Photo Credit: USA
“You’re in the middle – your favorite place to be” – Ben Grogan (Ryan Johnson)
If there ever was a quote to describe Kate Reed (Sarah Shahi), that is it. And, while it may work well for her professionally, her personal life – not so much. Playing it safe, all snug in the middle, is what has made her love life a virtual mess, as tonight’s episode clearly demonstrates.
For those in the “Team Ben” camp, you will be pissed right off the bat with this episode. Kate is awakened at the crack of dawn by Ben and Leo (Baron Vaughn) with the 411 on a new mediation case in Lake Tahoe. A body has been found on some land being developed by Ben’s client, and until 2 police departments decide on who has jurisdiction, the standstill is costing Ben’s client $100,000 a day. Kate doesn’t seem all that interested, but Ben assures Kate “we’ll be home by lunch”, and so, she reluctantly agrees to help. Road trip for Ben and Kate! This sounds pretty cool – until Justin (Michael Trucco) strolls out of the bathroom in a towel, making us realize that Kate is definitely banging her ex again. And, to top it off, she’s doing it in her stepmother’s house (reality check – how many of you would have sex in someone else’s house, let alone your stepmother’s? That’s something not even I would do, and I’ve done some crazy things in my time).
So, off Ben and Kate go to Lake Tahoe, and as we all suspected from the get-go, the case is more complicated than they had thought. The victim turns out to be a girl who has been missing since 2006, and who also happens to be the sister of one of the police officers on the case. He insists that his sister’s killer is her former boyfriend, Jacob. He was a suspect back in 2006, and rumor has it that he was never charged because of his father’s influence and because of money. Jacob tells a very different story, claiming that he was in love with Carla, wanted to marry her, and would never hurt her. This sounds like another perfect case for Kate Reed, the champion for “justice for all”. Here comes the one part of the episode that I really didn’t like. I get that the episode really was a story about 2 star-crossed lovers, and that this was supposed to parallel in some way with Ben and Kate. However, I think they went a little overboard with the “sap”. The whole “Carla + Jacob With Thee I Wed” thing was probably OK, but then, Jacob started crying and hugging the tree, which in my mind was a little too much. Bring out the wine, chocolates and violins and cry me a river. I will be the first to admit that I’ve seen Titanic multiple times and cried every, single time, but this was over the top even for me.
In the end, we find out that Carla’s death was an accident, which means no murder investigation, and so, Ben’s client can now continue his development. Another happy ending for Kate Reed. However, for Ben – the ending isn’t exactly what he had in mind. As we all knew from the beginning that Ben orchestrated the whole trip with Kate to Lake Tahoe because he knew they would end up spending the night. The plan was to get Kate alone – away from Justin and everything else – and then, maybe finally, she would open up and admit her feelings. We can all tell that she wanted to, but….
“Love is never easy. You don’t have to be seventeen, you just have to be brave” – Ben
Unfortunately for our Kate, she wasn’t quite that brave – at least not yet.
Even with all of this, I still have all my money on Team Ben. Why? Well, the answer is in the old saying” Once a cheater, always a cheater”. As most of us will remember, Justin cheated on Kate. While Justin conveniently had the excuse that it was because it “was a bad point in their marriage” and they were fighting all the time, I think it was nothing more than that – an excuse. No matter what the circumstances, if a guy cheats once, more than likely he’ll cheat again. What’s more, with Kate just throwing herself at Justin again, that’s a signal that he can get away with it because Kate will always come running back. Finally, let us not forget that Justin is now running for District Attorney and has a good shot at winning. They say that power tends to corrupt, and it wouldn’t surprise me if winning the District Attorney’s office makes Justin even more inclined to cheat on the woman in his life.
And, if you saw next week’s promo, this may very well be on the horizon. We see in the promo Justin having drinks with a bunch of girls in a car, and then, a crash. Yes, my dear Kate, once a cheater, always a cheater – and, it looks like you haven’t quite learned that lesson yet.
Some memorable quotes:
