opening. The Runt cites Raymond Oz and his legendary reputation as one of his major inspirations for wanting to become a lawyer, and mentions that he wanted to be Raymond Oz. (Now that we know who to blame, Oz should be ordered to stand trial for that offense once we're done with this case.) Richard blabs on to the jury about Oz's ability to charm and mesmerize juries, and suggests he'll do the same to them. Richard states that the evidence will show that Ray murdered his wife by bludgeoning her in the back of the head with a trophy, and emphasizes how much he wishes that this weren't true. As Richard sits down, everyone looks to Raymond, waiting for him to start his opening. Raymond sits there with his hands folded on his chest, staring disinterestedly downward. Kittleson has an expectant look, and Bobby and Lindsay start to look anxious, until finally Ray gets up and starts to talk. He's wearing a dark suit with a red tie, and a dark plaid woolen scarf around his neck, which I guess is meant to telegraph his eccentricity but just looks goofy. Ray mentions Richard's desire to be him, and then points out to the jury that he has no children or grandchildren sitting in the peanut gallery to support him, because he and his wife never had kids; all they had was each other. "Ours was a great love affair," he says. "I killed her. The only woman I ever loved -- I killed her. But it was in self-defense." He points out that neither Richard nor the detectives were there at the time. He reiterates what a great love affair it was, and adds, "I don't know what will haunt me more: that, in the end, I took her life; or that in the end, she tried to take mine." Credits, commercials, you know the drill.
Helen's got Trevor on the stand. He testifies that he and Ray have been friends for more than fifty years. Helen asks about the relationship between Joanne and Ray. Trevor indicates that it was a very loving relationship until Ray's stroke two years ago, at which time he suffered some memory lapses, as well as some delusions and paranoia. Raymond growls, "That's a lie!" Kittleson admonishes him for speaking out of turn; Ray shifts defensively in his seat. Trevor goes on to testify that due to these problems, it became difficult for Ray to try cases, so eventually Joanne told the judge it was time for Ray to hang it up, and Ray never forgave her for that. Trevor says, "He told me he hated her for it." Helen asks for more information; Trevor explains that Joanne recently went to court to have Ray declared incompetent, which enraged him. Bobby pipes up, "Objection! Foundation?" Kittleson overrules him. Helen asks why Trevor thinks it enraged Ray so much; Trevor hesitates before responding that Ray's all about making an entrance, walking into a room and needing people to think, "There's Raymond Oz." Trevor indicates that Ray was always, always talking about his "legacy," and suggests that it was "more important to him than anything or anybody," and the idea of being declared incompetent was more than Ray could handle. Helen asks whether Trevor thinks it could have made Ray homicidal. Trevor doesn't know. Helen thanks him and returns to her seat as Bobby massages his forehead. Ray's sitting ramrod straight with a look of extreme contempt on his face. Since he doesn't make a move to cross-examine Trevor, Kittleson prompts him. He says nothing, but raises his right hand and waves it dismissively.
Helen and Richard are in her office. Richard is raving about Trevor's testimony, as well as Helen's performance. Helen looks like she'd like to punt him into the hallway. Here, let me open the door. He concludes his raving with, "It was music!" He plops himself into a chair. Helen quietly reminds him that a woman is dead and a great man is destroyed. "We shouldn't enjoy it too much." Richard backpedals and insists that he's not, but claims that they're "back on top" now and that the defense will have to "jump at manslaughter."
Fast cut to Bobby saying, "I hope they still offer it." He's in the DYD&F offices with Jimmy, Eugene, and Rebecca, making one of their obligatory one- or two-minute appearances. Eugene is surprised that they didn't cross-examine Trevor, but Bobby says there was nothing to cross him on, and that Trevor was totally believable. Rebecca says they have to take manslaughter. Lindsay asks whether there's any chance that they could switch the plea to insanity. Bobby says to forget it, not at this late date: "Plus Ray would never go for it." Lindsay argues that he might, now: "Even he had to see how damaging that was -- his lifelong friend just gave them motive, gift-wrapped." Bobby asks Jimmy whether he has any sense of whether Kittleson would let them switch pleas so deep into the case. Jimmy says they haven't said a word about the case. If I were Jimmy, I'd have taken a lot more offense to Bobby asking about this, after reaming me out for possible conflict of interest, but Jimmy's a doormat. Eugene tells Bobby he needs to see if Ray is willing to change his plea.
In his office, Bobby argues with Ray. Ray refuses to hear of an insanity plea, and orders Bobby never to bring it up again. Bobby reminds him that Trevor's testimony hurt their case. Ray knows it. Bobby presses him on the insanity plea further, saying he has to consider it, since the jury has all it needs to convict him now. Ray yells, "I will not have my final legacy a doddering --" Bobby cuts him off: "Enough about your damn legacy! Legacy is family! It's friends. You killed your wife and your best friend just turned on you. That's your legacy, Ray!" Ray accuses Bobby of turning on him, since he aided Joanne in her attempts to end his career and have him declared incompetent. "And I hated you for that, Bobby." Bobby's fed up. "So you hate me now, too, Ray?" Ray says he does, and repeats it a couple more times just so Bobby doesn't miss the point. Bobby says, "You know what? I'm beginning to hate you right back, because you're so pathetic!" Ray gets up and tells Bobby to watch his mouth. I'm expecting him to whip out a razor strop any minute. Bobby reminds him that his wife is dead and he hasn't even been to her grave yet: "All you care about is your reputation as a lawyer: 'The Great Oz!' Well, you may not have loved Joanne. I did, like I once loved you." Bobby's tearing up and shouting. "Now...I don't think you were insane. I think it was premeditated! You weren't about to let her declare you incompetent and tarnish your legacy! So you killed her! And that's what you'll leave behind with me, Ray. I'll remember you as a premeditated murderer!" Lindsay bursts in, admonishing Bobby. He tells her to get out. She doesn't. Ray says, "How dare you accuse me of not loving her?" Bobby yells, "You killed her! And now you're telling the world that she tried to kill you? What about her legacy, Ray? This woman devoted her entire life to you! What about the memory of her? She deserved better than that. Your precious legacy!" Bobby's (literally) spitting his words out now. He points his finger in Ray's face and says, "You will die an unloved murderer! You...you pitiful old man." Bobby stalks out and Ray vibrates a little from the impact of Bobby's words. Lindsay stands there stupidly. For once, I have to agree with Bobby.
Later that night, Bobby's slumped in a chair at home, looking sloppy in a T-shirt. He looks dejected. Lindsay glides up in a navy silk robe and suggests they go to bed. Bobby says, "I told him he'd die an unloved murderer." He pauses. "He did everything for me." Lindsay crouches down beside Bobby and turns on a sunny expression, saying, "He may die a murderer but he's obviously not unloved." She pleads with him to get some sleep. Bobby seems on the verge of agreeing when there's a knock on the door. It's Ray. With no greeting at all, he informs Bobby that he wants to change his plea to insanity. "I can't have people think that about Joanne. At the time, I, I thought she was trying to kill me. But I know she...she couldn't have been. You know...you know that I never, ever, would have harmed her, Bobby. You know that. I want to change my plea. To insanity." Ray turns and walks away. We can ponder that during the commercials. ["Does anyone else hate how Lindsay always wears lip gloss to bed?" -- ragdoll]
In Kittleson's office, she tells them they can't switch to insanity now. Bobby and Ray argue with her a bit but she's not having any of it. As they all pick up their things to leave, Bobby asks Helen if manslaughter is still available. Helen says yes; at the same time, the Runt says no. Helen shoos the Runt away and tells Bobby they can still have manslaughter, but if they push it any farther they can forget it.
Bobby and Lindsay meet with Ray to tell him he should take manslaughter. Ray asks why. "At my age, manslaughter's a life sentence. Might as well roll the dice." Bobby suggests he could be out in three years. Ray asks, "With Kittleson? And Bay? That little Shetland's going to ask for the maximum. I might as well keep going." Shetland? Isn't that some miniature breed of horse or something? Snerk! ["It's a breed of pony. Shetlands are tiny. Word to that 'snerk.'" -- Sars] Lindsay says she can't disagree with him.
Back at the firm, the Forgotten Four (Eugene, Rebecca, Jimmy, and Ellenor) are watching a news report about the trial. The reporter explains that Oz is about to testify. Ellenor gets to say, "Oh no," and look around at the other lawyers, who all look dubious. Bye-bye, kids. Thanks for dropping in.
Lindsay has Ray on the stand, and asks him to tell the court what happened in his own words. He's not wearing the scarf this time. He says that he and Joanne had been going through rough times, because Joanne thought he was losing his mind. He allows that it's possible he was suffering from delusions. Lindsay asks if it's possible he was suffering from a delusion the night Joanne was killed. Helen objects and asks for a sidebar. All the lawyers crowd around Kittleson. Richard accuses the defense team of trying to set up temporary insanity. Bobby reminds the prosecutors that temporary insanity isn't available to them and that Kittleson will instruct the jury to that effect. Lindsay asserts that Raymond's only testifying to his mental state, which is an element of the crime. Kittleson asks whether Ray is going to testify that he believes he acted in self-defense; he says he is. Richard interjects that such a belief has to be a rational one, and not an irrational one. Raymond: "Save your closing arguments till later, you midget." Kittleson looks vaguely amused at this exchange. Her hairstyle is too Betty Crocker-ish in this episode. Richard yammers, "I object to that on record!" Ray replies, "Object to it on a stool, we'd hear you better." Kittleson says, "If you are about to suggest that he was mistaken, I will instruct that the mistake has to be a reasonable one, just like the midg -- Mr. Bay says." Ray asks her, "Why don't you let us present our case before you start criticizing it?" She looks a lot less amused now, and says, "At your own peril. Step back."