Photo Credit: USA
Kate Reed’s (Sarah Shahi) self-professed job description. In between all of that, she still finds time to take down sleezy companies who try to fire their employees for doing the right thing, as in last week’s episode. Without missing a beat, this week she’s taking on a bad-ass drug dealer. Where does the girl get the energy!
For those of you who have not seen this week’s episode, go watch it now – it is a really good one, probably the best one so far this season. Within five minutes of walking through the door at Reed & Reed on a Monday morning, Kate is assigned the super-fun task of mediating a couple dozen foreclosure and bankruptcy cases. Knowing that our Kate is a warrior for justice and is constantly trying to help people, the job sounds like Kate’s worst nightmare. Then, enters Eddie – a landlord who is about to lose his building and his livelihood all because a drug dealer is running off all of his tenants and won’t move out. Well, we all know Kate Reed and should know that she won’t let that happen without a fight.
Kate doesn’t see this as a very difficult case – after all, how hard can it be to convince the guy to just move? Why would he want to stay? Well, things get a lot more complicated when we discover that the drug dealer, Nick’s, lawyer is Ben’s (Ryan Johnson) old high-school rival, Travis Cleighton (Ronreaco Lee). All Kate wants is to try and save her client’s building from foreclosure, and it quickly turns into a pissing contest between Ben and Travis. While they may have been best buddies in high school, Travis now sees Ben as this arrogant jerk that thinks he’s better than everyone else. What is Ben’s response?
“What do you want to say? Forgive me, I have sinned, I’m doing well” — Ben
I call it sour grapes on Travis’ part, but Ben and Travis call it war. In the end, Ben outsmarts Travis and wins, but not before Kate gets a temporary restraining order slapped on her, and then, almost gets arrested for violating the TRO.
Besides a fabulous storyline, we also see a lot of character development tonight. First, there is Leo (Baron Vaughn). There aren’t many episodes where this fantastic character is in the spotlight, but tonight is one of them. While Kate is on a mission to save her client’s building, Leo takes over the bankruptcy negotiations, and actually ends up doing a bang-up job. I think Leo may have missed his calling as an attorney because that guy is seriously talented.
“Leo is good, Leo is great, Leo is the great fixer!” – Leo
Yes, Leo, you’re the man! Then, there is Ben. If you read my review last week, you’ll know that I’ve become a big Ben Grogan fan. Yes, he’s loud and yes, he can be very annoying but this episode tonight clearly shows that his heart is in the right place. And what better way to get this point across than to pit Ben against a truly immoral guy, his former best friend Travis. Travis was giving everyone the impression that everything he does is all for his client, but at the end of the day, he was all for himself. As Ben put it at the end:
“You may be the better lawyer, but I would never sell out my client. I think that makes me the better person”
We also see an emotional side of Ben, and as much as this may upset the Kate/Justin (Michael Trucco) shippers, I think this gives a hint that perhaps some relationship may be in the future for Kate and Ben. While Kate is facing the horror of Justin’s infidelity hitting the press as part of Justin’s rival’s mudslinging campaign for District Attorney, Ben reveals that he, too, was cheated on and so, knows how it feels. It was a touching moment, and while Ben and Kate have a talent for getting on each other’s nerves, I think there may be something more there. Only time will tell!
All in all, this was an exceptional episode. Oh, wait – I’ve already said that! But, I’ll say it again. I personally think Fairly Legal is one of the most underrated shows on television, and so, if you have never watched it, take my word for it and try it. Trust me – you’ll love it.
I usually try to end my reviews with some memorable quotes and/or observations, and tonight’s episode was full of them. Here are some of the highlights:
