The One Where a Nazi Gets Punched
1-800-Maia
Maia's firing is causing an uproar at the firm between the associates and the partners. Marissa and Diane are especially bitter about this and let everyone know. But, is Marissa really in a position to be defending Maia's drug arrests? After all, she knows Maia did do drugs and helped her fake her drug test, which may even be a firable offense for Marissa. I love Marissa, but, girl, you are not in the right here.
Maia, since her firing, is struggling to find any decent work despite Diane's help. To make ends meet, she gets a job with one of those call-a-lawyer services to give legal advice to people who, for the most part, need a whole different kind of help. She only gets a brief break from her nightmare when Marissa visits to give her the superpower sunglasses she left behind, but Maia doesn't use them for anything. I'm guessing she's stepping back from the whole over-confident, overstepping her bounds Maia she turned into. While I'm glad about that, I thought they were going to go somewhere else with it. This feels like a thread that didn't get tied up into anything.
Maia's firing did little to ease the tensions between the associates. The partners still have to figure out how to fix the unequal pay problem. In the meantime, they decide some racial sensitivity training would look good for the firm. Diane and Liz participate in some of this training but believe it is a crock until they start showing signs that it may, in fact, have helped, all through the power of their mutual love for Prince.
The One Where Adrian and Roland Become Bros
But appeasing the associates isn't their biggest problem, it's Roland. Roland forced himself onto one of their class-action lawsuits by stealing client information and getting them to hire him as their lawyer in this case. Classy. As soon as he joins up with the firm, he basically takes the entire case over. He comes up with outlandish ideas for how to get the best settlement possible, and only Adrian is considering it. But Roland bypasses them and puts his plan in place anyway and it actually works, so of course, he gets away with it.
The class action lawsuit is 23 and Me-like company called Second Helix who was sharing private information discovered through their gene testing with insurance companies, helping the insurance companies to deny people insurance from things they discovered from the gene test. But, it's revealed that people who use Second Helix are informed beforehand that their information will be shared, hurting their case. But the female judge from a few episodes ago, the one with a major crush on Adrian, comes to their rescue. After he gives her a little something, she gives him a little something in return; a lead for winning the case.
Adrian and his new best friend Roland figure out what it is they need to win the case. They discover when people sign up, they don't know what they're signing up for because the terms of use box is already checked for them on the signup page, so they don't actually need to look at the agreement. So the firm gets not only the settlement amount they wanted but an offer to hire them to consult for Second Helix and to keep their mouths shut about the case, but only if Roland is part of it. They agree, much to the chagrin of everyone who isn't Adrian, who is basically in love with Roland at this point.
Jay Punches a Nazi
Lucca and Jay, as a form of punishment for releasing that financial information last week, get sent out to be poll watchers. They're matched up with some Republican poll watchers and have fun arguing with them on politics while fighting over voters. But the fun ends when some guys in red jackets, called you guessed it, Red Jackets, a Conservative hate group, show up to take over the voter place and scare off Democratic voters. While Lucca gets help from Diane, who uses her group to look into the backgrounds of the Red Jackets to hurt their personal and work lives. But Jay has another idea, getting his new girlfriend, Naomi, to show up with her news crew. But she doesn't behave in the way he had hoped. To remain the unbiased reporter she is, she actually gives the hate group's leader a fair and honest interview.
Jay is mad enough that when faced with the leader and his racist speech in the bathroom punches him, right in front of the male Republican poll watcher. But the Republican is on Jay's side and covers for him. Outside, the results of Diane's group's actions are revealed. Members of the Red Jackets are either being arrested for violating the terms of their sex offender status, fired from their jobs or, most horribly, denied credit cards. They think it was Naomi and go in on her. But to save her Lucca says it was her, then the female Republican poll watcher, having Lucca's back, says it was her, and then Jay says that he did it, and then the male Republican says he
The One With The Celebrity Divorce
Not Your Mother's Book Club
Diane and her group finally give themselves a name, saving this reviewer from having to just call them Diane's group anymore. Now dubbing themselves Book Club, they have come to the decision that they want to make even more noise than they already have. And as they want to take things further, so does Diane, who takes her new ax-throwing hobby to the next level by ... buying new, cooler axes. Okay.
Reddick, Boseman, Lockhart, and Blum
Very few people actually want to work with Roland but feel forced to because of the offer. At the very least, nobody wants him in their office. But Adrian is the only one in his corner, trusting Marissa, who last episode was tasked with keeping an eye on him, is on the case. But Marissa may be keeping too much of an eye on him. Marissa and Roland have quite the tete-a-tete several times this episode. But Marissa handles Roland's gross, misogynistic, rude behavior (and not to mention his describing in great detail his sexcapades with her mother) in a much healthier way than Maia did; she just sings at him instead of, you know, throwing a laptop through a window. What's not healthy, however, is her starting to be charmed by him, for some reason, which will hopefully lead to nowhere but I have my doubts.
After Adrian convinces the partners Roland will be fine working in their offices, he soon shows that it may not be fine. Roland slowly weasels his way into several aspects of the firm and its partner's lives. He's going to help Julius get back his chance at judgeship, gets Lemond Bishop to become their newest client, then arranges a meeting between Adrian and one of his idols, Vernon Jordan. Almost everybody is impressed and on board with keeping Roland around for the foreseeable future. It's only Diane that's the holdout, so Roland talks to her personally, his final pawn to knock down. But it doesn't work and he's not happy.
#FakeMelania
Lucca handles the biggest case of the episode, which may or may not have been real. It started out with a hairdresser coming in to get a divorce for a celebrity client of his. Jay looks it up and he thinks it is for Kim Kardashian because she's basically the first name that pops up even though there are many other possibilities? Little sloppy there, Jay. He gets everyone's hopes up with the possibility of handling the Kimye divorce. But, it's not Kim Kardashian. Actually, it's someone much more important; Melania Trump, maybe. Whoever it is, she wants her prenup thrown out and to not be associated with any criminal activity her husband may or may not be involved in. Lucca is immediately suspicious, as is the rest of the firm. Even Diane and Liz thought it might be their Book Club, but it's not.
Meanwhile, Lucca talks to Melania
Other Things
- Can we get Audra and Christine singing together in every single episode? I will take that over those animated shorts any day of the week.
- Naomi reveals Jay had a crush on someone at work but Jay won't reveal who. Despite him and Marissa being attached at the hip since season one, I think they may be switching tracks to Jay and Lucca with how much time they've started spending together. Who do you think it is and who do you want it to be?
- Jay and Marissa speaking directly to the camera, interesting fourth wall break or not necessary?
- What do you think? Was that the real or fake Melania?